Calibrated Agronomy

I received this from an @XtremeAgFarming member by Mapleton Iowa. 2 different hybrids here. 115 lbs of N applied to both. Maybe N isn’t our limiting factor. @CalibratedAg

this is is such a big topic for me that its hard to type it all but ill try. the formula for ND is mineral balance plus biodiversity (soil health). I can achieve mineral balance in almost any plant though a SAP analysis from @CalibratedAg and I believe my iowa soil is healthy so Ive now achieved ND. Drake Im sure breeding has caused part of the slide but that priority is way down the list of low hanging fruit for me. for example it's easier to achieve mineral balance in a non gmo variety of corn. but Im able to achieve mineral balance in triple stack variety as well. just costs more. the talk of hybrids or genetics doesn't interest me much anymore because until you see how achieving ND changes the plant all other metrics are useless imo. I think that after we get more of a sense of what's possible with ND genetics or hybrids can then be discussed. Luke Harvey is a dairy farmer SE of Atlanta Georgia and he's an @XtremeAgFarming member. He was having trouble with some soil that had seen much dairy manure and was out of balance. his questions were over my head and I connected him with Calibrated Agronomy. They got him to use Bio Ag E which is the biological we use and they had him start to sap test. Luke called me after chopping happy as a kid at Christmas. the starch in his corn silage was up 7-10%. this is important because it equates to a .30$ per head per day savings. so CA improved his biodiversity and helped him achieve mineral balance and look at the result!! All of a sudden quality matters not just quantity. do you know one question that was not asked? what hybrid are you using. we've got no idea because it doesn't matter to us grok suggests that if my beef cattle were fed this type of starch improved corn the gain would go up 10%. hogs and poultry would be even more because their feed conversion is better. and now lets discuss ethanol. Grok suggests that if I can improve the starch 7-10% ethanol would yield would go up .2 of a gallon per bushel. I told my local ethanol plan this and they looked at me like I had 3 eyeballs. fast forward to thanksgiving. the plant called and said there was a problem with our corn. when we hauled in out of the bags hard and heavy we were supplying 90% of the days grind. on those days the oil production dropped 20%. I asked what did the ethanol production do? a blank stare was the response. I returned home and asked Grok about the oil drop. grok responded and said "what the hell did you think was going to happen? its a zero sum game and if you improved ethanol something had to give." so asked again and it was confirmed that the ethanol yield form those days was very nice. so imo the much maligned corn plant that is called an industrial product and not a plant is really getting the short end of the stick. provide the plant with what it needs and you'll be rewarded. I was told that I could do this in my Iowa soil but not in a different geography. so xtremeAg had a challenge at Matt Miles in SE Arkansas. I only beat Matt by one bushel but I did it 50$ per acre less. that's the most amazing part to me. with this management style I can increase yield and quality cheaper then I did before. it just takes management. I sure dont want to get into a grass fed vs grain fed debate especially an emotional one. im about the science. I started to research this because I wanted to know why grass fed is considered healthier than grain fed. its the ND. but as you can see by the ND report grain fed has huge potential. look at my calcium numbers on the ND report. Calcium is the most troublesome nutrient we deal with in corn production. Im incredibly proud of that calcium number. And now Im onto zinc. we applied extra zinc to our silage corn last summer. had nothing to do with yield. I was trying to infuse the zinc into the corn to get it into the beef. as I said earlier today im waiting on Utah state to send the results. this is why it think grain fed beef has more potential then grass fed. I can infuse the nutrient I want into the corn crop and then get it into the cattle. Should a woman eat my beef to help with her risk of osteoporosis? the data sure looks like that. will the calcium in my beef be more available then the calcium supplement she's currently taking? imagine the possibilities. Ive been on a carnivore diet for almost 4 years. regarding @CBKimbrell post from earlier today that started this conversation. he's right. Beef per ounce is far more ND than other foods. and if we pay attention to the agronomy we can make beef a super food very easy. I was fascinated by the @fortworthchris podcast with the kosher cowboy. Jordan talked of loving data. so do I. id love to tell him that I think I can improve your rate of gain by 10%. I bet that would get his attention. it sure has got mine.