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Mike Howell (00:08):
The Dirt with me, Mike Howell, an eKonomics podcast where I present the down and dirty agronomic science to help grow crops and bottom lines. Inspired by eKonomics.com, farming’s go-to informational resource. I’m here to break down the latest crop nutrition research, use, and issues helping farmers make better business decisions through actionable insights. Let’s dig in.
(00:38):
Welcome back to The Dirt everyone. We’re coming to you live this week from Boone, Iowa. We’re here at the Farm Progress Show. This is Bill. This is the largest outdoor farm show in the world. I haven’t been able to see everything yet, but from what I can tell, it’s quite an event going on. Joined here this morning first with Mr. Stan Heard. Stan, how are you this morning?
Stan Heard (00:58):
Good, Mike. How are you sir?
Mike Howell (00:59):
I’m doing great. Glad to have you with us now, listeners, if you’re anywhere close to my age or older, I’m sure you remember on the news way back. I know I do. When I was a kid, every now and then we would see things about the crop circles and farmers would have a big circle in their field, have various designs in it and nobody could ever figure out where they came from. Some people said it was a lightning strike or some neighbors came in and did that, or even little green men from Mars came in and made these mysterious circles in the dirt and I don’t think we ever got a good answer to what was going on.
(01:30):
And few years later we started seeing corn mazes and people would come out and actually carve out mazes through the corn fields. And I think I found the answer to all of this and how this all got started here with Mr. Stan Heard. I was driving down the road coming in and I saw this big circle out in the field and I didn’t know what it was. I had to stop and look at it again. But Stan, is this all you’re doings from back in the seventies when this all first started or tell us what’s going on?
Stan Heard (01:53):
Well, the FBI has talked to me and says I can’t tell everything I know. But no, the amazing thing is, Mike, I came up with the idea of creating crop art about the same time that first design was found by Stonehenge. Miraculously, it just happened at the same time. And to be honest with you, they say a couple of Irishmen with two by fours and a rope are doing those things. I don’t really believe it. I’m fascinated by some of these really ornate designs and how people do it. My crew and I have done images in Australia, in Europe, in Cuba, around the world, and some of those designs are beyond what I could create. And I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m kind of the leader in this thing over the last 50 years. I’m 70 years of age and I’ve been doing these for 45 years, but I’ve really kind of intrigued by some of that.
(02:47):
I know some of it’s manmade. And I don’t believe in the green men theory or anything else or geomancy or all of these things, but it’s a fascinating thing and it happens around the world. And you’re right about the corn mazes. The guy that did the first corn maze 30 years ago in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania took my crop art book to show the farmers what he wanted to do with the corn mazes. I’ve done a few myself. My daddy was a farmer. My granddad. We came from seven generations of farm people and I left the farm and became an artist, but then I returned to the farming to agriculture to make my art kind of out of respect for the people of the land.
Mike Howell (03:21):
Well, Stan, it seems like we may have started this conversation in the middle of the conversation. I didn’t really introduce you and let you tell what you do exactly. You kind of touched on that, but let’s back up just a little bit and tell everybody exactly what you do around the world.
Stan Heard (03:35):
I’m from a small farm town in southwest Kansas. I grew up on a tractor, as did my brothers. We all farmed from a very early age. I went off to art school, wanted to be a rock and roll musician, grew my hair long and put a puka shell necklace on. And about 10 years later I returned to the farm and worked with my dad a year and I was an artist. I was a good painter. I painted landscapes and all kinds of things. And then I decided to take it on a larger scale. I started doing murals and then ended up coming up with the idea of creating an image on a field. I grew up on a field. I knew tractors, I know John Deere, so I ended up doing the first image on 160 acres so that airplanes flying over the great Midwest had something to look out at 30,000 feet.
(04:20):
And I’ve been doing that ever since. I’ve created maybe over 100 earthworks. One in China. One in Brazil. I’ve created images all over the world, so I’m often asked to get involved with people trying to promote their storyline, their product, or their equipment. I was really enjoyed coming up to Boone when working with Nutrient and visiting with the Nutrient people here and creating an image for them. So we basically knock an image out of standing and existing crops and then we add mulch and all kinds of things, and some of them couldn’t even be permanent.
Mike Howell (04:52):
Stan, if you would, tell us a little bit about the design that you have here at Boone, Iowa this week.
