Everyone has experienced that nasty smell of a well-used porta potty on a hot day. Okay, so that’s what nitrogen loss smells like. Yuck. Kerry Overton with Koch Agronomic Services was the guy who treated unsuspecting visitors to his booth at the Ag Media Summit InfoExpo to the “here, smell this” experience. Gotta tell you, it was gross, but it …
Investing in Illinois Soil’s Wealth
“The wealth of Illinois is in her soil, and her strength lies in its intelligent development.” That quote was from one of the first presidents of the University of Illinois almost 200 years, but attendees of the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., heard it reiterated by Jean Payne, President of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical …
New Ag Chem Company Launched
A new agriculture and chemical company has been formed to produce and market a next generation of urease inhibitor. Eco Agro Resources was launched on May 1, with its patent-pending flagship product, N-Yield. David McKnight, CEO states “Eco Agro Resources is made up of 30 team members with over 100 years of agriculture and chemical experience. We have multiple lab …
Nutrient Management with Late Planting
Planting progress continues to be slowed by wet and cold weather in most of the major corn producing states. According to USDA, just 5% of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of Sunday, only a percentage point of difference compared to the previous week. Last year at this time, nearly half the crop was in the ground and normally …
Mighty Mississippi Rolling Along
At the beginning of this year, closing the Mississippi River to barge traffic as a result of low water levels was a very real possibility, but that crisis has been averted thanks to some Army Corps of Engineers work. “There was an emergency move by the Army Corps of Engineers to blast rocks out of the river floor at Thebes …
Koch Agronomic Services Has Scientific Integrity
Koch Agronomic Services is on display here at AG CONNECT Expo. I visited with Greg Schwab, Director of Agronomy (seen on AgriTalk), to learn what he’s talking to farmer attendees about. Greg says the company has grown tremendously in the last two years with multiple acquisitions to add to their product lineup. One of the key issues he’s talking to …
GROWMARK Excited About N-Watch
Ag journalists on the GROWMARK media tour in Iowa last month had the chance to learn about N-Watch, which started this year as a small scale, pilot program by GROWMARK in partnership with FS Member Cooperatives. The objectives of the program are to quantify the form of available, soil-applied nitrogen (N), where it is located, and what happens to the …
New GROWMARK Dry Terminal in Iowa
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 …