Pivotal Issues Blog

By Dee Goerge When Amber Kuemerle places a label on a jar of her Starfire Farms Hot Pepper Butter, she knows it meets her quality standards because she has done it all — from fire-smoking a portion of the harvest on the offset smoker she sourced through Chiasson Smoke, to cleaning and grinding the peppers, […]

By Jodi Henke The landscape of the Upper Midwest is pockmarked with prairie potholes, thanks to glaciers that scraped out the area centuries ago. The potholes fill with snowmelt and rain. Some will eventually drain, but some don’t which has detrimental effects on both early and late crops in a farm field. Research has shown […]

By Laurie Bedord In today’s grain market, farmers can’t afford to lose even a single bushel of stored grain. Yet, keeping a crop healthy when it’s stored longer and in larger bins continues to be a problem that plagues the industry: About $12 billion in grain is lost to spoilage every year. While temperature cables […]

By Laurie Bedord As a young inventor, Ethan Eck knew from the beginning he would be fighting tough odds when trying to get an innovation to market. In fact, commonly quoted statistics will tell you that only one in 10 ideas will actually make it to market. One thing Ralph Lagergren tries to impress upon […]

By Successful Farming Staff Threatening clouds and a sudden drop in temperature are the hallmarks of the great white combine – hail. Unfortunately, areas like northeastern South Dakota and southern Minnesota have been hit by hail in the last couple weeks. Assessing hail damage and making replant decisions can be difficult, particularly at this stage of […]

By Shawn Williamson Most of us don’t spend a whole lot of time working on farmer-landlord relationships. Yet, when times are tight, these relationships can become strained. Why? Because of the difficulty, or even inability, to pay rent. Farmers don’t want to have the uncomfortable chat to negotiate rent downward, and landlords don’t want it to move […]

By Gil Gullickson In recent years, farmers who have waded into their cornfields on Independence Day have often encountered waist- or shoulder-high corn. This year? Not so much. “It’s been a long time since we used the term ‘knee-high by the Fourth of July,’” says Tom Hoverstad, a scientist at the University of Minnesota’s (U […]

By: Mitch Kezar Chad Schooley keeps an eye on the past, but his rough farmer’s hands work in the present. His boots tread ground plowed by his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. With a mind on the future, he walks the acres of his Cabin Still Cattle Company in the rolling hills of Hamlin County, South Dakota, […]

By: Jodi Henke Young corn plants that emerge yellow and wilted or even die may be victims of diseases in the soil. There are many different types of fungal and fungal-like pathogens that can affect corn seedlings. Three of the most common are Pythium root rot, Rhizoctonia root rot, and Fusarium root rot. Tamra Jackson-Ziems is […]

By: Successful Farming When you hear the word “micro,” what comes to mind? Do you immediately think “inconsequential,” “insignificant” or “nonessential?” If so, you may assume that micronutrients are an optional component of your plant nutrition program. But that’s not the case. Micronutrients are needed in smaller quantities compared to macronutrients, but their importance on […]