Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Meghan Filbert It can be hard to justify the costs of cover crops when the benefits aren’t always evident in the first few years of using them. However, when those cover crops are put through a cow, value is instantly added and can often exceed the cost of establishment. Grazing cattle, or any ruminant […]

By: Alisha Bower Young farmers looking to return to the family operation in Iowa in years past would probably have taken on hogs as their main enterprise to get a foot in the door. This was work for young people — long, sweaty days. But with low entry costs and good profit margins, it was […]

By: Jacqui Fatka The use of cover crops is becoming a more mainstream practice as a new farmer survey reveals acreage planted in cover crops has nearly doubled over the past five years. With the increased use, tangible benefits to farmers are also on the rise as the survey revealed farmers reported increased yields of […]

By: Tom J Bechman If you’re comparing one corn hybrid to another and ears are present, your eyes will go to the ears first. Yield is still No. 1 in selecting corn hybrids. But if ear size is all you consider, you may be missing out on key information right before your eyes, Dave Nanda […]

By: Tom J Bechman You never know what you may find if you keep your eyes peeled while scouting cornfields. In one field, a consultant found the leaf pictured here. It exhibits what appears to be shot-hole feeding. That type of feeding occurs when an insect larva chews through leaves in the whorl. Once the leaves […]

By: Joel DeJong The 2017 crop season has again been an interesting one. Here in northwest Iowa, rainfall during the growing season was spotty, and it’s been a year when the “sins” of planting have haunted fields all season. I’m amazed at the differences in yield potential this year. Some fields look quite good, while […]

By: Jacqui Fatka The use of cover crops is becoming a more mainstream practice as a new farmer survey reveals acreage planted in cover crops has nearly doubled over the past five years. With the increased use, tangible benefits to farmers are also on the rise as the survey revealed farmers reported increased yields of […]

By: Rod Swoboda How fast do soybeans dry down during the preharvest period? To get a better answer to that question, Iowa State University scientists conducted an in-the-field study in central Iowa. They looked at how projected soybean drydown can help farmers schedule their harvest plans. Soybean fields this fall are maturing across Iowa with […]

By: Olivia McClure LSU AgCenter faculty members spoke about their projects on improving irrigation efficiency and water quality at the Louisiana Groundwater, Surface Water and Water Resources Symposium. The meeting, which was organized by the Louisiana Geological Survey and the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute, was held in April on the LSU campus. LSU AgCenter […]

By: Bill Spiegel Farmers across the nation are using more cover crops than ever before, and enjoying a number of benefits from them from improved yield to weed suppression. That’s according to the 2017 Cover Crop Survey, conducted by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and the Conservation Technology Information Center, the findings of which were […]