No-Till Farmer editors encounter a variety of articles, social media posts, podcasts and videos that offer a unique look at the grower's world from the lofty digital realm. Here is our favorite content from the past week from across the web:
- How No-Till Innovator Loran Steinlage Turns Cover Crops into Cash Crops
- No-Till Legend Gabe Brown: ‘Buckle Up for Straight Talk on the Real Cost of Subsidies’
- Is 30 Inches the Best Row Width for Corn?
- What Do Hurricanes and No-Till Have in Common?
- History Lesson: Ag Tires Celebrate 90th Birthday
Best of the Web This Week is brought to you by TOTAL ACRE.
For growers motivated to improvement through change and technology, TOTAL ACRE is a 3-year program where hundreds of growers nationally learn from two of the highest-yielding farmers in the world, Randy Dowdy and David Hula. Each Total Acre grower benefits from four 2-day farm camps every year, a dynamic customized software system and a community support that extends well beyond the program.
See David and Randy at the 2023 National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis!
How No-Till Innovator Loran Steinlage Turns Cover Crops into Cash Crops
No-Till Innovator Loran Steinlage of West Union, Iowa, found so much success with diversifying his rotation that he’s now taking corn out of the rotation for the most part. This article from Successful Farming outlines his cropping sequence, which begins with relay-cropping soybeans in cereal rye.
Photo from Agriculture.com, courtesy of the Steinlage family
No-Till Legend Gabe Brown: ‘Buckle Up for Straight Talk on the Real Cost of Subsidies’
In his latest post, Understanding Ag's Gabe Brown (a No-Till Legend) answers an email from a college student who asked why “going off the government subsidies was one of the best things that happened to you and your ranch." In typical Gabe form, his answer is direct and insightful. “Buckle up for some straight talk on the real cost of subsidies for farmers."
Is 30 Inches the Best Row Width for Corn?
Jason Webster and the crew at Precision Planting’s PTI Farm tackled the question of what’s the best row width for corn in this episode of InsidePTI. “We’ve been using 30s for a long time, and now the question is, is there going to be a point when we change?” Webster asks. Watch the video to find out what he thinks and see the differences between 30, 20 and 15-inch row corn on the PTI Farm.
Episode 32: Row Width: Harvest Edition ‣ Corn | InsidePTI • Season 3 | Precision Planting | Ag Tech & Agronomy Solutions
What Do Hurricanes and No-Till Have in Common?
The answer: Multi-model ensembles. Dave Gustafson, a researcher at Washington State University, says multi-model ensembles that forecast potential hurricane paths could better predict soil carbon response to practices like no-till and cover crops.
History Lesson: Ag Tires Celebrate 90th Birthday
By the early 1930s, the clanging of more than 1 million steel-wheeled tractors could be heard (and felt by operators) throughout the nation, reports Ohio State University. Early attempts to solve the problem by using airplane tires on truck rims failed. In the spring of 1932, Harvey Firestone and son Leonard combined the balloon tire principle of low pressure with wide surface area and added a chevron tread design to produce a successful rubber tractor tire. Within 5 years, rubber tires were sold on 42% of all new tractors sold in the U.S. and would grow to 85% by 1939.
Is there something you want to share in "This Week"? Send us an email.
Best of the Web This Week is brought to you by TOTAL ACRE.
For growers motivated to improvement through change and technology, TOTAL ACRE is a 3-year program where hundreds of growers nationally learn from two of the highest-yielding farmers in the world, Randy Dowdy and David Hula. Each Total Acre grower benefits from four 2-day farm camps every year, a dynamic customized software system and a community support that extends well beyond the program.
See David and Randy at the 2023 National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis!
