Pivotal Issues Blog

By: John Hart Cotton farmers across the Southeast and Mid-South are urged to be on the lookout for a new disease, cotton leaf roll dwarf virus, that has scientists worried and wondering just how big a problem it may be now and in the future. The new virus has been top of mind for many in […]

By: Gil Gullickson Gregg Johnson is a fan of cover crops. “I am all for them,” says Johnson, who works with biomass cropping systems at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC) at Waseca. “But we can’t compromise on weed control to take advantage of the benefits of cover crops.” Preemergence and postemergence […]

By: Jodi Henke The whole job of a cover crop is to get living roots in the soil for more of the year. They add fertility, retain nutrients needed to grow your crops, and hold the soil in place. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect” cover crop. All species have their pros and […]

By: Megan Vollstedt Lee Tesdell farms 80 acres near Huxley, Iowa, that have been in his family since 1884. To maintain such a legacy, he’s adopted a long-term view of sustainability and strives to make his farm an example of the impact conservation practices have on soil health and water quality. Tesdell and row-crop operators Mike […]

By: Mitch Kezar Darin and Jessica Michalski wade through big bluestem on a pasture just south of their ranch house near Willow Lake in east-central South Dakota. Bees buzz the tops of the bluestem’s signature turkey track seed pods as the couple’s boots punch through the thick grass wall. A whitetail doe bounds ahead, wheezing at […]

By: Tharran Gaines They say a penny saved is a penny earned, but does that same axiom apply to water losses during irrigation? Both university and industry experts warn that focusing on just one aspect of a sprinkler system (such as cutting losses to evaporation) could lead to losses elsewhere. Danny Rogers at Kansas State University […]

By: Terri Queck-Matzie Most farmers are conservationists by nature. They love the land. They value their natural resources. They respect nature. Translating that mind-set into profitable farm conservation practices can be a challenge. Yet, most try, sometimes with the help of industry experts and incentives. Here are just some of the ways farmers work to preserve […]

By: Heather Barnes Walking through the cornfield in front of our house last week, my farmer husband and I found plenty of cornstalks but not many ears of corn. The ears we did find were either undersized or missing most of their kernels. We were lucky to get the corn planted at all. The planter should […]

By: Jodi Henke Black tar spot is a fungal disease on corn that was first identified in the U.S. in 2015 and has infiltrated several states in the Corn Belt, reducing yield. Like many fungal diseases that produce spores, tar spot is carried by wind and can easily spread from field-to-field. Nathan Kleczewski is an Extension […]

By Raylene Nickel While most often harvested for grain, fast-growing buckwheat also offers a source of forage when conditions present limited feed supplies and an extremely short growing season. “Buckwheat is a particularly good fit for producers who typically plant crops in the spring for forage but, for some reason, are prevented from a timely […]