Document 6518541

Logan Agri-Service, Inc
Griggsville, IL
East-Central MO
800-564-2624
573-406-8579
Star City, IN
574-727-7804
Pre-pay prices good through January 10. Contact your Logan Ag crop
specialist or sales associate for best prices of the 2011 season!
DEF – What Is It
& Who Needs It
If you purchase a 2011 diesel
truck or diesel tractor, you may
need DEF (Diesel Exhaust
Fluid). DEF is used in Selective
Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
systems to reduce harmful
emissions and meet the 2010
EPA tailpipe standards.
SCR systems incorporate aftertreatment technology that treats
exhaust gases downstream of
the engine. Diesel Exhaust Fluid
is a non-toxic solution of water
and automotive grade urea. It is
colorless and may have a slight
ammonia smell. Small quantities
of DEF are injected and mixed
into the exhaust stream. Within
the SCR system, DEF works to
change oxides of nitrogen (NOX)
emissions in diesel exhaust to
nitrogen and water.
Environmentalists need not
worry about excess nitrogen in
the atmosphere. 78% of the air
we breathe is comprised of
nitrogen.
High horsepower off-road engine
manufacturers employing DEF to
reduce emissions (AGCO, Case
IH and New Holland) claim
superior engine efficiency and
fuel economy compared to other
emission systems on the market.
John Deere and Cummins utilize
cooled EGR (Exhaust Gas
Recirculation) and a diesel
particulate filter to accomplish
the emissions reduction. In the
trucking industry, only Navistar
utilizes EGR; all other
manufacturers use the SCR
system and add DEF.
The DEF system requires a
separate holding tank. Case/IH
designed their DEF tank so that
it would be filled on every other
fueling stop, and estimates the
use rate of DEF at ≤5% of diesel
fuel consumption. Case/IH
suggests each gallon of DEF
January 2011
Pitsburg, OH
937-692-5181
may save as much as two
gallons of diesel fuel.
Logan Agri-Service plans to
stock DEF as the need arises.
Tax Legislation
Critical For
Biofuels
Hotly debated tax legislation
passed in December contained
some important provisions for
the biofuels industry. Both the
45¢ per gallon blender’s credit
for ethanol and the $1 per gallon
blender’s credit for biodiesel
were included in the legislation,
Tax Relief, Unemployment
Insurance Reauthorization, and
Job Creation Act of 2010.
The ethanol industry needed the
tax credit in order to stay
somewhat competitive compared
to gasoline in an era of $5.00+
corn. The biodiesel industry
experienced multiple plant
closures throughout 2010
because Congress had not
previously passed the extension
of the tax credit that expired on
12/31/09, Without the tax credit,
biodiesel was not at all
competitive with petroleum
diesel. In Illinois, biodiesel
blends remained competitive
with petroleum diesel due to
sales tax exemptions of 20% for
B2 and B5, and 100% exemption
of sales tax on B11. Passage of
the bill should reinforce the
biofuels industry, and increase
production of both ethanol and
biodiesel in 2011. Production
increases should keep a floor
under corn and soybean prices.
Mycogen Seed
Delivers
Seed corn sales season is in
full swing, and all seed
companies have products they
believe will perform well on your
farm. How do you determine
what brand or what hybrid to
plant? How is your decision
impacted by the company or
sales rep selling the product?
Mycogen is a major player in the
seed corn industry. Mycogen
Seeds, an affiliate of Dow
AgroSciences, LLC, has a 4.5%
share of the U.S. seed corn
market. Seed companies owned
by Dow AgroSciences including
Mycogen, control 8% of the U.S.
corn market. Dow genetics are
planted on 22% of the U.S.
acres, and Dow is the #2
provider of traits worldwide.
Thanks to Greg Welsh/DuPont,
Jack Fry/Valent, Joe
Kritenbrink/FMC, and Andy
Welbourne/Syngenta for their
participation this month.
Continuous Corn
In 2011
Yield of continuous corn acres
left something to be desired for
most growers in 2010. Let’s
briefly review what occurred in
the past season, and what to
expect in 2011.
Not convinced yet? Dow hybrids
are tested in more than 1 million
test plots in the U.S. And Dow
developed the Herculex trait
used by Pioneer and other
leading seed companies.
The fall of 2009 was wet, and
harvest was delayed in many
locations. Many growers were
unable to perform fall tillage trips
to aid in decomposition of corn
residue following harvest.
Through the worldwide
resources of Dow AgroSciences,
Mycogen corn delivers diverse
characteristics, performance
testing and industry leadership.
And that’s just the beginning. In
the future, look for innovative
concepts such as refuge-in-thebag, a new family of herbicide
tolerance traits that will be a
“game changer” in weed control
systems, and stress tolerance
technology offering improved
water and nutrient utilization.
Spring 2010 was warm, and
soils warmed up quickly. As
soils warmed, soil microbes
quickly went to work to
decompose surface residue on
continuous corn acres. These
microbes consumed tremendous
amounts of nitrogen. As a
result, many fields suffered from
nitrogen deficiency in the early
part of the growing season and
never had access to the amount
of nitrogen required to produce a
normal crop yield. CCA Edward
Logan estimates some fields
lacked as much as 60 LB N.
Logan Ag is proud to supply
Mycogen corn hybrids and
soybean varieties. See or call
Wayne Bingham, Jeff Butler and
Dave Bryant in Griggsville, Steve
Crosby in Star City, IN or Dean
Osborn in east-central MO for
Mycogen seed products.
Chemical
Comments
Crop protection chemical
representatives are vital
resources for up-to-date product
information and usage
recommendations. Review the
last pages of this issue for this
month’s comments from local
chemical representatives.
Fall 2010 was nearly the
opposite of 2009. Warm
weather ruled, soils were dry,
and nearly everyone who
wanted to make a tillage pass
was able to complete the task.
As a result, stalks began the
decomposition process early.
This nearly complete reversal of
the issues that produced lower
corn-on-corn yields in 2010
bodes well for those planning
continuous corn in 2011. Corn
prices point to high gross
revenues. Proper management
techniques including adequate
fertility, proper hybrid selection,
acceptable weed and insect
control, etc., should provide a
return to historic yields on
continuous corn acres in 2011.
Spring Fertilizer
Outlook
The New Year provides pause
to review fertilizer markets. After
a robust fall application season
locally, many growers already
have NPK applied for 2011 corn
and soybeans. For others, we
offer this perspective for spring
and beyond.
NH3: Rising grain values are
partly responsible for increased
demand. While we experienced
a strong fall application season
in west-central Illinois, other
areas of the Midwest were not
as fortunate as dry weather
delayed or prevented
application. Spring prices have
increased, and no drop is
anticipated near-term.
UAN (nitrogen solutions):
Producers are as much as 2
months behind on shipments.
Many storage tanks in the
Midwest are nearly empty.
Product is still available for
spring delivery, but is becoming
increasingly difficult to obtain.
Supply situations suggest higher
prices before spring application.
Urea: Urea remains
competitively priced at this time
as many buyers have not made
the decision to commit to
product until the full extent of fall
NH3 application is known.
Prices could strengthen before
spring wheat topdressing.
DAP: DAP prices increased as
much as 40% since June, and
have doubled since 9/09.
Fortunately, prices have leveled.
Product supply is still an issue in
some locations.
Potash: Increased fall
application and lack of
production last summer from
Canadian mines have created
shortages in potash. Potash
prices increased nearly 40% in
the past 5 months, and no price
drop is anticipated short-term.