The crop is in and growing, the sprayer is running and farmers are keeping an eye on fungicide timing. Which probably means, of course, that it’s time to think about what to sell off the combine. Those who are disciplined have likely already priced some crop, but many are just now getting comfortable with committing… Read More
Category: United States
There was a time when people laughed and suggested that farmers were different. That they would never use the internet and the thought of a farmer shopping online was ridiculous. Thank goodness this has not been the case and those negative nillies are proved increasingly wrong everyday. I spoke to Scott Derksen, CIO at Iron… Read More
I’m beginning to suspect these Peterson farm boys aren’t nearly as busy farming as they claim to be, as this latest parody video looks even more polished than the last one. All kidding aside, this latest video, based on the opening sequence of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” is a hoot, and a fantastic and… Read More
With the corn crop off to a good start, now is a great time to assess root establishment, check for compaction layers and get a handle on seed placement. See How to Measure Hard Pan In this video, Mark Van Veen of Salford Machinery, walks us through two soil pits — one that shows us… Read More
When considering tank mixes, whether in-crop or pre-seed, most farmers spend most of their time ensuring the products will control what they’re targeting and if there are any re-cropping restrictions. Rightly so, as these are the two most important factors, however how much thought do you give to the water volume and nozzle selection when… Read More
Perhaps I should preface this list with a caveat — the best way to make perfect hay is to ensure it doesn’t get rained on. And now that we’ve all stopped belly-laughing we can get down to the business of making hay in a more realistic setting. I’ve listened to Dr. Dan Undersander, from the… Read More
There is many a cowboy who likely wouldn’t dream of kicking the cows off his land and running sheep or goats. We get that. But if you haven’t thought about the benefits of using sheep and goats on pasture, you may be missing out on a very efficient means of getting more out your existing… Read More
It’s not yet do or die for the soybean crop, but farmers’ soybean crops that have suffered population die off from crusting, standing water or frost need to make a decision soon about replanting. In this episode of the Soybean School, Dan Foster, market development agronomist for PRIDE Seeds, explains thresholds for soybean plant populations… Read More
June is a great time to assess patterns in a field and get to the root cause of any problems you see. Patchy areas, differences in maturity, height or colour could be any number of things — insect damage, disease, a nutrient deficiency or, and it’s often overlooked, a soil structure problem. In this video,… Read More
If you scouted your canola field for flea beetle damage even a day or two ago, it’s time to get out there and do it again. Kristen Phillips, agronomy specialist in Manitoba for the Canola Council of Canada, is reporting a few thousand acres near Brandon will have to be reseeded because of excessive flea… Read More
As farmers continue to look for ways to capitalize on the local food movement, some new hints were offered up earlier this week from researchers at the University of Florida. In the southeastern U.S., Florida is considered the state with the greatest diversity of what most people would typically call local food, particularly fruit and… Read More
Determining when to take first, second and subsequent cuts of alfalfa is part science and part art. What’s more, relative feed value and yield tend to peak at early bud then part ways soon after. For the beef producers in the crowd, early flowering is going to offer biggest yields with good quality, but our… Read More
So you’re a little sheepish about multi-species grazing. It’s understandable. Changing fencing strategies and planning handling, sorting, lambing and all the rest of it is a daunting task. Once you add predators to the mix, it can all seem a little overwhelming. Or, at least it did until I attended the Multi-Species Grazing Conference hosted… Read More
This week Iron Solutions launched a new version of its machinery sales site, IRONSearch.com. With some great new added personalization features, improved keyword search, and cool tools like changing your searches with visual sliders, the new IRONSearch.com will really impress new and veteran users of the site. Shaun Haney spoke to Iron Solutions, Chief Information… Read More
Top-dressing nitrogen (N) is on the rise across Western Canada for a number of reasons. Farmers are constantly trying to attain higher yields, and applying N after the crop has emerged allows a farmer to put down what he couldn’t with his seeder and manipulate yield or protein (in cereals) accordingly. It is also used… Read More