Cateogries
Microbial Dormancy and Overwintering: What Happens to Soil Biology When the Ground Freezes?
As the growing season winds down and winter sets in, the activity in our fields doesn’t just stop above ground. Beneath the frozen soil surface, billions of microbes are still there—but their world has shifted dramatically. Understanding how soil biology responds to cold and freezing conditions is key for managing long-term soil health and planning for the season ahead.
How We Farm Now: Redefining Fertility With Biology and Baseline RX
For generations, farming has been rooted in a simple equation: apply fertilizer, hope for yield, repeat. Many of us were taught to think of soil like a bank account, deposit nutrients now and withdraw them later in the form of grain. But that model no longer serves today’s farmers.
End-of-Season Soil Scouting: Diagnosing Compaction, Residue Breakdown, and Root Health
The end of the growing season is one of the best times to assess your fields. While crop scouting in-season focuses on plant health and nutrient response, soil scouting after harvest helps you understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and sets the stage for better yields next year. By evaluating compaction, residue breakdown, and root health now, you gain a clear picture of how this year’s management strategies impacted your soil’s performance and where adjustments may be needed.
Foliar Residue Nutrient Analysis: What Leaf Tissue Can Still Reveal After Maturity
By the time crops hit physiological maturity, most growers have already made the key nutrient decisions that shaped the season’s yield. But just because the crop is “finished” doesn’t mean the learning is over. In fact, one of the most overlooked diagnostic tools in agronomy comes after maturity: foliar residue nutrient analysis.
How to Predict and React to Premature Senescence in Soybeans
Soybean production demands careful attention to crop health from planting through harvest. One often-overlooked threat to yield potential is premature senescence. This early and sometimes sudden aging process shortens the growing season, resulting in incomplete seed fill and reduced yields. Identifying, predicting, and managing this issue can help protect your soybean investment.
Chlorophyll Content and NDVI: What Plant Greenness Tells You in August
By August, your crop is deep into the reproductive phase, where yield potential is determined by how efficiently plants can convert sunlight, water, and nutrients into grain or pods. One of the most powerful tools for assessing this efficiency is something you can see with the naked eye and measure with precision: plant greenness.
Rethinking Nitrogen: What the Soil Really Tells Us - Lessons from Dr. Richard Mulvaney | Crop Cast Episode 42
In a deep-dive episode of Crop Cast, host Sean Nettleton sat down with Dr. Richard Mulvaney of the University of Illinois to challenge long-held assumptions about nitrogen (N) management. If you're still basing fertilizer decisions on yield goals alone, it's time to rethink how you're managing one of the most critical and expensive crop inputs.
Why Tissue Testing Is the Game-Changer Your Crop Program Needs
As growers and agronomists, we’re always watching our crops... scouting fields, checking leaf color, and monitoring growth. These visual cues are important, but they often tell us what is happening, not why. By the time we spot nutrient-related symptoms, it may already be too late to make a difference.
Beyond Knee-High: What Corn Height Really Tells You … and What It Doesn’t
In today’s high-performance cropping systems, timing, nutrient availability, and invisible stressors all play major roles in yield potential. The real question isn’t how tall is the corn, but why is it growing the way it is, and what could be holding it back?
From V4 to V6: Why Nodal Root Development Matters - Crop Cast Episode 38
Another agronomy deep-dive brought to you by Crop Cast. In Episode 38, host Sean Nettleton along with Jason Schley and Jaren Schley takes us beyond the basics and into the underground world of roots—specifically, the nodal roots that form during the V4 to V6 stages of corn development. This period marks a major physiological transition in the plant’s life, and the insights shared in this episode are essential listening for anyone who’s serious about maximizing yield potential.
Let’s unpack the episode—and dig deeper (pun intended) into why nodal root development during this stage is such a game-changer.
Streamline Nitrogen Conversion in Crops
Plants need nitrogen — that’s no secret. But what many growers may not realize is that nitrogen doesn’t directly fuel growth. Instead, crops must first convert nitrogen into amino acids and then into proteins — a process that takes time, energy, and the right enzymatic conditions. This conversion is often a hidden yield drag, especially under stress or in late-season windows when energy reserves are stretched thin.
The Hidden Cost of Herbicide Stress
When it comes to maximizing yield potential in your crop, herbicide programs are a crucial piece of the puzzle. But like any crop input, herbicides can introduce unintended stress.
Stress from herbicide applications can reduce yield potential by up to 50%. That’s why recognizing the signs and knowing how to help crops recover quickly is essential for protecting plant health and preserving yield.