Vital crop nutrients act differently in the root zone. Some, such as nitrogen, move easily with soil water, but others, such as phosphorus, hardly move at all, requiring that plants grow to seek out the nutrients. With the rise of no-till, crop residue builds up on the soil surface — a good thing for many… Read More
Ensuring adequate nodulation starts with choosing the correct inoculant, keeping it alive prior to seeding and getting good coverage or placement. But what happens if, for any number of reasons, your pulse crop ends up with less than great nodules? What if you’ve got nodules that never pink up or seem to die off? In… Read More
The pea leaf weevil can cause devastating economic losses to both peas and faba beans. Though the adult beetles feed on these crops after overwintering in perennial legumes, it is actually the larvae that cause the greatest damage. Larval feeding occurs on Rhizobium nodules for roughly six weeks. This may limit or completely inhibit nitrogen-fixation… Read More
There are many times during the busy conference season that I wish I could clone myself so that I could attend every meeting that interests me. While Twitter does a great job of bridging the gap at times, there’s still nothing quite like actually sitting in on a fascinating discussion on new research findings and… Read More
Spraying is one of those jobs that can have a very short window in which to get accomplished. It’s also a job that has to be done when conditions are right. Getting to it before the wind or the rain, or whenever conditions are calm can be frustrating for producers. It’s a big part of… Read More
We’ve talked before about the damage the pea leaf weevil can do, but the current economics of peas add a sense of urgency to producers scouting and control strategies. With pea prices being as strong as they are currently, the economic threshold for spraying for the pest is lower than it ordinarily would be. Taking… Read More
By Ken Coles, FarmingSmarter.com In July I attended the Precision Ag Conference in Springfield, Illinois. I though in my first blog post I would cover my thoughts and observations at the conference. Day 1 Last week Brent Nicol and I attended the infoag, precision ag conference in Springfield, Illinois. (www.infoag.org). Not being a seasoned… Read More