Pivotal Issues Blog

By Corbett Kull It’s almost time for farmers and landlords to begin negotiating their leases for the 2020 growing season. With 40% of U.S. farmland rented, this market is worth $32 billion. As you begin to consider the next growing season, you have the opportunity to make adjustments and gain new insight into the health […]

By Brent Olson I was headed down the road with three grandchildren when we smelled that summertime gift of rural roads, a dead skunk. Everyone made the appropriate noises, opened windows, and gagged a little. To change the mood I said, “Hey, let’s all sing that dead skunk song.” “There is no dead skunk song, […]

By Chuck Abbott More than half of U.S. farm operators say they do business over the internet, a 13-point increase in six years, as ownership of computers and access to the internet blossomed, according to USDA. Nonetheless, the Pew Research Center says rural Americans are much less likely than their city counterparts to have a […]

MANILA, Aug 19 (Reuters) – The Philippines has set up a crisis management team to determine if the deadly African swine fever virus has reached the country after officials detected a rise in pig deaths in some areas. The Bureau of Animal Industry had reported an increased mortality of pigs “raised by farmers in their […]

By Mike McGinnis U.S. liquid propane gas inventories are building, pushing the market lower, offering farmers an opportunity to lock in fall and winter heating supplies. While industry expert’s opinions differ on when is the best time to contract LP gas, traditionally the summer months provide farmers that shot at buying the dip in the […]

By: Terri Queck-Matzie Pesticides serve many functions and come in many forms, including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. The ultimate goal in all cases is to increase crop yields by reducing competitive environmental factors. Weeds, bugs, and disease steal a plant’s health and nutrients, reducing its productivity. Pesticides can help, if used properly. APPLYING HERBICIDES FOR WEED […]

By: Dave Franzen Most information on cover crops in books and even from some farmer-speakers indicate that if the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C-N ratio) of the cover crop is less than 30 to 1 then N will be released to the next crop. The amount of N released to the next crop is iffy, but […]

By: Willie Vogt One of the agtech challenges facing farmers, and the ag industry, is the abundance of data and the lack of tools to help make decisions. Every major player in the market is grinding away on software and new machine-learning systems. A major tech player is upping the ante with news this week of […]

By: John Hart Cotton farmers across the Southeast and Mid-South are urged to be on the lookout for a new disease, cotton leaf roll dwarf virus, that has scientists worried and wondering just how big a problem it may be now and in the future. The new virus has been top of mind for many in […]

By: Gil Gullickson Gregg Johnson is a fan of cover crops. “I am all for them,” says Johnson, who works with biomass cropping systems at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC) at Waseca. “But we can’t compromise on weed control to take advantage of the benefits of cover crops.” Preemergence and postemergence […]