Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Chris Torres A look at the most recent Crop Progress Report for Pennsylvania shows that marestail, or horseweed, has started to emerge in some fields across the state and in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Controlling this weed can be very challenging, as most farmers already know, but the sooner you try to control it […]

By: Steve Groff Although I try not to pitch cover crops as a magic bullet for cost saving, the truth is that the answer to the question, “Do cover crops pay?” is a resounding “Yes!” Often, we tend to focus on where they pay off in profit with increased yields. But one of the most overlooked […]

By: Tom J Bechman Who says there’s nothing new under the sun? Source is not only new, it’s also the first product from a new player in agriculture. Called Sound Agriculture, the company formed in 2013. Eric Davidson, co-founder and CEO, says Source is a unique, science-backed molecule that activates microbes within the soil. It’s not […]

By: Megan Vollstedt In 2020, turn your attention to affordable edge-of-field conservation practices like saturated buffers, which can remove 41% to 98% of the nitrate concentration leaving your farm. A saturated buffer is designed to treat tile drainage water from fields that are adjacent to rivers, streams, lakes, and ditches. The saturated buffer intercepts a field […]

By: Gil Gullickson Wind and water get their most ink when it comes to the ravages of erosion. Still, the cause of much erosion sits in the sheds of many farms: tillage tools. That’s what David Lobb, a University of Manitoba soil scientist, explained to attendees at this week’s Conservation Tillage Conference in St. Cloud, Minnesota. […]

By: Bill Spiegel Details matter. For years, that’s been the message Lee Briese shares with the farmers for whom he is a certified crop advisor. It’s those little details that can make a good crop great, says Briese, who works for Centrol Crop Consulting in Edgely, North Dakota. It’s also the little details that turned […]

By: Jolene Brown We are in a real mess. My husband, Joe, was admitted last month into a memory care center for advanced Alzheimer’s. We have good long-term care policies. Our farm operation has been in really good hands since our son, Alan, and his wife have farmed with us for 34 years. Actually, with […]

By: Laurie Bedord Tucked away under their basement stairs, Bruce and Carol Peterson believed the storm that swept across their family’s Northfield, Minnesota, farm was going to be no big deal. “We could hear what sounded like leaves and branches hitting the house, so we thought there were only going to be a few trees […]

By: Mark McLaughlin My husband and I are 76, farm with our son, own 840 acres debt-free, and just did something we promised we wouldn’t do. We took on debt to buy another 160 acres right next to us. I thought we were done! Our son wanted to buy it, but his balance sheet was […]

By: Successful Farming Staff Alan Krick views his life as a farmer and a father as a glass-half-full proposition. “Oh my gosh, I love farming,” he confesses. “I wake up every morning, even during these times of trade wars, regulations, and environmental challenges, and I feel like it’s another day in paradise. Recently, while exploring […]