2
May
2022
Another year brings about another round of new products and practices for Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team to try. This growing season, there are 15 new studies for corn and 14 new studies for soybeans. Within those 29 new studies, 29 never-before-tested-in-PFR products will be used across the seven PFR sites and additional cooperator locations. Of those products, ten will be applied to both corn and soybean studies, twelve new products to corn exclusively, and seven to soybeans only.
Categories: CropTalk, 2022
Tags: Practical Farm Research, PFR, new
8
Feb
Our team of experts highlight PFR Proven™ data, years of industry experience, and current supply trends to help you develop a plan to achieve superior weed control, higher yields, and increased ROI this season.
Categories: PFR
Tags: Practical Farm Research, PFR, insight meetings, deep dive talks, virtual insight meetings
1
Since Sonny Beck’s launch of Practical Farm Research (PFR)® in 1964, the unbiased research program has grown to over 800+ acres of agronomic trials managed at seven Beck’s facilities and three cooperator sites. Three to five replications of each treatment are conducted in the studies — ranging from cultural practices to chemical and biological products to innovative technologies and the farming fan favorite topic — equipment. Not all farms are the same, and not all fields are the same, therefore not all studies tested in PFR are implemented at every location. Some studies are unique to locations, like the Corn 400 Bushel and Soybean 125 Bushel Challenges to Atlanta, IN, and the Water Management Study-Tile Spacing to London, OH.
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Dec
2021
In a high-cost, limited input supply market, where should farmers invest their money? This year’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® Insight Meetings are based on the theme of ‘How to Invest Money to Make Money.’ Sessions that will be included under this new theme are focused on helping farmers make the most profitable and impactful decisions on their operations, for each dollar spent. Under each unique management topic, new study harvest data and PFR Proven™ content will be featured. The spotlight on PFR Proven™ products and practices will tell stories of the knowledge PFR has captured from multiple years and locations of testing. Innovation is key to staying relevant with changes and opportunities in the industry – watch out for what new studies entered the PFR program this past growing season and what has earned the PFR Proven label. Here’s a preview of what content will be shared at the in-person and virtual meetings!
Categories: CropTalk, 2021
Tags: corn, soybeans, Practical Farm Research, PFR, PFR Insights
Nov
Wow! What an early and long harvest window we have been blessed with this year! September began the start of harvest for the Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team after Field Show season wrapped up. For those who attended Beck’s Field Shows in-person or virtually, sneak peeks of our 2021 studies were highlighted throughout the buggy tours and tent talks. Once harvest data rolls in from the PFR sites, the studies’ information is analyzed and assembled in the annual PFR Book. What’s new for the 2021 PFR Book?
Aug
The Beck’s Mission Statement is: to provide our customers with the best in seed quality, field performance, and service. I find this mission statement to be evident within the production team, from the passion and dedication Jason spoke with about Beck’s production department during this interview.
Tags: CropTalk, corn, seed corn, production update
10
Planting is underway for the 2021 growing season! Moving on from the early-season PFR Proven™ products and practices discussed last month, what are the next steps to implement on your farms? The following PFR Proven™ strategies will help to protect your corn and soybean yields in the field as the growing season progresses.
Tags: CropTalk, PFR, PFR Proven
11
Jan
Need help with weed control in organic systems? TH Fabrication, LLC has developed a row crop cultivator with a swing arm design that helps reduce and eradicate weed pressure in row crop fields.
Categories: PFR, PFR Reports
4
The ever-popular PFR Book that many of you know and utilize on your operation is not the only publication the Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team at Beck’s develops. We also publish a PFR Wheat Book each year!
Tags: CropTalk, Wheat, PFR, PFR Proven
2020
Innovative. Comprehensive. Practical. Proven. All concepts that describe the content in the 2020 PFR Book — coming soon online and to a mailbox near you — plus the upcoming 2021 virtual PFR Insight meetings. Jam-packed with more data-driven decision-making information than ever, the 2020 PFR Book will include harvest results and observations from six PFR sites and three cooperator locations. Our 2021 PFR Insight Meeting content will be focused on what in-season management products and practices can bring the greatest profitability to the farm.
