Equipment & Supplies

Farmers across the Midwest are off to an early start this planting season. Spring is typically the busiest time of the year for farmers, and when rushing to take advantage of ideal planting conditions, it can be easy to neglect simple steps for staying safe and healthy while in the field. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics an average of 700 deaths can be attributed to farm work injuries each year and an additional 120,000 agricultural workers sustain disabling injuries from work-related accidents. Many of these accidents occur during the spring planting season....More

Spring is a good time for corn and soybean growers to calibrate sprayers to avoid wasting money and applying the wrong amount of pesticides, says Erdal Ozkan, an Ohio State University agricultural engineer. Approximately 66-77% of all growers who spray pesticides spray too much or too little, which not only can waste money, but also cause crop losses, says Ozkan....More

In the drive to manage nitrogen (N) more effectively, active crop-canopy sensors may become an option in your toolbox. But John Sawyer, Iowa State University agronomy professor, warns that they still have limitations, and more research is needed....More

Driving with a broken fuel gauge isn’t just inconvenient, it’s risky. So most logical drivers would keep the tank full for fear of running out of fuel at the most inopportune times – or better yet, fix the fuel gauge. The blind hope required to drive with a malfunctioning gauge is exactly how Nick Lammers describes most folks’ approach to moisture management....More