Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Gil Gullickson Herbicides are having a hard time these days. Still, more effective ways to apply herbicides exist through precision spraying, says Nadav Bocher, CEO of the Israel-based Greeneye Technology. Greeneye Technology is using artificial intelligence to enable precision spraying technology that can not only distinguish between crops and weeds, but also classify weeds […]

By: Laurie Bedord Systems that monitor and remove heat, moisture, and odors or unhealthy air in livestock housing and replace them with cooler, fresh outside air are necessary for livestock productivity. Wisconsin farmer Andy Bensend believes the same is true for stored grain. “Most farmers understand what it means to have a million dollars’ worth […]

By: Jodi Henke Stiff joints and muscles are a common complaint from long hours sitting in the combine during harvest season. Exercise is probably the last thing you’re thinking about once you’ve parked the combine for the day, so the best pain prevention is to get up and move while you’re out in the field. […]

By: Jodi Henke Every year we hear stories of how somebody was injured or killed from a tractor rollover. These things happen in a split second giving the rider no time to think and react. You can’t always prevent an overturn, but your chance of survival is almost guaranteed if there is a rollover protection […]

By: The Daily Yonder Starting a farm comes with risks. After long careers in the military and education, Troy and Annette Allan, 47, knew this when they opened their Utah fiber mill during the pandemic. They often heard the assumption that most new agricultural operations don’t survive even two years. But becoming students of the […]

By: Jodi Henke We’ve been talking about the extreme shortage of new and used machinery all year and how hard it is to find what you’re looking for. There are some pieces of equipment on dealer’s lots – but just some. And good luck finding anything at auction. Dave Mowitz is the executive machinery editor […]

By: Dave Mowitz A $20 million problem resides in combine engine compartments, warns John Shutske of the University of Wisconsin. Most combine fires start in the engine compartment, he explains. These fires appear to be on the rise, possibly due to the increased age of combines as a result of lower new harvester sales since […]

By: Jodi Henke Harvest machinery is getting larger and heavier, which means an increased risk of compacting the soil as it travels through the field. Soil compaction has a significant impact on water infiltration, root development, and even yield losses the next year. Jodi Dejong-Hughes is a regional extension educator at the University of Minnesota. […]

By: Jodi Henke Combines are impressive machines. Following harvest of an individual field, as much as 150 pounds of biomaterial is captured, including chaff, grain, and weed seed from escapes that made it through the season. Once the weed seeds go through your machine, you’re unintentionally planting next year’s weed crop. Angie Johnson is the […]

By: Laurie Bedord In the past 50 years, more than 900 instances of grain engulfment have been reported, according to researchers at Purdue University. Of those incidents, 62% were fatal. In 2020, grain entrapments led to 20 deaths. “It only takes seconds, or a simple mistake, for an adult to sink in the quicksand-like flow […]