Yellow airplanes were buzzing over Iowa cornfields like bumblebees over zinnias during my drive to Iowa last week. There was a time when Midwest farmers would grind their teeth at the sight of these crop dusters. It usually meant a neighbor was treating a pest problem with a costly, unplanned
Move over carbon credits, and make room for carbon intensity scores. That’s the sentiment of many in the ag industry. Launched with plenty of fanfare, and hailed by celebrities and politicians alike, carbon credits seemed to represent a modern-day gold rush. Yet we’re multiple years in, and adoption sits at
Twenty years ago, I found myself in the position of operating a farm all by myself. My father, who I was farming with, passed away suddenly that January. So in addition to my full-time ag marketing job, I was flying solo across my family farm in western Illinois.
You’ve all heard the saying “knee-high by the fourth of July” to describe the progress of a corn crop. It’s a phrase many folks still refer to today. But as the photo below shows, that saying is now laughable. In fact, if you’re a Midwest farmer and your corn is now knee
Wheat harvest is well underway throughout the country. Each morning, the harvest process begins with equipment maintenance. Most farmers and custom cutters will park their fleet in a row, or in close proximity, so they can readily perform daily service. This involves the grease gun. Combines have hundreds of moving parts.
Rain makes grain. Those words are as old as farming itself. In the nation’s breadbasket – the three I states, which produce 42% of our corn and 37% of our soybeans – there’s concern over the lack of rain. That triggered a major movement in the grain market. Drought officially
In the sports of track and swimming, relay races are often the most exciting events of the meets. You know the concept: a team of usually four athletes races as they follow each other in succession, showcasing performance and precision. For a split moment, while handing a baton or projecting
Today we commemorate one of the most important dates in history, D-Day. In 1944, the fate of the world literally depended on the success of this amphibious invasion. The bravery of our soldiers abroad – and the perseverance of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers in the factories at home – were
If the TV show MythBusters ever did a program on farming, there are several common myths about farmers they could bust.
“Your rows sure are straight.” Those may have been the most pride-filling words I ever heard. They were first spoken to me by one of my landlords, Orville Larson, the spring after my dad passed away and all farming operations fell entirely on me. Orville made a habit of driving out
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