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November 10, 2020 Soybean harvest has had its ups and downs this fall. But if I had to single out the biggest in-field challenge, it would be trying not to combine through the waterhemp escapes and spread weed seed all over the field. Waterhemp seed is very small and there is plenty of it per plant. And given the difficulty in trying to control it, you don’t want to make the problem worse at harvest. Waterhemp continues to be a growing problem in... |
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November 06, 2020 There are many reasons individuals decide to formalize their operation into a business entity. A variety of entity structures are available for business owners to use to accomplish the goals/objectives of their operation. Some operators use an informal operating joint venture instead of a formalized entity. Tax and transition planning are some of the most common goals of an entity. However, it is important to not only consider the tax... |
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November 03, 2020 As we approach the last week of October, most of the wheat seeding is complete in Illinois and as we count acres, wheat planting is definitely up. Looking at the historical wheat areas of Southern Illinois, I would guess acres are up 30-40% over the previous year. The combination of a moderately early harvest, dry field conditions and $6 plus wheat have all played a part in driving acres up. While the window to plant has been very... |
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November 02, 2020 Most of us know Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” As I write this article, I can see 2020 raising her hand, smiling and saying “Yep! That’s me!” Social issues, pandemics, major weather and environmental events, insects, disease, growth abnormalities, etc. Here’s my attempt at summarizing 2020 without saying “I’m ready for next year, it can’t be this bad,” as I did in 2019. To start the year, COVID-19 made an... |
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November 01, 2020 Harvest data is very beneficial when showing us what happened in a field, or to a product, but it doesn’t always give us the “why” we may have gotten a certain result. This data can be very powerful to help us to make input decisions and can be enhanced with technologies that provide insights into performance of these inputs. The question is often asked,” What was my most limiting factor?” and we can use digital tools to investigate this... |
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October 31, 2020 If you have followed any of my work over the past few years, it will come as no surprise that I am an advocate of planting soybeans early. Ongoing research at Bayer Crop Science sites across the state of Illinois has provided valuable information on the benefits of early planting. Even so, I must admit that with a heavy frost in May and overall slow early development of the soybean crop, I was rather nervous about how the early planted beans... |