Search results for 'Changshu City'

Spring is about to pop - Benton City, WA

By #SoilMatters

Published 2 years, 7 months ago

Soil temperatures have risen 4-6F in the past week. This has signaled these Chelan #cherry buds to swell. This is an early ripening variety. Which means the number of days a farmer has to grow and nurture the crop are limited. This means every day counts from bloom until harvest and are critical to develop the fruit in preparation of harvest...

How Yield Champions Use Cover Crops for Growing Higher Bushels

By Laura Barrera

Published 1 years, 4 months ago

There are many factors that can influence corn yield. In fact, Fred Below, a plant physiologist at the University of Illinois, identified seven of them, which he dubbed the “Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World. ”The seven wonders, ranked in order of most influence on yield, are:WeatherNitrogenHybridPrevious cropPlant populationTillageGrowth regulatorsWhile Below was referring to the cash crop rotation in the fourth wonder, some farmers are taking it one step further by seeding cover crops. The benefit of added crop diversity along with improvements to soil health is paying off, as some of these farmers are achieving the highest yields in the country... His goal for using cover crops is to increase organic matter — which on most fields has gone from 2% or less to 7% and higher — break up the soil hardpan and increase the soil’s water-holding capacity...

What Farmers Need to Know About Mycorrhizae

By Laura Barrera

Published 11 months ago

If someone asked you, “How do plants take up the water and nutrients they need?” you’d probably tell them through the roots. But did you know that for many crops, those roots aren’t working alone?That’s because most plant species associate with mycorrhizal fungi. What is mycorrhizal fungi? University of Alberta biological scientist JC Cahill says that mycorrhizas are actually the interaction between a fungus and a plant. Although there are many different types of mycorrhizae, the only one crop farmers need to be concerned about is arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), as 65% of plant species associate with it... “We know that adding fertilizer doesn’t always increase crop yield because there are going to be some farms and conditions that have enough fertilizer, or you get toxicity,” he explains...

Categories: Cover Crops

Ten Ways to Increase Your Farm's Profits in 2019

By AgFuse Exclusive Content

Published 12 months ago

So, what about smaller purchases that you know will make you more efficient, purchases that you’ve been putting off because times are tight? You can easily become more efficient by upgrading your nurse tank capacity or buying a portable welder... What Is Equipment Efficiency? There is an optimal size for your farm based on whatever acreage capacity your equipment currently has... To gain field capacity, you want to optimally go wider with these machines rather than adding additional units... When we look at this cropping system annually, we ask ourselves where the bottleneck is based on our current equipment capacity... The 800 acres for each is optimal based on our current equipment capacity...

Categories: Agribusiness, Marketing, Cover Crops

Million Dollar Dirt

By Amanda Allworth

Published 1 years, 3 months ago

Dirt. It’s arguably a farmer’s most valuable natural resource... Inherent soil characteristicsExamples of inherent soil characteristics include soil texture, drainage class and cation exchange capacity (CEC)... Soil organic matter content, microbial populations, bulk density, infiltration rate, soil water and nutrient holding capacity are examples of dynamic soil characteristics that change over a shorter time period with or without human intervention... Organic matter content influences a number of soil characteristics, including soil bulk density (a measure of compaction), soil water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity and nutrient availability...

7 Ways to Measure Soil Health Improvements

By Laura Barrera

Published 7 months ago

While there are numerous reasons for using cover crops, a primary one is improving soil health. In fact, it’s the one benefit most farmers using cover crops have experienced: In the most recent Cover Crop Survey Annual Report, of those who rated the statement, “Using cover crops has improved soil health on my farm,” 86% agreed or strongly agreed. The report notes that it’s interesting and heartening that “soil health reflects an embrace of a long-term, hard-to-quantify benefit of cover crops, and that for the past two surveys, it has achieved the top spot by garnering 86% of the responses... In a Penn State Extension article written by soil scientist Sjeord Duiker, he recommends using the penetrometer when the whole profile is at field capacity, which is approximately 24 hours after a soaking rain... Higher Organic MatterAlong with infiltrating water faster, cover crops should also help your soil’s water-holding capacity, as it increases the soil’s organic matter...

Categories: Cover Crops

Tips to Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

By Nationwide Farm Insurance

Published 6 months ago

Use these tips to help avoid and recognize the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning Think about the gas-powered engines you might use on a daily basis, like a generator, pump, pressure-washer, tractor or truck. All of these essential machines produce carbon monoxide (CO). They can become deadly if used indoors with little or no ventilation. The risk of CO poisoning exists outdoors, too... Whenever possible and safe, use tools powered by electricity...

Categories: Agribusiness

5 reasons to choose chitosan oligosaccharide in organic agriculture

By Darren Chan

Published 8 months ago

In the application of agricultural production, chitosan oligosaccharides not only make crops grow better and robust, but also has obvious effects in stress resistance and pest resistance. Numerous studies have shown that chitosan oligosaccharides can induce broad-spectrum resistance, enhance the plant’s own defense ability, inhibit the growth of a variety of plant pathogenic microorganisms, and it is non-toxic and can be microbial degradation, and will not pollute the environment. This makes it an important role in agricultural production as a new type of green production. 1... The role of chitosan oligosaccharides in agricultureChitosan oligosaccharides have wide adaptability to plants, good affinity, no toxicity, no side effects, no harm to humans and animals, biodegradability, no soiling in the soil, slow degradation to small molecular carbohydrates, no pollution to the environment, an excellent pure natural ecological preparation...

Categories: Agribusiness, Irrigation, Organic

Solar Pumping System at Full Belly Farm

By Ernesto Montenero

Published 2 years, 7 months ago

This 27KW solar pumping system we installed at Full Belly Farm is a solution for pumping in areas not connected to the grid. It generates electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or air pollution. This system will power a 25 HP pump to an almond orchard on 12. 5 acres. Look for solar powered almond butter from Full Belly Farm soon! We also worked with them to make their operations more energy efficient...

Secrets you don't know about seaweed fertilizer

By Darren Chan

Published 3 months ago

Seaweed fertilizer is a biological fertilizer produced by scientific processing of marine plant seaweed as the main raw material. The main component is the natural biological active material extracted from seaweed. Most seaweed can grow to lengths of over 50 meters. Trace elements found in organic seaweed fertilizers include magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron and nitrogen—all of which are beneficial to plants... Structure and property will be changed, even phytotoxicity will be caused...

Categories: Agribusiness, Specialty/Vegetable, Wheat