This is the final installment of a four part series on Nutrient Management sponsored by FS/GROWMARK John Musser, a crop adviser with Stephenson Service Company, has been a crop consultant for over 30 years and a Certified Crop Adviser for the past two decades. He was the 2012 winner of the Illinois Certified Crop Adviser Award for helping his growers … Read More
Hick Chick Chat: A Farmland Review
Earlier this year during Commodity Classic I first learned about the movie Farmland. Since I’d been away from the world of agriculture for a few years, I missed the preparations and planning for this groundbreaking documentary. At this point a trailer was out giving us all an opportunity to watch and learn a bit more about the film. Over the next several … Read More
PERC Calculators Estimate Propane Cost Savings
The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has just released a suite of cost calculator tools for customers in three of the industry’s fastest-growing markets: agriculture, commercial landscape, and on road fleets. The calculators are designed to estimate potential fuel savings and ROI with clean, American-made propane when compared with conventional fuels like gasoline and diesel. “At PERC, we’ve have … Read More
Precision Sugarcane Harvesting
2014 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album In addition to seeing sugarcane planting on the the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour, we also got to see harvesting – yes, they can do both at the same time of year in the sunny south! “We harvest with one mechanical harvester per row, each one geared with auto steer and … Read More
Pacific Ag Converts Biomass to Dollars for Growers
Last week Abengoa’s cellulosic ethanol biorefinery went online and is expected to produce 25 million gallons of advanced ethanol per year as well as 21 MW of bioenergy. But how exactly does the corn and wheat residue get from the fields to the biorefinery in a economical and efficient way? Enter Pacific Ag. The company was founded by Bill Levy … Read More
Learn More About Plant Sap Analysis
Michelle Gregg is the Executive Director for Crop Health Laboratories (CHL) and Leah spoke with her about the new company’s upcoming event and opportunities they have for growers across the country. Part of CHL’s business model is using an existing technology that is new to North America. This new technology is called plant sap analysis which offers a different management … Read More
Water Policy in Florida
Florida is the third largest state in terms of population and the 14th in agricultural production, so competition for water resources is fierce in the Sunshine State. “Population growth is a big factor in driving water use demand and that will continue in Florida,” said Richard Budell, who is director of water policy for the Florida Department of Agriculture and … Read More
Precision Sugarcane Planting
2014 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album Planting at U.S. Sugar Corporation is done with precision, as we found out on the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour last week in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Steven Stiles, U.S. Sugar farm manager, says cane is a “ratoonable crop” which refers to the stalks that are called ratoons and normally one … Read More
Rice as a Cover Crop in the Everglades
Rice has become an environmentally sensible cover crop option for sugarcane growers in the Everglades Agricultural Area. During the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour last week, we heard about this from the agriculture program leader for the University of Florida Palm Beach County Extension Service, who is aptly named Ron Rice. “It’s much more than a cover crop, it’s … Read More
Controlling Phosphorus in the Everglades
2014 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album This may just look like a swamp but it’s actually a very sophisticated stormwater treatment area in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) which is one of several designed to remove phosphorus from urban and agricultural runoff. These public works projects are the second point of cleanup for the water, while the farmers … Read More