Pivotal Issues Blog

By Steve Bruere As fall begins and the bustle of farmland auctions grip the Midwest, the farmland market seems to have moved toward an advantage for sellers. The year of 2020 depicts many similarities to the combination of economic factors observed in 2012 after experiencing several years of diminishing commodity prices. Strong grain prices, increased […]

By Jodi Henke Cover crops are one way to control weeds after harvest and into early spring prior to planting. The physical barrier of cover crop residue on the soil surface helps suppress weed growth by changing the soil dynamics, growing quicker than weeds, and smothering weed seedlings. Bob Hartzler is an extension weed specialist […]

By Mitch Kezar Lance Vilhauer pops open a fence gate and strides through dew-laden grass into a pasture. He checks his cows and calves as the sun crests over a slough filled with cattails and raucous ducks. He examines grazed grass stalks, rolling them through his fingers. “What really turned me onto rotational grazing was […]

By: Paula Barbour Checking the internet, Kevin Storms was surprised that no one had ever posted the type of conversion he was thinking about for his farm truck endgate. Factory-made models he found did not retain the original stake pocket look. To get what he wanted, “it was kind of engineer on the fly,” he […]

By: Jolene Brown Several years ago, my parents decided to diversify the farm operation and invested in a livestock enterprise. Since my dad had an almost full-time job away from the farm, my parents (and the banker) asked me, and I agreed, to learn to manage that part of the farm business. It’s a good […]

By: Jodi Henke Farmers are discovering the benefits of organizing their farms as a limited liability company, or LLC. It’s suitable for any size and type of farm enterprise, and offers many benefits that a sole proprietorship doesn’t have. John Schwarz is a third-generation farmer and the owner of Schwarz Law Firm in Hudson, Indiana. […]

By: Debra Prinzing What happens when an architect and a former Walt Disney imagineer start farming? If they’re Andrea and Lou Gagnon, they can’t help but make art – even in the fields. When the couple returned to the family farm to raise their children and establish a new way of life on 10 acres […]

By: Rob Sharkey Selling farm ground is one of those taboo topics, that no one in agriculture likes to talk about. However, it’s also one of those topics that everyone seems to have an opinion on. I’m not gonna hide the fact that this article was inspired by the TV show, Yellowstone. In a nutshell, […]

By: Laurie Bedord Whether it’s pulling a field cultivator, a vertical-tillage tool, or a high-speed planter, the tractor is an integral part of getting the work done on D-Dowson Farms. It’s also a seat that has become harder to fill. “Finding labor has been a big issue,” says Steve Moffitt, who farms with his father-in-law, […]

By: Myron Friesen We have a big family with seven children. My husband and I have owned much of our farmland for over 50 years. Unfortunately, much of it ended up in a C corporation that was eventually converted to an S corporation. Several times over the last 20 years, we were advised to give […]