It’s been almost 4 years since Bob Hartzler and Mike Owen, weed specialists from Iowa State University, stated that Palmer amaranth was just moving into their state.

It’s no secret that these times are challenging. The farm sector’s debt-to-income ratio is substantially high, and 2017 represented the 5th year in a row that farm solvency ratios have weakened.

Billy Todd grew up running Case Construction equipment and racing dirt bikes in the Flagstaff, AZ area. “I might be a little bit of an adrenaline addict,” he confessed. “I liked the speed of racing and I enjoyed working on the side of some of the steep hills in the area where we were doing site-prep for housing developments with Case backhoes.”

When department stores emerged in place of the typical dry goods stores back in the late 1800s, many of them targeted a specific audience – farmers. I found a couple of powerhouses and would like to share some interesting historical information about them.

Congress first authorized federal crop insurance in the 1930s along with other strategies to help agriculture recover from the combined effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. It was in 1938 that the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) was created to carry out the program – a program that was started as an experiment covering only major crops in the main producing areas.

Management and employees at CEC Equipment Rentals take an “old-school” approach to the equipment rental business. CEC has three current locations covering the front-range of Colorado from Greeley to Denver.

Barbed wire is something I’ve been exposed to all my life. It is an integral part of the farm that conjures up memories of painful pokes and scratches as I tried to get in (or out) of a pasture or field. I never really considered it a part of anything but agriculture.

Stillwater Mine is the only known significant domestic source of platinum and palladium in the US. Located near Nye, Montana, the mine, along with its sister mine – East Boulder Mine, extract ore underground from a geological formation known as the J-M Reef. Millions of years ago molten rock filled up cracks and voids in existing rocks in an area that later became south-central Montana.

We’re all familiar with them…those pesky grasshoppers that never seem to know which direction they’re going to jump. Ugh! Definitely not one of my favorite insects. I started musing about the differences between grasshoppers and locusts and found some interesting information that I wanted to share with you.

Depression among farmers is not as uncommon as one might think. Michael Rosmann (researcher, University of Iowa adjunct professor and licensed psychologist) has provided numerous points regarding contributing factors for this illness and actions that could be taken to prevent it.

In North America during the 70s and 80s, a series of ideas and instruction emerged that were intended to improve soil health, reduce soil erosion and compaction, and improve water penetration. But there has never been an established standard within the industry that defines this particular tillage practice.

Brian Weller, lead agronomist for Central Farm Service, knows that insects are the concern in a dry year and diseases are your worry in a wet year. Because this spring has been cool and wet, here are some of the diseases that you should be aware of.

As you sit in your easy chair and watch your favorite sports team perform, do you ever dream about being one of those professional players who seem to have it all? Well the fame and fortune for some of them isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and you might be surprised to know that they are compelled to connect themselves to the rewards of farming.

The first firefighters were privately owned slaves that were organized into a group that fought common fire problems in Rome (4 AD). Their duties also included catching petty crime thieves, capturing runaway slaves and acting in supportive roles during riots and violent crimes. The first firefighters were privately owned slaves that were organized into a group that fought common fire problems in Rome (4 AD). Their duties also included catching petty crime thieves, capturing runaway slaves and acting in supportive roles during riots and violent crimes.

Twenty years ago Wes Dooley and his wife Lori started out their business from scratch going door-to-door doing lawn mowing, hedge trimming, and other yard maintenance services in the Bozeman/Belgrade area of Montana. Over time, the Dooley’s grew the operation into a full-scale landscaping business which required adding equipment and manpower.

There’s a piece of Americana that pulls at the fringes of my memory, and that’s the summertime activity of drive-in theaters. I was born just before this type of movie peaked at over 4,000 back in 1958, and my parents were up to their ears in toddler-raising responsibilities until the mid-1960s.

Robert Frost once said, don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up. These “walls” made of various materials over the years have served many purposes. In agriculture, fences primarily kept livestock on and predators (both animal and human) off of your property.

For nearly 150 years, the federal government has exercised its right to claim the land of private citizens, and traditionally eminent domain has been utilized to facilitate transportation, supply water, construct public buildings and aid in defense readiness – all for the good of our country.

The act of spraying in its most basic terms involves using chemicals to rid your fields of pests. But in this day and age when issues of cost control and potential damage from drift loom large, it’s important to make spraying a specialty.

When Chad Anderson was growing up as a kid on the family farm in rural southwestern MN, it was pretty obvious that the opportunity to stay on the farm for a living was not going to be an option. “There wasn’t going to be enough opportunity there for all the kids that were interested in farming,” he explained.