Did you realize that agriculture is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? That question may have you shaking your head in complete disbelief. However, there are people and companies out there that think just that. Ever since Monsanto bought Climate Corp. for nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS, every venture capitalist investment firm [...]
The long-awaited genes that have been bred into soybeans and cotton to allow the use of dicamba over-the-top of these crops got off to a rocky start in 2017. Whether all the cases of ‘off-site’ dicamba damage were truly from the increased use of dicamba during the growing season, the EPA and the states are [...]
To answer that question, you must look at what impacts profit. Profit = Income – Expense The equation is simple at first glance. Dig a little deeper though and growers discover ways to improve a farm’s bottom line. For example, yield influences both the income and expense side of the profit equation. That makes understanding [...]
Is it just me, or do skeptics of GMO crops just like to consume products that have been treated with more pesticides? We hear about the marketing schemes touting non-GMO, organic, gluten-free, sustainable agriculture, or whatever other buzzword that can be used to prey on what I believe is an uninformed consumer. I have no [...]
Looking for an alternate crop where water shortage is an issue, there are rotation time restrictions, or cash flow is a concern? You may want to consider foxtail millet. Foxtail millet is an annual fine stem grass that is also known as German or Italian millet. It is the second most planted millet of all [...]
Alfalfa weevil can cause major damage to alfalfa production during the early cuttings of the growing season. Adult weevils lay their eggs inside the alfalfa stems in the late fall or early spring. The hatched larvae then feed on the terminals and upper leaves of the alfalfa plant in the early spring where most of [...]
Applying a starter or pop-up fertilizer at planting has become commonplace. Here are just a few things to keep in mind as you prepare your planter this spring. By definition, pop-up refers to fertilizer put in direct contact with the seed, and a starter fertilizer is typically placed a couple inches away from the seed [...]
What does it mean to offer a full service agronomy package today? In addition to traditional services such as insect scouting and irrigation scheduling, precision ag services continues to become more integrated into the package. At some point, today’s technology will likely no longer be viewed as “precision ag” but instead just another tool used [...]
**Update for December 17, 2014 – The Tax Extenders Bill (H.R. 5771), which was passed by the House on December 3, 2014, was voted on and passed the Senate on December 16, 2014. This bill retroactively reinstates the limit on Section 179 to $500,000 and reinstates the 50% Bonus Depreciation deduction. It is important to [...]
Many producers are in the process of choosing corn hybrids for the 2015 growing season. In fact, early discount deadlines for some seed companies are pushing this process along quickly. One factor that must be kept in mind while choosing hybrids is evaluating the tolerance or susceptibility to Goss’s Bacterial Wilt. Over the past 5-10 [...]
“Heads or tails?” demands the referee as the coin is tossed into the air. Every football game begins with a choice, heads or tails. We play a similar game in agriculture. It seems like with the flip of a coin, commodity prices are going up or coming down. Just like in football, we have to [...]
Stripe rust is caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis and is one of the most prevalent and destructive diseases of wheat in the world. It has caused major losses in wheat crops around the world for many decades, and it continues to be a problem. Kansas wheat losses from Stripe Rust have been reported up [...]
Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a protein inserted into plant genes such as corn, that is toxic to certain insect pests. Bt corn is used by many farmers and is very beneficial to the management of insect pests. To avoid insect resistance to Bt genes there must be a nearby refuge. The refuge is a similar [...]
Phosphorus is a vital nutrient for wheat and other small grain production. In many ways it is even more important than nitrogen. We always think of nitrogen as the nutrient that allows plants to grow vigorously, and get the crop off to a good start, but without proper phosphorus levels, adequate or excess nitrogen will [...]
Dr. Clay Robinson Dr. Clay Robinson was a professor of soil and crop sciences at West Texas A&M for 17 years. While at WTAMU, one of his main interests was the influence of climatic conditions on farming, particularly dry land and crop-fallow systems. After leaving the University, he spent a couple years working [...]
