With start of another crop season, lime applications have begun across most of the state with dry pre-plant fertilizer to follow soon. Generally, we do not hear about fertilizer application issues that occur with broadcast spreaders until later in the crop season but this year is different because of the…
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The skyrocketing fertilizer prices has every grower thinking about where and how to reduce the fertilizer costs on their farm to remain profitable this year. In order to better manage fertilizer costs, more growers are looking at ways to be more efficient and cost effective with their inputs and applications….
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Various digital and in-field technologies utilized in agriculture today are collecting volumes of data for each field throughout the year. This data can be used anywhere from assessing machine performance to scouting fields for making in-season crop management decisions to analyzing yield trends across the fields to maximize overall farm…
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Yield maps are considered as a year-end report card for a farm that shows us what worked and where. Many consultants and growers utilize cotton yield maps at the end of the year to evaluate field performance and to determine how certain management practices can be adjusted in the next…
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Over the next few weeks, peanut harvest will be in full swing across most of the state. Along with proper timing consideration for digging peanuts, proper setup and operation of peanut harvest equipment is also an important consideration to minimize harvest losses and to ensure peak equipment performance and efficiency…
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For peanut growers, timely and effective fungicide applications throughout the season are an important tool to manage and protect yield from diseases like white mold and leaf spot. Considering the recent rains and wet field conditions, peanut growers are likely already behind and may have missed few fungicide applications. Because…
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PWM systems are becoming more common on boom sprayers recently and there are increasing number of growers who are first-time users of these systems and need to make nozzle selection decisions for their systems. While nozzle selection for a PWM system is somewhat similar to the nozzle selection process for…
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Similar to the weather conditions we experienced in May of 2019, the extremely hot and dry conditions this week is going to challenge growers to make some difficult planting decisions. Planting in dry conditions without adequate soil moisture in the furrow results in poor or reduced stands which in most…
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Assuming a center pivot is installed to the correct specifications, the efficiency and uniformity of this system will only deteriorate from installment forward. Flowing pressurized water over time will wear away orifice openings and splash plates. An example of worn out 10-year-old rotator plates is shown in Figure 1 below….
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Generally, a thorough planter check before planting and regular in-season planter checks are recommended to avoid any planting issues or mistakes that can cause a significant emergence and/or yield impact. However, planter issues are common and sometimes hard to notice, especially for planters without a seed monitor. Even though growers…
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