XtremeAg farmers dig into 2022 growing season data

XtremeAg's Kelly Garrett, Matt Miles, and Kevin Matthews dive into the data to find out what worked and more importantly, why it worked.

KELLY GARRETT - ARION, IOWA

A fifth-generation farmer, Kelly Garrett farms corn, soybeans, and winter wheat in western Iowa.

We are finishing up analyzing all our data. We are very excited about quite a few of our trials this year because of our focus on getting more calcium into the plants as well as stress mitigation.

Our trials with Agroliquid's LiberateCa in both corn and soybeans have provided some very nice results, and we are seeing a real difference in yield when compared to our checks. Our stress mitigation trials with AgXplore's Octane and Agricen's Terramar, as well as Shield from Integrated Ag Solutions all delivered nice yield gains as well. This year was a real test for stress mitigation products as the heat was on pretty much all season.

In terms of plant health, we continued to see some great results with our different SprayTec trials with products like Cube.

At XtremeAg, we are fortunate enough to be able to trial all these plant heath and stress mitigation products and I encourage everyone take a look at these plant health and stress mitigation products for next season. We are spending a lot of money on fertility, and we need to be looking at plant health and stress mitigation products to get the most out of our fertility products.

MATT MILES - MCGEHEE, ARKANSAS

Matt Miles is a fourth-generation farmer in southeast Arkansas who grows corn, soybeans, rice, and cotton.

'Tis the season to find the reasons! All the data is in and now we are finding out what worked and what didn't. It's very encouraging that most of our trials have shown some good results. This year was the third hottest June on record in Arkansas so if something worked in this heat, it was very encouraging. We were able to pinpoint certain varieties that can take stress better than others. Anytime we have an anomaly year, it gives us a chance to see which products showed out and rose to the top. Those varieties and practices that shine in an extremely stressful year make the difference in a profit or loss.

This past week was very enjoyable as I got to see a lot of Iowa as we traveled to Demco headquarters to tour the plant and interact with the management of their company. Other than Kelly trying to act like Chad and getting a greeting card from Iowa's finest, things went as planned!

Things will slow down dramatically as we approach the Christmas holidays, but after, it will be back to figuring out what we need to change to make things more profitable and efficient on our farm. Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope the holidays bring plenty of cheer to all.

KEVIN MATTHEWS - EAST BEND, NORTH CAROLINA

Kevin and his wife, Cindy, own and operate Matthews Family Farms of North Carolina, Inc., Precision Nutrient Management, Inc., and Deep Creek Grain, Inc. in East Bend and Yadkinville.

Harvest has wrapped up. We are finishing sorting all our harvest data and placing seed orders for spring. This is the time of year we spend time in the office preparing. Our harvest data has shown several positive results. We are excited to add a few of these trials across more acres. This week we will sharing results on our first year-end XtremeAg webinar for members.

It's been extremely wet with more rain in the forecast. Field work that needs to be completed will be pushed into the new year waiting for the ground to dry.

With harvest being complete and unable to be in the field we've took a few early afternoons to spend time with the family and enjoy the Christmas season.

XtremeAg.farm is a team of the nation's top producers who have come together to share their experience, expertise, knowledge, and farming practices with other farmers. Members get access to exclusive content from the team as well as one-on-one support for their own farming operation. Visit XtremeAg.farm for more information.