Categories: CropTalk, 2020
Tags: CropTalk, PFR Proven, PFR Studies, 2020 pfr, pfr insight
Location leads from three of Beck’s six Practical Farm Research (PFR)® sites are eager to share their answers on common questions stemming from the 2020 growing season. Location Lead Caleb Shoemaker provides insight on what’s happening at the Colfax, Iowa, site along with Clayton Stuffl ebeam from the Central Illinois (El Paso) site and Brady Rogers from our Indiana PFR site.
Tags: CropTalk, PFR
Oct
Location Leads from three of the six Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® sites are eager to share their answers on common questions from the 2020 growing season. Jonathan Perkins, Southern Illinois (SIL) Location Lead, will provide insights on what’s happening at the Effingham, Illinois, site, Jared Chester from the London, Ohio, PFR facility, and Brandon Somers from the Henderson, Kentucky, location.
Sep
Beck’s has six Practical Farm Research (PFR)® sites spread throughout the Midwest in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Iowa. PFR does testing in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin though cooperators, and customers and dealers alike are implementing PFR Proven™ strategies on their farms. Follow along throughout the 2020 growing season to see how they put Beck’s PFR into practice.
Tags: CropTalk, PFR Proven, PFR Studies, 2020 pfr
What would you do as a farmer if you were told you had sudden death syndrome (SDS), soybean cyst nematode (SCN), and corn rootworm pressure ahead of the growing season? What would you change on your farm?
Tags: CropTalk, soybean cyst nematode, Sudden Death Syndrome, SDS, patternag, soil science, SCN
3
Jun
Soil microbial health has been a hot agronomic topic of discussion lately. What can we learn and implement from sampling the microbial communities of our soils? Deatra Gremaux, the Practical Farm Research Data and Logistics Manager, from Beck’s Hybrids is working with Casey McGuire, Regional Pattern Ag Manager, to uncover the answers to that very question.
Beck’s has six Practical Farm Research (PFR)® sites spread throughout the Midwest in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Iowa. Although Beck’s PFR sites don’t exist yet in Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri, customers and dealers alike are implementing PFR Proven™ strategies on their farms. Follow along throughout the 2020 growing season to see how they put Beck’s PFR into practice.
5
Learn more about the Yetter Farm Equipment 2940 Air Adjust™ Row Cleaner.
What do you want? More profitability and yield! When do you want it? Now! How are you going to get there? By checking out the latest additions to Beck’s PFR Proven™ products and practices! Over the past four harvest seasons, Beck's PFR program has tested hundreds of products and practices to identify the most consistent, yield-enhancing and money-making strategies for your farm. Added to the elite PFR Proven class were 18 products and practices for corn and 10 for soybeans in 2019.
Tags: CropTalk, PFR, PFR Proven, pfr proven practices, soybean pfr proven, soybean closing wheels
2019
The wild weather of 2019 created challenging conditions, which caused many to implement unconventional practices on some farms. Heavy downpours on tight Midwestern clay soils delayed planting in much of our marketing area, and the shorter planting windows left farmers wondering, “Should I switch my corn hybrids to shorter-season maturities?” This question prompted our Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team at Beck’s to organize a delayed planting hybrid response study.
Tags: Farmserver, PFR, PFR Report, Delayed planting, Precision Farming, hybrid selection
For the 2019 harvest season, Practical Farm Research (PFR)® is eagerly anticipating new additions to the PFR Book. This year’s PFR Book will bring expanded agronomic knowledge to the table – including more recommendations than ever before! You can look forward to deeper dives into our PFR Proven™ products, multi-location insights, and concise study highlights.
Categories: CropTalk, 2019