At the time of this writing, the confirmation hearing for Secretary Tom Vilsack’s nomination for Secretary of Agriculture under President Biden is currently underway. One of the key cornerstones of Secretary Vilsack’s agenda is to help farmers capture, store, and get paid for the new cash crop in agriculture –...
Making Old Technology New Again
With the increase in focus globally on how humans impact the environment, no group is being challenged more than the people who are responsible for feeding us all. Global populations are projected to increase to almost 10 billion people in the next thirty years, and farmers are faced with the...
World Agriculture GAP report 2019
Ag productivity growth is too slow, report says Agricultural productivity growth, a measure of the increased output of crops and livestock with existing or fewer inputs, is not keeping pace with global demands, according to the newly released 2019 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report. Agricultural productivity growth is growing globally...
Yellowing of crop leaves? It could be iron chlorosis.
Gypsum can help remediate iron chlorosis. Iron chlorosis is a yellowing of plant leaves caused by iron deficiency. However it is not always a true iron deficiency but rather an iron tie-up in plants and soil. Yellow leaves indicate a lack of chlorophyll, the green pigment responsible for photosynthesis (sugar...
Phosphorus retention in crops and how calcium can play a role
It’s a dichotomy – the impact of calcium on phosphorus retention and availability. Fields that receive large amounts of manure or litter contain large amounts of phosphorus. Phosphorus that isn't taken up by plants remains in the subsoil and is displaced by runoff. If it isn’t tied up by soil...