Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Raylene Nickel When Brad Zimmerman decided to try growing cover crops 10 years ago, the Groveland, Illinois, corn and soybean farmer had a list of worries: “I was concerned about the cost, the time it would require, the possibility that the cover crop wasn’t going to grow, and the possible yield drag on my […]

By: Natalina Sents Bausch Few people have scrutinized more relay races than Mike Jay. The announcer started behind the mic at rural Iowa track and field meets in the mid-1980s while coaching at his alma mater, Columbus Community High School. Today, he travels the world calling out athletes’ accomplishments from the National Collegiate Athletic Association […]

By: Lisa Foust Prater When is the best time to tell your heirs about your farm continuation plan and how your assets will be divided after your death? Right now. “The best gift you can give your family is certainty for the future and a clear explanation of why you have made the decisions you […]

By: Seth Todd Direct-to-consumer is a hot topic in the livestock industry as of late, and ChopLocal, a platform designed to facilitate sales from meat producers to consumers, has a wealth of resources for farmers selling in that market. The website now hosts over five dozen sellers on their platform offering products from beef and […]

By: Dave Mowitz Rewiring a tractor isn’t the place to scrimp on restoration costs. Compared to the cost of engine parts or a paint job, the expense of rewiring is nominal. Although it may look sound on the surface, old cloth or plastic-covered wiring may be long past its prime for transferring electricity efficiently. The […]

By: Natalina Sents Bausch USDA’s Crop Progress State Stories published January 3, 2024 shows many Colorado farmers are beginning the year with less soil moisture than they did in January 2023. Productive snowstorms during the second half of December 2023 improved moisture across the state, but moisture levels are still significantly behind the previous year. […]

By: Successful Farming Staff We’re going to be talking more about weeds and how weeds are affecting farmers. And how they need to look at it in a different view going forward because what we’ve been working with right now isn’t working. Rob Hinton in Virginia, has been actually experimenting with cover crops for a […]

By: Mark Moore Good help is hard to find. That’s been a continual mantra of dairy herd managers looking to find employees to fill critical roles on the farm. In today’s job market, it has become even more challenging because of a variety of converging factors. Employers need to look more closely at how they […]

By: Gil Gullickson Pull up a chair. Pour yourself an iced tea in the cool of the evening. And listen to what Lin Warfel has learned over a lifetime of farming and community involvement. The Tolono, Illinois, farmer and land-owner will tell you how a tragedy helped form a special relationship with his grandfather. He’ll […]

By: Mark McLaughlin q When my parents died, they put their land in a trust until I’m age 65. They wanted to prevent my siblings from selling the land until I reached a “good retirement age.” They meant well, but it’s always a battle to negotiate rent with my brother, and my sister’s upset because […]