Time to Think About Frost and Spring Seeding
Common frost seeding practices: Under-seeding small grains (generally red or mammoth clover) can be put on with spring nitrogen applications Thicken pastures, hay fields or waterways with grasses and/or legumes For high-traffic livestock paddocks, use grasses and/or legumes You will need to remove livestock until crops are established With row crop acres you could increase bio-mass for spring, kick start biology and provide weed suppression If you were not able to get fall cover crops on If you seeded cover crops too late in the fall, and there was not much growth or had winter kill For fall covers [...]
Illinois Soybean Yields are Growing by Leaps and Bounds!
You probably recently read the press release announcing Illinois as the No. 1 soybean producing state in the U.S. once again. And for a global perspective—Illinois is ranked the 4th largest soybean producing country in the world. Kudos to the growers and agronomists in Illinois who are making this happen. In the recent USDA Crop Report that was issued January 12, National Agricultural Statistics Service stated “Soybeans: Planted area, at 10.6 million acres, up 5 percent from 2016. Harvested area, at 10.55 million acres, is up 5 percent from the previous year. The soybean yield is estimated at 58 [...]
Investment Insight: Recent Research Results
Conducting nutrient research on-farm allows researchers to evaluate performance of various practices designed to reduce nutrient loss (i.e. winter cover cropping) under real farming conditions. That’s why Lowell Gentry and his team from the University of Illinois are conducting research using whole fields to investigate fertilizer practices as well as in-field and edge-of field techniques that show promise for reducing nutrient runoff, especially nutrients in tile drainage water. This university research team has 3 complementary NREC grants that are producing relevant results. A collection of what they have learned over the past three years follows: 1.) Cover crops can [...]
Bringing Better Beans to Polo and Mendota
The Illinois Soybean Association hosted two Better Beans Series events in the northern and northwestern parts of the state. Better Beans came to Polo on January 30 in partnership with Pearl City Elevator and then hit Mendota on January 31 in partnership with Northern Partners Cooperative (NPC). The local events drew over 200 attendees, industry experts and exhibitors. The programming was excellent, tailored to the needs and challenges of growers in the area, and received many wonderful comments—with one producer even stating that it was, “One of the most beneficial meetings that he had attended for quite some time.” [...]
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