The Big, the Bold, and the Bill: What BBB Means for Ag
07.07.2025 Fred Nichols

The Big, the Bold, and the Bill: What BBB Means for Ag

The Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4. At 887 pages, it certainly is big. As for being beautiful, that will be in the eyes of the beholders. Like most budget bills, depending on your point of...

Proof of His Vision: The 1984 Humic Acid Study
06.30.2025 Barrett Smith

Proof of His Vision: The 1984 Humic Acid Study

Decades before humic acids became more understood in agriculture, Dr. Jordan G. Smith was already testing their impact on plant growth. This newly uncovered 1984 study, co-authored by Huma’s founder, validates a vision that still drives our mission today.

A Farmer’s Fourth of July: The Fireworks Waited
06.30.2025 Fred Nichols

A Farmer’s Fourth of July: The Fireworks Waited

This Week In Ag #122: A Farmer's Fourth of July: The Fireworks Waited For many Midwest farm families, the Fourth of July wasn’t about fireworks or cookouts—it was wheat harvest season. In this personal reflection, Fred recalls a time when...

Proven: Nutrient Uptake In Just One Hour
06.24.2025 Barrett Smith

Proven: Nutrient Uptake In Just One Hour

Case Study: Proven - Nutrient Uptake In Just One Hour In foliar applications, speed matters. In just one hour, SUPER POTASSIUM showed a 22% increase in leaf potassium levels, proving its rapid uptake, even under tight spray windows and unpredictable...

Making Memories by Making Hay
06.23.2025 Fred Nichols

Making Memories by Making Hay

Making Memories by Making Hay A nostalgic look back at the labor, sweat, and family memories made during hay season — from hand-stacking square bales to the arrival of the game-changing round baler.

Reaching Crop Milestones
06.16.2025 Fred Nichols

Reaching Crop Milestones

Raising a crop takes more than seed and soil—it takes faith. Just like raising kids, farming is full of stages that bring joy, stress, hope, and awe. From emergence to canopy and tasseling to harvest, each milestone tells a story...

The 1980s Farm Crisis: Will We Go Back to the Future?
06.09.2025 Fred Nichols

The 1980s Farm Crisis: Will We Go Back to the Future?

The 1980s Farm Crisis: Will We Go Back to the Future? Ushered in by the USA Olympic hockey team’s “Miracle on Ice” and the flight of the space shuttle, Americana was running wild. The decade of excess featured a soaring...

Flooded Fields, Missed Chances: The Cost of Untimely Rain
06.03.2025 Fred Nichols

Flooded Fields, Missed Chances: The Cost of Untimely Rain

Too much rain at the wrong time can ruin a season. In May, Delta farmers were hit with nearly double the average rainfall, flooding fields and delaying crucial work. From missed nitrogen applications to replanting setbacks, timing is everything—and this...

Beef Is More Than a Business, It’s a Passion.
05.27.2025 Fred Nichols

Beef Is More Than a Business, It’s a Passion.

Beef Is More Than a Business, It’s a Passion. Few professions capture our imagination like ranching. There’s an undeniable romanticism attached to cowboy culture. Taylor Sheridan has made a career depicting it. And let’s be real, they don’t make movies...

The Immortal Words of a Corn Legend
05.19.2025 Fred Nichols

The Immortal Words of a Corn Legend

"Any corn plant that doesn’t emerge within 12 hours of others is a weed.” Immortal words from an immortal farmer. My friend Steve Albracht. The brash Texan certainly had a way with words. And with corn. I called him the...

Strawberry Sweet, Corn Still Sleeping
05.12.2025 Fred Nichols

Strawberry Sweet, Corn Still Sleeping

Strawberry Sweet, Corn Still Sleeping: In celebration of National Strawberry Month, I visited Catesa Farms, where flavor—not shelf life—is the top priority. Meanwhile, back on my own farm, the corn is taking its sweet time to emerge, reminding me that...

How Deep Should You Plant?
05.05.2025 Fred Nichols

How Deep Should You Plant?

This time every year, hemming and hawing would rage on at the Nichols Farm. Dad and Uncle Gary would not only agonize over when to plant, but how deep to drop the seeds. From “It’s been awfully dry, we better...