Agronomy Update

  "I ain't getting on no damn time machine!" - Marvin Barnes, ABA basketball player 1974-'76 In the early to mid-1970’s the ABA was much more of a wild and carefree league compared to the NBA, and it’s where Marvin Barnes prospered with the St. Louis Spirits averaging 24 points and 13.5 rebounds per game during his first two all-star seasons of professional basketball.   Off the court, Marvin indulged in the 70’s lifestyle, and on this particular day, upon evaluation of his plane ticket – which was set to depart from Louisville, KY (8 am EST) four minutes after he was scheduled to land in St. Louis (7:56 am, albeit in the Central time zone) – Mr. Barnes was convinced he had valid concerns about his morning travel adventure.   I’m not sure if Marvin was just apprehensive towards flying, but in the end, he decided to implement some risk management and rent a car! We all have our own tolerance for risk in today’s business world, and we tend to be rewarded for plannin...

  “If you’re looking to modify a fertility program to achieve higher yield output, just realize that it takes the soil 3-4 years to fully adapt to those nutrient changes.” – David Sass, Pioneer Field Agronomist in the Pacific Northwest To help emphasize this point, we could iterate that crop yields three to four years in the future will be influenced by our management practices being employed today.   If you have conducted some tissue tests and/or expanded soil testing in some higher production fields to push productivity, understand that it takes time for significant fertilizer applications to be absorbed by the soil.   The patience we must display in agriculture can be frustrating at times, but usually the long-term rewards for enhanced management are well worth the wait.   Weather Well, the weather to date has been tolerable with many above average days lately and most operations finding a steady rhythm to this season’s harvest.   We’ve had the usual ...

  “Hey Maay-horn, are you guarding me?  I’m over here!” – Larry Bird, NBA Hall of Famer It was Eastern Conference NBA play-off basketball in May of 1987, and despite the verbal taunting from Bird, Rick Mahorn (properly pronounced muh-Horn) and the Detroit Pistons had just prevented the Celtics, and Larry Bird specifically, from scoring the go-ahead basket late in the 4 th quarter on the famous parquet floor.  The Pistons were rewarded possession of the ball, had a one-point lead, a full time-out to spare, and five seconds remaining on the game clock.  Mahorn and his teammates were just moments away from getting a critical playoff win.  However, Larry Bird kept his mind in the game, and executed one of the greatest steals of his career and arguably in all of basketball history.  The famous Johnny Most play-by-play quote is highly reminisced, “Annnnnd - now there’s a steal by Bird, underneath to DJ, lays it in!”  It was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference ...

  "We’re not giving-up, and you’re not going to give-up either!” – Larry Bird, NBA Hall of Famer   It was halftime of the Boston Celtics game at “The Omni” Coliseum in Atlanta (January of ’86), and the visitors found themselves in a big deficit – 22 points (48-70).  The 1980’s era of basketball did not have regular 20-point comebacks like today, but Larry Bird still found a way to get fired-up to start the 3 rd quarter and he informed the referee to stay mentally sharp as well despite the scoreboard reading.  I’m not sure what was said during the intermission by head coach K.C. Jones, but the Celtics did claw their way back into the game throughout the third period.  In the fourth quarter, the Celtics were able to force overtime and found a way to complete the night with a 3-point win!  Bird finished with a game-high 41 points, including four free-throws in the waning moments to seal the game, to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  Dominique Wi...

  "What would happen if you fasted for seven days?   No food consumption; only water for a week.   In all seriousness, it would probably be the healthiest thing a person could do for their body!" – Dr. Eric Berg   Now this may sound extreme on the cuff, but there are some human health experts promoting the term “intermittent fasting”.   Intermittent fasting will probably have slightly different meanings to various people, but it’s basically an extended fast that would last at minimum a few hours longer than a natural overnight fast of 10-12 hours.   Supposedly, intermittent fasting and a low-carbohydrate diet go hand in hand for sustaining the body in a comfortable manner during extended fasting.   As the body and mind becomes more accustomed to fasting, it’s not uncommon for the intermittent fasting to theoretically last into the range of 48-72 hours and beyond. If you think about it in nature, does the wild animal eat three square meals a day? ...