More precision. More profit.

A full service crop consulting and management firm.

Opti-Crop's central focus...to help growers intensively manage all aspects of their crop production systems in order to optimize input use, increase yields, reduce risk, and maximize profitability.

Our Services

• Assistance with seed selection

• Strategic hybrid and variety positioning for optimum field performance

• Pre-season drill and planter maintenance inspections and calibration

• Timely, full-season field scouting for corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops dictated by local needs

• Timely pesticide application recommendations as necessary

• Routine follow-up to assess efficacy of all recommended pesticide treatments

• Comprehensive soil fertility management

  - GPS-based grid/region soil sampling and field soil mapping

  - Analysis of soil test results

  - Prescriptions for proper fertilizer/lime application rates and timings

  - Variable-rate fertilizer/lime application services available

• Soil compaction management

  - Field sampling to detect/verify compaction's existence

  - Tillage recommendations to remedy current problems

  - Recurrence prevention strategies

• Combine performance assessment and adjustment recommendations during harvest

• Yield monitor installation and calibration

• Yield map generation and analysis

• GPS receiver installation

• Geo-referencing of field boundaries, tile lines, and other topographical features

• Assessment and recommendations regarding GPS-based variable-rate application technology for fertilizer, lime, seed, and pesticides

• Grower/dealer crop production seminars

How We Got Started

Opti-Crop was the first consulting company in the Southeastern United States fully dedicated to intensive, precision grain crop management. The business took root in 1986. That year Billy Joe Miles, owner of Miles Enterprises in Owensboro, Ky., led a delegation of Kentucky grain producers on an international tour of wheat farms in the United Kingdom. The group saw that European growers were reaping wheat yields three times greater than those typically harvested in most U.S. wheat-producing regions.

Determined to narrow the gap, Miles returned home and rapidly assembled the resources to launch a fee-based intensive wheat management program built upon proven European techniques. Many Kentucky farmers eagerly embraced the innovative system and success soon followed. In fact, the state wheat yield average jumped substantially in 1987, the very first harvest season after the program began. In the 15-year span since then Kentucky’s wheat yield average has doubled, while yields in most surrounding states have remained stagnant.

This feat is largely traceable to Opti-Crop’s overall impact on Kentucky wheat production. Moreover, many of the practices we recommend offer yield increases at minimal additional cost, so profit per acre is increased significantly.

Opti-Crop Today 

While remaining at the forefront of intensive wheat management, Opti-Crop is also an industry leader in providing state-of-the-art consulting services to corn and soybean growers.

Presently, our staff of more than 16 crop consultants – most with CCA certification – manages over 100,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat in Kentucky as well as parts of Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee and Kansas. Our consultant services are offered primarily through a chain of 22 retail ag chemical, fertilizer and seed dealerships operated in the Ohio River Valley region under the Miles Farm Supply name.

In recent years we have also marketed the Opti-Crop concept to dealers elsewhere across the nation. We now have service agreements with dealers in Minnesota and Missouri.

The entire Opti-Crop staff poses for a group shot prior to
one of our 2005 Intensive Wheat Field Days.

Year-Round Service

Many consulting companies don’t get heavily involved out on the farm until after crops have emerged. But at Opti-Crop, we believe it is vital to maintain an all-year-round working relationship with each grower-client.

Our consultants are on farms during and after harvest to help growers collect and analyze yield data as well as plan next year’s seed selections. We advise them on strategically positioning hybrids and varieties in field and soil environments that offer the best chances at achieving maximum economic yields. Plus, we provide assistance with pre-season planter and drill maintenance and calibration, then follow-up at planting time to make doubly sure equipment is being operated according to our recommendations.

Opti-Crop does all this before the first seed ever emerges. Why? The answer is simple – no amount of field scouting during the growing season can adequately make up for stand or crop performance problems caused by factors such as poor variety selection or improper planter settings. By getting involved in the game early, we help growers avoid many potential pitfalls.

