Uneven water movement is why one section of a field can stay soggy after heavy rain while another dries out within hours. Water will pool in the low spots, run off the slopes and soak into the ground at different rates. The fact that water behaves in this way in a field is important as […]

Fall fertilizer application might seem like the end of the job after harvesting. However, applying fertilizer in the fall begins a process that lasts for months in the soil. The three main nutrients for crops (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) do not remain unchanged until spring. As the soil cools, freezes, thaws and gets wet, the […]

Post-harvest farm maintenance begins once the harvest is over, but the work needed to safeguard the next season hasn’t ended. It’s easy to miss a damaged belt, a leaking pipe, or a grain bin infested with pests when the machinery is finally stored away. It’s possible that months later, the same issue will delay planting […]

Yield map may make a field appear simple to interpret, with the different colored areas suggesting where the crop performed well and where its growth was weaker. However, the accuracy of the picture depends entirely on the measurements that underlie it, and errors in the yield map can occur long before the data gets onto […]

It’s easy, once the crop has been taken out of the field, to call the season over. But, waterhemps are still there and remain a problem, seeds remaining in the soil or carried into other fields can create difficulties in the following season. Waterhemp is a weed that grows quickly and competes with both corn […]

Corn silage fermentation begins after chopped corn is packed and sealed, triggering biological changes that preserve the crop and influence its nutritional value over the first 180 days. However, the crop continues to change after it has been sealed. During the first few weeks fermentation creates the conditions needed to preserve the stored crop while […]

After a wet harvest, the field can appear quite different. Tires that had left marks on the ground before may begin to make deeper tracks as the machinery moves over softer ground. Soil may be pushed outward along the edges, and water can collect in the tracks. These tracks are known as harvest ruts. They […]

High tunnels may seem simple in design, but the conditions inside them can change rapidly. After a sunny fall afternoon the tunnel may be warm and dry, but by early morning the same space can feel damp. Water builds up on the plastic, leaves remain wet, and droplets may fall onto the crops even if […]

A Bin Can Look Fine While Trouble Is Developing When viewed from above, stored corn may appear dry and stable. The grains in the bin do not form a sealed block; instead, the conditions inside can change and air moves through the gaps between the kernels. Temperature differences can slowly cause moisture to shift from […]

Picture a field that grows corn every year. The crop is planted, harvested, and planted again the next spring. Each season, the field is asked to do the same job in the same way: supply the same nutrients, grow the same kind of roots, and take in the same kind of crop residue. So why […]