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Chris Bennett

Writing from the level land of the Delta just outside of Clarksdale, Miss., Bennett has blogged for several years on agriculture, surrounded by cotton and plenty of cottonmouths.

Latest Stories
Anna Brakefield and Mark Yeager are taking heirloom cotton linens from farm to home and seed to sheet.
Cotton
Cotton Just Went Farm to Table
“Made in the U.S.A.” has never looked or felt so fine. The father-daughter team of Mark Yeager and Anna Brakefield is taking cotton from farm to table, except with a “seed to sheets” twist.
January 27, 2021 02:09 PM
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Chris Bennett
Randy Dowdy’s record stand was a bold 4’ tall and whispered at extraordinary yields, with three gravid stalks carrying pods from top to bottom.
Corn
Randy Dowdy Fires Soybean ‘Shot Heard Round the World’
Randy Dowdy shattered soybean records in 2016 after a 171.7 bu. per acre yield with a UniSouth Genetics 74A74 variety. Dowdy’s corn was also exceptional, with four separate AgriGold varieties each significantly surpassing the 450 bu. per acre mark. Here’s how he did it.
January 27, 2021 02:09 PM
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Chris Bennett
Z
Corn
Z-Trap Boosts Crop Scouting
Z-Trap 1 is an electronic insect trap allowing for remote monitoring of pest problems. The automated process of capturing and counting insects carries the potential for labor savings and greater accuracy of pesticide applications.
January 27, 2021 02:09 PM
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Chris Bennett
Corn
Organic Crop Insurance Abuse Hides in Plain Sight
A field of weeds can pay better than a field of corn, and costs almost nothing to produce. No inputs, no sweat equity, no management, no harvest, but plenty of profit in a scheme plucking millions from the pockets of U.S. taxpayers. Percy Carroll and a growing number of Texas farmers say a crop insurance racket is hiding in plain sight.
January 27, 2021 02:09 PM
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Chris Bennett
ROBB_DEDMAN_1
Soybeans
He Traveled the Road to 100-Bu. Soybeans ... Five Times
With yields consistently bouncing above 100 bu. per acre, crop consultant Robb Dedman is among the best cornermen in the business. From 2013-16, Dedman eclipsed 100-plus bu. five times in four consecutive years in three separate Arkansas counties, with five different varieties.
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
MATT_REIMER_1
Technology
Rise of the Robot Tractors
What does it take to make a robot tractor? A batch of free software, some drone parts, a tablet computer, and one curious farmer to cobble the bits together. Matt Reimer’s remote control 7930 is proof in the dirt.
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
Standing over a burned windrow, Harry Stephens, left, and Robert Goodson hope the payoff is a direct assault on the mother lode source of weed seed.
Crop Production
Scorched Earth Attack on Weeds
Narrow windrow burning robs the seed bank
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
Harry Stephens, left, and Robert Goodson stand over a burned down windrow. The payoff is a direct assault on the motherlode source of weed seed.
Soybeans
Scorched Earth Attack on Resistant Weeds
Harry Stephens is literally burning weed seed to save money and boost yield on his ground. Narrow windrow burning has arrived on U.S. farmland.
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
Consultant Robb Dedman, foreground right, and farmer-client Matt Miles keep 120 soybean varieties in constant strip trial motion, searching for the best seed-to-acre match.
Soybeans
Fighting for Every Soybean Bushel
When a producer laces the gloves and climbs in the ring for soybean combat, a capable cornerman is vital.
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
Growers can tick off all the boxes of weed defense and still get nailed by a feathered threat from above.
Corn
Duck Dynasty May Have Triggered a Weed Dynasty
Ducks are a hunter’s sweetest dream, but can be a farmer’s nightmare akin to flying time bombs expelling rapid-fire payloads of resistant weed seed. Wonder where the next pigweed outbreak will come from? Listen for quacks and honks, and look up. Waterfowl may be a significant source of resistant weed spread.
January 27, 2021 02:08 PM
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Chris Bennett
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