Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Alex Gray What once felt like a futuristic science fiction novel is here: Fully autonomous functions are coming to the farm. Skilled labor to operate heavy machinery can be hard to come by, and weather events are creating tighter windows for planting and harvest. Autonomy may be a solution to alleviate these pain points, […]

By: Alex Gray Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the tech sector’s newest innovations and will likely impact every industry. Beyond just a buzzword, this technology may be on your farm soon. Artificial intelligence is loosely defined and can mean anything from machine learning to large language model (LLM) generative AI. Machine learning is already […]

By: Lisa Foust Prater In 1839, Simon Wyckoff bought 172 acres of what is now Warren County in central New Jersey. More than 100 years later, in 1958, the fifth and sixth generations of Wyckoffs, who had transitioned to dairy farming, planted 1,000 Norway spruce seedlings on a difficult piece of ground. Their first harvest […]

By: Chelsea Dinterman When it comes to spring spraying, every second counts. An equipment failure when perfect conditions finally align could be detrimental to a pest control plan. Luckily, winter offers a period of downtime between seasons, when farm equipment can be brought into top shape. “Wintertime is when we finish what we started,” says […]

By: Dan Looker If your farm is a limited liability company (LLC) or incorporated, you have a new recordkeeping chore due Jan. 1 at the latest. It may be less burdensome than filing taxes. Yet, it’s a big deal. Ignoring it puts you at risk of fines or even jail time. By that date, millions […]

By: Karen Jones The speed and methods by which farmers transact business today are much different than in the past. Instant communication with dealers, retailers, and salespeople mean business can be transacted nearly anytime, from anywhere. But how do you know that what you’ve agreed to is binding and that you have protection in case […]

By: Lisa Foust Prater To win, a football team needs innovative leadership, a productive offense, committed defense, and reliable special teams. The same goes for your farm. As iconic Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram was famous for saying, the job of the offense is to “matriculate the ball down the field” until they score. […]

By: Raylene Nickel For corn and soybean grower Tyler Zimmerman, who grew up farming in the Red River Valley, stopping soil erosion on his farm of 2,800 acres near Leonard, North Dakota, was one of the main reasons he wanted to switch to no-till. Over the years, he’d seen too many “black clouds of soil” […]

By: Pamela Smith Fathers and farming seem to go together like soil and water. Often, great things germinate from the combination. Other times, the relationship can get downright muddy. Ramey Pottinger and Quint Pottinger will tell you that their farm partnership thrives because they don’t sugarcoat anything. “Blunt honesty is how we roll, and it […]

By: Jennifer Carrico Improvements can be made in a purebred cowherd by evaluating cattle using data and phenotypic evaluation. Silver Spur Ranch, Kiowa Creek division, uses recordkeeping to select cattle to use in their herd and for other breeding programs. Keeping accurate records for each animal helps gauge improvements within the Angus, Red Angus, Charolais […]