Good manure management requires geology knowledge, but it’s easy to ignore what’s below the soil surface. NRCS soil scientist Yuri Plowden spoke recently at a Soils, Hydrology & Liquid Manure event in Lebanon, PA, where she discussed soil details critical to good manure stewardship. Plowden began wi...

Record cattle prices are creating remarkable opportunities for cow calf producers, but a rising market does not guarantee a profitable operation. Feed bills, land costs, breeding choices and calf performance all determine whether a cow contributes to the bottom line or eats away at it. That was the ...

Anyone who has experienced a computer attack or data breach will say it feels as if they’ve been being robbed. While farmers shouldn’t live in fear of cyberattacks, they should be aware of the potential damage to their business and how attacks can be avoided. Dr. Doug Jacobson, director of the Iowa ...

Increasingly, headlines spotlight weather and climate events, most of which are bad news. Remember the last week of September 2024: Hurricane Helene received much media attention. Hurricane Milton then earned coverage Oct. 1 - 10. By mid-October that year, tropical cyclone season was mercifully on i...

If every farmer took time to think through their actions prior to carrying out a task, Ed Aukamp might be out of a job. Aukamp is an EMT, paramedic and EMS instructor with over 30 years of experience responding to incidents in agricultural settings. It’s important to note that most injuries or death...

Mineral programs can be easy to start and surprisingly hard to get right. Most beef herds have a mineral feeder somewhere in the pasture, but having a product on hand is not the same as having a plan. Ohio State University Extension Beef Nutrition Specialist Dr. Haley Linder argues that effective mi...

It’s that time of year, farm family – the time when moving to an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere starts sounding awfully attractive. There are lots of reasons for that urge, but I think they can be summed up in one word: exhaustion. Exhaustion is that condition when your body feels heavy an...

Just when the global fertilizer scene hints at calming down, one of the normally tamer (and lesser) components has begun misbehaving: elemental sulfur (S). Before addressing the supply/demand orneriness of S, let me present some figures from the Argus Industry Newsletter for Oct. 15, 2026. The follo...

A prickly tree with a sweet secret could help reshape the future of farming. Honey locust ( Gleditsia triacanthos ) has long provided food for people and livestock. Yet despite its sugar-rich pods, welcome shade and potential role in sustainable farming, the tree remains overlooked by modern agricul...