Agricultural Articles

Are Cover Crops Right for Your Operation?

Here are 3 questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge

Are cover crops all peaches and cream? Not exactly, say the experts. Cover crops can improve soil health, including increased infiltration, organic matter and biological activity, as well as reduce soil erosion and compaction. Add in a greater ability to reduce nutrient loss, and it is easy to see why cover crops are popular. Read more

#1 Thing Farmers Want Consumers to Know

By Rebekah Gustafson @coopedupcreativ

Earlier this month I attended a #FieldtoFork event with CommonGround Minnesota. We invited influencers from various groups to a farm to share what life is like for farmers. We ate food provided by Minnesota farmers and enjoyed conversation with some of the most curious and open-minded folks who wanted to understand farming and how their food gets from the field to their dinner tables.

After a delicious dinner, we held a Q &A to answer any questions that the attendees had about food and farming. One attendee asked a great question that I thought many would love to hear the answer to: “What is one thing that farmers want every consumer to know?”

Against the Grain: Tech Startup Agrimatics Aims to Shake Up Ag Industry with Mobile Harvest Data-Management Tools

By Jason Young

Like all business sectors, agriculture is being disrupted and improved with new technologies. In this era of GPS, Internet of Things, big data and precision farming—where everything gets measured, recorded, reported and tracked—farmers are becoming more efficient, doing more with fewer inputs in less time than ever before.

One Canadian tech company, located within the country’s Grain Belt, has set its sights on disrupting agriculture, starting with grain cart weighing and data management. But that’s just the beginning for Agrimatics and parent company Bitstrata Solutions, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Read more

6 Reasons to Consider a Grain Moisture Meter

By Manoella Rodrigues da Silva

Before the invention of the moisture meter, farmers would have to “eyeball” their products to determine if they were sufficiently dry for use, or use an oven dry test, which is time-consuming and inconvenient. Both processes took time and there was a large margin of error with purely visual inspections. If the farmer were ever in doubt as to whether the wood was ready for use, they’d have to wait for a few more days to make sure it was acclimated.

#1: To Improve Efficiency Read more

One-in-a-Million: Lamb Quintuplets Beat the Odds

One of the ewes of Kathy Chinderle of Ash Grove, Missouri, had quintuplets that all survived, which is extremely rare.

Farm Life:Pulling Back the Curtain on the Intangibles of Farm Life

There is more to farming than what meets the consumer’s eye. Anyone can see the visible actions of farmers: tractors in the fields, combines harvesting crops and cows being milked, but there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes on a farm to make those things happen.

Most farmers that I know find those visible actions to be the fun and most enjoyable parts of farming. It is the details and decisions that happened behind the scenes that aren’t always so fun but make the whole operation work. Read more

Back When: Delmer Meyer’s 1949 Oliver 99

“Just fixing old equipment and making them run again,” is the answer you get when you ask Delmer Meyer of Concordia, Kansas what he likes most about antique tractors. This man that calls Rust Road home is the owner of 12 antique tractors in addition to this 1949 Oliver 99.

In November of 2009, Delmer saw the 99 in an Internet ad. The tractor was located in Jenks, Oklahoma, over 370 miles away from Delmer's home in Concordia. He contacted the owner, Geneva Lewis, who filled him in on what she knew about the 99. It seemed to be a sound investment–the tractor was complete, the engine was locked up, and the tin needed little more than paint. Read more

Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Farmer (#1)

If you need gift ideas for the farmer, rancher or rural person in your life, we can help. From time to time, we’ll recommend useful, interesting items that we’ve stumbled across. These items might be worth a look for your favorite hard-to-buy-for, hard-working country cultivator.

American Farmer: The Heart of Our Country hardcover book ($35)

Farm Life: Balancing Farm Work and Family Life

By Rebekah Gustafson

Balancing home life and work life is a challenge for every family, but it can be especially hard for farm families. Farming is a 24/7 job. We don’t punch a clock at 5 and head to the golf course. When a cow is calving at 3 a.m., we have to be there.

As all farmers know, there’s seldom down time on the farm. Often, things need to be done at a moment’s notice and now rather than later. This makes planning difficult. Like ours, many farm families have day jobs and spend their nights and weekends doing farm work. With constant farm chores, it can be a struggle to carve out family time. Read more

Farm Life: Every Farmer Has a Voice for Advocacy

By Rebekah Gustafson

Advocacy is a big part of modern farming and a huge part of my life as I share my farm story with the world as a writer, blogger and speaker. In fact, it was through my advocacy efforts that I received this opportunity to write for Farmers Hot Line.

A farmer doesn’t have to travel far to see consumers’ concerns about their food. They’re plastered on posters, labels, TV, social media and in our schools. Consumers are voting with their dollars, expressing their food preferences through what they buy at the grocery store. Read more