By Darrin Angus
Crop Sales Specialist
Wanstead Farmers Co-operative
AGRIS Co-operative

There are advantages to custom application either in applying fertilizer or applying crop protection products. Crop planning is a key activity creating efficiencies from a time, labour and logistics viewpoint.

Time

The most obvious advantage of custom application is saving you time and reducing your labour requirements. This allows you to use your labour resources in other critical farm operations to optimize timely field operations during an important time of the year. Instead of getting a spreader and travelling back and forth to fill up, or realizing you needed one or two more jugs of chemical to finish a field; custom application takes that worry from you. When we have a late or wet spring, or you have other pressing issues to attend to, Wanstead or AGRIS Co-ops can fulfil your needs. During the spring season, timely operations are key activities to a successful outcome.

The value of custom application

Using today’s prices, custom application fees are covered by as little as 2 bushels of corn, ¾ bushel of soy, or 1.5 bushels of wheat.

With a custom application service comes expertise and professionalism. A crop plan completed ahead of time details the product, product amounts any adjuvants required to optimize herbicide performance. Trained operators know the mixing sequence and are trained to optimize operational efficiencies during the entire spraying operation including recording weather conditions and completing application records.

For fertilizer, it is the same operation. Crop planning details the nutrients required from recommendations using soil reports meeting 4R Compliance. Custom application offers peace of mind that the job is being handled by qualified staff. Once again, your time is freed up to perform other tasks that can be done on time to optimize income.

Communication

Crop plans completed ahead of time details what’s required, which field, field location and acres. This saves a lot of time during a hectic time of year. Once we have your field boundaries in our system, we know where to go and what to spread. All that remains is the “when”. Good communication can manage expectations. It allows us to schedule jobs in sequence to optimize efficiencies for everyone.

Take advantage

Investing in a custom application service can offer you peace of mind that the task is being done professionally by qualified staff. The hiring of a service allows you to have the time to perform other equally important tasks on the farm that can be time-sensitive that needs to be done on a timely basis. In livestock operations, the barn activities may be equally as crucial as field activities. Often there is an offset in hiring a service versus an increase in revenues from your timely operation that covers any additional fees.

Contact your local AGRIS or Wanstead Co-op location to find out how our custom application programs can benefit your farm!