Farming in Nebraska is a challenge every year, especially when the weather doesn’t deal a favorable hand. However, last year rains came at the right time for soybeans, with some farmers seeing one of their best soybean crops ever.

What’s the biggest surprise in the used equipment market thus far this year?

Fall burndown applications coincide with the harvest season in a lot of areas. That means farmers, their employees and retailer spray applicators are driving up and down rural roads and highways, working hard and working fast to get every acre treated. While a lot of farmers and applicators are experts in the field that’s not always the case as they move to and from the field, according to Fred Whitford, Purdue University coordinator of pesticide programs.

Cotton isn’t king in Kansas, but it’s a fine prince for many Jayhawk growers, boosted by the arrival of new 2,4-D technology.

If it’s green, it goes. A new weed technology uses a combination of infrared, sensors and nozzles to detect plants and aim a blast of herbicide at a spot the size of a nickel. WEEDit is an automatic plant detection technology that allows chemical application solely to green matter, rather than spraying bare dirt, all while the sprayer rolls at 15 mph, light of day or dark of night.

Old man winter is moving into the country, bringing colder temperatures and snow with him and making farmers push harder than ever to finish up harvest operations and ready their equipment for storage. One more job to put on your already long to-do list is to winterize your sprayer. Being proactive now will help ensure you have a sprayer that’s in good working order next spring.