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HOBART, OKLAHOMA - For a
second year in a row, John Bink has raised the bar on the yield and quality Oklahoma producers
can achieve on wheat and alfalfa.
This year, he had a
field
of non-irrigated winter
wheat that yielded 113 bushels per acre
with less than 30 units of nitrogen.
That's 75 more bushels per acre than the
average state-wide yield of 38 bushels.
Overall, the crop of Jagger
wheat averaged an impressive 80 bushels per acre that tested at 66.3
lbs. per bushel.
This comes on the heels of an
alfalfa crop that
produced nine tons of dairy-quality hay over seven cuttings -- despite drought conditions
where rainfall was nine inches less than normal for the year. The
last cut
had a
286
RFV, 27% percent protein and a TDN of 70.
According to Bink, both crops represent a personal best made possible by switching five years
ago to a program
focused on Below Ground Management.
"Below Ground Management" recommends gradually
easing off chemically intensive above-ground management practices in favor of a system that
builds soil
quality.
Bink says the program "improves nutrient
availability and uptake and helps to curtail
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Oklahoma
Producer John Bink
 ... my neighbor came to
my field and climbed
the combine because
he couldn't believe my wheat tested so high after
five inches of rain in mid-June.
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insect, disease and weed pressures -- producing a
high-quality, high-yield crop for less."
For several years Bink had
followed a heavy anhydrous
fertility program and top
dressed with 100 lbs. of 46-0-0. But as farm
production costs rose he
found that program no longer
worked for him economically.
Bink says with Below Ground Management
his yields have
stayed consistently high
while
he
has slowly lowered the
quantity of applied fertilizer.
"One year my neighbor came to my field
and climbed the combine because he couldn't |
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believe my wheat tested so high after
five inches of rain in mid-June."
"The quality is excellent," he says.
"I've never seen a healthier plant in all my
years producing wheat. The color is amazing. You can literally see the line where my
field stops and my neighbor's begins."
Inspired by his results, Bink
invested $4,500 to convert his John Deere 455 wheat drill to put fertilizer and PS-Foundation
1-0-1 in the row along with his seed. He also top dresses with
Triple 3 in the
spring.
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John Bink graduated from Texas Tech University in
1994 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He and his family produce wheat, cotton,
alfalfa and various types of hay on their family-owned land in Southwestern, Oklahoma.
 Left: Bink Farms wheat field. Inset Neighbor's adjacent
wheat field which was planted the same day.
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Non-Irrigated Winter Wheat: |
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Drill Type: |
Customized John Deere 455 |
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Variety: |
Jagger |
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Nitrogen: |
less than 30 units |
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Yield: |
113
bu./acre |
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Test Weight: |
66.3 lbs. |
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