Newsletter published monthly by Crop Quest, Inc. Volume No. 11, Issue No.

10, October, 2002

PERSPECTIVES
Official Publication of Crop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc.

Atomic Pepper Company heats up southwest Kansas

When Travis Jantz sought ways to diversify his farming operation, he looked for a commodity that would be popular in a local market. From the idea came Atomic Pepper Company. While chile peppers are oftentimes grown in Kansas gardens, Jantz pepper crop exceeds anything found in the state. In fact, research on what it took to grow a crop included a trip to southern New Mexico, where Jantz and his agronomist, Craig Koehn, met with chile pepper consultants, farmers and pepper processors. Jantz first pepper crop was direct seeded on 10 acres last May. Twelve varieties were planted initially, only two of which proved to be suitable for southwest Kansas growing conditions. Now that he is completing his first harvest, Jantz has a better idea of how to hit the market at its peak. Next year, several acres worth of pepper plugs, or seedlings, will be started in a greenhouse to get a jump-start on the season. This year, we were behind the New Mexico crop. But next year, we will transplant earlier to beat the New Mexico market, Jantz says. By planting time, the plugs will be six to eight inches tall. Thats better than starting with a seed, and we will have more control over seed spacing than we did with direct seeding, he says. Jantz and Koehn are quick to point out that growing peppers is no easy task, especially when first starting out. Input costs are high and so is the necessity for a labor force. Chile peppers require about four times more input production cost per acre than corn, Koehn says. In later years, the cost will decrease slightly, but not much. Insect pests were a constant concern this first year, having striped flea beetles, earworm, beet armyworm and yellow striped armyworm to deal with. A chile plants buds are too fragile to run through with a spray rig, so all insecticides must be flown on. Because the crop is flood irrigated in the heat of summer, it is susceptible to diseases that thrive under such conditions, such as bacterial wilt. Harvesting of the crop is on a selective basis depending on maturity, so the crop must be hand-picked rather than by mechanized equipment. Jantz will get about four pickings off his crop before the first freeze. For now, Jantz and his wife, Brooke, are focusing on marketing directly to local communities, namely in southwest Kansas. They recently purchased a truck that displays the Atomic Pepper Company logo, from which they sell their crop. The company offers green jalapenos; fresh and roasted long green chiles; cayenne peppers; and habanero peppers. For more information, visit www.atomicpeppers.com.

First Crop Montezuma, Kansas, producer Travis Jantz (left) sought a new way to diversify his farming operation by growing a variety of chile peppers. Although the crop requires high input costs and is labor intensive, Jantz looks for positive returns. Jantz is pictured with his Crop Quest agronomist, Craig Koehn.

MISSION STATEMENT
Crop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network of professionals is to practice integrity and innovation, to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.

By Rollie Stukenholtz, CEO

Member, American Society of Agricultural Consultants Certified Professional Agronomist

Prolonged drought makes replenishing dry soil a long term task

We get a few rains after a long, dry spell and sometimes think our moisture situation is in good shape. Some strange things happen to soil following a prolonged period of dry weather. There has been some research that shows soil organisms actually shut down the soils capillary system, which allows soil to take in water. We have seen this phenomenon for years, and were baffled that such dry soils seemed to resist water when the rains came. We have probed a lot of fields since rains of one to six inches have fallen. It isnt unusual to find that some of these soils are still dry at two to four inches. It is evident that most untilled soils have taken in the water better than tilled soils. Most tillage tools, such as the disc or blade, tend to create a compacted layer that slows water intake. Crops in these dry areas showed a significant advantage to no-till farming this past summer. In some cases, it was the difference between a crop hanging on until the rains came. In others, even the severity of the drought was too much to ask of even our most drought-hardy crops. While the outlook for getting next years wheat crop off to a good start has vastly improved over much of our drought-parched areas, we will need some very timely moisture to get our production back to normal.

The farming of politics hinders the farming of crops, livestock

It seems farming is constantly becoming more complicated due to political activists. A case in point is the petition drive in Florida to get the issue of farrowing crates on the public ballot. A group of PETA activists have decided it is inhumane to put sows in farrowing crates so they dont crush their young, as so many have done in the past. Then, I noted a television commentary recently where an African country was letting thousands of their people starve. Warehouses full of donated corn to feed these people werent being released because it was biotech corn. I truly doubt those starving people are really concerned about the crops background. On the other hand, I guess it isnt too unusual for people to react to media hype. I suggested to a farmhand recently that their corn was just right for eating, and was told that since it was Roundup Ready he was concerned about its affect on his health. Interestingly, he wasnt too concerned about the two packs of cigarettes he smoked every day. Human nature can be pretty complicated.
Crop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc. Main Office: Phone 620.225.2233 Fax 620.225.3199 Internet: www.cropquest.com cqoffice@cropquest.com Crop Quest Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer: President: Regional Vice President: Regional Vice President: Financial Vice President: Manager, Garden City Div.: Rollie Stukenholtz Ron OHanlon Jim Gleason Dwight Koops Dave Wetmore Cort Minor

Farmers the world over

The human race the world over is pretty similar. Having visited Australia, South America and Europe, I have found that farmers all want the same thing. It has a lot to do with earning a living, having a decent life, and have some hope for the future. Farmers throughout the world are also very competitive and envious of their competition. The big difference is in the public attitude toward farmers. Most countries outside of the U.S. feel that self sufficiency in food production is in their national interest. We think our citizens are pretty spoiled in this country because they have never experienced food shortages or outrageous prices. The starvation that occurred during and following WW II in Europe and Asia taught those people a lesson our citizens have never learned.

