moisture monitoring and management.
Our staff have actively been searching
for those customers interested in these
pieces of technology. On the aerial
imagery side, we are offering a program
consisting of 15 flights per field over
the growing season at a cost of $5/acre.
These are manned flights that produce
images at an 18 centimeter resolution
(about 7 inches). The types of images
delivered are color, vigor, infrared,
thermal, and zone. With remote soil
moisture sensing, we are now able to
offer multiple soil moisture monitoring
sites per field at an economical price.
The offer consists of a 3-year lease
program of the equipment. Entry
level cost of $1,160 per field per year
would provide the customer with two
soil moisture monitoring sites. We
will also be offering to do the installs,
maintenance, and extractions for $150
per station.
Eastern nebraska
In this holiday season, we often reflect
on the blessings in our lives. In eastern
Nebraska, we have had many. Our soil
sampling business has increased in pace
and amount from last year, and the
weather has held beautifully to help get
that work completed. Although there
is a light at the end of the tunnel when
it comes to sampling, work orders
continue to remain steady. We are also
happily above last year’s pace in terms
of scouting contracts.
In the next month, we are eager
to invite all our eastern Nebraska
grower customers to join us for three
different education meetings in the
territory. During these meetings, we
will highlight new services that we are
offering, including aerial imagery and
TheProfiler Plus. We’ll also educate
growers on cover crops, common traits
of high yield soybeans and fungicide
usage. In past years, these types of
meetings have been well received. With
all the exciting new technologies and
services that we have to offer our growers,
we cannot wait for these opportunities to
shout about them from the mountain top.
On behalf of all of us in eastern
Nebraska, I wish you all a Merry
Christmas and a successful New Year.
Iowa
Our group had a really good fall this year
with record corn yields. Soybeans yields
weren’t too far behind, making harvest
very plentiful for our growers.
We had a fast and furious run with grid
sampling that is starting to wind down.
Most of the retailers kept us very busy
with lots of soil sampling throughout the
area.
Rain has been very scarce within the last
six weeks. Therefore, we are getting back
to the dry side again.
As 2018 approaches, we are looking
forward to a bigger season with TerrAvion
so we can expand our more offerings to
our customers. It will be an exciting year.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Amarillo Laboratory
The Amarillo Laboratory is experiencing
heavier feed sample numbers, but lighter
than normal soil samples which are being
delivered much dryer than last year. This
year’s capital expenditures will include
a GC that will give us the capability to
test both methanol and glycerin. We are
very excited about the potential growth
opportunity this piece of equipment will
provide. In addition, we will be purchasing
additional distillers and a glucose analyzer.
Both of these units will aid in testing of the
additional feed sample volume.
Dodge City Laboratory
As expected, November has been a
busy soil month here in Dodge City and
December is off to a good start. In fact, we
have run more total samples in November
than any month ever at this laboratory.
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The staff is doing a great job of
keeping up with the number of samples
of all types that are moving through
the laboratory. We are dedicated
to providing the finest service and
technology for the benefit of you, the
customer, and we understand
turn-around time is critical. When
samples arrive they are unboxed and
assigned lab numbers before being
placed in the dryer. It is very important
that we have accurate information
with the corresponding samples. Here
are some things to remember when
submitting samples.
1. Getting a good sample is the most
important part of the process. If the
sample is not taken properly, there is
nothing we can do in the laboratory to
change this.
2. It is extremely important to include
information sheets with your samples
along with your name, address, and
phone number in case there are
questions. We will do all that we can
to quickly run your samples through
the laboratory, but a lack of accurate
information or duplicate sample IDs
may slow down the process and delay
the return of your data.
3. Remember, you can order sampling
supplies, retrieve data, and access
various articles and information at
www.servitechlabs.com with your
username and password. If you have
not set up a username and password,
please call the lab at (800) 557-7509
and we can help.
4. As always, contact the laboratory
if you cannot find the information you
need, or if you need help interpreting
your results.
THE COVER CROP