Risk Management 2000

Mississippi's crop producers face special challenges due to higher input costs and lower prices received for their products. The key to coping with this situation is to pay close attention to management and marketing strategies.

Crop producers always can depend on their local county agricultural agents for management help. This booklet summarizes tested techniques and tips to help sustain a thriving farm operation. The final page highlights Extension publications which provide more detail about producing certain crops.

Whole Farm Management

• Consider new crops and crop combinations. Winter wheat, crop rotations, double-cropping, and niche crops may offer opportunities to reduce financial risks and make a profit.

• Renegotiate land rents. Look for opportunities to renegotiate rents more in line with current low prices and earning power of the land.

• Take marginal lands out of production. Acres that don't return at least direct costs can be a drain on overall profits. Do not borrow money to plant on land that won't repay the loan. If a sizeable portion of your rented land is marginal, use this fact as leverage to renegotiate your rent.

• Extend the season. Successful farm operations should consider multi-year approaches to farming. Consider average annual returns for 3- to 5-year periods instead of annual returns on a year-to-year basis.

• Include the entire farm operation in building a budget, and then follow your plan.

• Avoid any new capital expenditures. Farm with what you have, even if it means cooperating with a neighbor in harvesting, planting, and other operations. The uncertain market and policy outlook make this a bad time to incur major debts for pricey machines and equipment. Use your old equipment as long as possible. If that is not feasible, consider hiring custom work, sharing equipment, and using lease-purchase arrangements.

• Shop carefully for inputs. Current situations and competition indicate that price competitiveness may be in the grower's favor. Small savings add up; a 5 percent reduction in input cost can mean saving from $15 to $30 per acre. A decline in the prices of output goods indicates that inputs should be scaled back.

• Evaluate true labor costs. Is it cheaper to do it yourself, compared to custom work? Consider the savings from a reduced labor force as well as machinery savings.

• Postpone nonessential household and family expenses. Now may not be the time for that new truck or car or that 2-week family vacation. Calculate your living/household expenses on a per-acre basis. Can you find some savings?

• Lock in a profitable price when you can. Know the price you need to break even. If you see a market opportunity for a profit, take it. A small profit guaranteed may be preferable to gambling on a larger profit later, especially if you are financially vulnerable.

• Explore all available means of risk management. Include crop insurance, Conservation Reserve Programs, Wetlands Reserve Programs, or other programs available for crops which you might grow.

• Build a sound marketing plan for all your crops. Marketing should be at least as big a priority as production.

Successful Agronomic Management

• Diversify. Match crops to soil capability and productivity. Plant fields with low yield histories to alternative crops. Proper consideration to on-farm rotations will improve profits by hedging markets and other risks. The versatile farm with income from more than one commodity will be the most solid operation.

• Select proven varieties. Plant the bulk of your acreage in adapted and proven varieties no matter what the crop. Try new varieties on a limited basis. Planting more than one variety is always advisable. Trying limited acreage of new varieties allows you to gain experience and knowledge while reducing exposure to excessive risk.

• Thoroughly research the marketability and handling requirements of genetically modified organisms (GMO) with potential grain markets before selecting a GMO, particularly those products not approved by the European Community. GMO products may require separation and different pricing than conventional hybrids. If this is true, production will likely not be feasible or profitable for most Mississippi producers. Contact your local elevators and/or merchants and secure a contract regarding GMO purchasing policies for the 2000 crop year.

• Soil test all fields and follow fertility recommendations. Avoiding over- or under-application of fertilizer and lime, greatly improves input efficiency and production. Soil testing costs little compared to the total economic importance of fertilizer and lime programs. Detailed soil samples should represent various soil types and differences in cropping history. Do not over apply nitrogen to your crop.

• Reevaluate levels of chemical use. Consult a specialist to determine if a modest reduction in fertilizer or pesticide usage will reduce yields on your farm.

• Use herbicides that do not injure future crops in a rotation system.

• Be extremely cautious when applying nonselective herbicides near susceptible crops, especially when conditions are favorable to herbicide off-target drift. Roundup/Touchdown herbicide drift on susceptible emerged corn fields was the most prevalent corn production problem in 1999. Herbicide drift injury often results in catastrophic crop loss.

• Use least-cost options in weed control. Base your decision on variety performance, efficacy of materials, and herbicide cost.

• Consider conservation tillage. If conservation tillage will work for your crops on your soil, you may save equipment, fuel, chemical, and labor costs.

• If possible, convert to reduced tillage to trim expenses in labor, equipment, maintenance, and fuel. In some cases, this also reduces disease, weed, and insect control expenses.

• Eliminate unnecessary tillage operations such as stalk shredding, multiple discing, and cultivation. Reduced tillage cropping systems normally trim labor, equipment, maintenance, and fuel expenses. Shifting tillage to the fall reduces the cost of operating tractors and equipment and investment costs associated with equipment and labor.

