Farming

A week after being hit by unusually cold temperatures, 2023 is not off to the best start in Southeast Arkansas as big storms cause flooding at Mile's Farms and the ADS lift station to work overtime.

Layne Miles checks in on his wheat after the polar vortex dipped down and brought sub-freezing temperatures into southeast Arkansas.

Matt returns to the scene of the frost a few days later to determine if desiccation will be necessary on his 2nd crop soybeans. He shares his decision making process.

Matt's beans on beans experiment has gotten frosty, and that might not be a bad thing. But, he notices something interesting about where the frost most affected the beans.

Seaweed does not have an easy life. It just might be the plant that experiences the most stress on a daily basis. Under water for part of the day and then in the hot dry sun for another part of the day. Every day! What if we could harness that unique trait and apply it to your crop? Kelly talks with Steve from Agricen about their new seaweed based stress mitigation product that is being used in Kelly's drip-zone trial.

Is stress mitigation more about relieving crop stress or preventing the stress from happening? Matt Miles is joined by Brian Adams, Agronomist for AgXplore as he talks about his philosophy on mitigating crop stress, and the chemistry behind some of the products he used in 2021 to protect his crop ahead of periods of stress.

It's the earliest he has ever planted soybeans. So what is Kelly going to do to make sure these beans are able to handle the cold snap that is sure to come again this spring? He's got a plan.

Lee looks at some frost damage in his wheat crop and the difference between the damage in low and high moisture areas of his field. Lee talks about the recipe that he is using in his sprayer to alleviate the damage. He is using a mix of immune elicitors, PGRs and a few other additives to drive increased cell division and growth. Lee talks about his approach and the reasons why he is using the products he is using.

On December 9th, hoping to get a jump start on his spring beans, Kelly Garrett planted 30 acres of soybeans on his western Iowa farm. It was a long shot, but success was not totally out of the realm of possibility. After a long cold winter and a wet spring, Kelly reveals the outcome in this video.