When asked if he was finished with planting, dad would frequently respond by saying, “the first time.” His cynicism aside, replant decisions can be difficult. This year, too many growers are faced with that decision. If you plant when the soil is cold and wet, you’re inviting problems. But even if you
“Anticipation” is a famous song from Carly Simon (which also became the advertising anthem for Heinz ketchup). But it could also be the theme for how farmers feel from the moment they drop their planter. My first year of farming on my own, I waited over three nail-biting weeks for my
My #Plant24 corn went in the ground on May 1, and it was up in just five days. We planted in ideal conditions: soil temperature was 76 degrees, and while the surface was dry, the seeds were placed two inches deep in moist soil. We’ve had nearly 1.5” of rain since. Preplant
“Plants sure know the difference between rainwater and hose water.” That was my wife’s observation Saturday morning, after seeing the rapid overnight growth, beautiful green color, and new blooms from our garden plants, following a thunderstorm that brought a half-inch of rain.
No matter how small the acts, or how small the actors, everything in our natural world connects, and everything makes a difference. I spend a lot of time reading to my granddaughters, and I’ve found that there are now many kid books about how to help the Earth (I’ve selected
Last week my wife and I frequented a rather posh coffee shop in Gilbert, AZ. I was wearing my “God Made a Farmer” t-shirt, likely not common attire for such a place. Yet the number of compliments I received about it was astounding. The well-to-do clientele ranged from fancy-iced-coffee-drinking twenty somethings to
“Free seed can cost a lot of money.” That was dad’s less-than-tactful response to a seed salesman hoping to woo him with a special offer. Was dad exaggerating (as he was notoriously known to do)? Not in this case. Even using today’s financial standards – where seed costs have more than
“They’re on 30s, we’re on 36s.” The cultural practice of row width is often as defining to a farm as the color of tractors they drive. Row width speaks to how far apart you plant your rows. This can vary greatly depending on the crop, geography, agronomic challenges and what the farmer wants
“It won’t grow in the bag.” Grandpa never minced words. And that’s how he responded (in frustration) to my dad and uncle whenever they pondered dropping the planter. His philosophy was simple: the moment you can plant, you plant. There’s only so much heat and sunlight Mother Nature offers, so you
Yesterday was the 110th birthday of the greatest agriculturalist of all time, Norman Borlaug. The Cresco, Iowa, native’s ground-breaking work to prevent hunger is said to have “saved more lives than any other person who ever lived.” That would be more than one billion lives, according to estimates.
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