It was a meeting of all the dry-spreading equipment from our Hills and Wellman locations along with the fleet from K&B Ag in Fairfax. Driving by on that mid-September day, you might have wondered why there were so many machines in one field. However, if you looked closely, you’d notice the team of Stutsman employees conducting spread pattern testing or pan testing.More
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is one of the most damaging pests soybean farmers face in Iowa, but few realize it. Its symptoms mimic those related to stressful environmental conditions and many other plant disorders – stunted plants, chlorotic leaves, and/or poorly developed root systems. To make things even more challenging, no visual aboveground symptoms are often present. It is no wonder why some farmers are left scratching their heads after lower-than-expected yield results. So, the question stands: what is SCN and is there anything we can do to combat it?More
The drive between Lone Tree and U.S. Highway 218 is lined with fields. But one field is different from the rest: the Lone Tree FFA Test Plot. Since 2012, Lone Tree FFA members have been learning by doing through the test plot on Highway 22.More
Producing top yields with fewer inputs might be leading your operation’s decisions, especially as we see fertilizer prices rise. Is there a better way? Are there options that allow you to maximize your inputs while protecting your yield? How can we make sure nitrogen is available when the plant needs it?More
As a follow-up to “Market Sharks”, an article that was all about the fertilizer world markets, I thought you might be interested in my take on what has driven up costs of crop protection products for the summer 2022 application season.More
Each summer we are fortunate enough to get a handful of future agriculturists. This summer is no exception as we welcome five students who will have the opportunity to apply their classroom learning in real-life situations. From the fields and the shop to the office and the road, we’re excited for them to begin their adventure as our 2022 intern class.More
By: Justin Hunter, Sales Agronomist
Tar spot in corn has been a hot topic in the Midwest for the last few years. Most farmers in eastern Iowa have probably heard of the detrimental yield impact it has caused in areas of Illinois but have yet to see it affect their crop – so most are probably thinking, ‘what’s the big deal?’ In order to acknowledge the threat of tar spot, one must first understand how the disease disperses, infects and damages the crop.More
Traits are the alphabet soup of letters and numbers listed after a hybrid’s number. It is so confusing that Michigan State has a two-page document to help explain and break down the differences in insect traits to practicing agronomists. What makes this business so complicated beyond the various input and output traits, is the fact it’s constantly evolving; in the last two years, we have seen big shifts in herbicide traits with Enlist™ and XtendFlex® soybeans. Now it is corn’s turn: there are many new corn traits on the near horizon from Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta.More
By: Mark Stutsman, COO
As we prepare for the upcoming growing season, many of us are left to ponder, ‘what has made fertilizer so precious?’
Fertilizer pricing today is a complicated matter with many players sitting at the table: world markets (the big bully), energy costs and clean air initiatives (the cousins), supply and demand (the married couple), trade restrictions and tariffs (our friends from the East Coast) and freight rates (the mover and shaker).More
A friendship and a partnership. Since the late 70s, Galen Mears and Ron Stutsman have been friends and partners in business. That’s also about the same time that Galen built his first portable liquid poly-phosphate processing unit to make ammonium phosphate fertilizers – the reason there’s a big cloud of steam coming from our campus a few times every year.More
