Farming

Each year 10 Million soil samples are pulled in North America. Those samples are sent to labs for analysis and the results are returned to farmers and their crop advisors. This is a good thing — knowing your nutrient and pH levels provides guidance for fertility treatments. The only problem: Much of what we do and how we do it when it comes to soil sampling hasn’t changed since the 1950’s! Al Toops with BiomeMakers joins Kelly and Connor Garrett of XtremeAg to discuss the future of soil analysis and why soil biology testing will change production Agriculture.

Kelly and Mike are making some midseason changes to their soybean foliar program beginning with pulling all of the fertility out. They sit down and walk through the changes they are making and the reasons why.

Farming has changed significantly in the past few decades, and at top of the list in changes has been the increased availability and use of biologicals on modern farms. Will there soon be a time when all crop protection inputs will be biological based? Damian talks to Matt Miles and Trey Curtis from Concept Agritek about the not so far off future of agriculture. Also available as an audio Short Cut

Lee Lubbers farms in a pretty tough neighborhood, weather wise. Gregory, South Dakota receives about 18 inches of annual precipitation — and on dry years Lee reports less than 10 inches of precipitation. So, how does a farmer yield a good crop and produce a profit under such conditions? Lee explains his drought resistant practices and his product selection to produce a crop when it’s dry. Lee also discusses the personal side of farming in a drought and how he goes about managing a healthy mental state in the face of stress. Be sure to listen to the very end as Mr. Lubbers saved his best advice ’til the end!

A few years ago we didn’t do much in way of fertility applications during the middle part of the growing season. That all changed for Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett after he experienced a 9 bushel yield bump on soybeans after he foliar-applied nutrition products mid season. Now mid season nutrition applications are standard practice for Kelly who’s experienced a 3 fold return on his fertility investment. Tommy Roach of Nachurs joins Kelly to explain the agronomics of higher yields through mid season fertilization.

Kelly talks about why he is trying to grow soybeans without a rotation and the fertility that is needed to do it successfully with Tommy Roach of Nachurs.

As Fertilizer prices are high, farmers like Matt Miles are looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of their existing nutrients. We talk to Robbo Dedman from Ultimate Ag Consulting and James Paterson of Agrotech USA about increasing plant uptake availability, how it works? and why you need to understand what is happening in your soil?

Temple Rhodes farms on Maryland’s eastern shore, operates a couple other business ventures, and he’s now contributing to XtremeAg. Throughout the season we’ll tune in to see what Mr. Rhodes is doing with fungicide treatments, seed plots, and micronutrient products to increase fertility uptake — a big issue for his geography. Because Temple farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, he’s under an environmental microscope. Enjoy meeting Temple and hear about how he runs his operation to “never become complacent.”

As renewable diesel looks to become a reality in the future, the pressure will be on farmers to deliver increased levels of soy oils. Problem is that growing beans on beans almost always results in a significant yield penalty. Kelly Garrett is hoping to be able to find a way to grow beans in the same spot 2 years in a row without a yield penalty. He has enlisted Tommy Roach from Nachurs to develop a special in-furrow and 2x2 mix for beans on beans.