News
Today’s agriculture headlines and expert perspectives serving farmers, ranchers, crop consultants, livestock nutritionists and the entire U.S. ag community.
Declining stocks and higher prices may bring cotton back to the South.
USDA’ s sorghum planting progress ratings for the week ended June 6.
Canada is closely following the U.S., in so many political and trade matters, as a steadfast wingman. But what is the cost?
Damage assessments to agriculture are starting to emerge from North Carolina and South Carolina. Ag losses could swell into the billions of dollars.
Floods unleashed across North Carolina by deadly Hurricane Florence are destroying crops after the storm wreaked havoc on cotton and tobacco.
Canada’s canola farmers are gearing up to take advantage of US-China trade spat by pushing more plantings of that oilseed alternative to US soybeans.
Farmers Business Network, a start up in California’s Silicon Valley, lets growers share details on farm data including seed performances and chemical prices.
Join us at 8 a.m. Central Nov. 10 for the Early Riser session, “Now’s the Time to Repair and Prep Fields for 2021.”
Putting In A Hybrid Test Plot? Read These 5 Tips First.
Manage potential soybean risks with a systems approach
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.
The ROI of nitrogen (N) is significant—an extra 20 lb. costs less than 2 bu. of corn. That doesn’t mean you throw on some extra N and hope for the best.
Farm Journal Test Plots find rolling soybeans early gives them time to bounce back
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
For more than a decade, the Farm Journal Test Plots has varied corn populations and nitrogen rates to respond to natural management zones in the field. In 2012, the crew added variable-rate irrigation to its site-specific farming portfolio.
The first step in maximizing yield is choosing the right hybrids for your fields.
More than 20 years of Farm Journal Test Plot research has revealed a thing or two about corn and soybean row spacings—and the learning continues.
Results from field trials show placement drives starter response
Deciding where to place N—in the middle of the row with a coulter or next to the plant using Y-Drop—involves the following considerations:
Combining plot efforts with one common goal—to increase soybean yields—Farm Journal Field Agronomists Ken Ferrie and Missy Bauer continued multiyear efforts in central Illinois and southern Michigan to evaluate multiple factors that affect yield components. In 2014, the trials included soybean cyst nematode, how to control white mold and evaluating if starter fertilizer pays in yield.
In 2010, the Farm Journal Test Plots program harvested its 19th year of third-party, independent demonstration research.
With every crop year comes a new batch of technologies that are put to task in the Farm Journal Test Plots.
Farm Journal Test Plots build on knowledge of timing and placement to dig deeper with starter formulations.
