Early Planted Soybean Does Benefit from Good Soil Fertility

By John Grove
Published on Mar. 30, 2025

I’ve been reading in both popular and scientific press that for soybean fields with low fertility, early planting substitutes for addition of needed soil-based nutrition (Allen, 2025, Loman et al., 2024).

Historical Corn and Soybean Yield Improvement in Kentucky

By Dennis Egli
Published on Mar. 24, 2025

It won’t be long before Kentucky farmers start planting the 2025 corn and soybean crops. At this time of the year, farmers are always optimistic, expecting record yields if the weather cooperates. This expectation is a result of the yield trends over the last nearly 100 years.

Tariffs and Trade: The Cost of U.S. Agriculture

By Grant Gardner
Published on Mar. 24, 2025

Tariffs are a government tool used to raise the price of forei

Set the Stage for a Successful Growing Season with a Strong Burndown

By Travis Legleiter
Published on Mar. 24, 2025

After a miserably wet February with several spells of unusually cold temps, March is finally bringing spring weather. Along with spring weather comes winter annual weed growth and burndown applications will begin in earnest in the very near future.

Biological N Fixation Products for Corn: An Update

By John Grove and Chad Lee
Published on Mar. 24, 2025

Replacing, economically, some or all of corn’s fertilizer nitrogen (N) need with biological N fixation (BNF) is becoming a major goal in commercial corn production. With BNF, microbes fix atmospheric N as ammoniacal N and provide additional N nutrition to the crop.

Endangered Species Act – How Will it Affect You in the Near Future?

By Travis Legleiter
Published on Mar. 14, 2025

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has existed since 1973 and was implemented to ensure that any actions taken by a government agency did not jeopardize any species that are federally listed as threatened or endangered. So, why are we now talking about this law in 2025, nearly fifty years after its original passing?

Follow the Basics to Maintain Yields and Manage Costs

By Edwin Ritchey and John Grove
Published on Feb. 24, 2025

An economist was overheard saying that there were 5 ways to increase profits in any production system: cut costs, cut costs, cut costs, cut costs, and increase yields. This was somewhat a joke but has a solid underlying basis. Let’s delve a little deeper into this strategy with some specific examples and practices to follow. 

Nitrogen Management Strategies in Winter Canola

By Mohammad Shamim and Chad Lee
Published on Feb. 24, 2025

Canola is a nitrogen-intensive crop and nitrogen (N) management is a key factor to consider for successful production. Researchers at K-State University and Canola Council of Canada stated that canola requires 2.5–3.5 lb/ac available nitrogen (N) per bushel of seed produced.

What Limits Yield – The Source or the Sink? Does it Matter?

By Dennis Egli
Published on Feb. 21, 2025

Crop Physiologists often analyze the yield production process in grain crops by dividing the process into two components – the source and the sink. The source is the photosynthetic machinery that supplies the raw materials and energy for plant growth. The sink is the seed that utilizes simple sugars from the source to grow.

Winter Wheat in February

By Chad Lee
Published on Feb. 21, 2025

Most winter wheat survived well during the previous cold weather. While the air temperatures dropped near zero most soil temperatures at 2 inches below the surface remained above freezing (Kentucky Mesonet).