NOT Your Average POGO Stick - POGOing The Corn

We join Andrew again out in the field, this time to POGO the corn! This isn't your traditional POGO stick however, as this instrument will tell us how spacing impacts our bottom line!
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How Farms Work by Ryan Kuster is a KZbin channel based in rural Potosi, Wisconsin.
Our mission is to teach those who didn't grow up on a farm what the farming life is like.
These videos show the Kuster family working together raising cattle and crops. We believe everyone who wants to know more about farming should be able to share the farming experience with us and we look to educate the world on many essential agriculture topics.
How Farms Work takes place on ~1,100 acres with around 75-200 cattle at any given time. Four John Deere tractors are currently used on the farm, which are a 4020, 4640, 7600, and 8235R.

[@mkunkle93]

Good to see the manager hard at work in the background!

[@petruzzovichi]

Beyond Amazing. God bless Ryan and Andrew...and all the farmers and ranchers.

[@timmattison6553]

what Andrew does to help you guys maximize your crops sure seems to be money well spent. great video. would be nice to see more informational videos like that if possible

[@Adam_Poirier]

Really cool video on this one. Andrew is so knowledgeable I could listen to him talk all day

[@14Marathons]

I was going to say the exact same thing.

[@ginggur17]

The technology involved with farming is astounding Ryan. It’s so cool that you show us the behind the scenes.

[@MatthewHoag77]

I guess that's not much of a "weird flex" when it comes to corn. There's so much more information available to you now than just a matter of years ago, and it's incredibly wise to use it to your advantage. Thanks for taking us along.

[@farmshoffman8475]

I learn a lot to how Andrew explains things , great knowledgeable info

[@dimduk]

A good agronomist will make you a lot of corn, a great agronomist will make you a lot of money.

[@rmhovis]

another great video! I am fascinated by the knowledge Andrew exhibits. Could you please do a little bio on Andrew, I would love to know he got to be so knowledgeable.

[@glenrummel4483]

Another awesome class from Professor Andrew! It is amazing how much technology has been deployed to the farmers to improve crop yield. Great video!!!

[@tokencivilian8507]

Interesting stuff. Great to see how all the various systems work together from recording tillage, to planting details, the current in field monitoring, and finally the yield monitors in the fall. If farmers from 100 years ago could see how its done today, I'm sure they'd be amazed at the levels of technology and knowledge required to run a farm.

[@clinthochrein888]

I’m gonna have to this video to my dad an mom next time when I see them. They would be shocked an amazed of how much things have changed since they quit dairy farming in the early 2000.

[@WarStrider]

This was a great video, lots of information in it, Andrew knows his stuff.

[@jordanschneider6505]

Corn looks awesome

[@tomhill4765]

All you wanted to know about corn, but was afraid to ask. Interesting. Looking back to when I was a teen on the farm in FFA , we knew so little 60 years ago.

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Vlog good to see the science behind growing high yeilds of corn

[@doclull1989]

Hey Ryan!! Hey Andrew!! Looks like some great corn growing.

[@danfinley3690]

Very interesting set up awesome to see the video thanks Ryan

[@FoolOfATuque]

It's good to see you are out standing in your field today.

[@Adam_Poirier]

Also keep your head up man I’m doing house renovations and new floors myself and I get home from the shop every day and it’s discouraging to see my house all ripped apart lol. But the end result is well worth it I admire your motivation take care Ryan

[@fazerainbow5674]

great video ryan lot of stuff to remeber when samplying seems kida hard

[@marknewman5847]

Corn is looking great, very handy pogo stick

[@andrewbusshardt4533]

Pretty cool how technology has come along. Thanks for showing how that pogo works lol. How is your cousins farm doing since the tornado?? Maybe a update video and have they started rebuilding the old stave silo that u know?? Thanks Ryan have a good one!!!

[@lukestrawwalker]

Interesting... I figured the thing would have had a built-in laser detector or sonic detector to automatically detect the plants and log them in as it moved through the field... but the pointer and button is much cheaper I'm sure, and allows you to enter data on each plant as it goes. Guess the full auto version will be on POGO 2 or whatever comes next, along with automatic plant health/size/stage detection LOL:) Sure beats doing it with a tape measure and pen and notebook or a hula-hoop! OL J R :)

[@brittblanton8342]

Thanks for the video Ryan the corn looks great 👍

[@feltro19]

Wow i had no ideal that was interesting Ryan good video that guy know his corn 🌽

[@waterskiingfool]

Corn is looking great

[@Homegardener55]

My sweet corn is at the very early stages of R3. Its a GMO Attribute trait stack variety from Syngenta.

