Many land owners have written contracts that expire in December and are working on new contracts. There are several types of rental agreements including cropland cash rent, flexible cash lease, share crop lease and pasture leases.
Nearly every South Dakota farmer who applies pesticide must be certified as a private applicator. Certification for private applications must be renewed every 5 years, with expiration dates at the end of the calendar year. So, if you haven’t checked your applicator certification, now is the time to check and see if you need to be recertified this spring. Based on the database provided by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, all individuals needing recertification for 2012 should also receive a postcard from SDSU Extension stating that it is time to renew.
A flexible-cash lease agreement is a rental arrangement in which the landowner receives additional cash payments from the tenant or operator in addition to the base rate often adjusted for changes in crop prices and yields.
Computers are commonly used on the farm and are often used as tools for farm business records and for tax preparation. There are many software packages on the market with a wide range of complexity and capabilities. Which business software is right for you?
Producers who are working in and around grain bins, grain hauling vehicles and equipment need to be vigilant when they are around flowing grain and high speed power sources. Flowing grain is like a fluid; objects on the grain surface sink with the grain flow and heavier objects sink faster than light ones. A small opening at the unloading gate gives the entire surface the quality of quick sand.
Not all weather data sources are the same, but many of them look similar when you’re checking the latest weather online or watching the evening news. Depending on what type of equipment is at your favorite weather station, you could be getting data from 5 minutes ago, or only what happened yesterday.
Part II of this series briefly discusses developing a question and selecting a site for an on-farm study. Prior management and field properties are key to site selection. Keeping the study simple is equally important for collecting meaningful data.
Production costs for 2012 spring crops will be higher and margins are estimated to be smaller than this year. Input costs for the major spring crops are running 10 to 15 percent higher than 2011. The volatile crop and input price requires attention to detail to reach profit goals.
Since its first detection in the U.S. over a decade ago, soybean aphid continues to be a yield limiting threat to soybean production in South Dakota. Aphids can be managed effectively with insecticides through field-scouting and the use of economic thresholds. An exciting new option for the management of soybean aphids is soybean varieties with bred-in resistance. These resistant varieties provide new ammunition against this yield-robbing pest.
In annual surveys of scientists working with soybean throughout the country, soybean cyst nematode was ranked as the top yield-limiting disease in the US. The latest estimate indicated that soybean cyst nematode robbed over 134,000 ton of soybean yield per year in South Dakota.
Soybean cyst nematode or SCN is the most damaging pest of soybean in North America. While it has not yet been found in all soybean-producing areas, soybean cyst nematodes are hardy and will survive anywhere soybeans are produced in South Dakota. In fact they survive in North Dakota and northern Minnesota. SCN often reduces average yields by as much as fifty percent for some South Dakota situations.
The open winter has some producers thinking of getting a head start on spring fertilization. There are some advantages in that fields are dry, solid and easily accessible - few problems with getting stuck. In addition, many fertilizer dealers probably have equipment and time available to do the spreading now.
We have all been programmed to think of soybean as fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere and adding nitrogen to the soil. The SDSU lab and most other labs give nitrogen “credit” when another crop follows soybeans. This makes sense and should be a good thing, right? Well now for the rest of the story.
Harvest is over and many producers were not satisfied with soybean yields. As we begin planning what we might do for next year, some producers are thinking the answer may be in adding a biological inoculant. Before committing to a product, producers should consider the following studies.
Herbicide tolerance traits remain a hot topic of discussion when discussing weed control. LibertyLink® soybeans, dicamba resistant, GAT (glyphosate and ALS tolerant) and other herbicide tolerant soybeans are in the process of being released and marketed. Information is needed to determine whether these new technologies are economical, and if so, how they may best benefit the soybean grower. This article, and others in a series entitled South Dakota Soybean Checkoff Research, will identify and briefly describe some of the research projects funded by checkoff dollars that are conducted by South Dakota State University.
The goal of this project involves identifying and isolating genes, or germplasm, from cultivated and wild soybean that can be used to improve yield, seed quality, pest resistance and energy, nutrient and water use efficiency in soybean plants. This article, and others in a series entitled South Dakota Soybean Checkoff Research, will identify and briefly describe some of the research projects funded by checkoff dollars that are conducted by South Dakota State University.
Soybean growers are investing in a wide array of research projects that focus on soybean production and developing new soybean uses. Dollars are obtained at the first point of sale for state boards, regional organizations, such as the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, and the United Soybean Board to invest in research and promotion programs. The United Soybean Board (USB) is a volunteer group of producers who administer checkoff dollars invested in soybean research and market development at the national level. The checkoff dollars used for the research are obtained from soybean producers. This article, and others in a series entitled South Dakota Soybean Checkoff Research, will identify and briefly describe some of the research projects funded by checkoff dollars that are conducted by South Dakota State University.