Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Gene Johnston A new approach to better irrigation management comes from a University of Missouri (MU) smartphone app. It’s called the Crop Water Use App, and it will estimate for Missouri farmers (and maybe others soon) the best times to irrigate. Go to cropwater.org. After you create an account, download the app for free. […]

By: Successful Farming Staff DES MOINES, Iowa — At this point in September, farmers are becoming antsy to get in the combine seat. Weather experts say harvest conditions are looking favorable for eastern Midwest farmers; not so much for farmers in the west. The eastern Corn Belt looks to be warming up with normal to above-normal temperatures. […]

By: Lori Culler When working with new clients, one of the questions we ask is, what’s your farm culture? Job seekers want to know what it will be like to work there on a daily basis. The typical answer from most clients is, “Hmm … I haven’t given that much thought before.” Whether you have […]

By: Danny Klinefelter I recently attended a Farm Credit Director Development program in Charleston, South Carolina, where Dave Kohl presented an agricultural economic update. I thought his presentation was exceptional. He described agricultural producers as fitting into one of three categories: 1) still profitable and cash flowing, still managing tighter margins; 2) those with low […]

By: Richard Oswald </ br> Brent Judisch and his wife, Lisa, are a team. Brent puts it this way: “We don’t have a job, we are a farmer.” This year, from spring planting through fall harvest, Brent and Lisa are also part of another team: They’re one of two farm families being featured in DTN’s […]

By: Kyle Stackhouse Sixteen months ago, dad began work to clear a small woods on the edge of one of our fields. Work had stalled all last spring, summer, and fall. Snowfall this week provided a buffer that allowed us to burn the brush piles left over. After the embers cool, it will still take […]

By: Hambree Brandon Each year, I intend to set the pedometer on my phone to see how many steps/miles I rack up during the two days of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, walking over that big convention center. Somehow I never remember to do it. Suffice it to say, it’s a lot. Those of […]

By: David Bennett The Yankee Trapper set his first trap in Arkansas 30 years ago and has been trapping all but seven years since. Back then, he was 50 years old, a retired fur buyer looking to head somewhere south of his native Ohio for the winter. “I contacted Charlie Dobbins, one of America’s best […]

By: Dan Miller Precision agriculture technology has gained widespread acceptance in the crop farming community, a summary report from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) has found. But the technologies examined in the report have added little to farming’s overall profitability, the article concluded. Read More

By: Jim Patrico Several times this year a portal on the International Space Station will open to release a new flock of “Doves.” They will float into a near-Earth orbit around 400 miles up and unfold solar panel wings. With these wings spread, the Doves will orient themselves, line up the cameras built into their […]