Crop Production
As farmers look for ways to improve their profitability in 2018, one of the areas many are evaluating is their crop mix.
The Farm Journal Pulse, a text-message poll of farmers and ranchers, tracked the hot topics this year.
Thirty-four percent of farmers plan to file prevented plant claims on more than a quarter of their acres, according to the latest Farm Journal Pulse poll.
With portions of the U.S. experiencing severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions, farmers are posting photos showcasing just how much of an impact the lack of rain is having on their fields.
Planting alfalfa this summer or fall? Romulo Lollato and Doo-Hong Min, forage specialists with Kansas State University, have some best practices to make sure your investment pays off.
Darrell and Meg Stamper enjoy the traditional way of harvesting a hay crop, using horses and turn-of-the-century equipment.
The hay crop in the Gunnison Valley is about average this year, but it’s abundant compared to parts of the south central and southwest U.S. that are suffering from extreme drought.
Limited supplies, renewed dairy demand set the stage for 2011 prices to reach second-highest level ever
Green beans are harvested in June and can be double cropped to green beans again or to soybeans. For Turner, it’s a $100 per acre minimum benefit over corn or soybeans.
otato processors are rushing to buy supplies and ship them across North America in order to keep French fries on the menu after cold, wet weather damaged crops in key producers in the U.S. and Canada.
Tom and Kerry Dull saw a void in their Indiana community when it came to Christmas trees. In 1985, the couple planted their first batch of trees, and today they host thousands of families on their farm every year.
In just a couple of years, Nathan Garner will face a one-of-a-kind job interview. His father, along with three other senior farm partners, will ask him questions and decide if he will to help run Heglar Creek Farms.
Where does sorghum grow? Mainly, the southern plains, correct? Over the past two years, an Idaho farmer has won the contest for the highest sorghum yields.
It’s been almost exactly 2 years since my first report on my pollinator plot. I was not exactly optimistic it would amount to much in the beginning. Thanks to experts and friends, things have gotten better.
Indigo Ag, Inc., is launching an on-farm storage program for U.S. farmers to enable identity preservation of corn, soybeans, cotton, wheat and rice.
Understanding the latest definition of no-till and the reasons to stay with it offer potential benefits to your management plan and can affect your bottom line as well.
When you think about crop production in the U.S., the big three are corn, soybeans and wheat—in that order. One crop that garners only a modest number of acres but might be worth taking a look at for your farm is canola. “In the U.S., the ratio of supply versus demand of canola oil is about 1:4, which presents a huge opportunity for U.S. producers to grow more canola,” according the U.S. Canola Association. There are a number of reasons for that. Among them, according to the USDA, is that canola oil for cooking ranks behind only soybean oil and palm oil. In addition, canola meal is the second-most used feed meal with livestock, behind only soybean meal. In the past 40 years, canola has gone from being the sixth-largest oil crop to the second largest globally. Even so, U.S. farmers—at 17 million acres in 2017—produce only a small portion of the global crop. North Dakota farmers produce 83% of the total crop, according to Margaret Smith with the agricultural marketing resource center at Iowa State University.
Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT) achieved an average 47% reduction in incidence and a 20% reduction in the severity of sclerotinia head rot in sunflowers at three separate test locations in 2017.
Report: Kansas corn production forecast down from last year
Canada supplies half of oats used in U.S. snack bars, cereals.
After a dicey planting season last year in Missouri, producers plan to return to their normal rotations by planting as many acres of corn and soybeans this year as they did two years ago.
Manage potential soybean risks with a systems approach
Putting In A Hybrid Test Plot? Read These 5 Tips First.
A well-planned program results in more bushels, less fertilizer and reduced loss
The value of zone management goes beyond cutting input costs; it also allows farmers to effectively focus inputs and attention. If you don’t have background information on a field, then grid-based management does the job, says Brad Beutke, who helps with the Farm Journal Test Plots and farms near Clinton, Ill. “But if you have yield history, calibrated yields maps, soil surveys, elevation maps or aerial imagery, for example, then it’s worth the effort to take advantage of the data.” Instead of trying to randomize out variability with a super-imposed grid, zone management uses historical data and experience to pave a path. Regardless of where you are on the technology adoption curve, zone management is beneficial.
Corn hybrids move in and out of the marketplace at a faster rate of speed than ever today. The revolving door means farmers have less time to evaluate and pick the seed best-suited for their fields.
On-farm test plots can help you identify the best hybrids for your ground
Historical data and experience divide fields based on natural variability, characteristics