• Incorporate crop rotation. Crop rotation spreads risk, improves soil tilth and other factors, and optimizes yields for the two crops being rotated. It is a sound agronomic principle that is often overlooked because of its apparent absence of short-term benefits.

• Drainage and water management are critical to allow proper benefits from crop rotation.

• Carefully calibrate planting equipment to deliver a desired number of seeds at the optimum planting depth for a given crop. Plant only when soil conditions are favorable to seed germination and plant establishment. Check the planter in the field to be sure it is operating as calibrated. Plant spacing directly affects the crop's ability to use light, water, and fertilizer and ultimately affects crop yield.

• Base pest-management decisions on a proven threshold, rather than adopting the philosophy of "when in doubt, spray."

• Scout fields throughout the growing season on a weekly basis. Do not cut corners on scouting. Accurate, timely scouting can save money by avoiding unnecessary applications and by minimizing yield loss. Scouting reports should give well defined numbers that state the number of plants or fruiting structures examined and the number of pests found.

• Practice insecticide-resistance management. Resistance results in increased yield loss, caused by treatment failures. It also creates the need to use more costly alternative treatments. Resistance also contributes to higher prices for new alternative products.

Cotton

• Select cotton varieties carefully. Review all variety trial information and consider personal experiences in making final decisions. Plant the bulk of your acreage in varieties that are proven performers. Experiment with new ones only on a limited acreage.

• Diversify. Plant fields with low yield histories to alternative crops such as grain sorghum, corn, soybeans, or wheat. Research indicates that rotating cotton land to corn can result in yield responses of more than 100 pounds of lint per acre when the field is returned to cotton.

• Do not over apply nitrogen fertilizer. Research indicates that about 50 pounds per acre of supplemental nitrogen is required per bale of realistic yield potential on loam to sandy loam soils and 70 pounds per acre per bale on clay to clay loam soils. Nitrogen rated higher than this can delay maturity and reduce yields.

• Optimize use of Bt-cotton. Bt-cotton is a useful tool for managing yield losses caused by tobacco budworm outbreaks and for controlling costs. Growers in areas involved in the early years of boll weevil eradication may wish to plant a relatively high percentage to Bt varieties. Growers in areas where eradication efforts are more advanced may wish to cut back on Bt-cotton use.

• Use increased treatment thresholds after the crop enters "cut out." Also learn how to use the "node above white bloom - 5 + 350 DD60s rule" to avoid making costly late season treatments that are not likely to improve yields.

• Do not under budget for insect control. Annual insect control costs can range from less than $60 to more than $120 per acre. During severe outbreaks it's important to do what is necessary to minimize yield losses.

Soybeans

• Select proven varieties. Variety selection is a big task, with more than 250 varieties available on the market. All varieties are not equal. Focus on high-yielding varieties that perform consistently.

• Use early maturing varieties on the majority of your acreage. (Maturity Groups IV and V).

• Start planting early maturing varieties (IV-V) as early as possible so that as much of the crop as possible is planted in April. This is extremely important for nonirrigated environments.

• Treat seed with a fungicide that is effective against Pythium. Pythium is a water mold that thrives under wet conditions. The proper seed treatment will help prevent the need to replant. A replant is less productive and profitable than early plantings. Also, a replant will probably require a secondary variety choice.

• Minimize preplant/spring tillage. The fall of 1999 set the stage for an early 2000 crop. Concentrate on decisions that focus on early planting (minimum number of field trips, burndown herbicides, etc.). Instead of tilling in April 2000, concentrate on planting.

• Consider row spacing and plant populations. Recent row spacing research shows no difference in row spacing when comparing 10-, 20-, and 30-inch rows. Narrow rows have an advantage because planting date is delayed, and spacings less than 30 inches will produce 10 to 15 percent higher yields than 38- to 40-inch spacings without irrigation. Plant populations offer a big window of opportunity because soybeans have a tremendous capability to compensate. Consider seed quality, planting date, row spacing, and the weather forecast when making seeding rate decisions.

• Use irrigation effectively. Start watering before plants are stressed, and continue until seeds are fully developed to ensure maximum size and number of seed. Irrigation is a valuable resource that is often under used. The three biggest problems associated with irrigation are (1) starting too late (2) not watering often enough and (3) stopping too soon. A conservative yield goal is 52 to 55 bushels per acre. If you are not achieving these yield levels consistently, you need to determine what is your limiting factor.

• Perform the majority of field work after harvest of an early planted crop. Drainage continues to be our number one production problem in both irrigated and dryland fields.

Rice

• Select proven varieties, and plant new varieties on only a portion of the farm. Select the most disease-resistant variety acceptable to your operation.

