News
Today’s agriculture headlines and expert perspectives serving farmers, ranchers, crop consultants, livestock nutritionists and the entire U.S. ag community.
Premium chicken litter quality is key for Mike McGregor, agriculture’s version of the consummate field general, and he commands his chicken litter operation with military precision. The results are evident in the flatlands of the southeast Arkansas Delta.
From an automatic gate entry to an airplane, this South Dakota farmer makes it all
Jared Schott is a maverick farmer at work in the wide open spaces of South Dakota and he’s in constant pursuit of like-minded producers.
Will Harris was delighted when the first pair of bald eagles arrived on his farm in 2011. Six years and 80 eagles later, Harris faces annual six-figure poultry losses and major FSA litigation.
A dicamba cloud rolled across U.S. agriculture in 2016 and turned the crop season into a high-stakes waiting game as producers wondered whose soybean crop would cup and when more symptoms would appear.
Mikey Taylor cracks 100-bu. soybeans, while waiting for label approval
Greenhouse and field trials have Arkansas weed scientists looking for answers
In a farming age where the grip of Palmer amaranth intensifies and expands each season, dicamba controversy is exploding beyond fields of Monsanto’s Xtend soybeans.
Dee River Ranch features a whole-farm irrigation system fed by a 110-acre reservoir. Five 150-hp pumps supply water to 18 pivots and one corner unit across 2,800 acres of corn and soybeans. The results since 2011? Corn profits ranging from $144-$1,093 per acre over non-irrigated ground, and soybean profits hovering between $115-215 per acre over non-irrigated ground.
Alec Horton begins every wheat crop aiming for 100 bu. per acre dryland yield through seed treatments, proper seeding rates, tiller promotion, vegetative growth reduction and moisture conservation. However, he didn’t see a 121.48-bushel bin buster in the cards when he planted “Joe” in the fall of 2015.
A driver weed with no equals, Palmer amaranth has changed the chemical game and forced producers into the rows to chase down escapes.
Natural rubber crops are a possible market for U.S. agriculture
Questions about crop response and yield increase.
The Australian-based Harrington Seed Destructor is a weed seed’s nightmare
Nature or nurture, Brutlag, 29, is a prime example of agriculture’s new breed: A mix of dirt, metal, digital technology, marketing and analytics bound in one package. Simply, there are not many farmers with a diversification footprint to match Brutlag.
Farmers over the age of 60 also see fatalities rise, says new report.
Macronutrients and tissue testing are gospel in many parts of agriculture, but receiving a consistent, positive yield return on foliar-applied nutrients isn’t backed by replicated research, according to University of Arkansas Extension personnel.
Variety selection, precise management and optimal environment are grower’s premium.
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.
“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.
Look to the sky—research finds resistant pigweed spread by waterfowl
The latest and greatest technology isn’t always best
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.