ILSoyAdvisor Blog

In two months both your physical and mental activities will turn to focusing on planting your 2018 soybean crop, so now is the time to ensure your operation is maximizing its opportunities. Diligent preparation is needed so you don’t allow a lack of fertility and an improper pH to hinder your success before the first seed ever goes in the ground. Additionally, it is no secret that corn may not be the “king” of the castle anymore and relying...

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...

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,...

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,...