BENTON AG Plus
Sauk Rapids Herald | Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023
Honey ‘resi’due list
Serving rural Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties
farming
flowers
University of MN Extension by Tyler Rice
Crop residue, by de nition, is the vegetative material left behind after harvesting and often includes leaves, stalks, straw, pods, cobs and roots. Like many things in the agricultural world, nding the sweet spot between too little and too much can be a challenge. Residue management on crop elds after the duration of the growing season is one of those things. Healthy amounts of residue are helpful in reducing impact of falling raindrops on bare soil, reduction of soil erosion by damming concentrated ows and protecting the soil surface from wind. Residue is also known to reduce soil crusting, decrease evaporation and improve water in ltration. In the winter, residue can help reduce snow drift, helping to maintain even distribution for later soil moisture reserves.
‘Resi’due page 2B
Smude sunflower enterprise grows through challenges
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY KATELYN SMUDE
Tom (from left), Katelyn, Mitchell and Jenni Smude gather in their sunflower field on their farm outside Pierz. The family works together to grow, process and market sunflower oil products through their company, Smude’s Sunflower Oil.
BY LAURA GRIMM CONTRIBUTING WRITER
T
his month Tom and Jenni Smude will begin transforming their elds of sun owers into useable products including sun ower oil and sun ower meal. The company, which operates on a farm just outside Pierz, distributes their Smude’s Sun ower Oil to local stores, cooperatives throughout Minnesota, the shelves of major grocery chains in the country and online stores that ship to all 50 states.
Each week, the Smudes produce around 750 bottles of retail sun ower oil. They also sell bulk sun ower oil through their sister company, Midwest Processors, averaging a total of 1,000 gallons produced each day. Their daughter Katelyn is the marketing manager for the Smudes’ various enterprises. “Because our business revolves around an agricultural commodity — sun owers — Mother Nature is oftentimes our biggest challenge,” Katelyn said. “As all farmers know, the best-laid plans hinge entirely upon the weather.” This year’s drought has been very dif cult even for a drought-tolerant
crop like sun owers. The Smudes are expecting the yield to be 75% lower this year than usual. This affects their output of product offerings and cattle feed, meaning they need to plan carefully for next year. Careful planning starts at the soil level. According to Tom, they are proud, not only of their products, but also of being good stewards of the land. “Proper crop rotation is critical to soil health, and sun owers are the perfect complement to Minnesota’s two major crops: corn and soybeans,” Tom said.
Smude page 3B
SPREADERS, SPREADERS, SPREADERS...
New & Used Spreaders On the Lot, Ready to Go! Stop in and speak to Rod!
1960-2023 Celebrating 63 years!
Highline BP660 Bale Processor Call For Pricing
FLUEGGE’S AG Farm Material Handling Specialist
ROD FLUEGGE “the boss”
2040 Mahogany St., Mora, MN 320-679-2981 BA40-1B-BL