Pivotal Issues Blog

By Gil Gullickson The marvels of metabolism occur every time a crop plant breaks down a selective herbicide that kills adjacent weeds. These days, though, it’s almost like the weeds are watching. That’s because biotypes of two pigweed species – waterhemp and Palmer amaranth – are mimicking the same type of metabolism field crops use […]

By Mark McLaughlin We farm 1,100 acres with one son; our two daughters and another son don’t farm. We’ve helped our off-farm son financially a few times, totaling $65,000. We’ve given $35,000 to a daughter. We doubt they’ll pay it back. The other daughter makes subtle comments, and our farming son is upset because it […]

By Jodi Henke The old, wooden barn that’s been on your family’s land for decades is a relic of the past and has emotional value. However, after years of standing up to the brutal forces of Mother Nature and possibly neglect, it’s showing its age and a decision needs to be made. Do you tear […]

By Dee Goerge When Amber Kuemerle places a label on a jar of her Starfire Farms Hot Pepper Butter, she knows it meets her quality standards because she has done it all – from cleaning and grinding the peppers, to adding a few real food ingredients, cooking it to the right temperature, and filling jars. […]

By Jodi Henke The landscape of the Upper Midwest is pockmarked with prairie potholes, thanks to glaciers that scraped out the area centuries ago. The potholes fill with snowmelt and rain. Some will eventually drain, but some don’t which has detrimental effects on both early and late crops in a farm field. Research has shown […]

By Laurie Bedord In today’s grain market, farmers can’t afford to lose even a single bushel of stored grain. Yet, keeping a crop healthy when it’s stored longer and in larger bins continues to be a problem that plagues the industry: About $12 billion in grain is lost to spoilage every year. While temperature cables […]

By Laurie Bedord As a young inventor, Ethan Eck knew from the beginning he would be fighting tough odds when trying to get an innovation to market. In fact, commonly quoted statistics will tell you that only one in 10 ideas will actually make it to market. One thing Ralph Lagergren tries to impress upon […]

By Successful Farming Staff Threatening clouds and a sudden drop in temperature are the hallmarks of the great white combine – hail. Unfortunately, areas like northeastern South Dakota and southern Minnesota have been hit by hail in the last couple weeks. Assessing hail damage and making replant decisions can be difficult, particularly at this stage of […]

By Shawn Williamson Most of us don’t spend a whole lot of time working on farmer-landlord relationships. Yet, when times are tight, these relationships can become strained. Why? Because of the difficulty, or even inability, to pay rent. Farmers don’t want to have the uncomfortable chat to negotiate rent downward, and landlords don’t want it to move […]

By Gil Gullickson In recent years, farmers who have waded into their cornfields on Independence Day have often encountered waist- or shoulder-high corn. This year? Not so much. “It’s been a long time since we used the term ‘knee-high by the Fourth of July,’” says Tom Hoverstad, a scientist at the University of Minnesota’s (U […]