Stan Heard (04:57):
The little granule guy has a kind of a caricature and he’s got a smiling face and big bulging eyes and he’s got a hat on with ESN on. It describes the granule that is actually put into the ground to help the crop grow. I’m learning more about all of this. I grew up on a farm, but I’ve been left behind a little bit by all of the things that are going on in farm world. I’ve run more tractors than probably half the people in this crowd, which is kind of amazing because I used three or four different ones on every project.
(05:23):
But we ended up coming up and finding the acreage on 30 Highway here so that people could at least see something was going on or right off the end of the airport. And we created the image of granule guy with his hat on. Basically it just says “feed your fields.” So it’s a catchy way and it tells a story that visually is kind of interesting to people, especially younger folks I suppose. Usually people, when they see that tractor on the field and they realize that that’s an acre, it’s a football field in size, you get the wow factor. And I think that’s what they’re hoping for here, is that this story spreads a bit that we’ve created this image and we’re supporting their product and Nutrient’s a great group of people to work with.
Mike Howell (06:04):
So what is your hope that people are going to take away when they drive by and see this exhibit on the side of the road here?
Stan Heard (06:10):
Well, we’re in a world where there’s everywhere you look, there’s a billboard and a barker on the street selling their product. It’s kind of overwhelming so I hope people stop a minute and just think about where our food comes from. The guy who gets up every morning and plants the crop and tends the animals and does all of that to feed the rest of us. If my work does that, it’s a tribute to my father, mother, and my family and people to work the land.
Mike Howell (06:38):
Thanks Stan. We really appreciate you being with us here today. Hope you enjoy the rest of the show and we appreciate the farm art that we saw down the road today. Listeners, if you have a chance, I highly encourage you to drive by while you’re at the Farm show and take a look at the farm art.
(06:56):
Well, listeners, we’re back at the Farm Progress Show here in Boone, Iowa. We’ve got several farmers that we’re going to talk to this week and talk about the current conditions, see what’s going on out in the field. I’ve got several of them and I’ll let them introduce their selves to you. If you will give us your name and where you’re located.
Elliot Chek (07:11):
Hi, my name is Elliot Chek and I’m from Grinnell, Iowa.
Mark Viershank (07:14):
Hi, I’m Mark Viershank and I’m north of Newhall, Benton County, Iowa. And corn, soybean alfalfa, raise a cow calfer.
Mike Howell (07:24):
Okay, that sounds like enough to keep anybody busy. How’s the show going so far? Are you enjoying yourself at the show?
Mark Viershank (07:29):
Absolutely. Lot of new things and always some fun things, too to see.
Don Habin (07:36):
I’m Don Habin from Tughill Farms, which is up north of Morrison, Illinois, kind of northwest part of the state.
Mike Howell (07:42):
Okay, Elliot, glad you’re here with us today. How’s the crop looking? I understand you’re growing some corn and soy beans. How’s the season looking so far?
Elliot Chek (07:49):
So far considering the conditions, it’s pretty good. We are very hot, very dry most of the summer and we are really worried about our corn and our soybeans, but luckily we’re actually okay. I would say our corn is probably on par for average yields. Our soybeans, this two inches of rain we had a couple days ago really helped and that’s going to be the difference maker I think.
Mike Howell (08:11):
Yeah, I’m hearing a lot of people talk about the rains that came through. Fortunately y’all didn’t get the nine and ten inch range that we got down in the south part of the country that that’s pretty devastating down there.
Mark Viershank (08:21):
I’d call this one of my best crops of my farming career. We have had eight inches of rain in July. We finished June with a big rain up at the Benton County Fair there that went through. And we’ve had four more inches in August. And so that being said, the important things like fungicide and late season nitrogen application are, I think, going to be rewarded at its best in a year like this.
Mike Howell (08:49):
That sounds great. We’re glad to hear growers are having a good year this year. It’s not that case everywhere we go.
Don Habin (08:55):
Up in my area they look really good. My area and a little bit north of there, we got some heavy rains here a couple weeks ago, so there’s some flooded out areas. I got impacted by that just a little bit. I think it’s going to recover or kind of ding the beans a little bit, but overall the crop looks really good this year.
Mike Howell (09:10):
Okay. Yeah, that seems to be the way everybody is. You either get the rain and have a really good crop or you’ve miss the rain and don’t have anything this year feast or famine. So one thing that we’re wanting to talk about this week is residue management following corn. That’s really important. There’s nutrients tied up in that residue and we don’t want to lose those nutrients, especially this year as expensive as all these nutrients are. So if you would tell us a little bit about how you’re managing the residue and then taking care of that situation.
