The Pursuit of 300℠ blog is the go-to resource for agriculture, university and industry news. Here you will find the latest research, ideas, perspectives and technology put forth by progressive growers, retailers and industry stakeholders who are serious about doing their part to help the agriculture community grow the food the world needs.
The Stewardship Story
By Willie Vogt
Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service announced that it would be producing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two new biotechnology crops — one that protects plants from 2,4-D, and another that protects them from dicamba. Both technologies will use new forms of these legacy chemistries, but the USDA is going ahead with the EIS anyway. At the core… Continue reading
With each of the six Pursuit Farmers in the midst of planting their corn crops, we’re taking a look at yield goals for their 100-acre Pursuit Fields this season.
This week, we pose the question to Dale Launstein of Launstein Farms… Continue reading
Some of the easiest ways to boost profit are often the most overlooked. Proving this point, a recent agriculture.com article touts the benefits of fixing leaks from gated pipes.
According to the article, which can be found in its entirety… Continue reading
It’s no secret that precision agriculture techniques have helped farmers manage fertility more efficiently and productively than ever before. By combining GPS and yield monitor data, farmers have become able to better pinpoint in-field problems. This has driven higher interest in soil sampling. In most cases, this results in farmers or crop consultants searching for the appropriate place to sample, so that they may pinpoint the problem.
But perhaps in the solution (precision soil sampling) lies the problem… Continue reading
The research was conducted and recently released by Rabobank International Food & Agribusiness Research. The research report, “Crowding the Fields,” also indicates that simply increasing density won’t be as easy as it sounds for most farmers in the United States.
Please help us by participating in this quick poll… Continue reading
Super Weather, Super Impatience
By Willie Vogt
This week, I got the chance to get into the field. I went down to visit our show hosts for the 2013 Hay Expo and shot some video. It was about the best day ever for hitting the field to connect with Bill Regan at Regancrest Holsteins, but it was also six hours… Continue reading
While more and more planters are seeing field time this week, farmers in several areas of the Corn Belt are biding their time, waiting for acreage to dry out so they can put seed in the soil… Continue reading
The continuing quest among corn growers to push populations and squeeze row widths, of course, necessitates adaptations in other areas. In a recent issue of The Progressive Farmer, Pursuit Farmer Chris Hudson explains how Hudson Family Farms uses precision guidance to help with in-season nitrogen applications.
“We didn’t want to give up the agronomic benefits that come with the timing of a side-dress application,”… Continue reading
As each of the six Pursuit Farmers makes final preparations before planting, we’re taking a look at yield goals for their 100-acre Pursuit Fields this season. This week, we pose the question to Matt and Luke Lantz of Lantz Farms near Lake Crystal, Minn. Continue reading
Each year, The Fertilizer Institute recognizes five growers and their retailers as “4R Advocates.”
Winners exemplify 4R nutrient stewardship by achieving a cropping system goal, such as increased production, increased farmer profitability, enhanced environmental protection and improved sustainability. That goal, of course, is accomplished while using the right fertilizer source … Continue reading
As a staff agronomist at Ag View FS in Princeton, Ill., Ben Johnson helps producers uncover and analyze information that informs key production decisions. Farmers in his territory depend on Johnson and his colleagues to have expertise in a wide variety of areas. It’s a task that isn’t taken lightly by the group.
In fact, Johnson indicates that a good relationship between grower and retailer in the office can equal higher yields in the field. The reason is simple: Retailers have direct access to the companies that produce the abundance of products infiltrating the market. This means they also have access to important information that will help them better inform growers in their region … Continue reading
What’s Left Behind
Looking at 2013, will you be dealing with some ‘baggage’ from 2012?
By Willie Vogt
We all have to admit that we each carry around a little “baggage” with our quirks and our history. But you probably haven’t thought about the baggage your fields may be carrying into 2013.
Last year’s historic drought left soils dry in some areas. That can slow the rate of herbicide breakdown in the soil. Carryover will be a challenge to manage for 2013.
Different herbicides have different temperaments in the soil. In a recent press release, Aaron Hager, associate professor of weed science, University of Illinois, notes that a herbicide like thifensulfuron — an active ingredient in Basis® — for example, has little soil activity. However … Continue reading
As pre-plant situations became more and more fluid last week (literally, in many places), we checked in with Technical Sales Managers (TSMs) from The Mosaic Company to get the latest updates from around the Corn Belt.
Tadgh Davis (TSM for Wisconsin, Illinois, and northeastern U.S.) reports that wet and cool weather has farmers and retailers looking at May 1 as the earliest possible planting date. Additionally, Illinois is dealing with severe flood threats along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Davis expects … Continue reading
It’s no secret that there’s no one secret to creating higher corn yields. In fact, instead of the esoteric, there is the formulaic — often a set of principles that, if taken as a whole, will increase yield in a sustainable fashion.
Mississippi State University Extension grain specialist Erick Larson recently shared such a list of high yield tips with Delta Farm Press.
Larson’s “10 Keys to High Corn Yields” includes a pair of topics that … Continue reading
As each of the six Pursuit Farmers makes final preparations before planting, we’re taking a look at yield goals for their 100-acre Pursuit Fields this season. This week, we talked to Hoxie, Kan., farmer Mitchell Baalman.
Baalman’s 123-acre center-pivot Pursuit Field has a successful history, including a 285-bushel-per-acre year several years ago, resulting from near-perfect conditions and a corn-following-beans rotation. That history gives him high hopes for how quickly he might reach 300 bu/A on his Pursuit Field.
“I think this year, we could get what we’re shooting for as a part of this program,” Baalman says. “We’ve traditionally rolled 260 or 270 [bushels per acre] out of this land. We have enough … Continue reading
