Farming

Lee Lubbers says farmers too often— and too early — give up on their crop. We get it. It’s hot. It’s dry. Things don’t look good and the prospect of bumping out a respectable yield seem unlikely. But, as Lee has learned, you gotta continue to round the bases even during a drought year like he just experienced. Lee explains to Damian how he’s adjusting for success in 2024 with amended practices he’s already performing.

They sliced and diced this corn early on as the cover crop wouldn't die off. After mowing it, they figured it would just end up being cattle feed, but somehow they managed to use fertility to take it to yield and learned something in the process.

Lee talks about how he got his soybeans to rebound after a hail storm ripped them apart at V-4.

Kevin Matthews had a corn field hit by hail in late June. After assessing the damage, he decided to deviate from his usual approach to save the hailed corn.

As temperatures are predicted to climb into the upper 90's and heat indexes expected in the 100's next week, Kevin is loading up the sprayer and taking it to the field with an mix of products that he hopes will protect his crop.

In late June, a hailstorm wrecked Kevin's corn fields. But now, a month later, he's amazed that there are no signs of corn smut, which usually happens when the corn plant gets hurt. Kevin talks about his crops' progress and shares why he thinks there's no disease right now.

Kelly believes the drain tile he installed to eliminate wet spots is also helping this crop get through the extremely dry times. Here is why.

Kelly talks about the group of consumer product companies that he hosted in June in partnership with Truterra Ag: The questions they asked and the key learnings that he came away with that will change the future of agriculture.

Cytokinins play a crucial role in the plant's response to various environmental stresses, including heat stress. They help plants cope with adverse conditions by regulating the expression of stress-responsive genes, protecting cellular structures, and maintaining proper water balance. In the case of corn plants, cytokinins have been found to alleviate the negative effects of heat stress, enhancing their resilience and productivity. Damian talks with Johnny Verell and Steve Williams from Stoller USA about protecting Johnny's corn crop from high heat.