Author: staff

The first time I visited Wrenn’s Farm in eastern North Carolina, the greenhouses were falling, the former farm stand was in disarray and the farm looked like what it was: abandoned.  The farm had grown many things in its lifetime. Tobacco covered the fields before Austin’s grandparents turned to vegetable production. Their only child and Austin’s father, Mitchell Wrenn, started growing strawberries in the 1980’s. He started with a pick-your-own field, then expanded to grow for grocery stores and added strawberry plugs for other farmers to buy.  Growing up, Austin knew he wanted to come back to the farm. However,…

If your soil’s pH levels are not within the ideal range your crops require, you could be losing production. For overly acidic soils, applying lime to raise the pH level could prove a cost-effective management practice. Liming of acidic soils can increase corn and soybean yields, said Antonio Mallarino, agronomist and Extension soil fertility specialist at Iowa State University (ISU). Numerous ISU research trials at multiple sites since 2007 showed liming increased corn or soybean yields up to about 25 bushels per acre over the yields of the control plots, Mallarino said. He did note that potential yield increases lessen…

After Darren Eichelkraut graduated from high school 20 years ago, he left his family’s fifth-generation dairy farm near Paoli, Wisconsin, to work in construction. Later, he worked in a hardware store. “But once I started thinking about raising a family, I realized I wanted to do that back on the farm,” he said.  While keeping his town job, Eichelkraut also began working for his parents, Junior and Jean Eichelkraut, on their 52-cow Breezy View Dairy. Taking over the dairy became his dream, but he saw that something needed to change for him to earn a full-time living from the dairy…

By Ryan Hanrahan NBC News’s Evan Bush reported this past weekend that “the simmering threat of bird flu may be inching closer to boiling over. This year has been marked by a series of concerning developments in the virus’s spread.” “Since April, at least 65 people have tested positive for the virus — the first U.S. cases other than a single infection in 2022,” Bush reported. “Dairy cow herds in 16 states have been infected this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] confirmed the country’s first severe bird flu infection on [last] Wednesday, a critically ill patient…

By Cami Koons Researchers from Iowa State University (ISU) have partnered with Michigan State University (MSU) to develop a robot that would detect nitrates and monitor tile health to help farmers keep their land productive.  Nearly half of Iowa’s harvested cropland has tile drainage, according to ag census data from the USDA. The underground drainage systems help to boost crop productivity, but environmental and water groups have pointed out they can also deliver excessive amounts of nitrate and other nutrients downstream. Mike Castellano, a professor of soil science at ISU, said the robots and nitrate sensors could help farmers detect where, how…

Grain markets opened mixed on Friday after a strong close Thursday.  The USDA’s weekly U.S. Export Sales report was released this morning, delayed one day because of the midweek holiday. The report was friendly for wheat and corn, while soybean sales were slightly disappointing.  The net sales numbers from the report were:  612,400 metric tons for wheat 1,711,300 metric tons for corn 978,400 metric tons for soybeans.   As traders wrap up the week, they will be keeping an eye on key moving-average lines on the daily charts. Livestock futures opened quietly mixed on Friday morning. Cash trade has been very light this…

What Happened Good weather in Brazil over the past 60 days and a forecast for continued conducive crop growing conditions have weakened both soybean and soybean product prices. Expectations for record supplies continue to grow, with the USDA currently estimating the Brazilian soybean crop at 169 million metric tons, up substantially from last year’s 153 million. Year-to-date, U.S. exports are strong, up 10% compared with last year. That is expected to slow, as the overriding big picture perspective of increasing Brazilian production coupled with a weakening Brazilian real is keeping pressure on prices. To make matters potentially worse, for an…

Farmers take ideas and inspiration from fellow farmers all the time. Use these farm inventions and solutions to fix issues before true problems arise. These ideas around livestock and ranching were featured in All Around the Farm® in Successful Farming magazine. Cattle Side and Back Scratcher To make a cattle scratcher, I welded together two old coil springs from the front-end suspension of a truck. To gain some adjustability, I welded them to an old sprocket at a slight angle, and I mounted the sprocket to the side of an old silo. Because of the sprocket spacing, I can rotate…

by Erin Socha When Mike Moddrell bought 320 acres of land in southwest Douglas County in 2002, it looked very different from the tallgrass prairie it is today. “When I bought it, it had been neglected for a long, long time,” Moddrell said. “It was in pretty bad shape. I kept burning and burning and burning, and the native grass responds to the fire. It’s taken 20 years for the native grass to come back.” Today, the land boasts an abundance of native grasses and wildflowers that would have otherwise died out under the relentless attack of invasive and woody…

The grain markets opened at 8:30 a.m. and are higher in the early trade. The U.S. dollar is a fraction lower today but is still trading right at two-year highs above 108. The Brazilian real is trading very close to all-time low at 6.18 to the U.S. dollar. This is helping keep Brazilian soybean prices high as we approach the major harvest season. The grain markets are focused on weather in South America and global export demand. The overall pattern in Brazil is still favorable, with many trade analysts projecting a record soybean crop. Argentina has been trending drier, but…