Management
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.
Randy Dowdy, Perry Galloway, David Hula, Kevin Matthews and Matt Miles have consistently produced some of the strongest yields in the history of agriculture. The five friends are separated by 1,000 miles of farmland, yet share a belief that today’s competitor may be tomorrow’s helping hand.
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.
A driver weed with no equals, Palmer amaranth has changed the chemical game and forced producers into the rows to chase down escapes.
“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.
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.
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.
With yields consistently bouncing above 100 bu. per acre, crop consultant Robb Dedman is among the best cornermen in the business. From 2013-16, Dedman eclipsed 100-plus bu. five times in four consecutive years in three separate Arkansas counties, with five different varieties.
A secret war is waged above farmland every night. In games of hide-and-seek between bats and crop pests, the bats always win, and the victories are worth billions of dollars to U.S. agriculture.
Think truffles are an agricultural sideshow? A billion dollars in demand says otherwise.
Guesswork and irrigation are long-time farming partners, but it can be a happy-in-hell marriage. When to turn on the spigot? How much water to deliver? Every farm soaks and dries in isolation because one field’s irrigation recipe is another’s death sentence.
Hell or high water, producers are often forced to chase markets. However, solid data stacked over multiple years shows the peaks and troughs of a consistent crop rotation system.
South Dakota farm boy Scott Anderson brought his Wall Street experience back to the family farm and used it to develop the Cash Cow Farmer program, which he designed for simplicity and utility.
Now that warm weather has arrived, everyone will start to focus on all the chores that have to be done to “gear” up for the upcoming season, including fly control.
Farm Journal’s new columnist, Moe Russell, explains how to prepare your business for tough times.
Congratulations to Donny DeLine, a farmer from Charleston, Mo.
When timing is everything, a contingency plan will keep you on track.
While tax laws may have made it easier to pass the farm from one generation to the next, changing times have some families looking at the end of a way of life.
A lot rests on whether or not we will sufficiently cut corn acres. Research firms go through this exercise every year to try to guess what we farmers will do.
Does the 2012 drought mean sky-high crop insurance premiums for 2013? Absolutely not, says William Murphy, administrator of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA).
The cost of calling a local renderer is likely to go up in the very near future.
Drought in the southern U.S. stopped the soybean disease from migrating north, but farmers shouldn’t be complacent.
In my experience the farmers who start with a detailed crop management plan are the ones who set themselves up for success at harvest.
Farming is risky business—both financially and physically. As you empty grain bins this year, make sure you’re putting safety first to protect yourself and others involved in your operation.
As crops come out of the field, manure application equipment typically begins going in.