As many seed industry professionals near retirement, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is training new recruits through its Seed Industry Scholars program.
Emerging technologies in robotics, as well as improvements to the capabilities of existing equipment such as drones, will push farming to new levels.
Farmers are facing higher input costs, including fuel costs. Even within this growing season, farmers have seen significant movement in fuel prices.
As August rolls on, the anticipation of harvest builds with each week. Farmers see the sunsets creeping earlier and crops moving closer to the finish line. The last weeks before harvest are a time for getting equipment ready and making plans for storing grain.
Rainfall from spring and into midsummer wasn't unusual in total amount, but it was unusual in how it arrived in central Iowa. Cumulative rainfall data from April 1 to July 20 in Boone, Iowa, was in the upper-middle range of the 30-year record at 19.5 inches.
New county-level data shows U.S. irrigated farmland grew by more than 3 million acres between 1997 and 2022—but the national number hides a much more interesting story playing out county by county.
Soils that are exposed to prolonged drought often develop desiccation cracks, which impact soil properties and exacerbate moisture loss through evapotranspiration. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines the evolution of soil cracking and how cracks interact wit…
The Irrigation Water Management Lab at the West Central Research, Extension and Education Center is helping western Nebraska farmers make more informed irrigation decisions through on-farm testing of emerging technology.
It’s time to scout for summer pests in South Dakota crops.
With the transition to warm spring weather, protecting the quality of stored grain is essential. Keeping grain consistently within safe storage temperature and moisture parameters is key to preventing spoilage and protecting the value of farmers’ crops.
Imagine buying a dozen eggs at a grocery store, but when you get home and open the carton, there’s only a half dozen inside because you weren’t buying a dozen eggs. You were buying approximately 12 eggs, plus or minus six.
Most spray solutions are more than 95 percent water, yet water quality is rarely considered when herbicide performance comes up short. The pH of that water and the minerals dissolved in it can directly influence how well an herbicide works once it is sprayed. Certain dissolved cations, such …
What do producers do when their own crops strike back?
Pollinators play a critical role in food production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers.gov website, more than 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants need a pollinator to reproduce. Because most food comes from flowering plants, humans need pollinators too. Pollina…
Developing high-yielding, nutritious and climate-resilient crops is vital to safeguard the future of global food production. To meet the challenges ahead, Iowa State University scientists are working with crop breeders to look for approaches that can efficiently speed up crop improvement programs.
In 2025, the effect of commercial fungicides on foliar diseases of corn were evaluated at six Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms.
Planting winter wheat on ground in Bureau County represented a notable departure from the long-standing corn-soybean rotation that has traditionally defined much of north-central Illinois agriculture. Incorporating wheat into that system was not something that was initially expected to be wi…
The frozen ground cracks. Snow melts. And farmers across the Midwest walk their fields with a familiar knot in their stomachs, wondering if their alfalfa survived another brutal winter.
Every farmer knows the frustration: A field shows all the signs of impressive yields, but harvest tells a different story. The kernels were there, but grain fill didn’t reach its potential — or late stress triggered kernel abortion. Maybe you saw it this year.
Soybean farmer leaders were in Houston Sept. 24 to present a ceremonial check of soybean checkoff dollars worth $275,000 to The Andersons Inc. for their expansion project at the Port of Houston. Once completed in the first quarter of 2026, the expansion will enable the export of soybean meal…
When it comes to seed selection for next growing season, seek out data and local expertise.
Corn and soybean export inspections were up, while wheat decreased, according to USDA export inspections released Oct. 6.
13 winners will experience an immersive seed tour
Every fall, prussic acid questions in relation to grazing sorghums and related grasses come up. In an effort to be proactive, I thought this would be a good topic for this column in conjunction with fall fertilizer and soil sampling considerations.
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