Recent content by FarmerDan

It’s baaaaaaad!

This weekend I am close to Columbus, OH. Normally, I am a plant-now guy. After talking to some people here and looking at data and The Drought Monitor history. I would stop planting. In the last 25 years it has never been this severely dry this time of year. The locals say it’s the worst in...

I am not a very popular guy. It's one of my character defects that I always want to be on the other side of a discussion. I have been on the seller side for seed and fertilizer. Pricing is a complicated process. Without addressing the "technology" seeds, sticking here to rye and wheat...

Yes

I'm going to pile up a lot of stuff. Let's see how it turns out. Bottom line for me is this - those two soil types make for severe limitations when it comes to growing stuff and I think you can work yourself to death and not give it much improvement. Oh! I'm assuming we are working somewhere...

I too wondered about a low sulfate problem. And I am left to wonder about the natural pH of your soil TD. If you are where I think you are liming will only do you harm. Aren't assumptions great? pH of soil parent rock/source oranges are acidic yellows and whites are near 7 Blues are alkaline...

At first glance 34 ppm P doesn't seem so excessive, Without more info it's hard to come up with a workable answer for your poor crop growth. Some soils just aren't very productive and there's little we can do to improve them. Lots of farmers think ground is ground but the money making guys...

Yes! Well no. I don't know. I guess my curiosity is bigger than my desire to shoot an "embarrassed" buck. I can kinda' relate to that. My rational (?) curious thought would be to let him ride into another year to see what he becomes. That's being hopeful, maybe a little too hopeful, that he...

Could be my brother-in-law. He's a horses ass!

If having browsable rye by October 12th is your goal I think I would wait another week or two. That's a week for germination and nearly two or three weeks to grow. The standing beans, I assume they will still be there leafless but with pods drying, might help keep deer off the rye...maybe...

This waiting for the possibility of rain to time planting is one of my peeves. Dry or not - plant on schedule. I do think it takes more attention to how you plant. Make good seed to soil contact and get the seed at the right depth. Maybe add a couple extra pounds. Moisture isn't the only...

I guess I don't have a solid opinion. My knee-jerk reaction is one is equivalent to the other when comparing apples-to-apples. But if you want to quibble details a reading of both labels would conclude one is apples and the other oranges. I appreciate the science that goes into creation and...

How much?

In small rescue amounts. There's no substitute for substantial soil reserves.

Or that would be the theory. Good management supersedes additional, costly "helpers."