• Plant when the average air temperature is 60° F and/or average soil temperature is 60° F. At Stoneville there is a 95 percent probability that freezing will not occur after April 9. Plant 40 seed per square foot into a good seedbed. Schedule planting so acreage planted and anticipated maturity do not exceed harvesting and drying capabilities.

• Based on field history, use an appropriate preemergence herbicide. Follow up with a postemergence herbicide only as necessary, based on weed populations. Control weeds early to avoid salvage situations.

• Apply fertilizer to dry soil, and flood within 5 days. Use the recommended fertility level for each variety. Application to dry soil increases fertilizer efficiency and decreases loss from the field. Split the midseason fertilizer application by 10 days apart to decrease nitrogen loss and increase efficiency.

• Flood 3 to 4 weeks after emergence, and maintain a shallow flood to maximize tillering. Water costs about $1.50 per acre-inch. Side inlet irrigation will minimize water use and decrease cold-water areas.

• For Lemont, apply a fungicide only after scouting and a 35 percent level of infestation has been detected. With Priscilla, fungicides have not generally proven economical for sheath blight control. Apply 4 ounces of Tilt at late boot for smut control in Priscilla.

• For extreme historical infestations of rice water weevil, use Icon seed treatment. Otherwise, scout for adult water weevils, and apply Karate Z or Dimilin when a threshold of one weevil per square foot is observed within 7 days after flood.

• Drain fields when the top half of the panicle is yellow and turned down on clay soils and three fourths of the panicle is yellow on silt loam soils. Harvesting at 18 to 21 percent moisture increases efficiency and improves milling quality.

• Dry rice in small quantities to reduce drying time. Use minimum heat to dry rice. Monitor moisture content and insects once per week until rice is shipped.

• Shift tillage to the fall to capture winter rains, or flood the field to reduce winter vegetation. Drain the field in the first part of March, and apply 2,4-D if necessary. Shifting tillage to the fall reduces cost of operating tractors and equipment and investment costs associated with equipment and labor.

Wheat

• Plant with a grain drill if possible, particularly during dry conditions, to ensure uniform planting depth (optimum one to 1.5 inches) and good seed-soil-moisture contact.This should optimize seedling establishment.

• The optimum planting date is within about a week of the first normal frost date, which varies depending upon region of the state.

  SUGGESTED WHEAT PLANTING DATES:
  North and Central Mississippi: October 15 - November 10
  Delta Region: October 20 - November 15
  South Mississippi: November 1 - November 25
  Coastal Region: November 15 - December 10

• Plant a proven high-yielding variety that is resistant to primary diseases. Consult performance data from the MSU Small Grains Variety Trials and trials from adjacent states. A summary of top-performing varieties is listed on the MSU Extension Service Plant and Soil Sciences.

• Producers should strive for 1 to 1.3 million plants per acre or 23 to 30 plants per square foot. Assuming 85 percent successful emergence planting with a grain drill, a seeding rate of 1.2 to 1.5 million seeds per acre is needed.

• Apply spring nitrogen based upon crop-yield goal and growth stage. Wheat normally requires about 2 pounds of nitrogen for each bushel of grain. Apply in two split applications for the best efficiency. Therefore, apply 50 to 70 pounds at mid-tillering and another 50 to 70 pounds of nitrogen during late tillering or before the second node is visible.

• Always plant seed treated with a fungicide to prevent pathogen development during seedling establishment.

• Apply foliar fungicides on the recommendations of a risk-based forecasting system. This prevents unnecessary application to varieties with disease resistance, when yield benefit will not produce an economic return, or in years when inoculum production is low. Fungicide application helps preserve yield potential of production fields when disease threatens to reduce yield.

• Adequate water drainage is required for profitable wheat production. Therefore, fields must have either moderate slope or substantial internal drainage or a combination of both. Water drainage is critical to wheat production because wheat grows during the rainy winter season, and waterlogging hampers vegetative growth and encourages pathogen development.

Corn

• Use a spring burndown herbicide (stale seedbed system) instead of spring tillage to encourage a warmer, drier seedbed. Since wet soil conditions severely restrict available time for field operations during the optimum corn-planting time, planting should be the only field operation conducted in the spring. This system encourages timely planting.

• Plant the proven top-yielding hybrids by consulting the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Corn Hybrid Trials Bulletin. Bt and herbicide resistant hybrids will not increase hybrid yield potential in the absence of pest problems. In fact, there may be considerable yield drag associated with transgenic hybrids (genetically modified organisms) compared to conventional corn hybrids.

• Consider planting Bt hybrids in high occurrence corn borer areas. Bt corn effectively controls Southwestern and European Corn Borers, which are capable of causing significant yield reduction and harvest loss. These pests require diligent scouting and precisely timed insecticide applications to provide moderate control using conventional control methods.

