Farmer-Led Research

Weed management in 1993 was often a case of “damage control,” as the effectiveness of both chemical and mechanical controls was hurt by the continual rains. Despite the problems, a number of PFI cooperators conducted weed management trials. …

PFI cooperators are working with support from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to document the economics of management-intensive-grazing, using the Beef Cow Business Record. Those results will become available later in the project. The Leopold Center and …

Two PFI members have carried out trials of soil amendments in the general category of “biologicals” (Table 4.). They don’t happen to be research cooperators, but it hasn’t held them back. John and Rosie Wurpts, Ogden, submitted a …

Two cooperators gave serious examination to the use of cover crops to control weeds. Jeff and Gayle Olson, Mount Pleasant, compared mechanical and chemical means of removing a cover of springseeded rye from the ridge (Table 7). The …

One more tool is coming into use in PFI trials. It is a “rear view mirror” test to tell you how the crop fared for nitrogen. It is the late season stalk nitrate-N test. Eight-inch sections of stalks …

PFI farmers have always been interested in the most efficient and profitable ways to use resources like livestock manure. This year’s field trials with manure looked at economics placement, comparisons with other fertilizers, and manure’s effect on soybeans. …

Past experience has suggested that the biggest advantage of narrow strip intercropping is seen in years with good yield potential. In years of drought stress, yields of stripped crops are no better than yields of whole-field blocks, and …

In 1992 PFI cooperators received support from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to document crop growth and economics in narrow strip intercropping. In narrow strip intercropping, alternating strips of different crops run side by side across the …

The 1992 growing season was the fifth year PFI cooperators used the late spring soil nitrate test to set nitrogen rates for corn. The late spring, or “pre-sidedress,” test is taken when the crop is 6-12 inches tall …

Several additional fertility trials were carried out by cooperators. Paul and Karen Mugge, Sutherland, checked for residual differences due to deep banding in the ridge versus surface broadcast P and K fertilizer in December, 1990 (Table 5). There …

A good argument could be made that there will never be a definitive answer to the question: “Do starter fertilizers pay?” The difficulty is in the complexity of the situation – there are multiple nutrients, environmental variables, producer …

Tillage is one of the most fundamental building blocks of a cropping system. There the agreement ends. Some prefer primary tillage, some say ridge tillage is the best of both worlds, and others believe no-till is the way …