I don’t know what to call this harvest season yet as it is a long way from in the books, but I can think of a few names for it so far. Not including the four letter names, a few would be rushed, hectic, condensed, muddy, or especially demanding. The reason I bring this up is not to increase anybody’s anxiety level, but to reinforce everything that is on your plate right now. Each and every one of them has a degree of importance, and we want to help get you through this fall and winter.

Every year when I get a chance to ride in the combine with you folks at some point the conversation turns to inputs. What do we see in the field that indicates how we did this year? What do we like? What do we hate? etc. Every year as we begin to talk about strategies for next season, I hear the phrase that scares me as much as anything, “Let’s talk about it after Harvest.”

Listen, I am a realist, and just like you, I spend a good many hours during harvest in the seat of a combine, tractor, or truck. Moreover, just like you, when I am in the combine especially, I do not want to be bothered with having to make ancillary decisions that are not relevant to today’s task. Just leave me alone and let me get this crop out of the field. So when I put my Agronomist hat back on, it is hard to argue with you. Clouded minds seldom make clear decisions.

But the reality of the 2017 Harvest is that I am afraid that we will not have time to harvest, do fall field work, and then make our decisions on things like fertility before we run out of time. Neither history nor the calendar is on our side. So where does that leave us? Unfortunately, it means one of two things, making decisions in the cab, or enabling our trusted advisor to do some things for us. In either case, I think that we as a team are more ready for both of those scenarios with FieldReveal in our pocket than we were last year.

Let’s talk soil sampling for a minute. Waiting for harvest to be over and then turning fields in for soil sampling is not going to work this year. As you are finishing fields, it would be helpful to let your FSA know right away. That way we can get the sampling done ASAP, and then turn to the decision process. With FieldReveal, we can bring that decision process to you. In the cab, in the morning before you get started, whenever you feel that the time is right, we can be there.

And so my take home for the day is simply this: just because the weather or field conditions are against us, don’t let those factors push you into a corner. We can avoid making decisions late or under duress with a little planning and a little communication. Talking to your FSA is a must though. Waiting may be the hardest part, but I love it when a plan comes together.