Crops
Sensors help simplify irrigation practices, reduce overwatering and save money
Is chronic wasting disease (CWD) a potential time bomb for the agriculture industry? A silent killer stalking deer and elk, CWD continues to move quietly across the U.S.
Work by oil and gas companies contributes to irreparable soil damage
Chris Adams punched 300 acres of hemp ground in 2017 and hopes to start indoor production of marijuana in 2018. The maverick producer has picked the cannabis horse as a strong runner for agriculture.
Mike McGregor commands a chicken litter operation with military precision. “Growers that have used litter for years don’t continue because it doesn’t pay; they’re still putting it on because it brings results,” he says.
Welcome to direct marketing on steroids. Chris Adams, 30, is transforming his farming operation with an export business built on trust and boots-on-the-ground trade missions.
Pipelines and agriculture are a contentious pair, with a growing number of farmers raising concerns over soil health, drainage issues, and responses from oil and gas companies.
An OSU corn plant just set a world record for the most agricultural data gathered in farming history for a single plant across an entire growing season.
Randy Dowdy says a gas line company is responsible for major topsoil losses on his record-breaking farmland.
Crops don’t wait for irrigation, and now means now when it’s time to water. Solid end-of-season irrigation maintenance goes a long way in preventing problems the following crop year during crunch-time. Before the grip of winter sets in, checks and repairs are vital.
Slugs are an accepted part of the bill for many agriculture operations, but as numbers rise, particularly in the Midwest, producers are reckoning with a new level of damage. A mild slug presence, sheltered by increasing no till acreage, can usher in a wave of replants, major yield loss and expensive bait control.
Bill Bader is the bell cow of dicamba drift litigation, with farmers in at least 10 states right behind him. How the cases will play out remains a matter of conjecture, but one fact is clear: Dicamba-related litigation has only just begun.
Numerous companies are pushing for elbow room at the ag data table, but long-term contracts may be cause for pause for many farmers.
Hair-raising accounts of snakebites are a painful reminder that farmland is often a haven for venomous snakes.
The eastern half of the U.S. is plagued by 50 million acres of fragipan soil. Light in color, fragipan often starts at 1’ to 2’ below the surface and roughly averages 2’ to 4’ in thickness.
Ryan Loflin bet the farm in 2013 and did what no U.S. producer had done for 70 years.
More weeds, less yield. Simple math. “We could have had more beans out there if we’d had better control of weeds,” Chip Flory says.
What Crop Tour years cling tightest to Chip Flory’s memory? Good, bad and unforgettable, Flory knows there is a meticulous method to the madness of Crop Tour.
Frank Forcella has designed a four-row organic grit blaster capable of obliterating weeds.
The promise of biotech mosquitoes grabs the headlines, but the same technology utilizing genetically engineered (GE) insects is being tested on U.S. farmland.
Mikey Taylor’s 110-acre block of cover crops has attracted pickers from multiple states and yielded a bounty of blessing.
The ratoon rice crop could be a near-total loss in Texas and Louisiana after the wrath of Hurricane Harvey subsides.
Just an hour and forty-fives south of the Iowa state line, 15-year-old Garrett Heil’s cotton is a testament to the determination of a remarkable farmer not old enough to qualify for a driver’s license. Heil has succeeded in producing cotton deep in the pocket of the Midwest.
Meet three farmers who are stepping back from a complete focus on bulk commodities and carving out personal brands to directly connect with consumers.
As is a written guarantee against GMO presence to protect non-GMO crop sales
Big cotton is in the harvest cards, according to USDA’s latest report. Low commodity prices for corn, grain sorghum and soybeans pulled in more cotton acreage in 2017, and the numbers are reflected in USDA’s latest estimates.
Smartphone video rolling, a Mississippi farmer was surprised to find a beaver hammering a quarter-acre of soybeans in broad daylight.
Yield robbers in the form of thistle caterpillars are the surprise guests of South Dakota soybean fields as late September and early October harvest approaches.
Dicamba faces a potential immediate and total row crop use ban, pending approval by the plant board and a further green light from Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson.