August has been filled with the final applications and the beginning of harvest preparations on Schrock Farms.

Fungicide is flying overhead and late-season nitrogen and micronutrient passes are being applied. The combine and corn head are in the shop getting ready while the family is working on updates and upgrades to the grain facility.

“It’s that time — fall is in the air.”

Flooding early during the growing season caused a loss on considerable acres, but the soybeans that survived or avoided the flood waters look healthy and the corn that made it through pollination looks promising as well.

Despite the growing season stressors, Dave thinks this year’s harvest will be right on schedule — triggering any time after September 20.

July on Schrock Farms started a little differently than normal — with about 1,000 acres of crops underwater.

“We were irrigating heavily the first week of July. When we saw that storm system was coming toward us, we started tying things down and shutting things off.”

But, if you know Dave, you know a little — or a lot —of rain won’t crush his optimistic spirit.

“What’s not underwater looks great! Our tissue tests are all good. This is the first time in the eight years I’ve been a part of the Total Acre® program where my nutrient levels have all been in the green.”

Dave hasn’t just spent time looking at this year’s samples, he’s sure to look at decades worth of his records to try to help predict his harvest season.

“History can tell you what fields fall off in what nutrients at what time of the year. I have 25+ years of tissue samples. If you have that, you can start drawing your own conclusions about what’s going to happen in individual fields with the conditions you’re presented with now.”

Tissue sampling and data analysis aren’t the only modern technology at work this month at Schrock Farms. Thanks to his team of drones, Dave doesn’t have to worry about putting ruts in his fields along with his fungicide or pulling on his galoshes to scout fields.

“A ground rig is still the fastest way to apply what we need, but drone technology has a lot of potential in this space. We also have drones with cameras that we use to scout our fields.”

Dave remembers July as a child on the farm being a slow time of year but says it’s funny how quickly things can change—with life or with the weather.

Dave Schrock recalled his childhood summers when chores wrapped up in early June and he spent the rest of the month fishing with his dad. Fishing didn’t make it on the June to-do list this year, though. Join Dave on the latest episode of Frontier Fields to hear about his start to this season.

Rain is usually a good thing, but this spring has been so wet for Dave Schrock that it’s pushed back what he thought would be an early planting season. Out of 6,000 acres of corn and soybeans, he and son Zach only planted about 120 acres of soybeans by May 3.

“It was just a wet mess. We couldn’t do anything in the fields. There was one day where we moved to a field and got stuck four times. And just as we got the last tractor out, it started to rain — another 1.6 inches overnight.”

But as frustrating as that can be, Dave also knows that it can get dry just as fast as it got wet.

“I have data that shows any field where we averaged over 300 bushels were planted after May 26, so we really shouldn’t worry. Plus, now we have products like BioPath® that we can rely on. That really helps in extended planting seasons like this year. It enhances and stabilizes the nutrients in the soil, so they are available as soon as the plant is ready to take them.”

Dave also reflects on one growing season in particular that proved no challenge is too tough to overcome.

Early April is the final countdown before planting, and Dave Schrock and his son, Zach, have been busy wrapping up field tile work and making final equipment repairs. While it’s all the standard preparation you might expect, they do one thing most farmers might not do — they jar test their liquid starter mixes.

“We don’t use a blanket fertilizer program for all of our acres. We develop different starter mixes based on what our soil tests tell us about our specific fields — or even specific sections of our fields. So, Zach and I try to mimic those mixes in a jar.”

Currently, Dave and Zach have seven different mixes they’re testing. “Mosaic does a great job to make sure their products are compatible. But if we add in other products, I want to know that everything will work together. If it doesn’t, I’d rather see that out here on the table and not in a 1,000-gallon tank going to a planter.”

Right now, Dave said the planters are ready to go, and weather permitting, they will have beans in the ground and corn started by the end of April. “We’re just trying to get everything in place, so that when the planting window opens up, we can crawl through it.”

Like all farmers this time of year, Dave and his son, Zach, are busy getting their equipment fine-tuned and ready for the upcoming season. But with less-than-favorable corn markets and input prices not being in an ideal place this year, Dave says they are doing a lot more budgeting to make sure they’re making the right product choices before they head out into the field. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time going through different scenarios on what we should do. Can we do this? Or can we do that? In the end, we’re sticking with products that have proven performance.”

Though they’re only trialing BioPath right now, Dave appreciates the data behind it and that he has seen a significant increase in yield on that field.

Dave is ready to start the 2024 growing season strong. He’s looking forward to achieving healthy, balanced soils to help his crops overcome any challenges that an unpredictable growing season might throw his way. 

Catch up with Dave as he starts his 2024 BioPath trial.