Opti-Crop Sales Lead, Ronan Cummins speaks at Intensive Wheat Field Day.

Equipment in the Equation

A combination of agronomic variables and weather factors typically exert the greatest influence on crop development and yield. But they’re not the only cards dealt in the high-stakes grain production game. Many times crop successes or failures also hinge on equipment-related issues.

That’s why Opti-Crop consultants spend considerable time examining growers’ machinery and assessing its performance. Particularly close attention is paid to the proper maintenance and operation of planters and drills, tillage tools, sprayers, fertilizer application equipment and combines. We also work with growers to devise equipment set-ups and field traffic patterns that minimize the risk of creating soil compaction.

Opti-Crop consultants check with growers during harvest to help them manage
yield data as well as assess various aspects of combine performance. 
In particular, we like to make sure that crop residue is
being spread evenly behind the machines.

Research Commitment

Recommendations made by Opti-Crop consultants are fully backed by our own proprietary research and development program. Three full-time R & D staff members and several seasonal employees annually design and conduct studies and trials in more than 10,000 replicated corn, soybean and wheat research plots. Results are compiled in a detailed annual report, copies of which are distributed to each consultant.

Among the many variables frequently examined in our research are: seeding rates and plant populations, row spacing, tillage/no-tillage issues, planting dates, seeding depths, pesticide efficacy, seed treatments, soil fertility and stand uniformity. Extensive variety evaluations are also conducted.

One unique aspect of our research is that varieties are not only measured for agronomic characteristics such as yield, but are also evaluated for quality characteristics including protein, oil and starch content.

In addition to small plot research, all Opti-Crop consultants also work with various clients to perform numerous on-farm strip trials. These tests take concepts proven to succeed in small plots and evaluate them in larger, field-scale settings under growers’ local conditions.

On top of all this, we regularly examine applicable research data and information generated by universities and other reliable sources in our domestic service areas as well as from other countries around the globe. Our hunger for information positions Opti-Crop on the leading edge of technical knowledge and expertise.

Precision Ag

Opti-Crop stays ahead of the competition by carefully evaluating new technology and investing in those things that demonstrate benefits to growers. Precision agriculture readily exemplifies our approach.

We’ve worked closely with this technology since 1994. Despite some anticipated growing pains, time and experience have demonstrated that growers can systematically use many precision ag components to achieve both agronomic and financial paybacks. Today, many Opti-Crop clients are benefiting from the use of yield monitors and yield mapping, GPS-based grid or region soil sampling, and variable rate fertilizer/lime application as well as seeding.

We currently operate 12 GPS-equipped ATVs for field sampling and mapping. Differential correction signals are acquired either from Coast Guard beacons, WAAS or subscription-based systems.

A fleet of 2 Ag-Chem Soilection trucks and 5 VRT lime spreaders meets customer demand for variable rate soil nutrient applications. As of spring 2002, we have grid sampled and made fertility recommendations on over 500,000 acres, a vast majority of which has received one or more variable rate applications of lime, fertilizer or both.

Our innovative and proactive approach toward precision ag also has afforded us several unique opportunities with regard to high-tech research and equipment evaluations.

For example, in late 2000 Opti-Crop was invited to participate in intensive field-scale trials that employ satellite imagery to derive accurate variable rate nitrogen prescriptions for winter wheat. This ongoing project is part of Ag20/20's Remote Sensing Product Development Partnership for Agriculture, a collaborative effort between NASA, the USDA and certain commodity groups. Funding is provided by NASA, with the project being implemented by the Institute for Technology Development - Spectral Visions Group.

Opti-Crop also was privileged to be the first company in the United States to evaluate the Hydro N-Sensor. The concept for this precision ag tool was initially developed in Europe for managing nitrogen applications on winter wheat. You can learn more about both the Hydro N-Sensor and the NASA satellite imagery study by clicking on the "New Developments in Crop Production" tab located on our home page.

(Click image to enlarge.)

