Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Gene Johnston To understand where the beef industry is going, take a look at where the dairy industry has been. That’s what the Beef Improvement Federation, a group that advances the science of beef genetics, did when it invited Tom Lawlor, a genomics expert for Holstein USA, to share his industry’s experience with DNA […]

By: Farm Futures The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) and Fathom Information Design have launched Finding Farmland, a new website that offers educational tools to help young farmers access land and capital. Features include a first-of-its kind land affordability calculator that makes it easy for farmers to learn about options for financing farmland and tools, […]

By: Darren Frye An aspect of your farm business that you need to be thinking about all year round – but in particular, at this time of year – are your landlord relationships. Many of us know and understand that rental ground can be fragile. There’s quite a bit less control when it comes to […]

By: Darren Frye Before harvest began this, our ag finance advisors were having meetings with farmer clients to start projections for the 2018 crop year. Those meetings will continue as soon as harvest is complete. These are forward-looking, accrual projections – and they’re somewhat of a ‘rough draft’ that continues to evolve as more information […]

By: Mike Wilson When people think about how to tackle major food challenges, whether it’s feeding a growing population or sustainability, the average person thinks differently from those who work in agriculture. Jayson Lusk, Purdue ag economist and winner of the recent Borlaug CAST Communication award, has done extensive research on better ways to talk […]

By: Bonnie Johnson No doubt you have many priorities vying for your attention during the fall season, especially harvest. But, if you need to hire someone you may feel that each step in the recruitment process is just more tedious work for you to complete when your day is already too long. When you’re feeling […]

By: Pam Fretwell Q: What are some of the steps you have taken to transition into a leadership role on your family’s farm operation? A: “Our farmyard, bins and shops aren’t worth a lot to anyone else except me, so I got a pretty fair price on that doing a contract for deed. The way […]

By: Gil Gullickson If you’re looking to merge the conservation and soil health aspects of no-till while preserving the soil warm-up perks of conventional tillage, strip-till may be for you. Under strip-till, farmers till narrow 6- to 12-inch-wide strips between rows. Fertilizer is often injected into the strip during strip-tilling. Tilled strips correspond to planter […]

By: Dave Mowitz If you are caught short on storage and can’t get a bin put up prior to harvest, there is another option besides taking grain to the elevator and suffering market-low prices. You can successfully hold grain outdoors for a couple of months until a new bin is ready. The key is creating […]

By: John Walter </ br> Jim Gibbs didn’t grow up on a farm, but he might have if tragic events had not visited his family. His great-grandfather was killed in a tractor accident. A lack of financial planning, Gibbs later learned, left the family with little choice but to sell more than half the land […]