By Karen Corrigan

Although yields for 2017 were very good in many places, the season itself took a toll on those of us in the field of agronomy. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but in my 17 years as a professional agronomist, this was the only one I have loathed.

I generally say that any year I get to remain an agronomist and don’t become a grief counselor is a good one. 2017 was an exception. Several of us may have even formed our own agronomist support group on social media.

We started out with rain, rain and more rain. Some fields were mudded in, and others finally got planted. Growers had planting dates in both April and June.

Next came the locust — I mean, Japanese beetle — invasion. It’s been a few years since they reared their ugliness in our area, so that was an unpleasant surprise. Then southern rust showed up farther north, and earlier, than usual.

Too much rain, then not enough — rain really wreaked havoc on our residual herbicides. Several fields that had good management strategies still ended up full of weeds. Bean-walking crews are a thing again! That’s great for people looking to make some money, but not what we had hoped to see in this day and age.

Finally, when we were past the point of needing the rain and ready to harvest? The rains came again. And again. And again. That made for an extra-long and drawn-out harvest, well into December in some places.

But wait, there’s more
And on top of all of that, add “The Great Dicamba Debacle of 2017!” It’s not hard to see why I’m not going to miss the 2017 growing season.

Yes, there were applicator errors. Yes, there were tank contamination issues. Yes, there was spraying into inversions that weren’t well understood. Yes, there were wrong nozzles used and unapproved additives. You name it, that went wrong, too.

And yes, there were some applications made according to label that still moved anyway, thanks to volatility. Yes, I said volatility.

Yes, there were some success stories. Yes, there were some yields damaged.

The ag community was damaged, too. Some of the interactions between the growers who sprayed and the growers whose crops were damaged were really disheartening, in my opinion. We had both those who say they need this technology and those who were looking at their damaged, sick-looking crops for half the season, wondering what they would combine — and the arguments were real.

I am sincerely disgusted with how some in the industry chose to attack the integrity of our Extension weed scientists, seed agronomists and independent agronomists because they didn’t mask the issues of the technology the companies were trying to sell.

The upshot? If I worked for a company or university, I think 2018 would be a great time to take a sabbatical! Preferably where they do not grow any soybeans …

But since that option is not likely, my hope for 2018 is that every farmer can choose to use the technology he or she desires without fearing damage from a neighbor. I hope the new dicamba restrictions and mandatory education have some positive effects. But I am realistic enough to know that until volatility is confronted, we are likely to relive the unpleasantries of neighbors damaging neighbors again next season. 

Corrigan is an independent agronomist and co-owner of McGillicuddy-Corrigan Agronomics. Email her at [email protected], and follow her on Twitter, @weedgirl24.