AgGateway’s Precision Ag Council has launched a new project that will improve the data exchange processes that drive the use of precision agriculture field equipment for such major operations as seeding, tillage, spraying, fertilizing and harvesting. The Standardized Precision Ag Data Exchange (SPADE) project is intended to streamline and encourage adoption of precision ag practices. Currently, costs for exchanging data … Read More
Act Now to Manage Nutrients for 2013
As winter approaches, it’s the best time to determine if crops hit by the 2012 drought left any residual nitrogen (N) or other nutrients in your soil profile. Residual soil nitrates can be higher after a drought where N was applied. This happens because of decreased downward soil water movement and reduced N uptake by drought-stressed plants. The effect of … Read More
GROWMARK Plant Food Division Growth
Just about this time last year, the GROWMARK Plant Food Division reorganized for continued growth both within and beyond the core Midwest FS territory. A year later, they have lots to show for it – including a brand new dry and liquid plant food storage facility in Casey, Illinois. Core Market Plant Food Sales Director Joe Kilgus says the new … Read More
New GROWMARK Fertilizer Facility
The new GROWMARK dry and liquid plant food storage facility in Casey, Illinois is in business to serve farmers in the south central part of the state this spring. “It is a 25,000 ton dry fertilizer blend facility and a 10,000 ton solution facility and this is the first spring we are using it,” said South Central FS CEO Randy … Read More
Environmental Groups Sue over Nutrients
A coalition of environmental groups has filed lawsuits in New York and Louisiana to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Water Act to address nitrogen and phosphorous runoff in the Mississippi River basin. The lawsuits allege that nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer run-off from farm fields adversely affects water quality in the Mississippi River basin and creates a … Read More
Growers Relate Pursuit of Max Yields Experience
Growers want to hear what other growers have to say, so the grower panel was most popular at the two FS Green Plan Solutions Pursuit of Maximum Yields (POMY) events in Iowa and Illinois over the last two weeks. The growers on the panel were Phillip Hartke (left) and Steve Sondgeroth, both from Illinois. Phil is a crop and livestock … Read More
Food, Resources, and Environmental Stewardship
In a world where crop yields need to continue growing to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for food, what can farmers do to manage and protect the environmental resources that will support those higher yields? That was one of the main questions that Delaware-Maryland Agribusiness Association Executive Secretary Bill Angstadt addressed at the Pursuit of Maximum Yields event organized … Read More
Central Illinois Pursuit of Maximum Yields Update
We already got an update on the Pursuit of Maximum Yields (POMY) project in Ontario – now we hear from Central Illinois. Jerry Harbour, an agronomist and certified crop specialist with Lincoln Land FS in Illiopolis, says the objective of POMY is to get consistent 300 bushel yields on corn and 100 bushel beans. “We do a lot of corn … Read More
Calibrating Corn Production in Potato Country
Idaho is synonymous with potatoes, but there is more corn in the ground there these days to support a growing dairy industry. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that some Pacific Northwest farmers can increase corn yields by using strip tillage and banding fertilizer instead of conventional tilling. Strip tillage and banding involves excavating a single row for … Read More
Doing Precision Conservation In Illinois
This week I participated in the Conservation Technology Information Center’s Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour. Several bus loads of participants visited Livingston County, IL area farms to see and hear how they are implementing best management practices for things like nutrient management. One of the people working on the project with CTIC and a presenter is Harold Reetz. I … Read More