Aerial infrared photography, though not a new technology,
can often be a useful crop diagnostic aid.  It is especially effective when
used in conjunction with other precision ag tools such as GPS-based
yield monitoring and mapping, and grid soil sampling and fertility mapping.

Worldwide Innovation

Many of the intensive crop management practices we advocate in America also attract attention from farmers abroad. In the past decade Opti-Crop has provided services to clients in Australia, Russia, China, Romania, Mexico and Canada.

It’s important to note these international opportunities have not merely been one-way streets with respect to knowledge and technology transfer. Our foreign clients have also taught us a few things. In some cases, knowledge we’ve gained about international farming systems and techniques has translated into innovative crop management practices that we’ve adapted and tailored for use by clients in the U.S.

Agriculture truly operates in a global environment; farmers around the world must be willing to learn from each other. Opti-Crop facilitates that process.

(Click image to enlarge.)

A Russian farm employee, following the recommendation of Opti-Crop
consultants, uses a sprayer equipped with Chafer stream bars to apply liquid nitrogen
on wheat.  Opti-Crop consultants have worked with Russian farms on
matters related to wheat production on several occasions.

Value-Added Marketing

Growers in many parts of the country are keenly involved in producing identity preserved grain for specialty and value-added markets in exchange for premiums. These markets typically demand nothing less than the highest quality grain. Opti-Crop helps producers attain the necessary quality levels through our careful devotion to varietal selection, optimum planting dates, seeding rates and fertility, and regular field scouting followed by emphasis on timely harvest and proper grain drying and storage.

Another division within Miles Enterprises offers a closed-loop marketing process that helps link growers with end users who seek various types of specialty grains and are willing to pay premiums for them. Examples of grains grown and marketed via this program include white corn, high-oil corn, amylose corn, Nutridense corn, waxy corn, non-GMO soybeans and various wheats.

For more information about this program, contact Jeff Rice in the Miles Enterprises Seed Division by e-mail at jefric@milesnmore.com.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Value-added corn grown by Opti-Crop clients flows
onto a Gulf of Mexico-bound barge at Miles Enterprises'
Riverport on the Ohio River in Owensboro, Ky.

Field Days

Each year in May we host field days at our wheat research plots located in Owensboro, Ky., and near the community of Schochoh in southern Kentucky. During May of 2002 we’ll also be conducting a third wheat field day in southern Illinois.

In early August, we hold our annual corn and soybean field day, which highlights research conducted with these crops at our Owensboro R&D site.

For information regarding specific dates, times and content for any of these field days, e-mail us at info@opticrop.com. Or you may call (270) 926-2420 and ask for either Phil Needham or Tim Sickman.

Publications

Opti-Crop publishes a pair of agronomically oriented newsletters that should be of interest to any serious grain producer. The Professional Wheat Grower, published about eight times yearly,is geared especially for farmers who participate in our intensive wheat management program. However, it’s an extremely helpful resource for anyone who’s interested in garnering more yield and profit from wheat production. Each issue is packed with timely recommendations, tips and technical information.

Our newest newsletter is Professional Row Crop Farmer, which we just launched in February 2002. It’s primarily targeted to innovative corn and soybean growers in the Ohio River Valley and adjacent areas. This newsletter combines essential agronomic information and recommendations, cutting-edge research data, and timely observations regarding the things our consultants are seeing in the field.

To find out how to subscribe to either newsletter or request a sample copy, please e-mail a note to info@opticrop.com or call Tim Sickman at (270) 926-2420.

Are You Ready for Opti-Crop?

Whether you’re an individual farmer or a dealer, we’re eager to talk with you about how Opti-Crop can help your operation. We conduct agronomic seminars and precision agriculture meetings on request to farmer groups and dealers across all major grain producing areas of the country. These meetings provide excellent forums for you to learn more about our extensive array of services.

To meet with one of our representatives or set up a seminar, contact us by e-mail at info@opticrop.com or call (270) 926-2420.