Crop Production
The Nutrient Navigator series focuses on efficient, environmentally sound management of nutrients. The goal is to provide practical knowledge that helps drive yields and profits higher.
Once you confirm the diagnosis, here’s how to handle iron problems
Iron, a vital element for crop production, is like some people—laced with contradictions.
Copper and molybdenum are easy to manage if you know how to identify deficiencies
Problems can be avoided, or easily fixed, once you understand this secondary nutrient.
From photosynthesis to building carbohydrates, manganese packs a punch
Zinc deficiency—which can easily cost 15 bu. to 20 bu. of corn per acre—is not something you can walk into a field and diagnose
Applying too little phosphate fertilizer can draw down your soil “bank account” and reduce yield, especially if the crop is stressed by weather or other factors.
It’s likely not the first nutrient you think about, but boron is critical to many plant functions
Let your soil and rotation tell you where to expect boron deficiencies
Herbicide-resistant weeds are a growing problem for farmers across the country. Luckily some new technologies are on the horizon to help battle the bullies of the plant world.
Hit the ground running this spring by doing your prep work now.
After 40 years in the field, agronomist Ken Ferrie shares his top lessons for farmers.
As you pencil out your crop management plan for this year, assess your risk for tar spot. Then, be proactive.
As farmers prepare to plant this spring, 2023 isn’t as much of a guessing game in terms of certain inputs supplies. BASF says the company isn’t seeing a shortage of glufosinate this year.
Why a New App Designed by Iowa State Could Be a Game Changer to Identify and Diagnose Unwanted Pests
A new pest ID app designed by Iowa State University is the first of its kind for not only insect detection, but also suggested management practices that can help farmers rid their fields of unwanted pests.
Danny Murphy once paid $10 for a bag of soybean seed, 18 to 30 cents per gallon for diesel, $200 per ton of urea, $20 per day for hired labor, and $25 cash rent. That was then; this is now.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the river 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since July but hopes to finish very soon.
Currently, most voluntary carbon programs are based on payment for a change of practice on the farm. But what’s the tipping point for farmers to make any change in exchange for enrollment in a carbon program?
The sudden switch from drought to too much precipitation in parts of California now begs the question: Is the weather changing, and will California start to dig out from three consecutive years of drought?
Enough vertical farms have been put into operation that early data can show how that idea is going to work out. John Phipps explains why the future of vertical farming isn’t promising.
Marcia Ruff, the 2023 Executive Women in Agriculture Trailblazer Award winner, delights in her many roles on the farm and the opportunity to educate and advocate for agriculture and food production in the classroom.
Success germinates by prioritizing family and land stewardship for Silent Shade Planting Company, the 2023 Top Producer of the Year.
With 200-plus landlords and numerous vendors, agribusiness customers and employees, strong relationships are the core of Engel Family Farms, a 2023 Top Producer of the Year finalist.
Sustainability, climate smart agriculture and carbon sequestration are all buzzwords in agriculture right now, but they all start with soil health.
Agriculture’s simple kind of man, Ken Ferrie is all fact and no flash, with a stellar reputation for honesty. “A farmer wants one thing from me, the truth.”
When John Deere carted home a broken bandsaw blade and forged a moldboard plow, agriculture and America changed forever. Farm steel changed history.
Tending to the fertilizer needs of a field means assessing the past, present and future in order to hit the profitable and environmentally sound bull’s-eye.
In your quest for high yields, nothing is more crucial, or more difficult, than managing corn’s most important nutrient.