By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
An agronomist for a major agricultural chemical company advises farmers to stick to a plan going into this growing season and to resist the temptation to out-guess the weather.
Leon Hunter is Syngenta’s agronomy manager for the eastern corn belt. Hunter says 2023 proved to be a bad environment for crops due to the widespread drought.
“I think as we start looking at the fall of ’23, we saw a lot of weed in the fields. And, I think the seed bank has been replenished,” Hunter tells KFEQ, adding farmers need to start making a plan for 2024. “And look at a holistic plan, not looking at just what happened in ’23, but maybe managing each field based on what they saw at harvest as it relates to weeds, and/or diseases, or insects as well.”
Hunter acknowledges the weather can produce anxiety for farmers, but insists there is opportunity as well.
“Typically, when we get to that level of anxiety, we starting thinking about, ‘Where can I save? How can I cut back?’” Hunter says, “And maybe it’s in those times that we should really look at investing in the crop and doing everything we can to produce more bushels so we can get higher yields and higher returns.”
Hunter reminds farmers they developed their plan for the upcoming year based on solid information. Though things change and challenges crop up, that plan can guide them to success in 2024.
“Plan it. And when you plan it, stick to your plan, because you made that decision on that plan for a reason,” Hunter says. “It was the right thing to do regardless of the environment. You know there are other benefits from fungicides.”
Hunter says tar spot disease has greatly affected corn yields. It was discovered late and has caused devastating losses. He says Syngenta and other herbicide producers have products that can help.
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