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Ryan Drozd
Allegan, MIRyan guides the overall financial decisions, but when it’s go-time and he’s in the fields, it all comes together when he sees those on-farm investments in action.
Operation overview :Acres:7,500Crops:soybeansorghumcornTillageMostly tilled; some no-till
What Drives Ryan?
While you’d think the grain markets have been a rollercoaster ride, Ryan thrives on the adrenaline rush. He loves seeing how their day-to-day efforts in the field and in managing their operation pay off financially and says it makes it all worthwhile — most of the time.
Fertility Program
Yield maps guide Ryan’s fertility decisions, including:
- Spreading potash after harvest and addressing pH issues with lime (sandy soils pose a challenge for holding calcium)
- Placing N and P in a 2×2 run (2” on side and 2” below seed) and adding micronutrients and biologicals in-furrow
- Applying magnesium in the spring
- Sidedressing N and P in-season or choosing to fertigate in cold weather
Why Biologicals
“We started using biologicals to push the envelope on yields, but if they can work with our fertility program and help us be more efficient with our fertilizer that’s good.”
Follow Ryan
Check out Ryan’s social channels for more firsthand information about him and Drozd Family Grain.
THE LATEST ON DROZD FAMILY GRAIN
ADAPTATION IS THE KEY THIS SPRING
For all the planning and prep work that went into Plant ’24, Ryan Drozd and his family have already had to do some dodgeball-style maneuvers this season — dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge again.
“The weather made us change our full dry fertilizer program. We used a lot more variable rate to speed things up on some fields, but we also had to catch up in other ways.”
Financially, Ryan said they had to pick and choose fields that could stand a year without dry fertilizer or identify those fields that could be band-aided with something in the planter at sidedress or come back with a foliar at stand.
“That’s when we rely on products like BioPath® to help us with our efficiencies. We want to see if it can help us get the results we need, because if we can’t dry spread, we have to make sure anything we do to adapt is just as efficient — if not better.”
But for now, Ryan just wants to get into the field to finish planting because rain — and a downed tractor — sidelined them for too long.
"The planting date is concerning us quite a bit now. Yield expectations really drop off at the end of May, so we’re fearful we could already be facing some ‘prevent plant."
Visit our Next Farmer:
Dave SchrockWhen farming is in your blood, you just can’t get away from it – even if a new heart is pumping that blood through your veins. Such is the case for Dave, who comes from a long line of farmers, but whose path to full-time farming was full of twists and turns.
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PREVIOUSLY: DROZD FAMILY GRAIN
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APRIL 2024
With an eye on financials, Ryan wants his inputs to work harder
Located in the snowbelt of Michigan, Ryan Drozd is constantly challenged by wet weather conditions and sandy soils with low PH and CECs. He sees BioPath® as a solution to make the fertilizer he has work harder.
Follow Ryan this season as he tries to overcome these challenges with the power of biologicals.
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March 2024
PURCHASING THE RIGHT INPUTS TO MITIGATE RISK
As the “financial guy” of the farm partnership with his dad and brother, Ryan is focused right now on budgets for the upcoming season. And with the extremes in the industry in grain prices and inputs, he is paying close attention to the details.
“My brother handles a lot of the agronomic decisions on the farm, but I take my experience with the financials and grain marketing, and we sit down together to map out our full crop plan so we can purchase the right inputs.”
February 2024A Challenging Climate
While you think February would be a slower month for a Michigan farm, that’s not the case at Drozd Family Grain. It’s that unique climate that keeps them hopping.
“We’re located 15 miles from Lake Michigan, so everything we do is decided by the lake. We’re further south than most counties in Iowa, but our climate is a mix of Seattle, Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula all in one, while we are trying to grow 110-day corn.”
It’s that challenging climate that makes biologicals like BioPath helpful because they look for any advantage to work with the environment to get the most out of their crop.
“To bring a new product onto the farm, it has to be easy to use and bring consistent yield to pay off financially. While we all have a say in the matter, it still has to receive the green light from a financial and efficiency perspective.”
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MENTIONED ON THIS PAGE
Liquid fertilizer complement