[@richdillon2157]

I am surely Amazed at how technology has come from when we planted corn 40 years ago, At times I am lost with it all. I think back and remember how we planted corn or any other crop and just hoped and prayed that we had a good harvest. I know that my Grand father, Dad and Uncle would be as lost as I am at this Modern day Farming. Very interesting to me to say the least. To another question I have about all this Technology, What is the cost for Andrew from start to finish to come out and do all of his testing ? or is it covered already in a yearly cost of planting the corn from buying the seed to harvest. The only reason I ask, Is because I have NO idea how much all this cost and how it effects your bottom line. Thank you for sharing Ryan

[@lukestrawwalker]

Depends on how many services he's providing... I know years ago I hired an agronomist for a couple years to come scout bugs in the cotton (cotton is prone to a LOT more insect damage in-season than many other crops) and it was basically about $20 per acre, back in the 90's. That was basically just a weekly bug sweep in a couple different areas of the field, no testing on this level. I'm sure it's a lot more money now simply due to inflation, let alone the time and technology required, plus the lab tests on foliage and soil samples! OL J R :)

[@SimonKL11]

The corn looks awesome👍😁 hope you have a great yield😉👍

[@kennethmorgan1465]

Wow! That is some good corn!

[@davidkauffman6071]

Keep up the good work

[@kevinwillis9126]

Great vid guys thanks...

[@SledgeHammer43]

Planting patterns has a big impact to. Wow Ryan doing some home Reno. If I had your Home I would start with Electrical and water lines then Insulation and Vapor barrier, fallowed by New Windows and Doors to save on your HVAC cost then next would Be HVAC to help recovery those cost. Then would be the make it prettier stage.

[@lindadanielson7849]

Aaah children of the corn

[@AgrarHunter]

😍😍😍 класно, мені подобається

[@EtzEchad]

Fascinating! There's a lot to ponder with all that data. From the size of the roots, it looks like the rows could be a little closer together. Has anyone ever tried planting, say, 24" rows? (I know that you'd have to change EVERYTHING in your equipment to do that, so it's probably not worth changing.)

[@lukestrawwalker]

Oh, there's a LOT of experimentation going on with different row spacings, to be sure. There's some guys near my brother-in-law's (BIL) in Indiana who are planting twin rows on 30 inch centers, spaced 10 inches apart... so that's a row, 10 inches over another row, and then 20 inches over another row, then 10 inches over another row, etc. Each of the twin rows are 5 inches to the left and right of where a normal 30 inch spaced row would be planted. Historically, 30 inch rows came about as it was learned that narrower row spacings yielded better over the "old standard" 40 inch row spacings common back in the horse-farming days (40 inches was needed for a horse to walk between the rows and not damage them). Some guys experiment with 20 inch rows, and some are even planting corn near my BIL's place in 15 inch rows, and one guy even on 7.5 inch-10 inch rows. You can fit two 20 inch rows into the same space as one 40 inch row, so for a given population, the narrower row spacing means the seeds are twice as far apart on 20 inch rows as 40 inch rows, so the plants have more room all the way around them between each other than growing in wide rows. That's why the yield is higher. I've seen fields of 7.5-10 inch row corn and basically every stalk is about equidistant to every other stalk in the field, IOW, you can't really even hardly see the rows anymore, since the stalks are about as far apart left and right as they are from one plant to the next planted by the same row unit on the planter. Narrower rows allow you to increase plant populations per acre as well WITHOUT overcrowding the plants so they compete for nutrients, water, and sunlight, and gives a quicker "canopy" which usually reduces weed problems and increases sunlight interception. One negative is, it makes any "in season" work in the crop virtually IMPOSSIBLE since nothing can drive through the field in such narrow row spacings without running down crop, and unlike soybeans, corn won't "stand back up" after being run flat, particularly later in the season. Twin rows on 30 inch centers have the advantage of being capable of being picked with a standard 30 inch corn head as well, since the twin rows will each bend 5 inches left or right to go into the head's single row units on 30 inch centers without too much trouble... (down corn is another matter, it's hard enough to pick in standard 30 inch row spacings). Twenty inch rows require special corn heads, and 15 or narrower inch rows require some of those really new-fangled cornheads designed more like a silage cutting head to gather crop REGARDLESS of row spacing... On the planting end of it, Monosem and Great Plains builds narrow row and twin row planters in a variety of spacing patterns. Deere and Kinze planters can be adapted to narrow rows, with the Kinze push-units being easier to adapt. Deere planters basically require a 'double bar' to adapt to spacings narrower than about 15 inches. Problem is planters get VERY heavy and EXTREMELY expensive when you start adding all those extra row units! Drills don't have the accuracy to meter out corn in accurate singulation of the seed and spacing required for maximum yields, though some units pair basically ultra-narrow-row (UNR) "drill type" narrow planter-type drill row units with double-disk openers and narrow gauge wheels and press wheels in a staggered arrangement, with planter-type meters (finger meters or air/vacuum disk meters) to singulate and space the seed properly and deliver it to the row unit openers for planting. Monosem planters are made for specialty crops grown in many different "non-conventional" row widths and planting patterns typical in vegetable production and other specialty crop production methods. Later! OL J R :)

