Production

Ideal Farms Partnership has a passion for agronomy and sustainable soil health. We have focused on always trying new techniques to continue to raise the bar on higher yields, while improving soil health. We strive to be on the cutting edge of agricultural technology and incorporate that into agronomy science to improve our stewardship practices, lower costs, and improve production.

We utilize a GPS system which is accurate to sub-centimeter range. All our equipment used to plant, apply, or harvest are equipped with this system. This helps our operations reduce inputs costs such as seed, reducing our overlap in the headlands, fuel cost, and we can get more acres done in a day. We can also precisely apply herbicides, reducing our passes across the field as well as eliminating any wasted solution due to overlap.

We also incorporate Variable Rate technology on our planters to control population rates across the spectrum of soil types we have in Carroll and Whiteside Counties.

Ideal Farms leverages Precision Ag technology Precision Planting and 360 Yield on our planters and sprayers. We use several Precision Planting products such as their vSet meter, which allows us to plant the seed at optimal spacing for the best emergence. We also utilize their high-speed technology, so we can get more acres done while retaining the same accuracy.

We also take advantage of the 360 Yield Y-Drop system to apply N exactly when the corn plant needs it. This allows us to put on less in our base application in the fall or spring which is more susceptible to loss through denitrification and leaching. It also provides us the opportunity to react to weather events through the growing season and put on exactly what the plant needs to keep yield potential while reducing our costs.

Stewardship

Our stewardship practice is driven by our core values:

• Efficient – Systematically standardizing processes, flawlessly executing, and continuously improving
• Progressive – Eagerly embracing leading edge practices
• Integrity – Consistently honest, trustworthy, responsible, and accountable
• Give the customer a wow experience! – Proactively identifying customer desires and exceeding expectations
• Stewardship – Passionately protecting and sustaining resources for future generations

We want to be known for our quality, and take pride in our relationships with landlords and vendors. These relationships are critical to the success of our business, and we strive to keep an open line of communication with all landlords and vendors so we can address any issues that may arise. We want to be the first call they make to take care of any present and future needs. We work with our landlords on fertility, land improvements, and annual maintenance around their farm as we treat their ground as our own.

We are big believers in soil health and sustainability leading to improved production. We do this through reducing compaction through using tracked equipment, and employing a tillage program that uses the lightest touch possible to conserve organic matter and produce an optimal seed bed.

We also understand our partners not only like great production from their farm but they like it to look well maintained too. We agree! Ideal Farms mows four times a year, the week before Memorial Day, July 4th, Fair Week, and Labor Day, and mowing can be done upon request as well.