Four fire departments received the call late at night. On Oct. 3 in Keithsburg, Illinois, a local farmer became trapped in the silo after monitoring his grain. Firefighters spent the next hour working to free him, but unfortunately, the man suffocated before rescue...
Late planting doesn’t bode well for a frost-free harvest. It’s been a bizarre year for grain farmers. Early season rains led to flooded fields, forcing crops to be planted later than normal. We’re also seeing reports that both the grain and corn yield in...
Who will buy our soybeans? Normally, US farmers don’t have to search hard to find the answer to that question. Over the last decade, multiple international buyers came forward, with more than 50.1 million metric tons shipped out to 10 countries in 2018 alone. But in...
As we move through summer, it’s time to start thinking about grain storage. How big will this year’s crop be? Do we have enough space set aside? More than that, do we have the right tools to prevent rot and waste? That last question can be the most perplexing, as some...
No farmer is ever satisfied with their crop. When harvest time comes, you think about all the things that went wrong, or ideas you want to try next year. As we head towards autumn, it’s not too early to start thinking about the 2020 growing season and ways to improve...
For some farmers, cover crops are almost an afterthought, something to fill space in different seasons. But in many ways, planting the right cover is a critical part of the year. Get it right and you improve the yearly yield. Get it wrong and you’ll have an army of...
