6
Nov
2019
As hard as it was, a challenging year like 2019 can still yield applicable insights. The important thing to do is carefully weigh all the factors that can impact your results and examine the data in light of those factors. This past spring, I asked an intern to work a plot and as he began to work the ground I found myself thinking “that may be the worst decision I have made in my 35-year ag career”.
This season will also impact how we think about future decisions as it relates to soil tests and soil testing. I asked my friend Jamie Bultemeier, an agronomist with A&L Great Lakes Laboratories, to share his thoughts on the impact of 2019.
Categories: PFR, PFR Reports
Tags: Cover Crops, Soil Sampling, PFR, soil testing, PFR Report, fall tillage
5
What were the top recommendations this year for delayed planting and how will it affect harvest? Check out this video to learn more.
Tags: corn, Delayed planting, corn planting dates, hybrid maturity
2
Oct
Jonathan Perkins, location lead and PFR agronomist at our Effingham, IL site filmed this PFR Report from the field to provide some insight into the late-season SDS observations the SIL PFR team has made over the past few weeks.
Tags: PFR, Sudden Death Syndrome, PFR Report, Water Management, SDS, SIL PFR, late-season observations
In this electrifying video, our team in El Paso tested the Weed Zapper at the CIL Organic Field Day to see if it would be a useful component in an organic weed control program.
Tags: PFR, PFR Report, organic, Weed Zapper, organic farming, weed management
Every growing season is different, and quantifying those differences in determining their effect on our crop will enable us to adapt and overcome the constant challenges that we face as farmers. Beck’s PFR team has put an emphasis on scouting and gathering observations. This allows us to learn from the challenges we face throughout the growing season and how they correlate into the results we gather at harvest.
Tags: harvest, Scouting, Nitrogen, tissue samples, soil test, nitrogen deficiency, plant health
9
Jul
The spring of 2019 has been nothing but challenging for most Midwest farmers. Because of these challenges, we could see more soybean diseases. Because we experienced plenty of rainfall both before planting and after soybean emergence, certain diseases like phytophthora root and stem rot, brown stem rot, rhizoctonia, brown spot, and white mold could show up in soybean fields. These diseases prefer wet/saturated environments and spells of cool/humid conditions. As a result, crop management throughout the growing season will be key to protecting yield potential.
Tags: soybeans, PFR. PFR Report, fungicides, Fungicide on Soybeans, soybean disease, disease management, fungicide timing
With the challenging and stressful growing season that most of the Midwest’s corn crop has faced this year, many farmers have asked if a fungicide application is worth the investment for 2019.
Tags: corn, fungicide applications, PFR, PFR Report, late-planted corn, Fungicide on Corn, fungicide time of day
Jun
With prominent wet conditions this past fall and spring, switching to more in-season nitrogen management programs is a task many farmers are faced with this year. So what options are available for in-season nitrogen application? Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team has past data on yield-gaining nitrogen management programs. One new product we are testing this year is PinnitMax™, a nitrogen stabilizer product.
Tags: Nitrogen, PFR, nitrogen stabilizers, nitrogen management, PFR Report, nitrogen sealers, UAN, nitrogen applications
Planting under film? We're up for the challenge!
Check out this PFR report as Samantha Miller, Agronomy Information Specialist, interviews Will Albrecht from F.O.R & SAMCO to learn more about their "Film on Roll" biodegradable mulch film product for row crops.
Tags: corn, PFR, PFR Report, Innovations. Planting under film, heat units, PFR studides
This latest PFR Report features Clayton Stufflebeam, PFR Location Lead at our Central Illinois PFR site as he talks about an exciting new-ish study we will be conducting this year!
Tags: Nitrogen, PFR, PFR Report, Nitrogen Application, nitrogen on corn
As you start to plan your post-herbicide application trip for your soybean crops, you may be looking for ways to maximize weed control. With the ever-growing list of resistant weeds, proper weed management techniques are more important than ever. Heavy spring rains may cause the pre-emergent herbicides to break down earlier in some fields this year. Therefore, another layer of in-season residual herbicide will be critical this year.
Tags: soybeans, weed control, herbicides, weed resistance, residuals, POST, PRE, Group 15 Herbicides, SOA, Sites of Action
1
May
This spring, Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® team is testing new equipment technology. Jared Chester, PFR Location Lead in London, OH, gives an overview of our study on Yetter’s 2984 Strip Freshener. Just a week after using this equipment, we already see a difference. The question is will this visual difference translate to increased yield this fall. Stay tuned for updates on this study in the coming months.
Tags: planting, equipment, Farmserver, PFR Report, Yetter, Precision Farming, strip freshener
We get a lot of questions about new planter technologies. What works and what is all hype? In this edition of Beck’s PFR Report, Brady Rogers, PFR Operator, and Brady Rogers, PFR Location Lead in Atlanta, IN, share insights on the latest planter technologies we are putting to the test this spring.
Tags: planting, Farmserver, PFR Report, Closing Wheels, Precision Planting, Precision Farming, planter technologies, high-speed planters
30
Apr
Rolling ground is always an interesting topic of discussion. If you talk to farmers in the Northern U.S., they’ll say it’s a great way to push down rocks and create better field conditions for planting any crop, as well as for harvesting soybeans. Farmers further south will say it can promote branching and increase soybean yields when rolling once the soybeans are up.
Tags: Farmserver, Precision Farming, compaction, land roller, land rolling soybeans, rock supression
Across the Midwest, finding a window to do field activity has been very challenging this spring. Many farmers find themselves wondering if they should change any of their management strategies as planting continues to be delayed. But, before you make any changes to your 2019 plans, let’s discuss some factors that could influence your growing season.
Tags: Nitrogen, Farmserver, Delayed planting, Planting Date, Spring Burndown, Fall Burndown, Precision Farming, pre-emerge herbicide applications, residuals
3
Pouring sugar…on plants? What kind of madness is this?
Not madness at all! Plants need sugar for carbohydrate transport, energy, and stored fuel. Carbohydrates in the form of simple sugars, like glucose, are converted to complex sugars by means of starches. When this conversion process occurs in plants, better growth + development, improved regulation of various biological systems, as well as respiration & transpiration steps can occur. Graphic 1 (below) shows the process of photosynthesis.
Tags: PFR, PFR Report, Sugar, Sugar Studies, Sugar on corn, sugar on soybeans
Clayton Stufflebeam, CIL PFR Location Lead is joined by Paul Harms of Precision Planting in this PFR Report to discuss the new SmartDepth product.
Tags: Emergence, Planting Depth, PFR, PFR Report, Precision Planting, Germination, Planting Temperature, Smartdepth
Is there an "easy button" when it comes to weed control?
Check out this PFR report featuring PFR Operator and Herbicide Specialist, Joe Bolte, and University of Missouri Extension Weed Scientist, Dr. Kevin Bradley as they discuss the importance of in-season residual herbicides.
Tags: PFR, PFR Report, herbicides, In-Season Residual Herbicides
PFR Operator and Herbicide Specialist, Joe Bolte, discusses the over-reliance of Group 14 and 15 herbicides with Dr. Kevin Bradley in this latest PFR Report.
Tags: PFR, PFR Report, herbicides, Herbicide Rotation
Mar
Join Chris Robinson, PFR Location Lead, and Field Agronomist and Herbicide Specialist, Austin Scott, in this PFR Report as they discuss different ways to add profitability to your wheat crop.
Tags: Wheat, PFR, PFR Report, PFR Proven, Fungicides on Wheat, pgr products