Latest News From Rhonda Brooks

The Clemson EMC Calculator can help you with wet soybeans. With strips and anhydrous applications, focus on building a good seedbed for next spring.

Make adjustments to your combine now to get more yield out of the field before more corn goes down and molds set in.

Don't get caught leasing ground with poor soil pH and too-low nutrient levels.

The first-of-its-kind, two-year pilot project will quantify and certify biodiversity credits. The financial incentive will average around $100 an acre for growers who develop or enhance pollinator-friendly habitat.

Some Illinois farmers are combining corn with fins and scales this fall. No, that’s not a fish story.

Some Illinois elevators are taking soybeans with up to 18% moisture. Another option is if you have open bins with good air capacity, you might be able to put beans in the bin and apply air and heat to them.

In some instances, the speed of the combine and the speed of the header in combination are resulting in too much corn going out the back of the machine.

Too much corn is not making it to the bin in central Illinois as harvest season nears the finish line. If you're still combining, consider Ken Ferrie's recommendations to bolster results.

“I’ve seen some fields with 20-bu. per acre corn that wasn’t getting picked up. We’re leaving too much corn on the cob,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

Growers who hit all three factors just right are combining monster crops this fall. Those who didn't are seeing average yield results.

Farmers will need to sift through their production data from this year carefully to see what they need to change or keep the same.

In its JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) research, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that resignations are at an all-time high.

Put these practices to work to improve your corn harvest outcome.

Chris Edgington, a row-crop farmer based near St. Ansgar, shares his perspective on what drives most U.S. producers today.

How good a job you do spreading residue behind the harvester makes a big difference in how uniform your corn stand will be next spring and how uniform its growth and development will be.

Here’s a look at three products manufacturers plan to market for weed control in the near term. 

There doesn't appear to be much price relief on the horizon. Product availability could be limited as well, based on what China and Europe are experiencing.

Understanding the where and how of herbicide active ingredients can help you address weeds and manage your budget more effectively.

Too much rain fueled disease pressure, double fungicide applications actually paid for themselves in some situations, and hybrid diversification was and is critical to your overall yield success.

These biological products have the ability to increase germination, improve nutrient uptake, enhance nutrient-use efficiency and increase tolerance to and recovery from abiotic stresses.

Plant health is making serious contributions to crop-yield outcomes this year. In some cases, the thanks is due to hybrid genetics while in others, timely fungicide applications paid for themselves.

On Tuesday, Bill Northey weighed in with some perspective on the budget reconciliation bill, which is part of the Biden administration's Build Back Better agenda.

The disease is shutting down corn crop growth prematurely in parts of Illinois, especially in fields with D hybrids. You may need to harvest those fields sooner than later.

Plan for a normal crop – hope for the biggest crop of your career – and then mitigate the risk of a drought or crop failure.

Check the stalk quality of D and L-1 hybrids. One has been hit by late-season disease, while high winds have taken a toll on the other.

Good data forms the framework for management decisions Lukas Fricke and his brother make on their Ulysses, Neb., farm operation, including the one they made recently to sign a carbon contract.

Cornfields that had promised above-average or record yields, prior to being affected, are now more likely to produce average results at harvest.

It costs beef producers about 45 cents a day to feed a cow or steer on pasture, making it the most cost-effective way to pack on pounds.

Pro Farmer scouts pegged the Indiana average yield estimate at 193.48 bu. per acre on Tuesday, just slightly below USDA's prediction of 194 bu. per acre.

Crops across much of the state look good heading into the home stretch but still need to be monitored for insects and disease.

Join the Jack family at Silent Shade Planting Company, Belzoni, Miss., on Aug. 25 to learn more about row-crop production in the Delta. A variety of speakers and topics are planned.

Drought is deepening in Nebraska, but corn and soybean crops are hanging tough so far.

On August 17, Pro Farmer scouts will be walking Illinois corn and soybean fields checking crop conditions and making annual yield projections.

Disease pressure is building in parts of Illinois. Also, check out the agenda and register for Farm Journal Corn & Soybean College, set for Aug. 3-4.

Ongoing litigation contributed to the company's decision. However, farmers and retailers will continue to have access to glyphosate for weed control, company officials say.

Soil carbon sequestration can become an important mitigation strategy if there is agreed upon, credible, cost-effective and consistent measurement, reporting and verification behind the credits, according to researchers.

As growers wade through the ever-deepening amount of carbon information available in the marketplace, they are asking for answers to these common questions.

Syngenta says the long residual control offered by Acuron GT will allow farmers and retailers to apply it in a post application before weeds can emerge and compete with the crop.

In soybeans, look for white mold issues this week. Initial symptoms generally develop in the R3 to R6 production stages.

Corteva Agriscience has a robust number of products it expects to introduce to U.S. farmers between now and 2023 for use in more than 10 crops.

While a rush to judgment is underway, Extension and company representatives say report suspected herbicide drift damage to state pesticide agencies.

Bean planting populations of 190,000 to 220,000 in washed out areas can help keep weeds from taking over.

​Hard Red Spring wheat ratings in the good to excellent categories dropped from 20% to 16% this week, compared to a five-year average of 66%. ​

Corn subjected to heavy rainfall can still deliver a significant yield response to a nitrogen application -- in some cases, up to 60 bu.

Evaluate hail-damaged soybeans, too, before applying post herbicides or a rescue treatment.

Along with that issue, Ken Ferrie addresses corn rootworm and other pests and diseases that he's observing and addressing in the field now.

To get the best return-on-investment from your nitrogen (N) applications in corn consider pairing them with sulfur.

The dollars tagged for such purposes are part of the Build Back Better program, the Biden administration’s COVID-19 relief plan.

“I like to say you’re going to have to have a permit to do normal farming decisions,” he told Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk.

The EPA and Department of the Army announced a plan on Wednesday to initiate a new rulemaking process to restore the protections that were in place prior to the 2015 WOTUS implementation.