10
May
2021
Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)
Categories: CropTalk, 2021
Tags: CropTalk, The Sower
6
High-speed planting continues to become a more popular practice when farmers are faced with narrower planting windows and have more acres to plant.
Categories: PFR, PFR Reports
Tags:
What is one way to tweak your planting pass even more?
7
Apr
Ready to make nitrogen applications on your wheat crop?
The Henderson, Kentucky, Beck’s PFR team is putting TeeJet StreamJet SJ7 Nozzles to the test against the Chafer Fertilizer Stream Bar in the Nitrogen Application Study.
Camille Lambert, Field Sales Agronomist, and Brandon Somers, Kentucky PFR Location Lead discuss some of the new Practical Farm Research (PFR®) corn and soybean trials for the 2021 planting season.
1
6. That’s the number of years I had worked here at Beck’s before taking a true, in-depth tour of the biotech building here in Atlanta, IN. But earlier this year, a few members of our research team opened their doors and allowed me to follow them around for two hours as they explained the amazing work their teams do, day in and day out. We are lucky to have 101 beyond talented full-time employees (with 47 job titles among them) across 7 locations who dedicate their time and energy to bringing farmers highperforming, regional products quickly and efficiently.
Tags: CropTalk, research
Spring is here! Hopefully you’ve had a chance to look through the 2020 PFR Book and pick out a PFR Proven™ product or practice to try for 2021. With planting season here, we wanted to share a few early-season PFR Proven products and practices to consider implementing on your farm this spring.
Tags: CropTalk, corn, soybeans, PFR, Planting Date, PFR Proven, Closing Wheels
Heading into the 2021 planting season, this is the first year that we have not been in the middle of launching a new soybean technology to our sales team and customers. As exciting and interesting as it is to launch new technologies in three consecutive seasons, it can lead to confusion about what technology fits best on the farm.
Tags: CropTalk, soybeans, 2021
Every year we prepare a plan for the growing season, and every year Mother Nature throws us a curveball! Many of Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® studies focus on helping you develop your plan for the year utilizing different studies and practices. The PFR Proven™ designation has helped us narrow down the activities that increase profit and set direction.
Tags: CropTalk, PFR, Replant, PFR Studies, thin stand, stand management
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:41-44)
3
Mar
Nitrogen is one of the 16 essential elements required for plant growth. The most common nitrogen fertilizer forms include anhydrous ammonia (NH3), urea, and urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) solutions. Anhydrous contains 82% nitrogen, the highest amount of any nitrogen fertilizer. Once applied in the soil, anhydrous ammonia converts to the ammonium form (NH4+). Ammonium ions are very stable in the soil. Over time, ammonium converts to nitrate (NO3), which is the form of nitrogen most used by plants.
The foundation of a successful herbicide program starts with the Power in the PRE™. A successful pre-emerge herbicide can help reduce the amount of weed pressure in the POST-emergence application. Many POST-emergence applications are sprayed in the earlier vegetative stages. However, data shows by delaying weed removal until the POST trip, a significant yield reduction can occur. This highlights the negative impact of early weed competition and showcases the Power in the PRE.
How can a farmer capitalize on increasing yields through higher planting speeds? Clayton Stufflebeam, Practical Farm Research (PFR®) Agronomist, discusses data from Beck’s Hybrids PFR plots regarding high-speed planting research.
Diversification. It looks different on every farm, but today it has become a common practice to stay profitable and maintain an operation. For some, it may look like a seed or chemical dealership. For others, it’s growing a niche crop. For one farmer in Iowa, it is investing in an unexpected sector of agriculture for the cool temperatures and saltless waters of the Midwest – shrimp farming.
Tags: CropTalk, shrimp farming
If you watched the 2021 PFR Insight meetings, you know by now that FARMserver® is rolling out a whole new feature this spring. The Growth Model in FARMserver takes several pieces of information and uses it to predict the growth stage of each field. We’re nothing short of excited to tell you about it!
Tags: CropTalk, Farmserver, PFR
Each year we launch new and exciting corn products with added yield and additional agronomic strengths. The process to evaluate each class takes years and hundreds, if not thousands, of trials to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each product. It is rigorous; from field observations to data analysis, thousands of hybrids must be narrowed down to a select few that will be launched in our commercial lineup. These are the “best of the best” hybrids from the most elite breeding programs in the world.
Tags: CropTalk, corn, 2021, new corn
Seed selection is just one part of achieving a successful alfalfa stand. No matter the quality of the seed, poor planting practices will never return a satisfying stand of alfalfa. Decisions made during establishment will factor into production over the life of the stand.
Tags: CropTalk, alfalfa, forages, alfalfa stand
One of the first steps to a successful herbicide program is starting clean to allow the pre-emerge herbicide to reach the soil surface. The burndown also allows the opportunity to utilize other “effective” sites of action (SOA) that can’t be used in-season such as Gramoxone® SL 2.0. Spraying early in the spring provides the opportunity to control winter annuals like marestail and emerging summer annuals such as giant ragweed. When evaluating spring burndown options, we must consider if the herbicide has burndown only activity or burndown plus residual activity. Products like Liberty® and Gramoxone SL 2.0 will not have any residual activity but will provide very effective burndown activity. Other burndown products such as Sharpen® or metribuzin will provide residual value depending on the herbicide rate.
Tags: CropTalk, Marestail, PFR, burndown, Dicamba
Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Feb
As farmers are preparing for the upcoming 2021 planting season, winter is a great time to review planter maintenance and install upgrades. Travis Burnett, northern Indiana Beck’s field sales agronomist, and southern IN Beck’s field sales agronomist, Travis Coleman, inspect what to look for on planters to prep for successful planting passes.