Planting the First Ever Crop on My New Ground

Why It Matters

Early soil conditions, drainage investments and input trials will directly affect yield potential and future management costs on the new ground, making this a small-scale case study in establishing productive acreage. Tracking outcomes will inform ROI on drainage, fertility and seed/input choices for similar river-bottom soils.

Summary

A farmer has purchased a new 38-acre river-bottom field and completed the first-ever planting there, seeding it to corn after soybeans last year. Surface soil is dry and fertility is low despite applied starter products, while a mucky, high-magnesium subsoil and scattered rocks present drainage and tillage challenges. The plan includes installing drain tile this fall and trialing additional in-furrow nutrients (Full Tech Plus ST) alongside a standard starter program; the hybrid chosen is Trecepta. The crew finished the final pass and will monitor results while applying further fertility through the season.

Original Description

We just planted the first crop ever on Zach's newly purchased 38-acre field, and it wasn't without its challenges. In this video, we dig behind the planter to check soil moisture, talk through our starter fertilizer program, and discover this ground has some heavier soil than expected, including high magnesium levels and some mucky conditions down deep.

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