On another note . . .
During a recent visit with one of our U. S. Senators, he expressed concern that our farmers would be able to compete if free trade continues to expand. This is an interesting concern considering that we have been led to believe that our farmers are the most efficient in the world.

Newsletter Editor: Tania Wood, twood@cropquest.com

Brown mid-rib sorghum offers an alternative to corn silage

rown mid-rib sorghum, or BMR, is a fairly new crop to the High Plains. It gets its name because the central leaf vein is not green like other sorghums, but brownish-red. Currently, demand for this forage is primarily with dairy producers who feed BMR sorghum because of its high palatibility and digestibility attributes. The improvement in intakes and digestibility is due to reduced lignin content in BMR-mutated hybrids. Lignin and its cross linkages to other polysaccharides restrain the digestion of forage cell walls by ruminants. Naturally, because lignin gives the plant stand strength, lodging can become a significant problem when the head starts making grain. Crop Quest agronomist Jamie Cure looks at several circles of BMR sorghum near Garden City, Kansas, and has seen different degrees of lodging in his fields. You want to chop when the grain reaches milk to soft dough. The problem with that is there is still too much moisture in the plant to cut. You end up with tall stands waiting for it to dry down, Cure says. Problems with early-season vigor and yield have also limited the popularity of BMR sorghum. When compared against other silage hybrids, these traits have been associated with both grain and whole-plant yield reductions. However, while BMR sorghum has shown to be a lower yield producer, more energy is harvested from it through the cow than other sorghums.

While these are disadvantages to consider, Cure sites several benefits to BMR sorghum production. BMR sorghum has lower input requirements than corn. It is very drought tolerant and requires less fertilizer and significantly less water than corn, while still being high in protein, Cure says. Research shows that BMR sorghum can tolerate a shorter growing season than corn, which allows for more flexibility in the planting date. Because there is no milk line to wait for, its harvest window is larger than corn silage. Harvest risk may also be spread over two or three cuts because the grain is not being harvested for quality.

Harvest on the High PlainsCutting of brown mid-rib sorghum ended near Garden City, Kansas, in midSeptember. Circles averaged 12 to 15 tons. Crop Quest agronomist Jamie Cure says if we get a fair amount of snow this winter, he anticipates seeing more corn on those acres. However, if this winter brings limited moisture, he expects planted BMR sorghum acres to remain stable.

Visit with Crop Quest representatives at the following events:

Wichita Farm Show, Nov. 5-7, 2002, Wichita, Kan. Amarillo Farm Show, Dec. 3-5, 2002, Amarillo, Tex. F.A.C.T. Conference, Jan. 7-8, 2003, Liberal, Kan. Topeka Farm Show, Jan. 7-9, 2003, Topeka, Kan. Enid AgriFest, Jan. 10-11, 2003, Enid, Okla. No-Till on the Plains, Jan. 27-28, 2003, Salina, Kan. Colorado Farm Show, Jan. 28-30, 2003, Greeley, Colo. NAICC, Jan. 15-18, 2003, Arlington, Va. K-State Prec. Ag Conf., Jan. 28-29, 2003, Great Bend.

Lodged standsWhile BMR sorghum offers many positive benefits, lodging toward the end of the growing season has shown to be a problem because of its reduced lignin content. It is because of this reduced lignin that the sorghum offers improved dry matter intake and digestibility.

Employee-Owned & Customer Driven

By Ron OHanlon, President

Member, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants CPCC-I Certified

Sound planning necessary for top management

ost crop and livestock producers suffered significant losses across the High Plains this summer due to severe drought and low grain and livestock prices. Even though prices have rebounded somewhat recently, disaster programs will be necessary for a number of producers to survive. Some producers primarily lost their dryland crops, while their irrigated crops did well. Other producers suffered on both their dryland and irrigated crops. Those who suffered losses on their irrigated crops either had low gallonage wells, poor nozzle patterns, compaction layers, system breakdowns, or storm damage. Looking forward to the next cropping season, sound and thorough planning will be essential for top management. It is important to look back and ask yourself what could have been done differently to have improved the situation. Many irrigation wells need to be re-evaluated for different nozzle packages due to lower gallonage and/or lower pressure. A number of nozzles that were partially plugged from debris had serious repercussions on the crop, where

they may have otherwise gone unnoticed in a normal year. This may be the time to look at putting drop nozzles on systems that still have nozzles on top of the system. A producer may want to think seriously about subsurface drip irrigation systems and applying for EQUIP money through the new Farm Program. Soil compaction has always been a yield robber. This year, even minor compaction had serious consequences. However, it appears that something more than compaction resulted in the lack of water infiltration on soils that were extremely dry. Even where pivots ran continuous, some areas in a field tended to resist taking in water. Soil moisture conservation and pre-watering is necessary in years of serious droughts. Many small wells cannot catch up once the soil moisture gets behind. Where water allocations are a concern, then alternative crops and limited watering may be necessary. Tillage, fertilizer, seed, crop and other decisions will have to be made over the next few months as we go into our winter season. Sit down with your Crop Quest agronomist and establish a game plan to make 2003 a profitable year.

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