4 Drought-Intensified Crop Diseases To Look For During Harvest

Crisp air, falling leaves, and fun trips to pumpkin patches. Harvest season is upon us! Unfortunately, in many parts of the Midwest, we have seen very dry conditions as July moved to August and August turned to September. With that in mind, we want all farmers to be aware of crop diseases that can be intensified by drought-like conditions.

1. Aflatoxin

Aflatoxin is produced by the Aspergillus family of molds. Fungus growth can continue in storage under certain environmental conditions. (High moisture stored grain) Aflatoxin can be caused by several factors, but is most commonly related to drought-stressed corn followed by periods of high humidity. If you discover Aflatoxin in your field, contact your insurance agent to set up a claim as the samples must be taken by your crop adjuster from the field.

2. Fusarium

Symptoms of Fusarium ear rot are a white to pink- or salmon-colored mold, which occurs anywhere on the ear or on scattered kernels. The mold may be associated with hail or insect-damaged kernels. Infected kernels are often tan or brown, or have white streaks. 

3. Sudden Death Syndrome

Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) affects soybean plants by the development of root decay and leaf spots. It is often confused with Brown Stem Rot due to the similar discoloration of the leaf. SDS can make normal-looking fields turn yellow and die quickly. SDS can be combated by purchasing SDS resistant seed, planting date, tillage and crop rotation.

4. Brown Stem Rot

Brown Stem Rot is caused by a fungus and characterized by a marked yellowing followed by browning and withering of the leaves that is due to a brownish internal rot of the stem. Both SDS and Brown Stem Rot have similar characteristics. To better determine if SDS or Brown Stem Rot has infected your soybeans farmers must pull a plant and split the stem in order to view the rot which is not present in SDS. Brown Stem Rot can be combated by buying resistance seed, crop rotation, tillage and Soybean Cyst Nematode management.

For more, check out our free report on crop diseases right here: http://bit.ly/1aMtExt

And sign up for more fantastic farming resources for FREE right here: http://www.growers-edge.com

Good luck during this harvest season!

A Look Back At The 2013 Iowa State Fair

Boy, do we love state fair season: tractor pulls, livestock shows, great concerts, and the best comfort food you can find. We love the checking out the agricultural equipment (both old and new) and talking with farmers and their families about trends in markets and weather.

The Midwest throws some of the best state fairs around, and we were happy to attend the 2013 Iowa State Fair from August 8-18th. For those of you who don't live nearby or didn't make it out this year, we are here to give you a visual recap and tour!

It was a beautiful day on the Grand Concourse.

What's a trip to the State Fair without a root beer float?!

Some old Farmall tractors on display.

An old Oliver Tractor on display.

Some old seed corn bags. Anyone remember these?

The SUPER BULL, weighing in at over 3,000 labs!

A gorgeous night with perfect weather for all attendees.

Did you attend the Iowa State Fair? Or maybe a different state fair? We'd love to hear about it! Leave your comments below, and send any fun pictures to our Facebook Page!

Win 2 Tickets to See Alan Jackson & Gary Allan @ the Iowa State Fair!

The Iowa State Fair is one of the largest and oldest agriculture expositions in the United States, and the team here at Growers Edge loves it!  Since its first year in 1854, the Iowa State Fair has been a tradition unlike any other.  It is the single largest event held in the state of Iowa and lately the annual attendance has reached more than one million people from all over the world.   The Iowa State Fair was named one of the “top 30 things that a Midwesterner should experience,” by Midwest Living magazine.

Along with several showcases displaying the nation’s best in agriculture and food, the Iowa State Fair has grown into a popular venue for some of the biggest stars in music today.  This year’s lineup is no different, featuring several country stars as well as rock groups.  Two of the biggest names in country music will be performing Sunday, August 18th at the Fair: Alan Jackson and Gary Allan…

 And we have 2 pairs of tickets that could be yours!

That’s why we are so excited to announce our next contest exclusively to YOU, our followers:

The contest is simple: if you sign up to be a Growers Edge member (it’s 100% free and always will be) between August 2nd and August 15th and select social media as your referral source, you are automatically entered into a random draw to win one of the two pairs of tickets! Sign up takes less than 2 minutes and gives you free access to all of the valuable resources that Growers Edge offers to farmers, including weather updates, best cash bid prices, text message alerts, daily market commentary, and more.  You just have to make sure that you mention you heard about Growers Edge on social media to qualify.  When asked how you found out about Growers Edge, simply click the social media option.  That's it!

We have always been and always will be a FREE one-stop resource for farmers across the country.  Now, we want to give away some FREE tickets so you can take a break from your fields for a night of fun and music at the State Fair!

Click here to sign up:  http://growers-edge.com/

We also invite you to follow us on Facebook for a tour of the Iowa State Fair! Throughout the week we will be featuring photos from the Fair on Facebook for those of you who can't join us. If you have not yet liked our Facebook page, just click below for instant access to our Facebook page, then click “like” to become a friend of Growers Edge and get all of the latest updates and contests (like this one!).