[@EtzEchad]

luke strawwalker Thanks for the information! I’m not surprised that there is a lot of experimentation going on. I pretty much know nothing about it, but it seems to me that there is wasted space in the field between the rows where the roots don’t go. It’s basic math that if you get 50% more plants, you will get 50% more yield (minus the losses because of more shade.) I didn’t think of the other problems, such as being able to drive through the field though. In the last 100 years, corn yield has gone up by a factor of 10. A lot of smart people have done that!

[@johnnyessick7208]

Interesting video.

[@peteparker7396]

That’s why striptilling In fertilizer pays off big. If you can’t striptill rig up a system on your planter.

[@tracyeaves1084]

Good luck

[@michaelc9128]

Ryan do you ever grow any sweet corn in the field ,for your own consumption

[@SmallMartingale]

They would cross pollinate

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@SmallMartingale Usually sweet corn pollinates a lot earlier, so it's not a problem if you plant it right... BIL plants about a dozen rows of sweet corn across the end of the fields, one for our family one on his uncle's place for him and his wife and extended family to pick sweet corn. Later! OL J R :)

[@adamschleef4182]

more cow videos

[@peterjames2004]

hes got a black eye at the end

[@johnperry5102]

with the science that you are using is there an improvement in your crop output

[@beksatbahadirov6770]

Классно

[@merrymanrc]

No he not looking at the corn but he really looking for "ET" or👽👽when you not looking hehehe

[@klasrask1450]

why does the corn plant usually grow worse at the edges of the field?

[@lowellwalter9420]

Usually the plants on the edge of the field grow better because it is exposed to more sunlight.

[@lowellwalter9420]

Corn on the edge of the field could grow worse if the ground is compacted from equipment traffic

[@lukestrawwalker]

Trees and weeds on the field borders tend to sap moisture and nutrients from the field, and the borders tend to be wetter when it's wet and drier when it's dry. Trees shade the field edges first in the evening (on west sides of fields) and last in the morning (on the east side of the field) sapping daylight to the plants, as well as the moisture/nutrients issue. Compaction is usually higher along field edges as well, and often there is deer or other animals that come into the field and damage the edges of the field first and the most. BIL has one field with a tree-lined south border along the woods that the first 6 rows are usually a COMPLETE write-off due to deer bedding down and demolishing the stalks along that edge of the field... and they tend to chew up and eat on the next 6 rows in pretty hard and heavy... Later! OL J R :)

[@danielfoos2776]

Just wondering, does it really pay to invest this much time/effort into tests and data on your number of acres? Even if you saved that $25 an acre, is it really worth it considering the extra costs in testing, inputs, equipment, etc required to improve? Seems like it would take a long time to pay off.

[@chevyon37s]

Absolutely worth it when you’re looking at increased yield or mitigating yield loss across hundreds of acres. Crop scouting is just as important as a rancher walking through his cattle looking for problems. And the sooner you can catch problems with cattle or crops the quicker you can minimize losses at the end of the day, or increase the money you receive for selling said crops or cattle.

[@lowellwalter9420]

It depends on the scale of your operation. If you can get a small improvement over thousands of acres, it will pay. A small improvement over 200-300 acres would be much harder to justify.

[@danielfoos2776]

