Lee Lubbers and his brother Terry surveyed their wheat in 1998 and determined they needed stronger plants to prevent lodging. Their search for a solution took them to the specialty crop arena where they discovered plant growth regulators. At the time, PGR’s weren’t commonly used in broad acre Ag outside of cotton. Even today, applying plant hormones to crops isn’t a widespread practice. Lee and Stoller’s Dale Hanke discuss Lee’s quarter century journey with applied plant hormones. Lee shares what he’s learned, and how he’s making bigger yields via PGR’s, even after a hailstorm nearly annihilated his soybeans!

Grain carts have evolved over the years, mostly in that they’ve become enormous. Aside from size, what else is happening with the ubiquitous implements running beside combines at harvest? Right hand discharge and dual augers are two new technologies already available. The future promises autonomous grain catchers, in-field grain reservoirs, and more. Damian talks to Demco’s Troy Woelber and Benji Vande Griend.

What you are doing in the fall — from the combine pass until the calendar flips to the new year — can have a big impact on nutrient availability for your crops come next summer. XA’s Matt Swanson explains how the impact of tillage, residue degradation products, or cover crops affect nutrient distribution and availability for next summer’s crop. A great discussion on a subject you’re probably not thinking enough about in this episode of Cutting The Curve with Damian Mason.

Starting in August, farmers are presented with purchasing programs for next season’s inputs. Which inputs should you buy now? What programs make sense? How much different are purchase decisions in an era of higher interest rates? Those questions and more are addressed as Damian Mason sits down with Jarod Creed of JC Ag Financial and Iowa farmers Kelly Garrett and Jeremy Muff.

There is an economic principle that states that, after a certain point, each additional unit of input (like fertilizer) will result in progressively smaller increases in output (like crop yield). This means that there's an optimal amount of fertilizer for a given crop in a given soil, and beyond that point, you're just wasting money. Well, as it turns out, much — or maybe even most — of your applied Phosphorous and Potassium is unavailable for your crops. In the old days of inexpensive fertilizer this was less of a problem. However, as commodity prices dip and fertilizer prices remain elevated, you need to maximize your fertility applications. Chad Henderson maximizes his investment by treating his dry fertilizer with a biocatalyst. The $4 per acre treatment yields Chad an additional 12 bushels while using less fertilizer. Agronomist Steve Sexton explains how it works.

Sam “Of The North” Coutu talks about how Agriculture differs in Quebec, navigating environmental regulations (anhydrous is illegal), and what he’s excited about heading into the 2023 crop season.

Sam Coutu wasn’t raised on a farm but he knew he wanted to work in production agriculture. He spent summers at his uncle’s dairy farm in his native Quebec then spent 3 months on a farm in Switzerland as a teenager. Today this first generation farmer operates 1,540 acres of corn, soybeans, and wheat. (Only 2% of the land in Quebec is farm ground!) Listen in and learn about Agriculture north of the St. Lawrence from our newest affiliate “Sam Of The North!”

Kevin Matthews and Temple Rhodes explain why they’ve adopted in-furrow Nutricharge application as a standard practice on their farms. Turns out you may already have adequate phosphorous levels, you’re just not utilizing it.