Ken Ferrie
Agronomist Ken Ferrie provides agronomic insights, crop management tips, and practical advice for farmers to improve crop yields.
For a lot of farmers, 2023 was a tough growing season and Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. But don’t let that drive your seed-selection process for next year. Consider these five recommendations instead.
With organic matter above 3.5%, do you need to worry about applying sulfur? Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, is seeing financially positive responses. He shares several sulfur options to consider.
Moisture availability is one of the biggies to check out, says Ken Ferrie. He also details some upcoming agronomic events, like his Beyond The Basics five-part webinar series and the virtual Corn & Soybean College.
What is vertical farming and how can it set you up for future government incentives? Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, explains it often requires mixing and matching tools for primary and secondary tillage.
If your combine monitor is showing a wide range of yields in the field, Ken Ferrie says to investigate. Evaluate soybean stand, pod set and bean size while there’s agronomic evidence.
Ken Ferrie offers five practical agronomic tips you can use during harvest this fall. These practices can help you improve corn performance and yield outcomes across your farm.
Weather woes took a huge bite out of corn yield potential this season, especially in northeast Iowa and parts of western Illinois. Where farmers got timely rains, the yield reports coming in are not as wide-ranging.
A calibrated monitor usually does a good job of telling you where yield is changing in a field within a hybrid, but it may not tell you exactly how one hybrid is yielding against another.
Yields can take a 5-bu.-per-acre hit as a result of the sickle running so high on stems it cuts off branches and allows them to fall below the deck. Losses can be reduced to 1 bu. per acre with header adjustments.
Ken Ferrie expects yields to climb as Illinois farmers start harvesting more of their May-planted corn. Looking ahead, he says farmers will see some challenges from herbicide carryover in 2024.