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Andrew Focht
Villisca, IowaAs a former soil conservation scientist at the USDA NRCS and current owner of a financial planning business, Andrew knows that understanding his soil’s biology is smart business.
Operation overview :Acres:650Crops:soybeancornTillageStip tillWhat Drives Andrew?
Profitable business decisions drive Andrew – especially on a small farm. His deep financial background helps him assess the markets and plan for the future, which benefits both his clients and his bottom line.
“I only take on clients who know I’m also a farmer. They can call me on my cell phone when they need to reach me, but we schedule meetings in winter and summertime.”
Fertility Program
Andrew has a regimented fertility program that includes:
- Applying strips of P and K in fall
- Applying N in strips in the spring (60% urea; 40% ESN), as well as some S and Zn
- Supplementing with in-furrow and top-dress applications at V5 or V6
- Adding foliar applications in season after tassel
Why Biologicals
“Since I’ve started farming by myself, I’ve been pushing to learn more about the corn plant, so I can get higher yields and become more profitable. Finding the right balance in my soil is a big part of that.”
THE LATEST ON PAYLLY FARMS
GOING STRONG
Thanks to delayed planting in the spring and high corn moisture in the fall, harvest feels like it’s dragging on at Paylly Farms. But, thanks to good friends, family and positive yield results, Andrew Focht isn’t getting discouraged.
Catch up with Andrew to hear more about his harvest season!
Andrew’s 2023 Trial Data
Crop:CornFertility Timing:Fall, Spring, SummerOrganic Matter:3.59%Trial Objectives:Higher yieldSoil Type Mix:Sand/Clay/Silt/Loam:Bottom ground primarily; couple farms with terracesYield Comparison:5.29bu/acBioPath Application:In-furrow on seed"It’s going to take more bushels to break even this year. I’ve already done some marketing for 2025. I feel fortunate; I’ve already sold about 66%-67% of this year's crop."
- Andrew FochtVisit our Next Farmer:
Granvil TravisGenerational success drives Granvil every year. Farming is what he knows and loves, and as the only family member in his generation farming full time, he wants to keep it going so his daughters, nephews and young cousins have the chance to farm if they choose to follow in his footsteps.
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PREVIOUSLY: PAYLLY FARMS
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SEPTEMBER 2024
A BUSY, BUSY TIME
For Andrew Focht, the start of fall is the start of a busy, but productive routine. FFA meetings, volleyball games, harvest preparation — the Focht’s are everywhere at once.
Hear what else Andrew is up to and how he’s feeling heading into harvest season.
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AUGUST 2024
FEELING BETTER THAN BEFORE
Corn has all tasseled. Tissue sampling and applications are done. Paylly Farms harvest is on the horizon for Andrew Focht.
“I don’t have lofty expectations, but it will be okay. With the right amount of rain, I think I’ll have spots in my fields that will be the best it’s ever been. But overall, I think it’s too uneven to be our best harvest ever.”
While he’s not expecting his best harvest, Andrew says he feels much better about his crop now than in the early season.
“When you sit for three weeks and don’t do anything during planting season, it’s hard to be positive.”
With his eye on the prize at the end of the season, Andrew is starting some pre-harvest maintenance on his strip-till bar and auger wagon. His combine and corn head are ready to roll, his corn is happy, and harvest seems to be right on schedule.
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JULY 2024
SURVIVING ANOTHER SEASON
Now that planting season is over, Andrew Focht is looking at his next hurdle — storm season.
“I’ve seen enough windstorms come in August. At this point I’m waiting for it, but hopefully we can get through this year without it. Our corn roots are deep, but they’re not as deep as they would be if we got some hot, dry weather.”
The constant rain does have its perks. It’s given Andrew time to work on his new-to-him sprayer, visit the county fair with his family and watch his corn soak up some moisture.
“With uneven emergence and the wet conditions, I’ve got corn that tasseled in early July and corn that still didn’t tassel until the end of the month — all within 50 feet of each other. Everything really does look pretty good, though.”
Weekly tissue samples show good nutrient availability in just about everything except boron, which Andrew plans to combat by adding the nutrient to his fungicide application.
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JUNE 2024
ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES
May brought near-record moisture to Paylly Farms as ponding in some fields had Andrew Focht facing yet another potential item on his June to-do list — replant. From extreme drought last year to record moisture this year, Andrew is no stranger to a less-than-ideal start to the season, but tissue samples show promising results. Catch up with him on the latest episode of Frontier Fields.
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MAY 2024
START. STOP. AND START AGAIN.
For Andrew Focht, spring planting has been running really smoothly — that is, when he can get in the fields. Rain has been the culprit, causing him to start, stop and then start back up again. But like most farmers, he’s rolling with it.
“I got about 65% done with planting, and it had been going really well. I even got my BioPath® trials done, and thanks to all of my helpers — Karla, Payton and Lily — I got everything flagged.”
Then the rain hit. For nearly two weeks he watched as rain, heavy storms and some hail passed through, leaving behind close to 3” of water.
“It left me a little nervous being out of the field for so long because my planter was in the shed and full of fertilizer. I ended up taking some fertilizer out and putting it into a tote, so that when I was able to start again, I could push it back in to mix it all up.”
But once he got back into the field, all was well. Now he’s looking forward to seeing how his corn will do given the early rain — especially where he used BioPath.
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APRIL 2024
MIXING IT UP WITH SPRING STRIPS
As a farmer and financial planner, being prepared is all but engrained in Andrew’s DNA. So, he’s taken the last month to get as ready as he can be for the new growing season. That preparation has given him the opportunity to try some new things this spring.
Andrew typically lays his strip fertilizers down in the fall, but this season he mixed it up a bit and is tilling some strips this spring. “I’ve been applying urea, ESN®, sulfur, zinc and humic acid in those strips, and I’m excited by how my strips look right now. They look garden-tilled and phenomenal.”
But with anything new comes a kernel of uncertainty. “To be honest, I’m also a little worried about my strips. I hate to say I want it to stop raining because we’ve been in a drought for four years and need it, but I just have this back-of-the-mind fear of compaction 2 to 6 inches down. I’m just not used to doing spring strips.”
Andrew’s non-farming business and side projects are helping distract him from those fears. He’s been conducting portfolio reviews with his financial planning clients and recording his farming podcast episodes with his co-host.
“Now we’re just waiting for Mother Nature to give us some good soil temperatures and a positive forecast so we can actually start planting.”
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March 2024
For the Fochts, it’s learning by doing!
Meet the Fochts! Andrew and his family are on a mission to achieve 300 bushels per acre on their farm. Their hands-on testing with BioPath and various soil types will help them learn what can bring his corn-on-corn operation to the next level.
Follow the Focht family to see if they can achieve their yield goal this year.
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February 2024
Using Biologicals to push yields
Andrew has had high yield goals for a long time, going back to his childhood when he heard of Francis Childs’ yield of 400 bu/ac of corn when 175 bu/ac was the norm. So to push his yields – and profitability – he tried a lot of things last year to see what worked, including biologicals like BioPath.
He used BioPath in-furrow on the planter this past season and saw heavier test weight with BioPath versus his control. This season, he plans to use it the same way, but on a larger scale. Andrew also saw others trial BioPath at V4 and V5 with good results, so wants to try that in addition to switching up the hybrids to see how it compares.
“Before, I thought biologicals were just an added expense and didn’t understand what it was doing. I still don’t understand what it’s doing fully, but in my weekly field observations and tissue samples, I can visually see the difference in my plant health. Now that I know what I’m looking for, I can document it.”
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