Elliot Chek (09:36):
Typically, we let Mother Nature just take its course. We are true no till. We try not to turn the dirt at all. The only thing we do in the springtime before we plant again is after anhydrous and before we plant our soybeans, we run a rotary hair over, kind of like give a nice even bed on top, knock the cornstalks down. But otherwise, we typically try to let Mother Nature take its course.
Mike Howell (09:57):
Okay. And over the course of the winter, most of that residue will deteriorate and go back into the soil and you don’t have to worry about anything at planting time the next year.
Elliot Chek (10:05):
Typically, there’s some years gully washes, stuff like that. We do go out and try to till and kind of mix it up in and get a better no ditches when we’re out planting. But otherwise, Mother Nature does pretty well for us and that’s all we can ask for.
Mark Viershank (10:18):
Yeah, we try and no till into the cornstalks and not move the soil too much. And we strip till in the beans stubble when we can, most of the time. If we get a large buildup over the years, we do have to sometimes pull in there with a straight line disc and get it beat down a little bit. But we’re trying to keep all of our water. We’re trying to keep all of our nutrients where they are on our farm because we paid for them. And that’s a much better thing than having anybody else have to deal with our problematic nutrients that get away from our farm. And we’re just trying to do a good job. The best we can and on the least amount of fertilizer and make the most food, which is safe for the world to eat.
Don Habin (11:06):
Well, I got a lot of bottoms ground, so typically to get it to dry, I got to get mine chiseled under, so I’ll mow off my stalks and then I’ll chisel them under. I do got some hillier ground where I’ll either leave it stand and no till it, or I sometimes mow it if it looks like there’s going to be too much double for the next year. But most of it gets plowed under.
Mike Howell (11:21):
Okay. Thank you so much for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of the show.
(11:28):
We’re back. We’re joined with Dr. Karl Wyatt. The boss has joined us again. Carl’s been a while since we’ve had you on the program. Glad you could just stop in and join us today. Yeah,
Dr. Karl Wyant (11:37):
Appreciate it. Thank you for having me back.
Mike Howell (11:38):
So Karl, we’ve been talking to growers coming through here at the booth at the farm show today. Talking about residue management in their crops. We know there’s a lot of nutrients tied up in these corn stalks and wanted to figure out what the best way to handle this residue is. Do you have any advice for growers? What’s some different ways they can manage this residue?
Dr. Karl Wyant (11:57):
Yeah, it’s a great question. That residue contains substantial amounts of NP and K micronutrients. And what we found here is that growers that are really on that leading edge of residue management, doing something with the rest of the crop besides selling the harvested portion, doing something with the rest of the crop has become a critical part of a lot of field and soil management programs. And so when you come to the end of the season, you have a couple of options.
(12:23):
An old school option was to burn the residue, but that is slowly be a losing favor in a lot of our regulatory districts here across the nation and then globally. And the problem with burning your residue, is you lose the nutrients so you don’t have them. They can volatilize off, they can burn off, and so you don’t get that fertilizer, those nutrients back into your soil. Another option for mid residue management is to physically manipulate it, and that’s a lot of tillage, disking, getting it back into the soil. And then there’s this whole other class of products that have come on board within the last, I’d say 15 years, and that’s where we’re applying microbes or enzymes or microbial foods. And we’re actually using the product itself to help hasten decomposition and to help free up that NPK or other nutrients that are in the residue.
Mike Howell (13:14):
A lot of our growers mentioned that they were either letting Mother Nature take care of decomposing this residue or some were doing various amounts of tillage from a light disc into a deep chisel. So go through the processes that you just talked about starting with burning and give us the pros and cons of each one of them.
Dr. Karl Wyant (13:30):
Yeah, so I’ll start with burning because that’s an easy one to set up a lot of cons for. Pros, as you get rid of the residue very quickly. You just have to go burn it, put it in a pile or burn that straw off the field, the whole field. The cons are obviously the air pollution, but I think another piece of the thing about is actually losing the nutrients through the burning process. And that hasn’t gotten as much publicity as the air pollution has with the tillage and disking and deep ripping and incorporating the residue into the soil. One pro is that you get that residue in contact with the soil and the soil microbes, and that can help to speed up that decomposition and as you said, let Mother Nature take over and just put that residue on the right path to be removed.
