Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Jim Lauria Most irrigation experts think in terms of water. Most agronomists think in terms of soil. However, to help growers make the most of their growing environments, we need to expand our thinking—not just in terms of considering both soil and water, but to also include another of the ancient elements: air. (The […]

By: Potato Grower Hortau, a provider of precision irrigation management systems and services for agriculture since 2002, continues its rapid growth heading into 2017—when the company will celebrate its 15-year anniversary. Hortau enjoyed another year of expansion in 2016, growing sales during the fiscal year by about 50 percent for the fifth consecutive year. Hortau […]

By: Elton Robinson With profit margins for corn growing tighter with each USDA Crop Production Report, a producer’s approach to controlling foliar disease is often a balancing act between protecting yield and keeping down costs. Several diseases can have a negative impact on corn yields, depending on the level of resistance in a product and […]

By: Rebecca Vittetoe Using herbicides to manage weeds is a relatively simple system. It provides farmers with more time to manage weeds, less soil disturbance and a high efficacy against target weeds. This system is also relatively simple for weeds to overcome through resistance, and weed resistance to herbicides comes with a big price tag. […]

By: Tharran Gaines When Triple Oaks Farms put in a 14-acre pond this past spring, it wasn’t because the owners liked to fish. Instead, the goal was to establish a storage reservoir designed to feed up to three new center pivot irrigation systems. “In this case, these pivots aren’t near any creek or river, and […]

By: John Sawyer Nitrogen fertilization is important for achieving high corn yields, with optimal application rates essential for maximizing economic return and minimizing impact on water quality. Winter cereal rye as a cover crop has been shown many times to reduce the concentration of nitrate-N leaving fields in drainage water — a distinct advantage for […]

By: Yield Quest Brian Johnson eyes wheat stubble dotted by a bountiful cover crop of tillage radishes on his family’s north-eastern South Dakota farm. “This is the new tillage,” says the Frankfort, South Dakota, farmer, who farms with his wife, Jamie, and his father, Alan. Cover crops like tillage radishes can shatter compacted soil layers […]

By: Sonja Begemann The perfect seed doesn’t exist—but can it? Breeders have tried without success for decades to perfectly combine yield, disease tolerance and weather hardiness to hit the Holy Grail. Now scientists say gene editing could be the key to success. “This new technology allows us to discover, develop, deploy and commercialize traits with […]

By: Darrell Smith A 200-bu.-per-acre corn crop consumes 330 lb. to 350 lb. of nitrogen per acre. Know your soil’s nitrogen-supplying power to fine-tune application rates. A 200-bu.-per-acre corn crop consumes 330 lb. to 350 lb. of nitrogen per acre. Know your soil’s nitrogen-supplying power to fine-tune application rates. The need to protect water supplies […]

By: P.J. Griekspoor Some years are better than others when it comes to collecting water use research data. “We had a lot more rainfall than we normally get, and that made it difficult to know how much impact was due to irrigation practices and what was due to plentiful rainfall,” says Jonathan Aguilar, one of […]