• Early planting results in better yields than late planting because environmental stress normally increases in the late summer. Corn planting may begin when morning soil temperature at a 2-inch soil depth is 55° F or 50° F at a 6-inch soil depth. Planting before the soil temperature is warm enough for germination greatly increases the potential for stand failure. Soil temperature may vary depending upon soil texture, slope, color, and amount and type of crop residue. Thus, do not rely on a predetermined date to begin planting; instead, randomly measure soil temperature with a thermometer within a field to provide a more reliable indicator of desirable conditions for stand establishment.

• Scout corn for insect and disease problems as diligently as other crops, and be prepared to take control measures. Establishing corn (from emergence until 12 inches) should be scouted every 2 to 3 days and then weekly during the remainder of the season.

• Use a pyrethroid at planting or with herbicide burndown to control cutworms, unless a granular insecticide is used at planting. The cutworm is capable of ruining a stand of seedling corn and is very prevalent. The pyrethroid insecticide option will likely save more than $10 per acre compared to using a granular insecticide.

• When used, apply granular soil insecticides in a T-band method, unless restricted on the label. This is important when using insecticides with activity on cutworms (soil surface feeders), such as Force, Aztec and Lorsban.

• Carefully select soil insecticides to avoid potential negative interactions with herbicides (organophosphate insecticides/sulfonylurea herbicides) capable of causing crop damage.

• Schedule irrigation water according to crop water use, which depends upon the corn stage of growth during the growing season. Water use in corn increases from emergence until tasseling, plateaus until milk stage (roasting ear) at approximately 1.75 inches per week, and declines until physiological maturity.

• Corn production is best suited to medium textured soils with high water holding capacity and gentle slope, particularly when irrigation is available. Growing corn on soils with physical limitations will likely reduce profitability.

• Use raised beds on fields with questionable surface water drainage. Raised beds relieve waterlogging and provide warmer soil temperature for better seedling establishment and vegetative development.

Grain Sorghum

• Plant with a row-crop planter rather than a grain drill. Planters provide more precise seed placement and planting rates compared to drills. This should result in better plant stands.

• Plant a proven high-yielding variety that is adapted to your soils and expected conditions. Consult performance data from the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University as well as local strip trials. A summary of top-performing hybrids is listed on the MSU Extension Service Plant and Soil Sciences.

• Early planting results in better yields than late planting because temperatures and water stress normally increase during the late summer. Early planting helps sorghum avoid this late-season stress. Daybreak soil temperature at a one-and-a-half inch depth must exceed 65° F to germinate grain sorghum seed. Thus, optimum planting dates are similar to those for cotton - April 20 to May 15.

• Strive to establish 50,000 to 75,000 plants per acre in dryland fields and 75,000 to 100,000 plants per acre in irrigated fields. These plant populations normally produce optimum yields while conserving resources capable of limiting production in their respective environments.

• Set the planter to place sorghum seed 1.25 to 1.50 inches deep in the soil, rather than a shallower depth at which cotton and soybeans are planted. Shallower planting depth encourages poor germination, poor root development, insect damage, and herbicide injury.

• Grain sorghum has less yield potential but better drought tolerance compared to corn. Therefore, growing grain sorghum is usually more profitable than growing corn on soils with significant physical limitations that may promote drought stress.

• Scout fields every 2 days for the presence of chinch bugs during early growth (emergence to 12 inches) and head-feeding caterpillars and midge at heading. These are major sorghum insect pests.

When you need to know . . .

Corn

Corn for Grain Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 359

Corn for Silage Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 360

Corn Production-Planting Dates and Crop Development - Extension Information Sheet 866

Managing Insects Attacking Corn -Extension Publication 899

Cotton

Cotton Insect Control Guide - Extension Publication 343

Cotton Insect Identification Guide - Extension Publication 1640

Cotton Insect Situation Newsletter (seasonal) - free by subscription

Cotton Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 352

Grain Sorghum

Grain Sorghum Fertilization and Insect Control - Extension Information Sheet 1225

Grain Sorghum Variety Selection and Planting - Extension Information Sheet 1224

Rice

Mississippi Rice Grower's Guide - Extension Publication 2225

Rice Diseases in Mississippi - Extension Publication 1840

Rice Production - Extension Publication 1427

Rice Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 361

Soybeans

Soybean Plant Populations and Seeding Rates - Extension Publication 1194

Soybean Planting Guidelines - Extension Publication 1289

Soybean Seedling Diseases - Extension Information Sheet 1167

Soybean Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 346

Wheat

Wheat and Oat Variety Trials - Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Information Bulletin 354

Small Grains Production - Extension Information Sheet 961

Weed Control

Weed Control Guidelines - Extension Publication 1532

Mention of a trademark or proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by Mississippi State Univeristy and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products that also may be suitable.

Mississippi State University not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

Extension Service of Mississippi State University, cooperating with U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published in furtherance of Acts of Congress, May 8 and June 30, 1914. Ronald A. Brown, Director