This author has yet to write their bio.Meanwhile lets just say that we are proud Andrea Meyer contributed a whooping 39 entries.
There is much that can go into answering this question. Some considerations are what type of hybrid are you planting? What is your current plant population? What is your soil type and texture? Do you have a full soil moisture profile? What is the expected long-term weather outlook? Is your field dryland or irrigated? What […]
Research over the past 15 years has shown that soybean yields are consistently higher when soybeans are planted earlier than most farmers are accustomed. Most producers recognize the importance of early planting in corn in most years and consequently corn planting has taken a precedent. When planting soybeans, soil conditions are as important as it […]
I recently drove across Iowa on I-80 and stopped at the rest area near Casey, Iowa. They have an interesting display outside in front of the building about Iowa Agriculture and the amount of soil loss that has occurred. According to this display the average depth of topsoil in the year 1850 across Iowa was […]
Organic matter tests have changed over the years. A decade or two ago most organic matter was done by the Walkley-Black Organic Matter Test which was a digestion test. Due to the length of time and the cost of discarding the heavy metals from the reagents of the test most labs have moved to […]
In recent years we have correlated some of our customers’ yields to soil test levels. The most consistent direct correlation to yield of all soil test analytes is organic matter. In nearly every case, as organic matter increased both corn and soybeans yields increased as the graph below indicates As everyone knows increasing organic […]
In visiting with producers about their soil tests and soil fertility, I often have noticed that they haven’t tested for sulfur. A recent article in No-Till Farmer magazine stresses the importance of testing for sulfur and adding sulfur in your fertility program. See this link below: https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/7190-sulfur-the-missing-link-in-better-yields?v=preview Figure 1. Alfalfa with sulfur deficiency. […]
This is a question that we sometimes get regarding applications of biosolids. Below is a table from the University of Missouri that was developed referencing EPA guidelines. I think it is helpful information. These levels are for soils with a pH of 6.5 or greater. pH can have an effect on the availability of each […]
Recently there has been some misleading information concerning various gypsum sources. According to this information, it would lead one to believe that their gypsum is the only truly calcium sulfate dihydrite. This is not true. First dihydrite simply means that with each molecule of calcium sulfate there are two molecules of water. To truly be […]
This year one of our customers applied PRO CAL 40 to the area of his field where the poorest soils (highest magnesium and clayey soils) were. He did not apply any PRO CAL 40 on the better soils (Kennebec). Otherwise he treated the field the same. As the picture shows below, the soils that he […]
