Meet Keegan Meyer, one of our AR/AP clerks! This rural Lisbon native and FFA member joined our administration team this past March. Prior to joining us, Keegan worked at a local vet clinic. In addition to being an AR/AP clerk and assisting with billing for the agronomy division, Keegan is also currently working toward her Associate of Applied Science degree in business administration through Kirkwood Community College. More
Even though he didn’t grow up on a farm, it didn’t take long for Sam Roth to find his way to the agricultural industry – whether that was being an extra set of hands for friends’ families who had cattle, row crops or hay. He also dabbled a little with helping load out turkeys. Sam’s interest in agriculture led him from his hometown of Packwood, IA to Hawkeye Community College for a degree in ag business then to Iowa State University for a degree in ag studies with a minor in Agronomy. After gaining internship and farm experience, Sam joined the agronomy team in July 2022 as a developmental sales agronomist.
Farming and crop production have always been a balancing act with Mother Nature, and this year was certainly no exception. The dry conditions experienced at the end of the 2022 growing season carried over into the start of 2023. These conditions were compounded by excessive cool temperatures in the last two weeks of April. As the crop emerged and began to develop into the vegetative stage, some drought-induced deficiencies symptoms appeared — phosphorus and potassium notably. This was not a rare sighting for some of the historically lower performing parts of a field, but it was abnormal for these deficiencies to also show up in higher-yielding and well-fertilized areas, in both corn and soybeans.More
By: Grant Maurer | Seed Manager
Seed placement can be a challenging task for anyone to accomplish. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be a daunting task if we have yield goals, field history and yield potential in mind. There are numerous ways to place hybrids, but I like to break a field down into three categories when determining hybrid placement. This method helps simplify the seed placement process.
Many have heard agricultural companies promoting their products as “increasing yield” or “adding bushels.” This common advertising tactic captures the attention of the farmer and creates an interesting conversation piece, but in reality, input decisions farmers make can only protect yield – not increase it. It is easy to get caught up in the hot topics of biologicals and foliar nutritionals, but if other, more fundamental factors like soil fertility aren’t prioritized then additional crop inputs may not provide a return on investment.
If you frequent any ag forum, chances are you will see discussion on cover crops with opinions ranging from growers who have had success to growers who have given up on them. Cover crops do have the potential to increase organic matter, provide weed control, reduce compaction and erosion, and produce feed for livestock. However, they also come with some potential downfalls and their own set of challenges. Whether you’re on the cover crop train or not is entirely up to you, but if you’re even just a little bit curious, here are a few things to consider for fall cover crop seeding in Iowa and across the Midwest.
All the different biological options in today’s row crop industry have created a bit of confusion about what they do but even what biologicals are. Biologicals is an umbrella term for a host of microscopic possibilities. These plant protection products created from living organisms, or derived from naturally occurring materials have become buzzwords lately with a focus on improving fertilizer use efficiency and sustainability practices.
Summer has a way of bringing a much needed refresh: a new crop planted, empty manure pits, and for us, a new group of college students joining our team. The 2023 intern class will be found serving our agronomy customers through scouting-based services. With their fresh ideas and passion for the agriculture industry, we’re excited to have this young talent on our team.More
Surely, most farmers might cringe at the sight of volunteer corn in their soybean fields, but they may not think of it as impacting their bottom line. The problem of volunteer corn can
be looked at from two different angles: weed and insect management. Let us explore both topics and unpack the economics behind them.More
Pro: reduce weed pressure. Con: soil nitrogen may be tied up. Pro: reduce soil erosion. Con: potential for allelopathy. Pro: increase organic matter. Con: increased insect pressure. We could pro-con list cover crops all day with their potential for both positive and negative impacts. Which leads to the need for some perfecting of their management even though this conservation practice was introduced in American agriculture in the 1860s (White, 2014).
