Search results for 'FL'

A New Era of Farm Employees: Farm Technicians vs. Farm Hands?

By Gregory Heilers

Published Jun 4, 2018

Traditional agricultural skills that made civilization possible are still alive and in use today. At the same time, hundreds of farm technician job listings across the US, and the rise of precision agriculture and software, clearly evidence the need for technologically-savvy farm technicians in the 21st century agricultural industry. It’s no surprise that tech-friendly millennials interested in farming are encouraged by these developments, which may make farming less labor intensive than in generations past. Technology may even be the antidote to a number of ills plaguing modern agriculture, which have led to a drastic decrease in the number of farms across the United States... Compost still grows grass; chickens still like fly larvae...

4 Steps to Building Soil Organic Matter in the South

By Laura Barrera

Published Jul 18, 2018

As we learn more about what goes on in the world beneath our feet, increased attention has been placed on soil organic matter. And for good reason. While it only makes up a small percentage of most soils, the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) says it’s the “very foundation for healthy and productive soils” — and the more organic matter there is, the better the results. Consider the following findings from SARE and the NRCS:A study of soils in Michigan demonstrated potential crop-yield increases of about 12% for every 1% organic matter... He knows one farmer who decided to grow a mix of sorghum sudangrass, sunn hemp, daikon radish, sunflower and cowpeas right after his corn crop, before planting winter wheat...

Categories: Cover Crops

Excessive Roof Snow Load

By Nationwide Farm Insurance

Published Nov 29, 2018

Excessive roof snow load can cause your barn to collapse When heavy snow meets fierce winds, even the best-engineered buildings can collapse. That's why it's important to calculate your roof load an adequately insured for this type of situation. How snow load can damage your buildingsSnow load is the downward force on a building’s roof by the weight of accumulated snow and ice. The roof or the entire structure can fail if the snow load exceeds the weight the building was designed to shoulder... Verify that valuable equipment stored in a barn or outbuilding is covered under your farm personal property endorsementFarm and ranch products are not available in: Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oklahoma...

Categories: Agribusiness

What Farmers Need to Know About Mycorrhizae

By Laura Barrera

Published Nov 2, 2018

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... In fact, an influx of phosphorus in roots colonized by mycorrhizal fungi can be three to five times higher than in non-mycorrhizal roots, according to the article “Phosphorus Uptake by Plants: From Soil to Cell... He also likes to see flax and sunflowers in the mix, noting they both have excellent mycorrhizal hosting capabilities...

Categories: Cover Crops

What’s the function of Mycorrhiza?

By Darren Chan

Published Jan 2, 2019

Introduction of MycorrhizaExcessive dependence on chemical fertilizers can result in the destruction of a large number of beneficial microbial communities in the soil and a decrease in soil activity. To improve the current soil ecosystem with serious damage and improve soil fertility, it is imperative to supplement soil beneficial microorganisms... It is estimated that plants with mycorrhiza account for about 97% among the known flowering plants in the world... Mycorrhiza increases the absorption of phosphorus by plantsPhosphorus is the least easily decomposed and flowing element... The growth hormone secreted by mycorrhizal fungi plays an important role in regulating plant nutrition, accelerating the transportation and flow of substances, promoting the differentiation and growth of plants and their roots, and accelerating the formation of chlorophyll...

Categories: Agribusiness, Beef Cattle, Corn

How Yield Champions Use Cover Crops for Growing Higher Bushels

By Laura Barrera

Published Jun 1, 2018

There are many factors that can influence corn yield... ”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... Dee River Ranch's cover crop of tillage radishes, flown on at a rate of 4 pounds per acre in July before corn harvest... Winterkill and weed suppression saves bigMore flies his radishes and turnips on at a rate of 4 and 3 pounds per acre, respectively, into his standing corn crop in July before harvesting the corn, while the three-way blend is seeded after soybeans in mid September... Forage turnips are also flown into standing corn in July at a rate of 3 pounds per acre...

How to Create a Low-Input, High-Revenue System with Wide-Row Intercropping

By Laura Barrera

Published Dec 9, 2019

”He understands that not growing high-yielding wheat may be a challenge for farmers, but if you flip the typical 80-bushel wheat and 40-bushel soybeans grown in a double-cropping system around, economically it makes more sense. “If soybeans are $9 a bushel and wheat is $5, and you try for low wheat and low cost of goods and higher soybeans, just flip flopping the economics around is $160-$180,” he explains... “We get more airflow to dry the dew maybe an hour or two earlier every day, so that lowers your risk [of wheat disease] a little bit,” he explains, adding that fungicides and insecticides will slow the crop from drying down, which would negatively affect the soybeans... To harvest the wheat, he uses Flexxifingers, which extend past the reel to push the soybeans down, while still allowing the reel to push in the wheat heads... “I could conceivably call a dealership and have five combines out here with Flexxifingers on it and pull off a massive scale harvest,” he says...

Categories: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat

Why Hemp Isn’t Going to Save the US Farmer (But How It Could)

By The Crossover

Published Aug 16, 2019

In late 2018, a new farm bill was passed that legalized the production of hemp as an agricultural commodity while also removing it from the list of “controlled substances”. The Gold Rush of the modern farming era was on... Also, I’m concerned that hemp production is positioning itself as a “get rich quick” scheme for agriculture, and is attracting the same hucksters that flock to any new fad that they think they can exploit for a dollar... Plenty of new crops in the past have introduced some fly-by-night characters who were happy to sign a contract with you guaranteeing that they would purchase your crop... The new farm bill blew the doors off of that and opened the floodgates for the commoditization of hemp...

Categories: Agribusiness, Marketing, Specialty/Vegetable

A Farming Productivity Tool for the New Year

By AgFuse Administrator

Published Jan 9, 2019

Farming is such a unique occupation because the intensity of our work oscillates with the seasons. For most farmers, winter marks a time for some rest and reflection--and a new year ushers in new hope... As farmers, the slower winter season is the perfect time to reflect upon our desired identity and check in to make sure we’re on the right track towards achieving our long-term objectives... I want to maintain a clean and efficient fleet of equipment... For example, you may not identify a daily habit that’s related to your objective of having one-thousand acres under irrigation, but maintaining a clean fleet of equipment could be as easy as making end-of-day equipment cleanup a habit...

Categories: Agribusiness, Irrigation, Specialty/Vegetable

Top 4 ways to stimulate root growth

By Darren Chan

Published Sep 3, 2019

Importance of healthy rootsFirst, they anchor the plant in place, resisting the forces of wind and running water or mudflow. Secondly, the root system takes in oxygen, water and nutrients from the soil, to move them up through the plant to the stems, leaves, and blooms. where they can interact with sunlight to produce sugars and energy for the plant. Last but not least, scientists have recently discovered that roots actually secrete compounds that affect the microorganisms in the soil, which can help protect the plants from disease and encourage it to absorb nutrients from the soil... And promotes root growth, flowering, and fruit set...

Categories: Agribusiness, Dairy, Organic