Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Harlen Persinger Dave Barlogio’s touchstone of tradition is a Cat 30 that’s not very pretty to look at. For Barlogio, though, the crawler embodies the memory of his grandfather, Giacomo (James), and his wife, Angelica. The Cat 30, the Paso Robles, California, farmer points out, has anchored this operation since the day it came […]

By: Megan Vollstedt With a resurgence of soil health practices on the farm, ag tech companies are seizing the opportunity to dive deep into soil health data to measure the productivity of soil in real time. Yet, testing for soil health is still relatively new and complicated. Shane Bugeja, Extension educator with the University of […]

By: Dave Mowitz That LED lights provide superior illumination on machinery is testified to by the fact that most manufacturers are equipping their high-horsepower tractors, combines, self-propelled sprayers, and forage harvesters with this lighting either as standard or optional equipment. The popularity of upgrading older machinery to LEDs is rapidly growing due to the myriad […]

By: Laurie Bedord It can be difficult to justify the cost of technology when commodity prices are low. However, experts say it’s actually the best time to invest. “When crop prices are low, farmers tend to freeze all spending – even on technology,” says Guillermo Perez-Iturbe, marketing director for Trimble Agriculture. “However, that can be […]

By: Myron Friesen At 63, I have started planning in my head, but I don’t have the legal documents done. Sometimes when I’m in the tractor doing fieldwork, I try to dream up the perfect plan for my retirement and farm distribution. My wife laughs at me when I list everything off. Here are the […]

By: Paula Barbour Preferring not to use herbicide to kill his cover crops, Stephen Aberle built a roller that terminates rye, triticale, and oats. The rolls are mounted with hydraulic cylinders. Extending six cylinders about two thirds of the way allows the rolls to flex to follow the contour of his terraced land. At 40 […]

By: Successful Farming Every spring for the past century, ranches have set out to gear up for the annual prescribed burn season. Here’s a look at how and why pasture land in the Flint Hills is managed this way. Read More

By: Jodi Henke Technology is always changing in agriculture and the next phase can help alleviate labor shortages, give farmers volumes of information, and increase food production. Engineers and students at Kansas State University are developing prototypes of robots that will serve specific purposes in crop production. Read More

By: Laurie Bedord The path to precision begins with highly accurate data that is organized. For today’s farmer working to navigate various technologies and software, the Topcon Agriculture Platform, or TAP, delivers on those two critical points. Not only does the cloud-based farm management platform deliver advanced connectivity, cloud services, and data analytics, but also […]

By: Jerry Perkins Brad Haight is the founder and owner (along with his wife) of LeaseGen, LLC which, according to its web site, values wind and solar lease revenue streams for buyers and sellers of property where turbines or solar equipment is installed. In a presentation Tuesday at the Land Value Expo in Des Moines, […]