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Website Editor • July 11, 2016

I have been privileged, in my lifelong field of agriculture, to experience and learn about various farming cultural practices throughout most of the US.  While all of us are pretty familiar with the big 3 (wheat, corn, and soybean) my 30+ years in the business includes working with and learning about a host of other crops including: vegetables, cotton, citrus, canola, tobacco, peanuts, and many more. Recently I was invited to provide support and consultation to a large international customer in the Czech Republic.  I spent a week working with their sales staff and agronomists as they try to improve their cultivation and fertility management initiatives with their primary field crops of wheat, canola, and corn.  The experience was quite memorable and I thought worth sharing. ADW is a 15 year old holding company in the T?ebí? region in SE Czech Republic.  Of the many segments of their operation, ADW Agro is the actual farm side of the business which includes the farming of many thousand hectares in the region, including dairy, silage, grain, pork, and beef cattle.  ADW Agro also provides much needed professional ag services to producers in the region and throughout Europe.  My time with them was spent primarily on plant and soil fertility, soil and plant health, soil testing and precision ag subjects.  They manufacture a fertility product called digestate that is built from silage and manure residue for deep tillage (strip till).  In one planting pass of the corn planter, digestate is placed 8 – 10 cm deep under the seed furrow, dry fertilizer is place 2x2, and a starter fertilizer is place in furrow.  They have various fertility field trials under way to determine the best combination that yields the greatest results. I could write a very long epistle about their operation but will save some of the details for another day.  In summary, the Czech Republic has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Wheat, rye, and canola grow 6’ tall and virtually disease free.  Silage is such a large part of their complete operation, most farming practices are centered along that crop.  Take a look at some of the photos I captured and you will likely agree with me that, while they can and want to learn from US agricultural practices, the American farmer, can too, learn from their farming practices. Classroom Training Lead agronomist Marteen in NACHURS trial  NACHURS P-Focus on right UTC on left  6’ tall canola with NACHURS PK-Focus in furrow  Large wheat head will be harvested in late July early August  Late June rye silage harvest  Technology center in agronomy headquarters  Agronomy staff of ADW Agro  Typical landscape of SE Czech Republic  Harvested rye silage field and beautiful Czech countryside   Strip till, 2x2, in furrow corn planter   -Keith Flaniken, Southern US Sales Agronomist

I have been privileged, in my lifelong field of agriculture, to experience and learn about various farming cultural practices throughout most of the US.  While all of us are pretty familiar with the big 3 (wheat, corn, and soybean) my 30+ years in the business includes working with and learning about a host of other crops including: vegetables, cotton, citrus, canola, tobacco, peanuts, and many more.

Recently I was invited to provide support and consultation to a large international customer in the Czech Republic.  I spent a week working with their sales staff and agronomists as they try to improve their cultivation and fertility management initiatives with their primary field crops of wheat, canola, and corn.  The experience was quite memorable and I thought worth sharing.

ADW is a 15 year old holding company in the T?ebí? region in SE Czech Republic.  Of the many segments of their operation, ADW Agro is the actual farm side of the business which includes the farming of many thousand hectares in the region, including dairy, silage, grain, pork, and beef cattle.  ADW Agro also provides much needed professional ag services to producers in the region and throughout Europe. 

My time with them was spent primarily on plant and soil fertility, soil and plant health, soil testing and precision ag subjects.  They manufacture a fertility product called digestate that is built from silage and manure residue for deep tillage (strip till).  In one planting pass of the corn planter, digestate is placed 8 – 10 cm deep under the seed furrow, dry fertilizer is place 2x2, and a starter fertilizer is place in furrow.  They have various fertility field trials under way to determine the best combination that yields the greatest results.

I could write a very long epistle about their operation but will save some of the details for another day.  In summary, the Czech Republic has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Wheat, rye, and canola grow 6’ tall and virtually disease free.  Silage is such a large part of their complete operation, most farming practices are centered along that crop.  Take a look at some of the photos I captured and you will likely agree with me that, while they can and want to learn from US agricultural practices, the American farmer, can too, learn from their farming practices.



Classroom Training



Lead agronomist Marteen in NACHURS trial

 

NACHURS P-Focus on right UTC on left

 

6’ tall canola with NACHURS PK-Focus in furrow

 

Large wheat head will be harvested in late July early August

 

Late June rye silage harvest

 

Technology center in agronomy headquarters

 

Agronomy staff of ADW Agro

 

Typical landscape of SE Czech Republic

 

Harvested rye silage field and beautiful Czech countryside

 

Strip till, 2x2, in furrow corn planter

 

-Keith Flaniken, Southern US Sales Agronomist

March 17, 2025
Transform Your Harvest: Discover the Benefits of Finish Line®
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The effect of foliar fertilization on wheat yield.
December 12, 2024
We are at the point in the year where things are slowing down around the farm and it is time to reflect on the season to remind ourselves what we learned. Over the last couple of weeks, the District Sales Managers and I have spent some time reflecting on what worked well in the field and the challenges we faced too. Here are the top 5 things we learned from 2024 growing season: #1 Split applying Nitrogen and Sulfur is a practice that should be embraced on a yearly basis when growing corn. Do you remember how the planting season started and what happened in the first 60 days after the planters started rolling? Our field conditions started out dry with some areas of the corn belt showing up on the drought map. Then mother nature blessed us with rain that never stopped in some areas making it difficult to finish planting. Growers that had split applied their Nitrogen and Sulfur were able to avoid nutrient loss from the rain but also apply the nutrients when the crop needed it most. In the end yield was better on split applied nitrogen fields compared to fields that had all the N applied in the fall or spring before planting. #2 For the past 2 seasons in the North region, we have seen the benefits of adding NACHURS Humi-Flex FA to the in-furrow starter fertilizer. NACHURS Humi-Flex FA is our fulvic acid and it is becoming a valuable component in our starter fertilizer for many reasons. We are using it to chelate the nutrients in the starter fertilizer especially phosphorus. Humi-Flex FA also buffers the soil pH to neutral in that nutrient band keeping nutrients available in fields that have less then optimal pH for crop growth. Finally, we use Humi-Flex FA to create a healthy soil microbiome that leads to more root mass and nutrient uptake. #3 Nutrient uptake charts for corn and soybeans have been a great tool for our team to help our customers visualize the crops nutrient needs based on timing during the growing season.
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The importance of Phosphorus
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Fungicide applications: the determining factors to be considered
August 20, 2024
Strategic Applied Fertilizer: Reallocation
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