Search results for 'Changshu City'

Spring is about to pop - Benton City, WA

By #SoilMatters

Published 1 years, 3 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 12 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...

Ten Ways to Increase Your Farm's Profits in 2019

By AgFuse Exclusive Content

Published 8 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

What Farmers Need to Know About Mycorrhizae

By Laura Barrera

Published 7 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

7 Ways to Measure Soil Health Improvements

By Laura Barrera

Published 3 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

5 reasons to choose chitosan oligosaccharide in organic agriculture

By Darren Chan

Published 4 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

How Bacillus mucilaginosus can Prevent drought in the summer？

By Darren Chan

Published 11 months ago

When it comes to drought prevention,everyone thinks that they may need more watering. Now,there is a better way that we can use microbiological fertilizers like Bacillus mucilaginosus to prevent drought. The reason is that:Bacillus mucilaginosus is also called silicate bacteria,it has strong potassium-dissolving ability,which is selected from the roots of crops and produced by industrial fermentation with a specific medium. Through its life activities in the soil,it increases the supply of plant nutrient elements,stimulates crop growth,inhibits harmful microbial activity,and has a strong effect of increasing production... Bacillus mucilaginosus can decompose silicon in the soil for the use of plants, making the waxy layer of plants thicker and improving the water holding capacity of plants...

Categories: Agribusiness, Marketing, Organic

21st Century American Ag: Sourcing Successors and Finding Farmland

By Gregory Heilers

Published 10 months ago

It’s no secret that America’s farmers are aging... The harsh reality is that today, the land price to production capacity ratio is completely different than it was in the previous generation... That’s a land cost:production capacity of 1:2. ”Today, Polyface Farms is worth $7,000 an acre, yet the steer is worth only $700; the ratio of land cost to production capacity has shifted to 10:1. Land Value to Production Capacity (Per Acre) - Polyface Farms1961 – $90:$180 - 1:22018 – $7,000:$700 - 10:1Joel explained that “ratio change is why grandpa’s situation cannot be duplicated today...

The Simple Business Lesson that Farmland Partners Can Teach Us

By The Crossover

Published 11 months ago

There’s a simple lesson to be learned from the recent Farmland Partner’s accusations that has nothing to do with ethics. It first needs to be said that these are still, in fact, accusations. I want to make that part clear. The recent article that came out this week on Seeking Alpha was posted anonymously and, while the author provides a strong argument, time (and pending lawsuits) will uncover the truth... An investor can afford a growth premium if betting on a brand that has the capacity to grow rapidly on lower capital requirements...

Categories: Agribusiness

Solar Pumping System at Full Belly Farm

By Ernesto Montenero

Published 1 years, 3 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...