Breaking News

Ag and Extension

Extension Briefs

Outlook 2019 with weather and price variables By Dave Bau Extension Educator The spring of 2019 will go down as one for the memory books. Wet, cool and late spring left many farmers cramming to get their crops planted. Many were unable to get all the crop planted on time and continued planting even after final planting dates lowering their level of insurance coverage. Many fields were not planted at all and many acres applied to prevented planting acres. Last winter I prepared crop budgets for corn and soybeans to total $722 per acre for corn and $469 for soybeans with cash rents ...

Alternative ways to raise vegetables

This summer is a trial of sorts for our family when it comes to finding alternative ways to raise vegetables. We are trying the vegetable bags that have been available for a couple of years in area stores. These bags are made up of a heavy Tyvek material and have a small Velcro door toward the bottom of the bag. This is so you can harvest potatoes (sweet or regular) from the bottom while keeping the plant alive and growing well. This year we decided to try one tomato plant and one potato plant to see how it works. The tomato plant is a celebrity, which was chosen because they only get ...

Selecting forage cover crops for prevent plant acres

A large quantity of forage will likely be harvested from prevented plant acres in Minnesota this year given the 2019 changes to USDA RMA’s prevented planting rules. Changing the date for when cover crops may be hayed or grazed from Nov. 1 to Sept. 1 has opened up a window for livestock producers to produce high quality forage. There are numerous factors to consider, but before making any decisions it is paramount to check with your crop insurance agent to ensure prevented planting payments are not forfeited by utilizing unapproved species or practices. Although seed availability may ...

U of M provides mental health and stress support for Minnesota farmers

Note: This is the first in a series of articles detailing the University of Minnesota’s outreach to farmers in Greater Minnesota and around the country. Low farm income, a lingering trade war and other issues affecting agriculture are increasingly causing stress and mental health issues for farmers in Minnesota and around the country. The University of Minnesota has stepped up to fill the gap for farmers looking for mental health resources. More than 90 percent of American farmers and farm workers say financial issues impact their mental health and cause stress, according to a ...

Ag Briefs

Economic policy’s impact on the farm economy to be featured at SW MN Ag Lenders Conference The 36th annual Southwest Minnesota Ag Lenders Conference will be on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center near Lamberton. Agricultural lenders and farm management and agribusiness professionals throughout southwest Minnesota are encouraged to attend. Joe Santos, professor of Economics and Dykhouse Scholar of Money, Banking, and Financial Regulation at South Dakota State University, will deliver a keynote address titled Macroeconomic Policy ...

Weather woes

The weather woes of farmers and gardeners alike seem to be persisting throughout our growing season. If you have been trying to raise anything from seed whether it is field corn or sweet corn, soybeans or green beans, you may be like many others, frustrated with the weather. While the last hope of being able to raise any field crops has passed us by, we are still able to replant some of our seeds. Although, I am going to say that you may still have some problems in getting the seeds not only to come up but to thrive. The warmer weather we now have will help to promote the growth of ...