If you are like me, you probably believe that the planting pass is the most important pass you will make all season. Jason Gahimer and I presented Everything Planters at Beck’s 2021 Field Shows and Becknology™ Days. The goal of this talk was to express previous research data and showcase new topics to help make that all-important pass the best possible. Below I highlight the topics we discussed at our field shows.

For the introductory decades of Beck’s, the company consisted of Francis, his wife Pauline, their youngest child, Sonny, and a few farm employees. Its simple business plan called for reinvesting most of the profit back into the enterprise. It resembled the same steps followed by many farmers: Grow a little crop. Sell a little crop. Buy another little farm. Repeat.

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!

Farming is a family business, one full of opportunities but also of challenges and hardships. Families work together, thrive together, succeed together. And when tough times come, they come for the whole family.

From the heart of South Dakota to the eastern border of Ohio, from central Minnesota to the fields of Mississippi, David Ringger and Carlye Frye travel throughout our marketing area to highlight the stories of Beck’s family of employees, dealers, and farmers.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; (I Thessalonians 5:16-18a)

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?

We can't help you escape a haunted corn maze, but we can promise you scary good yields. 

From the heart of South Dakota to the eastern border of Ohio, from central Minnesota to the fields of Mississippi, David Ringger and Carlye Frye travel throughout our marketing area to highlight the stories of Beck’s family of employees, dealers, and farmers.

Many of us soil test and make decisions based on the results, which are important for improving your operation. There are trends happening nationwide with soil test results and they could play into the decision-making for your farm. A&L Great Lakes Laboratories analyzes soil tests from 1996 to the present, showing the trends of the soil tests they obtain. These trends depict many interesting things happening in our soils and help us prepare how to have high-yielding crops in the future.