News

Making up for lost time ahead of planting

An agronomist says planting won’t come without its challenges for farmers this spring.  

Phil Krieg with Syngenta Crop Protection says fall weather conditions prevented many farmers across the Corn Belt from finishing up most of their field work.  He says they’ll have to work exceptionally hard to get a jump on weed control this spring.  “Making sure we either do a good job burning down those weeds before we till the soil or plant,” he says.  “Or making sure, if we’re going to use tillage, we start off clean.  Because if we start off clean we can have a much more successful weed control program for the rest of the year.”

Krieg tells Brownfield farmers in much of the Eastern Corn Belt are extremely saturated.  He says there is still a lot of work, that would typically be done in the fall, that needs to be completed before fields can be planted.  “Which will, for a lot of farmers, put a lot of pressure on the transport of anhydrous ammonia – making sure everyone has it when they need it,” he says.  “And regretfully there will be a few decision that will have to be adjusted a little bit in order to keep those planters running.”

Krieg spoke with Brownfield at the 2019 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville.  

AUDIO: Phil Krieg, Syngenta Crop Protection