P.T. Barnum has been quoted as saying “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” but those in the agriculture industry might disagree with that at times. The vicious backlash over the Iowa Cy-Hawk series football trophy, sponsored by Iowa’s corn growers, might be one of those times – or it might not. The trophy shows an Iowa family together after …
AGROTAIN’s Tim Healey Wears Many Hats on CTIC Tour
Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) past chairman Tim Healey of AGROTAIN wore many hats during last week’s 2011 Conservation In Action Tour, including bus monitor, sponsor, interviewee and interviewer. “We’ve been doing this for five years now and each year the conservation tour gets better,” Tim told me at the end of the tour in northwest Ohio. “We hear from …
Generations On The Farm
The National Agri-Marketing Association held its annual Boot Camp this week in Kansas City. One of the sessions focused on “generations” on the farm. I visited with one of those generational presenting teams, Ken and Brad McCauley, father and son Kansas farmers. The idea of the session was to learn about the challenges and rewards faced by family farmers. After …
Farmers Educate NAMA Boot Camp
National Agri-Marketing Association Boot Camp attendees heard directly from the farmer this morning. The first item on the agenda was a producer panel moderated by Tom Hudson, Successful Farming. Tom says it was very interesting to hear what types of media influenced these farmers. One thing that came through loud and clear was how important local information is. They want …
See the Difference Between Tilled and No-Till Soil
One of the stops on the 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour in Ohio last week was the farm of Todd Hesterman in Napoleon, Ohio. Todd has employed continuous no-till on his 450 acre corn, soybean and wheat operation for 22 years and used yield mapping for more than 14 years and is a strong advocate for doing what he …
New USDA-NASS Farm Computer Usage/Ownership Report
It’s time to analyze some new data about farm computer use and ownership. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service has released a new report, “Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, August 2011.” Here’s the opening summary. It’s interesting to see that dialup access has dropped in half since the last report in 2009. Also note how high the percentages get as you …
Looking At How You Should Manage Crop Nutrients
One of the stops on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour was Traub Farm. Our presenter was John Traub. The family farm grows corn, soybeans, specialty hybrid seed corn and hybrid sunflowers. The farm was named the Livingston County SWCD Conservation Farm Family in 2010. So they take conservation seriously. I spoke with John after his presentation. He …
Catering To Chefs Specialty Needs
The oldest family farm in Livingston County, IL is Spence Farm. I met Marty and Kris Travis, seventh generation farmers, on this unique farming operation during the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour. The farm specializes in a lot of heirloom vegetables among other products. You can see a list of their products on their website. Marty says the …
Harms Farm Participating In CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project
My first stop on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour was Harms Farm. Our host was Kevin Harms (left) pictured pointing to a chart being held by Harold Reetz. Kevin’s farm is in southern Livingston County, Illinois. He’s one of the farmers that has volunteered to participate in this project. Kevin says they’re trying several different practices to …
Save Our GPS Coalition Expands
The Coalition to Save Our GPS is growing as new evidence mounts that a proposed communications network would interfere with GPS systems. New agriculture industry members of the coalition include AGCO, Agricultural Retailers Association, National Agricultural Aviation Association, National Cotton Council of America, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, North American Equipment Dealers Association, and USA Rice Federation. A report was …