Lowell Walter That was my thought too, and I was thinking Ryan would be in the second case to where it might not be worth it.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Well, it depends on what it costs you to implement. You really can't tell or quantify anything UNTIL you do some research and get the data. In the old days, back before yield monitors, I did similar things on my farm just to experiment and see "what works best". Back then it was all done "by hand" and by "writing it in a notebook", and then analyzing the data in the wintertime and seeing what you could figure out from it. Of course we planted different varieties and stuff and marked off different areas of the fields or different fields had which variety and compared yields at the end of the year. We tinkered with split applying liquid fertilizer half-n-half preplant followed by side-dressing in-season just before lay-by, and things like that which MOST farmers do at some point. Without yield monitors (they weren't invented for cotton pickers til the mid-late 90's when they appeared on SOME new machines as an expensive option-- not really feasible to add them to old pickers like they do with combines nowadays) it was "keep track of every dump of cotton on the trailers, and log the trailer loads of cotton as to which field they came from, and then correlate that with gin tickets and warehouse receipts and class cards from the USDA when all that comes back on those particular bales of cotton... no spreadsheets to do it either unless you invented one yourself... it wasn't really HARD, just time consuming to write every load down, gin trailer numbers, then correlate that and integrate the data from the bales produced from a particular trailer, and compare things like yield, turnout, grade, staple length, etc. This sort of computerization makes it all EASY by comparison nowadays. If you can switch to a different variety, or testing shows that plowing a particular field or farm is beneficial to yield, or a second pass with the VT, or whatever, those sorts of changes are EASY and relatively CHEAP to implement. Similarly, buying fertilizer and applying it can be changed in response to test data showing where more fertility is needed and can be implemented to increase yields, while other areas may not benefit from more fertilizer to produce a higher yield, or worse yet may be already sufficient so applying more is actually wasteful. In a similar vein, it's interesting to see the differences in effects of the closing wheels on the stand counts and stand vigor, regarding the differences between the Schlagel closing wheels on one half of their planter versus the "Furrow Cruiser" Copperhead Ag closing wheels on the other half... New closing wheels on a planter isn't a HUGE investment, but not exactly *cheap* either, and if you're GOING TO SPEND THE MONEY to do it (which you will at some point anyway as the factory closing wheels wear out or bearings go or whatever) then it ONLY MAKES SENSE to spend the money on the BEST OPTION to choose from, since the costs will be broadly similar overall... BUT you CANNOT *really know* which IS best WITHOUT doing some testing and stuff to FIND OUT!!! Watching them plant, I would have put the furrow cruisers far ahead of the Schlagel's in performance, BUT the "in-season" data proved me wrong! Just goes to show you cannot simply rely on "looks" when it comes to how it's actually PERFORMING. That said, you CANNOT make a judgement based on a SINGLE YEAR OF DATA, either... conditions change from year to year and what works best *this season* may not work anywhere near as good or may be way worse in a different year with drier or wetter conditions, more residue, less residue, following a different crop (different residue), different pre-plant tillage or soil conditions from that tillage, etc. There's a LOT of factors that all come into play, and you are wise to have multiple years of data and data from different conditions/soils/moisture levels/tillage patterns/ etc to compare and contrast those factors and judge the overall performance across AVERAGE conditions, year-in and year-out... Now, when you start talking about "getting a new planter with all-electric drives and hydraulic down force" or something like that, well that's a HUGE expensive investment, and will take a LOT of borrowed money to make happen, and thus needs a BIG BIG increase in yields AND/OR a decent increase multiplied by a TON OF ACRES to actually pay back the cost of that upgrade and start actually bringing in more money to the farm in increased income. Increasing yields alone SHOULD NOT be the goal, but INCREASING INCOME AFTER EXPENSES on a per-acre basis... which includes costs of upgrading equipment. It's QUITE easy to "throw good money after bad" while chasing "ever higher yields" and producing more but going broke doing it! Higher yields in and of themselves are worthless UNLESS they are actually increasing income per acre OVER the cost of whatever improvement is necessary to get the higher yields. PLUS, you have to look at those increases, and whether they're a "fluke" caused by current conditions, or if it's a dependable "year in, year out" type improvement that will pay EVERY year or MOST years... The factors and economics of these decisions are different for EVERY SINGLE FARM, because no two farms are exactly alike. It takes a sharp pencil and a sharp guy doing the figuring behind it, and factoring in his or her goals and managing their risk and debt to make these decisions, and what works for one guy may well not work for another... There is NO "one size fits all" solutions, no "one single best way" that *everybody* should be doing... that's the thing MOST people simply do not understand... Later! OL J R :)

[@grimthenoble]

I would rather watch paint dry than to pogo my corn

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yeah BUT pogoing the corn will make you a LOT more money! It's not all fun and games riding in tractors and stuff... OL J R :)

[@davidfrankhauser1666]

What I’m hearing is it’s becoming more justified for a new planter with electric drive motors and hydraulic downforce.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Well, there's "theoretical" losses and "real" losses... and when you factor in the costs of a new planter with all the fancy technology and the payback times for it, that's really where the rubber meets the road. If you're farming a gazillion acres, the payback time is a lot shorter because any gains are multiplied over SO many more acres. With less acres, the new planter is just as expensive, but the payback is MUCH slower because there's fewer acres for any gains to be multiplied by. All depends on 1) how much money you have to throw around and 2) what your goals are... and how much debt you want to go into! OL J R :)

[@pd-ox1pd]

Once again date plz cause all the corn I see tassled

[@kristinelorensen9403]

Hi it’s luke on snap

[@memyselfandifarmer]

Your not invited!

[@patrickbaitman8336]

Meanwhile......the Amish.

[@faberfarming]

second :P

[@Archosphere]

I going to stop watch this channel with double ads... its NOT that interesting

[@danrossell6375]

Needs trump wants. YT is a want.

[@AssDust]

you really need to visit Saskatchewan. Nutrien owns a few potash mines here. Potash is mined a mile underground, ancient dried up sea