- Tractors and other farm equipment can be a challenge to start in cold weather, so many farmers install block heaters to preheat their engines. However, using a timer on a block heater can save up to 85 percent on energy costs. A simple 24-hour clock timer can automatically turn the heater on so it’s ready when needed. The energy savings will typically pay for the timer in 1 to 3 months. A calculator on the Wisconsin Public Service web site can help farmers estimate what they’d save by using a block heater timer. Just go here and click Energy Saving Tools & Ideas, then Savings Calculators.
- Farmers in four pilot states who plant a majority of their corn acres using hybrid seeds that feature YieldGard Plus® with Roundup Ready® Corn 2 or YieldGard VT Triple™ technology from Monsanto Company will be able to lower their crop insurance premiums in 2008. The Risk Management Agency of the USDA announced the planned implementation of the Biotech Yield Endorsement for the 2008 crop year. The pilot will initially be available in four states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota. To be eligible, farmers must plant at least 75 percent of their corn acres on an insured unit basis to corn hybrids containing YieldGard VT Triple or YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2 technologies. EPA-mandated refuge requirements must also be respected.
- DuPont Crop Protection has received federal registration approval from the EPA for two soybean pre-emergence herbicides designed to provide growers with a better tool for managing weed resistance. The new products, DuPont™ Enlite™ and Envive™ herbicides, feature two modes of action that will provide growers with longer lasting, more consistent early season control of weeds that have developed tolerance and/or resistance to glyphosate and ALS chemistries.