(14:16):
The cons are that if you’re trying to go down some of these soil management pathways where you are trying to improve your soil structure, that then disking and deep riffing might no longer be an option for you. And so you’re going to have a significant amount of residue accumulate on the soil surface. And that’s where some of these chemical products come into play, whether they’re some of the enzymes that are out there, the living microbial communities, the microbial foods, or even some nitrogen, some of these other products that can be sprayed on the crop, trash can help decompose that crop trash when you don’t have those other tools available. The only con is that those products cost money at the end of the year and they need to fit your application system and how you can get it out.
Mike Howell (15:05):
Dr. Wyatt, we appreciate you giving us all this information, giving growers a lot to think about. So as you know, we’ve started talking about tailgating at the end of these episodes, now. What’s your football team and what’s your favorite tailgate food?
Dr. Karl Wyant (15:18):
My favorite football team is the Arizona State Sun Devils Go, Sun Devils and my favorite tailgate food, very, very southwestern here of me, but it’s carne asada tacos with green chili verde sauce. I highly recommend it. If you ever never had that at a tailgate, it’ll blow your mind. It’ll change your life.
Mike Howell (15:37):
Okay, we’ll have to dig out a recipe for that one. That’s not one we commonly cook here in the south. You’re talking Pac-12 football. We don’t know a whole lot about that over here, but to each his own. We won’t rub you too hard about that today. So I think what we’re going to do for the tailgate this week is kind of inspired by being here in Iowa this week. I’ve had several really good pork chops since I’ve been here, and we’re going to put some pork chops on the grill and grill those up. And Iowa’s one of the leading states in the country for corn production, so we’re going to do some roasted corn. Now the way I do my roasted corn is we always have a late patch of sweet corn growing somewhere around, and I’m going to pull some late sweet corn, get that on the grill.
(16:14):
Now, we did this back and Fourth of July and had some family over for the 4th of July, and my niece had never had the sweet corn cooked this way, and she kind of thought I was crazy when I threw the corn straight on the grill. But she said, “don’t you have to shuck it first.” I said, “no, this is the way it works.”
(16:29):
We put the whole ear on the grill, we don’t shuck it or anything, and you let it get on there and kind of roll it around every five or 10 minutes, let it get toasted all the way around. And what it’s doing is actually steaming the moisture in those shucks, and you’re actually steaming that corn on the cob, but it’ll burn off most of the silks and you shuck that and coat it down in butter and it’s really hard to beat.
(16:49):
Let’s take a few minutes now and just talk about the corn industry in the United States. The United States is the largest producer of corn worldwide, but we don’t really consume that much corn when we really get down to it. Most of it goes into feed for livestock. Most of the corn is grown here in the Midwest, goes to feed for livestock as we mentioned, and more and more these days is going into fuel. Very little of it actually goes into human consumption. Dr. Wyatt, you have any other comments about corn?
Dr. Karl Wyant (17:16):
I really like your comments about sweet corn. Don’t forget popcorn. Another great fall treat, and you can treat your popcorn with salt and pepper and there’s lots of other additions. You can put red chili powder on that and make it a little bit different. Or you can even go with some cheese on your popcorn and make it super different. But yeah, don’t forget all types of the corn that you can eat as a person.
Mike Howell (17:37):
And that’s right now, a favorite around my house is to take a bag of M&M’s and drop in that bag of hot popcorn and kind of melt those M&M’s into it. A totally different taste there.
(17:50):
Well, we had another great tailgate party this weekend. Everybody loved the chicken and the smoked sausage and had a lot of fun before the ballgame and the ballgame turned out even better. Poplarville Hornets were able to defeat the Pearl River Central Blue Devils 45 to 3, got the season turned around and on the right track. Next week they’ll be playing at home once again. We’ll be playing Lumberton this week. Everybody needs to join back in next week, find out how the football team did.
(18:23):
Listeners, we appreciate you tuning in this week, and as always, we encourage everybody to give us a rating, let us know how we’re doing. And to help out with that, we’re starting a promotion this week. If you’ll go to our website, that’s www.nutrient/eKonomics.com, and that’s eKonomics with a K. You can find out all the details on this. For the first 75 people that sign up, follow the program, give us a rating and ask the program along to your friends, we’re going to send you a pair of Skull Candy earbuds. Thanks a lot for listening. Until next time, this has been Mike Howell with The Dirt.
