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Author Archives: Rich Lee (Iowa)
Don’t Get “Pizza Mouth” Planting
Ever bite into a hot slice of pizza before it was cool enough to eat and burn the roof of your mouth? I have, and it is a condition I call “pizza mouth.” The same thing happens during planting each spring. Typically, in the excitement to start planting it is common to have most – but not the entire – field ready to go. Still, we move ahead and plant, including those areas that are not quite ready yet. The … Continue reading
Posted in Corn, Emergence, Iowa, Planting
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What’s it Like to Have 150 People in for Dinner?
It may be hard to imagine feeding 150 people, unless you are an American farmer. Each year the average farmer in this country produces enough food for over 150 people. This is the greatest level of production in history and it continues to just get better. The reality is that it has to. A glance into a crystal ball suggests that farmers may need to perhaps double that level of production in the future. Impossible, you say? Maybe not. Look … Continue reading
Posted in National, Profitability
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Rolling, Rolling, Rolling
Why roll soybean fields? This is a new practice in Iowa that has raised a lot of questions and has groups on both sides of the debate. Here are some observations I have seen: Don’t roll soybeans before they emerge, they don’t need that kind of “help.” If rolling is used to firm up the seed to soil contact, then I would suggest looking at a new planter, not a roller. Rolling will push down rocks. Those two-cent rocks that … Continue reading
Posted in Harvest, Heartland, Iowa, Profitability, Soil Conservation
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Green Farmers
I know your first thought, and no I’m not referring to the brand of tractor they own, I’m talking about renewable energy. Farmers have been using clean and available energy sources since time began. Last year, Iowa farmers harvested over 13 million acres of corn, which of course is grown in a big part by energy collected from the sun. Since one acre of corn has the equivalent energy of more than 60,231,600 Btu if it were used to provide … Continue reading
Posted in Corn, Heartland, Iowa
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Syngenta Southeast Iowa Agronomy Summit Preview
If you wanted to stick a pin in the map of Iowa where you thought Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) would first show up next year, a good guess may be by starting almost anywhere in the southeastern Iowa area. Despite our familiarity with SDS, there is still a lot we can learn. What is next year going to bring? What more is there to know about SDS? On February 10, Syngenta will sponsor the Agronomy Summit in Riverside, Iowa, with … Continue reading
A Mid-Winter’s Tale
It was the season before spring work; all is covered in snow, ‘tis the time we are frozen, when nothing will go. The tractors are tucked, all snug in the shed, in the hope that warm weather soon was ahead. And dreaming of green crops and new record yields, I could almost smell the dirt from freshly-plowed fields. When all of a sudden I awoke with a start, I knew that odd sound, I knew it by heart. I flipped … Continue reading
Posted in Corn, Heartland, Planting, Soybeans, Uncategorized, Yield
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Planning Another Perfect Harvest for Next Year?
By most anyone’s standards 2010 was one of the Heartland’s most agreeable fall harvest seasons that nature has ever provided. No mud, warm days, blue sky – the whole nine yards. Amazingly perfect. We probably will need to do something about that. Perhaps the surest way to not have another fall like this is to actually plan on having a repeat, but that usually does not stop us from thinking it can happen. It seems that no matter how many … Continue reading
Posted in Agrisure Viptera, Harvest, Heartland, Hybrid selection, Planting, Weed Control
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Weather and Harvest Results: Planning for Next Year
We are deep into harvest and a couple of yield trends are showing up all across the state. Last year was the summer without a summer – too cool, too wet and too hard to forget. Because of that experience many corn growers cut back on the amount of full-season hybrids they plant, and who could blame them? We all try to outguess the weather but doing that is a bit like expecting to see a beauty shop spell the … Continue reading
Posted in Agrisure Corn Traits, Harvest, Heartland, Hybrid selection, Iowa, Missouri, Yield
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Full Of Beans
I’ll admit it. There are some things I will never be able to do. Swim the English Channel, run a 3 minute mile or sing without making dogs whine are just several items I have on an ever-expanding list. There is one item that has been on that list from the very beginning: estimating soybean yields. After years of trying, I still don’t believe it is possible to accurately tell what any given bean field will yield without combining it … Continue reading
Posted in Disease, Heartland, NK Soybeans, Region, Soybeans, Yield
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Redheads, Blondes and What? No Brunettes…
Surprise! We are talking about corn here, but then you already knew that, didn’t you? So what does a redhead have to do with corn? Simple, it’s the silk color, and to some extent, the tassel color too. Some hybrids will have red silks and others may have a pale green color –we can call those blondes if it helps. Before you start to think that I may have spent too much time in the sun, let tell you where … Continue reading
Posted in Heartland
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