Could reducing your soybean seeding rate increase profit per acre by $40? In the right situation, yes. Make it a priority to dial in population, row width and plant characteristics for each soil type and planting date.
Block out time for crop scouting so you don’t neglect it. Any management and time you lavish on your corn crop as it goes through the pollination period is time well spent, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.
“By evaluating the health of soil, we can get an idea of what’s good; what’s bad; learn where to start making improvements; and set benchmarks to measure progress,” explains Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie.
Residue might hamper uptake, surface cover slows soil warming and most cover crops raise the carbon penalty. Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie shares timing and placement tips for phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen.
Planter technology once focused on acres per day, but plant spacing and uniformity have moved to the forefront and there’s been an explosion of technology to help manage the furrow. Smart investments will maximize corn yield on every soil type.
Farm Journal Test Plot research proves practices that reduce soil disturbance and sequester carbon perform best in a vertical farming system, as opposed to horizontal tillage, which creates yield-limiting soil layers.
You’ve removed dense and compacted soil layers, balanced fertility and pH through the profile and set up your soil for vertical farming. Here are the final boxes to check to move away from horizontal farming.
Once you balance fertility and pH in the soil profile, and adjust to making small, more frequent lime applications, you probably won’t need to mix fertilizer into the soil, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist.
