Guar Proves To Be Viable
Some local producers don’t really have a very good taste in their mouth as far as guar is concerned. Some of the failures of the local office in the past have not made the decision to grow guar an easy one. But, there is a new kid in town and Guar Resources, LLC and General Manager Alex Muraviyov are doing everything they can to erase that bitter taste and show area producers what growing guar can do for the land and, perhaps more importantly, the pocketbook.
Guar Resources has just seen the first harvest of guar come in under the new ownership of the guar facility in Brownfield, which is the only one of its type in the country. And the word from a guar growing producer is, “I will definitely grow it again next year.” Isaac S. Peters, who farms with his wife Annie in the Seminole area was presented a check from Guar Resources for their 60 acres of guar grown this year. It was a good crop to grow. I know it is good for the soil and good for rotation. I will grow some more next year, I think,” stated Peters. His guar was grown pretty much dryland. He did water it up, but that was the last water put to it. So his 60 acres was, essentially a dryland crop. His yield was 984 pounds per acre. Billy Sherman, Agronomist for Guar Resources, stated, “One thousand pounds per acre is pretty good but finding out that this was only watered up, that 984 pounds per acre looks really good.”
Guar is a legume and puts nutrients back into the soil, which makes for a great rotation crop. In fact, that was one of the draws for Peters. “I planted it in wheat stubble and I am going to go back with cotton on that same ground next year.” Peters found it to also be a fairly low input crop, as well. “My seed was probably around $1,000 for the whole 60 acres. I sprayed it once and then did a little spot spraying. And that was it.” So, definitely an easy crop to grow. Guar is planted with a wheat drill and then harvested with a Draper header on a combine.
Sherman stated, “The Draper header is almost like a cotton stripper in the way it strips the beans from the stalk. It does a really clean job.” Guar can be harvested from 60-90 days after planting. Peters stated that he planted his Guar in June. Muraviyov is aware of the feeling some area farmers have toward guar. His company is working hard to improve that image. He stated, “Our philosophy is simple. We will do things right. We will only promise what we can do and we will do what we promise.” A good philosophy for any business to follow.
Muraviyov also stated that Guar Resources made a conscious decision to have a bottom market number for producers. “We have a fifteen-cent bottom market number. It doesn’t matter if the market drops below that number, our company will still pay that promised fifteen-cent per pound number. We worked the numbers and decided what our company could bear and came up with that fifteen-cent number.” Sherman summed it up with, “Pound for pound. Dollar for dollar. Guar is a crop that can make good sense for a farmer in this area. ” Guar Resources is in for the long haul. They know they have to build their reputation in this area and they are doing everything they can to earn the trust of local farmers.
Article Courtesy of Brownfield News
