Ken Ferrie
Agronomist Ken Ferrie provides agronomic insights, crop management tips, and practical advice for farmers to improve crop yields.
Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie shares two videos to explain how to successfully set and operate your hybrid chisel and inline ripper.
Some growers are struggling with waterlogged fields that are producing stunted, yellowing corn. Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie offers farmers hope and help with his practical, no-nonsense recommendations.
Ken Ferrie outlines various treatment scenarios, depending on what farmers find in their fields. He cautions that severe infections can easily cause 60-bu.-per-acre yield losses.
Ken Ferrie says fields with good soil health can have as much disease present as an unhealthy field, but healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy ones.
Heavy rains and high winds are contributing to dangerous dust storms and other issues in farm country. Ken Ferrie offers his take on stewardship practices that can help growers prevent or minimize these problems.
Do not try to thicken a corn stand that’s in tough shape. You need to rip it out and replant it. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, ‘your stand is good enough,’” says Ken Ferrie.
2024 Farm Journal Corn and Soybean College: Learn How to Ride the Waves of Farming’s Economic Cycles
This year’s program focuses on practices growers can use to thrive and keep their farms on track. Make plans to join Ken Ferrie and team for the event, which is slated for July 23 and 24 near Heyworth, Ill.
Farmers are moving fast and furious in fields this week, trying to get crops in the ground. But Mother Nature is playing havoc with their best efforts. Ken Ferrie addresses six concerns to help farmers make progress.
Growing degree days (GDDs) are a more reliable method to predict corn emergence and development than calendar days. Start calculating GDDs daily the day after planting. Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie explains.
Don’t let the rush to plant cause you to be filled with regret and utter these five words at some point: “I wish I had waited.” Chilled seed corn struggles to emerge and grow. It can cost you 10% of your stand.
It’s a tale of two extremes this year. Some farmers report they can’t find soil moisture to plant into, while others are struggling just to get into their fields. Agronomist Ken Ferrie weighs in on both scenarios.
Along with too much moisture, high numbers of corn flea beetles are posing an early-season concern. Ferrie advises checking your Stewart’s wilt bacteria rating on hybrids. There’s no treatment option for infected corn.
Some Illinois farmers started planting soybeans in late March. Ken Ferrie offers tips to help you weigh the risks of planting now. Plus, be aware that poor saturated cold scores are impacting some seed corn hybrids.
Based on fieldwork he’s done so far, the farmer asks, “Am I drying out the soil early in what looks to be a dry year? Or, am I making the soil more fit so roots can go down as they should?”
Your technology investment will maximize corn yield on every soil type.
Don’t take equipment to fields too soon and create headaches that will linger all season. While you wait for the right timing, consider doing prep work and projects that can help set you up for yield success.
Here are some tips to help you translate your data into higher yield and ROI.
Before heading to the field to apply anhydrous, firm up what crop you’re going to plant. Growers have been kicking around the idea of going beans-on-beans, given the markets. But anhydrous essentially ties you to corn.
A sudden change in soil density that occurs from the freezing-thawing process can cause problems with corn root growth this spring and impede water movement in the soil during the growing season.
Ken Ferrie answers two additional questions: Was it allelopathic toxins in the cereal rye ahead of corn that caused such a yield ding last season? Will there be a cap to Carbon Initiative payments per farm operation?
Once you balance fertility and pH in the soil profile, and adjust to making small, more frequent lime applications, you probably won’t need to mix fertilizer into the soil, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist.
Red clover can fix nitrogen, suppress weeds and improve crop yields. Based on test plot research in Illinois, a good stand of red clover can provide between 50 and 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre.
Growers can benefit from evaluating the dispersion of N, P and K and pH levels in no-till fields. Often, there is a drop off in soil fertility levels in no-till soils once below the three-inch mark.
For a lot of farmers, 2023 was a tough growing season and Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. But don’t let that drive your seed-selection process for next year. Consider these five recommendations instead.
With organic matter above 3.5%, do you need to worry about applying sulfur? Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, is seeing financially positive responses. He shares several sulfur options to consider.
Moisture availability is one of the biggies to check out, says Ken Ferrie. He also details some upcoming agronomic events, like his Beyond The Basics five-part webinar series and the virtual Corn & Soybean College.
What is vertical farming and how can it set you up for future government incentives? Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, explains it often requires mixing and matching tools for primary and secondary tillage.
If your combine monitor is showing a wide range of yields in the field, Ken Ferrie says to investigate. Evaluate soybean stand, pod set and bean size while there’s agronomic evidence.
Weather woes took a huge bite out of corn yield potential this season, especially in northeast Iowa and parts of western Illinois. Where farmers got timely rains, the yield reports coming in are not as wide-ranging.
A calibrated monitor usually does a good job of telling you where yield is changing in a field within a hybrid, but it may not tell you exactly how one hybrid is yielding against another.