Click here to LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyGrowersEdge

We want to thank everyone who is already a Growers Edge member and we encourage you to tell your BEST friends to sign up (a friend that would take you to the concert with them if they win)!  

Growers Edge 4th of July Photo Contest

The team here at Growers Edge really enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July, and we hope that everyone had a great 4^th of July weekend as well!  We also want to thank everyone who participated in the first annual Growers Edge 4^th of July photo contest.   The whole idea behind the photo contest was to see the patriotic spirit of American farmers.  Everyone was encouraged to submit photos showing how they celebrated the 4^th of July.  To help spice things up, the best photo won the grand prize: a box of steaks from Omaha Steaks. 

It was very tough to choose the winner of the contest!  We had several photos of food being grilled (which all looked amazing) and several others of families sitting around watching the fireworks.  We even had a photo sent to us all the way from Afghanistan!  All of these photos are displayed in the 4^th of July photo album on the Growers Edge Facebook page.  They are all unique and very well done so we encourage everybody to go look through them!  Below were our top 5 photo submissions and the person responsible for submitting each photo!  Thanks again everyone!

 

Winning photo submitted by: Kim Nichols Nielsen

 Photo submitted by: Shayne Hays          

Photo submitted by: Cameron Anderson

 

Photo submitted by: Sarah Pugh

Photo submitted by: Lincoln T.  Brock

Growers Edge: The One-Stop Free Resource For Farmers. But How?

You heard from a friend about this great resource for farmers called Growers Edge, so you go home to check it out on your computer.   You click on the “How it Works” tab and notice that Growers Edge offers a wide array of services including localized weather, daily market commentary, best price cash bid tools, and even text message alerts (just to name a few).  Then, you notice something strange: Growers Edge offers all of their services for free.

Some popular questions might pop into your mind: “How can Growers Edge possibly be free?”, or “How does Growers Edge make money?”, or my favorite, “What’s the catch?”

These are all valid questions.  Luckily, we have some valid answers.  How many of you have heard of Google?  Google is the most popular search engine in the world and it is completely free.  It is funded through advertising located throughout the Google search results pages.  Growers Edge runs off of the exact same concept. (Sign up in less than 2 minutes by clicking here.)

Growers Edge is able to bring you a one-stop resource to all things agriculture for free because we sell advertising space on our website.  We make sure that the advertisements are displayed in a non-intrusive way.  This means that there are not a bunch of pop-up advertisements.  We are also very picky in choosing which advertisements we display on our site.   The advertisers that we work with must share our passion and mission in helping farmers every day.  

Growers Edge is committed to always offering services without costs or subscription fees.  It is Growers Edge’s mission to make sure that every farmer, regardless of size, has access to the best information and research in the agriculture industry.   Growers Edge truly is the one-stop resource for all things agriculture, and we want you to be part of our growing community of farmers.

Sign up free today and get access to the best tools for your farming operation. It takes less than 2 minutes...

Click here now!

Check out our newest white paper, an article talking about the highlights of the June 16th Crop Progress Report by Gail Martel. See how this year compares to years past with charts, graphs, and extensive data. Also, take a peek at the forecasts predicted through the end of June!

CLICK HERE for your free report!

Pictures: Walking Through Our Farming Heritage in Iowa

Being from the Midwest, farming is in our blood, isn't it? We are surrounded by some of the most fertile soil in the world, growing a range of crops that feed people around the globe. While the focus of our national economy has shifted away from agriculture over the years, there was a time when farming was the way of life for over 70% of the U.S. population. Yesterday, we took a walk back to (and through) those times.

If you live in or around Iowa, a trip to Living History Farms near Des Moines is worth a trip. The interactive museum showcases Midwest farms from the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s, complete with the 1850 town of Walnut Hill. Visitors can interact with museum staff actually working on the farms and in the shops in town. Taking a stroll by the local blacksmith's shop on your way to the 1850 prairie farm is like taking a step back in time, when a vast majority of families made their livelihood on the farm. Take a look at some of our pictures below. Have you visited Living History Farms? Do any of your farms resemble these pictures?

Reading up on the history of Ioway Indian farming on our way to the 1700 farm

A crop garden the Ioway Indians would have used in the 1700s

A rack used to dry vegetables in the 1700s

Entering the 1850 farm

An 1850 prairie garden

A small smoking hut where pioneers would dry meat 

Oxen on the farm! 

 And some muddy pigs looking to cool off...

We've made it to 1900! 

Beautiful view from outside the 1900 farmhouse

Windmill and barn under a blue sky 

Some of the equipment you might have used on your 1900 farm 

A 1900 farmer and his horse 

 More pigs!

Back in 1875 in the town of Walnut Hill, this would be your local pharmacy. Not exactly Walgreens... 

 Crossing a bubbling stream on our way to town

Overall, it was a great day full of farming, fun, and learning. It's good to appreciate the past every now and then... it makes you thankful for where you're at and where you come from. What do you miss about these times? What do you think is the biggest difference in farming today? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!