One of the greatest rewards of my ag journalism career is building a network of idea-filled friends around the world. They keep me focused on the future, even while while we cherish our years of relationships. For me that includes 7 years at Farm Journal, 30 years at Professional Farmers of America — and now, a […]

You’re looking at a Beck’s hybrid corn field planted early in Clinton County, Indiana — a region that’s often too wet at planting time and prone to dry weeks through the summer. This season had its stresses, but this corn was seed-treated with endophyte stress-tolerating microbes produced by Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies called BioEnsure (a fungus) and

Rising fertilizer prices make it more profitable to capture all the phosphorus, potassium and organic matter you can from your corn crop. A 200-bu. corn crop totals about 4.5 tons of grain — and leaves about 4.5 tons of valuable stalks, leaves and cobs on the ground. That translates to 20 pounds of phosphorus, 80 pounds

Here’s the latest field report and season-ending management suggestions from crop consultant Bob Streit, based at Boone, Iowa.  August 23, 2021  By Bob Streit Now that the end of the growing season and month of August are drawing to a close, our opinions and evaluation of the crops and grain production carry more value. Potentials

Our greenhouse experiments last winter with stress-relieving endophytes, BioEnsure and BioTango, were just published in CSA News, a monthly magazine reaching more than 10,000 agronomy scientists and consultants worldwide. August 18, 2021 You can download a PDF of this feature article by CJ McCauley at this link.  Our trials showed dramatic growth in young corn roots

Our Spraytec rep, Drew Ewing, sent us an array of photos showing ears pulled yesterday from test plots at a Clarion, IA research farm field day. The point — emphasized by Dr. Don Huber — you can counter fungal disease pressure with excellent mineral nutrition more effectively than you can with toxic fungicides. And spend less doing it.

If you farm, that means you plan ahead. For years, corn and soybean growers could count on adequate seed with gradually rising yield potential.  August 12, 2021  By Jill Carlson The questions were: Which corn hybrid? Which soybean variety? Which seed supplier has the best price? But this fall, longer-term planning is a bit more edgy in the wake

“Did you ever mow a field of alfalfa — then when you came back and windrowed it, you wondered where it went?” That’s an opening remark about hay quality which I heard many times from veterinarian and crop consultant Dr. Dan Skow of International Ag Labs in Fairmont, Minnesota. Doc passed away in 2013, but Midwest livestock producers and farmers

We’ve always considered the solar activity cycle of about 30 years, peak to peak, as the dominant driver of Planet Earth’s climate. Now and for the next 30-plus years, NOAA projections indicate a decline in solar energy emissions similar to the “quiet sun” between 1800 and 1835. July 29, 2021 Classic climatologists have always observed that over

That headline sums up comments from a central Iowa client who has a growing understanding of full-season crop nourishment. The prospect of $13-plus soybeans is an incentive, too. So is the fact that he has access to a family-owned high-clearance sprayer, as we’ve encouraged farmers to do.  July 28, 2021 Does this recommendation to foliar-feed mean