Renewable Farming

July 2016

Your high-clearance sprayer can make you extra money in midsummer

We were stunned to learn from Darrell Bruggink of No-Till Farmer that only 20% of their subscribers with 1,000 acres or more do any foliar feeding of nutrients.  Many of them have high-clearance sprayers — but they typically park those amazing rigs in the machine shed after spraying herbicides and maybe some fungicide. Spraying nutrients

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How WakeUP Summer helps you fry runaway late-season weeds

We’re often asked: Can WakeUP Summer intensify the burndown effect of contact herbicides, like it enhances foliar nutrients? The answer is yes. It can help you cope with tough weeds late in the season, like Marestail and Waterhemp that escaped. Rather than posing as herbicide experts, we prefer to focus on WakeUP Summer’s ability to mobilize foliar

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WakeUP Summer: The powerful crop surfactant that’s safe in your kitchen

Among the thousand or so surfactant formulations sold to enhance the performance of foliar nutrients and herbicides, we’ve found only one technology that’s safe enough to use as a kitchen or bathroom cleanser. The “colloidal micelle” principle used in WakeUP Summer and WakeUP Spring. We’ve seen about five versions of the colloidal micelle formulation sold around

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The Dark Act may develop a silver lining for alert farmers

As expected, the GMO “labeling” bill was passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress. President Obama’s staff has virtually assured the media of the president’s signature. Here’s a link to an NPR summary of the law. The “Dark Act,” as opponents label it, should make it very clear that the federal government has no sustained interest in serious

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Bunge launches major offering of verified non-GMO corn and oils

Bunge North America’s large-scale marketing effort to provide non-GMO feedstuffs, oils and other ag products could significantly raise the premiums to farmers for non-GMO corn and soybeans.  Here’s the press release announcing the effort: (BUSINESS WIRE) — Bunge North America is excited to introduce Non-GMO Project Verified milled corn ingredients and Non-GMO Project Verified oils

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Senate votes to pass national GMO food “labeling”

Even though repeated consumer surveys have indicated that 9 out of 10 food buyers want GMO-derived foods clearly labeled, the U.S. Senate has just passed a “labeling” bill which delays and obscures GMO disclosure at the retail level. It also bans states or localities from requiring such labeling — overturning states’ rights. The details of the bill are available

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Biological yield boosters: Next new technology for farmers

You’ve probably noticed a widening array of “biological” ag products calling for your attention the past few years. Some are seed treatments, others are in-furrow or foliar applied. Some are live organisms such as beneficial bacteria or mycorrhizal fungi. Others are plant growth promoters derived from natural sources. At Renewable Farming, we’ve been field-testing Lignition, one of

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Senators smuggling “DARK Act” through Congress — riding on an unrelated bill

A federal law which in effect “Denies Americans the Right to Know” about GMO ingredients in their food is scheduled for further Senate action today (July 7, 2016). But it’s buried as an obscure amendment to Senate S.764, a bill to defund Planned Parenthood for one year.  The biotech lobby and their well-supported Senate allies

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Yes, you can successfully foliar-feed crops when leaves are wet with dew

“Good morning, Jerry — I’m calling from my cornfield. Just checking where Matt sprayed my foliar blend and WakeUP on shoulder-high corn.” The call came from one of our innovative clients, Rick Nervig, who raises corn and soybeans in northwest Iowa. “The leaves are dripping with dew. The co-op says I shouldn’t be spraying until after 10

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