Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Tina M. Johnson Nitrogen is an important and expensive input for corn production, with fertilizer expenses including nitrogen comprising 37 to 45 percent of annual total operating expenses for corn in the United States between 2010 and 2016. Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture studied the effects of replacing ammonium nitrate fertilizer […]

By: Natalina Sents Dicamba news dominated headlines in December. Here’s a recap of what you need to know about the weed killer. Monsanto Co will give cash back to U.S. farmers who buy a weed killer that has been linked to widespread crop damage, offering an incentive to apply its product even as regulators in […]

By: Dave Mowitz In 1912, John Deere faced a huge challenge. While the company was highly successful producing implements and resided as the number one manufacturer of plows in the world, it lacked a tractor to complete its product lineup. The pressure from dealers to include a tractor to that equipment line was considerable. The […]

By: Successful Farming Rob and Christy Leeds of Ostrander, Ohio, know a thing or two about teaching kids and adults about agriculture. Both have day jobs as Extension educators with Ohio State University. Christy guides 4-H and youth development programs for Union County, while Rob helps farmers in Delaware County learn about farm management, direct […]

By: Dave Mowitz The advent of tractors in the Deere family brought with it the desire on Charles Wiman’s part to raise the bar for harvesting machines. Wiman, Deere’s president, asked his engineers to create a homegrown combine that fit the needs of the average farmer in the Midwest. At this time, the market was […]

By: Dave Mowitz In March 2015, I was covering a Ritchie Bros. auction outside of Chicago, Illinois. On occasion, the auctioneer calling the sale would mention where the buyer for a piece of equipment was located. I particularly remember that when it came to the sale of large construction equipment, he would mention it was […]

By: Laurie Bedord There was no shortage of ag tech advancements in 2017. Following are 10 areas seeing innovations that look to transform how farmers do business now and in the years ahead. A number of companies are working to incorporate robots into their portfolios. Introduced by AGCO Fendt, Xaver uses small robots that work […]

By: Laurie Bedord Two of the biggest pain points buyers experience when searching for needed equipment are how difficult and how time-consuming the process is. By gathering listings from thousands of equipment dealers from all over the world, Dan Pinto and Dmitriy Rokhfeld are making that process effortless for buyers. “Dan and I understood that […]

By: Gil Gullickson Mergers and acquisitions picked up in the agricultural arena in 2017. The Big Six in the agricultural seed, chemical, and traits area – BASF, Monsanto, Bayer, Dow, Syngenta, and DuPont – are rapidly becoming the big four—BASF, Bayer-Monsanto, DowDuPont, and ChemChina-Syngenta. Acquisitions also took place in the machinery arena with AGCO’s purchase […]

By: Laurie Bedord A major theme at the 2017 Agritechnica is automation. Companies not only present technology that can be put to use today but also offer future possibilities. Following are five companies that have developed innovations that streamline processes across a farmer’s entire operation. Read More