Farmer-Led Research

Richard and Sharon Thompson, Boone, repeated a trial they have done before, seeding twin rows of rye cover crop on the ridge before corn. Dick has demonstrated in the past that this rye can be conveniently removed by …

In 2003, the Dordt College Ag Stewardship Center completed a trial begun the year before, when oats was seeded with and without red clover. In 2003, corn was planted on these plots, either with additional nitrogen fertilizer or …

Jeff Klinge and Deb Tidwell farm about 300 hilly acres near Farmersburg, in northeast Iowa. They have been PFI members since 1995 and research cooperators since 1996. For several years, Jeff has generated production budgets for his organic …

Richard and Sharon Thompson, near Boone, also use a five-year rotation, but unlike Jeff Klinge and Deb Tidwell, they do not sell organic crops. They rely on above-average yields and the integration of the cropping and livestock enterprises …

This cross between Durum wheat and rye has slowly been improving in yield and quality since it was first grown in the 1960s. Test weight is now typically 56 pounds per bushel, the same as corn, and there …

For vegetable producers, there are few insects more frustrating than the cucumber beetle. Not only do the striped and the spotted the cucumber beetles gnaw on tender squash and cucumber plants, the spotted cucumber beetle transmits the disease …

PFI producers have been researching alternative methods of parasite management for at least five years, much of that time with the aid of a grant from the Organic Farming Research Foundation. The interest in alternative parasite management has …

Oats has long been an important ration ingredient for small pigs, where the fiber helps prevent diarrhea. However, the high fiber in oats reduces the energy density to about 80 percent that of corn. But oat prices are …

PFI cooperators are evaluating open-pollinated corn varieties and varietal hybrids in cooperation with Walter Goldstein of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and with USDA and ISU corn breeders. Why go to all this trouble when hybrid corn is …

What is field history worth for fertility? Field history was important to several trials in 2002. The Dordt College Agricultural Stewardship Center raised corn on ground that in 2001 had grown either oats alone or oats with a …

Field crops aren’t the only things we grow in Iowa. More and more field crop producers are edging into the local farmers’ market with vegetables and fruits, and new farmers are entering agriculture through veggies as well. Many …

In 2002 cooperators evaluated naturally-derived treatments for parasites in sheep and in pigs. Frances ZacharakisJutz carried out sheep trials on the Solon farm where she lives with her parents Jeff and Susan. Frances also worked with Walt Ebert, …