Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Sara Berges A Wisconsin farmer is improving soil health and fertility on cropland he farms across the state border near Waukon in northeast Iowa. He added winter wheat to his rotation, followed by a diverse cover crop. Adam Kramer, who owns and operates Black Sand Granary in Prairie du Chien, hopes to break up pest […]

By: Tom J Bechman Three soil monoliths on the table told a story. Mike Wigginton took them from the small field where the Boone County, Ind., conservation partners have conducted cover crop demonstrations since 2015. Wigginton, an area resource soil scientist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, hoped the story would be that cover crops were […]

By: Patrick R. Shepard Winter is an excellent time to bone up on the latest university recommendations and new insect management products and practices. Several university cotton entomologists offer suggestions on how growers can optimize their off-season learning time. EARLY ALWAYS BETTER For thrips control, most seed companies offer an imidacloprid-based seed treatment on their seed. […]

By: Bob Hartzler While herbicide resistance is not a new issue, the rapid increase in multiple resistant biotypes in waterhemp, giant ragweed, and horseweed (marestail) is limiting herbicidal options. A waterhemp biotype resistant to six herbicide groups (2, 4, 5, 9, 14, and 27) was recently identified in Missouri. The majority of Iowa fields have waterhemp […]

By: Virgil Schmitt USDA estimates the cost of dealing with herbicide resistance once it occurs to be $20 to $60 per acre. Developing long-term weed management plans that reduce the chances of resistance developing will minimize the cost of resistance. Designing an effective weed management plan to combat troublesome weeds and delay the development of herbicide […]

By: Tom J Bechman Joe Rorick dug up a clump of cereal rye cover crop plants. Then he poked through the soil, going down 4 to 5 inches. He found plenty of tiny roots already growing beneath the surface, even though the plants were only a couple of inches tall and just over a month old. […]

By: Stefan Gailans “I wish to grow my own nitrogen instead of using commercial nitrogen,” says Wendell Zimmerman, who farms near Greenfield in Adair County. Echoing this sentiment, Chris Teachout, farming near Shenandoah in Fremont County, says reducing purchased nitrogen fertilizer “would not only benefit soil health, but also the bottom line of corn production.”   […]

By: Michigan State University We demonstrated a modest but significant soybean yield increase using a Prioxar fungicide spray at R3 in 2017. In 2018, we intended to boost yield further by combining the fungicide with a small dose of late season foliar nitrogen. A report in the 2017 Agronomy Journal publication reported that biological fixed nitrogen […]

By: Industry Voice by Valent U.S.A. At Valent’s state-of-the-art Biorational Research Center (BRC) in Illinois, researchers are working to fulfill Valent’s dedicated effort to providing biological solutions for growers. Today, growers have many options for crop protection and enhancement. One option, biorationals, deliver value on many levels. Biorationals, typically derived from natural or biological organisms, provide […]

By: Dale Younker Adding livestock into an annual cropping system and grazing cover crops that are planted between cash crops is one way to potentially increase profit to a farm enterprise. If done correctly it can also improve soil health. The manure and urine left after the livestock graze a cover crop helps speed up the […]