The first loads of fertilizer came in this week to test the new GROWMARK dry terminal in Stuart, Iowa but earlier this month I joined some of my fellow ag reporters in climbing to the top of the 15,500 ton facility. Notice it was all females – left to right, Rita Maloney of Illinois RFD Radio; Deanna Thomas of WMBD …
Real Farms Show Real Results on Tour
One of the nicest things about trips such as the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour is the chance to see real farms with real crops growing under real conditions. Chuck stopped at Marcus Maier’s farm in Illinois where they were showing split application of nitrogen on corn. Maier explained they’re trying to display how varying rates of nitrogen in …
AGROTAIN SuperU to the Rescue
The extreme dry weather in the midwest was very evident at this week’s Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour. Out in the corn fields we had a nice breeze, but that breeze was blowing a lot of dust! On our first stop, Martin Case, AGROTAIN, was a presenter. This is the second year of this tour and we’ve gone from …
Total Grain and Fertilizer on Track
Total Grain Marketing (TGM) handled 70 million bushels of grain at its 31 locations in Illinois last year and this year is likely to be even more. During the recent GROWMARK media tour, we visited TGM and South Central FS in Casey (that’s pronounced Cay-zee) and learned about that facility in particular which was created when the two entities joined …
Stabilized Nitrogen For Faster Plant Start
The Director for Agronomy for Koch Agronomic Services, Greg Schwab, visited with me in the media room at Commodity Classic. Greg runs the company research program. He says they have twenty five land grant universities working on their products. He coordinates that effort. Since it’s planting season I asked him what advice he has for growers. Greg says that with …
GROWMARK Building Fertilizer Storage Facility in Iowa
GROWMARK is building a dry fertilizer storage facility at Stuart, Iowa that will have the capacity to hold 15,000 tons and will complement the acquisition of CF terminals made by GROWMARK in 2011. Construction will begin in spring 2012 and completion is expected in fall 2012. The facility will have rail receiving capability from the Iowa Interstate Rail System which …
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 …
Improving Soil & Water Conservation
The Ag Resource Coordinator for the Livingston County, IL Soil & Water Conservation District is Terry Bachtold. He was one of the coordinators for the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field day. He says this project is all about water quality and what farm management practices will help improve it. A good percentage of farms in the watershed have signed …
Illinois EPA Working With Farmers In Indian Creek Watershed
The Conservation Technology Information Center’s Indian Creek Watershed Project is funded in part by the Illinois EPA. Representing the IL EPA during last week’s field tour was Barb Lieberoff, Environmental Protection Specialist. I spoke with her during lunch. Barb says the Federal 319 Program, part of the Clean Water Act, is what where the program funding comes from. She says …
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 …