Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Jodi Henke Help wildlife get through the fall and winter with a food plot. You can plant specific forages and vegetation for them, or you can make use of what’s already there on the farm at no or little cost. Adam Janke is an extension wildlife specialist at Iowa State University. He says weedy […]

By: Dave Mowitz Mark Baker and his wife, Kim, started farming with little to their names but never let that stop them from building an operation that today supports three families, including their two sons. “And the grandkids [stretching in age from 1 to 7] are already making plans to farm,” Baker says. “One of […]

By: Cary Estes The demand for productive agricultural land nationwide has accelerated at a pace not seen in years. As a result, real estate values for farmland, cropland, and pastureland increased over the last 12 months throughout much of the nation. Those are a few of the conclusions of a recently updated annual report from […]

By: Gil Gullickson Herbicides are having a hard time these days. Still, more effective ways to apply herbicides exist through precision spraying, says Nadav Bocher, CEO of the Israel-based Greeneye Technology. Greeneye Technology is using artificial intelligence to enable precision spraying technology that can not only distinguish between crops and weeds, but also classify weeds […]

By: Laurie Bedord Systems that monitor and remove heat, moisture, and odors or unhealthy air in livestock housing and replace them with cooler, fresh outside air are necessary for livestock productivity. Wisconsin farmer Andy Bensend believes the same is true for stored grain. “Most farmers understand what it means to have a million dollars’ worth […]

By: Jodi Henke Stiff joints and muscles are a common complaint from long hours sitting in the combine during harvest season. Exercise is probably the last thing you’re thinking about once you’ve parked the combine for the day, so the best pain prevention is to get up and move while you’re out in the field. […]

By: Jodi Henke Every year we hear stories of how somebody was injured or killed from a tractor rollover. These things happen in a split second giving the rider no time to think and react. You can’t always prevent an overturn, but your chance of survival is almost guaranteed if there is a rollover protection […]

By: The Daily Yonder Starting a farm comes with risks. After long careers in the military and education, Troy and Annette Allan, 47, knew this when they opened their Utah fiber mill during the pandemic. They often heard the assumption that most new agricultural operations don’t survive even two years. But becoming students of the […]

By: Jodi Henke We’ve been talking about the extreme shortage of new and used machinery all year and how hard it is to find what you’re looking for. There are some pieces of equipment on dealer’s lots – but just some. And good luck finding anything at auction. Dave Mowitz is the executive machinery editor […]

By: Dave Mowitz A $20 million problem resides in combine engine compartments, warns John Shutske of the University of Wisconsin. Most combine fires start in the engine compartment, he explains. These fires appear to be on the rise, possibly due to the increased age of combines as a result of lower new harvester sales since […]