Articles

Bugs, weeds pose special threat

Area farmers welcomed the mild winter and early spring that allowed them to make rapid planting progress. But the favorable weather carries a downside: weed and insect problems not encountered in a typical growing season are popping up, and the arrival of normal weed and insect issues is accelerated.

Great spring for canola

Bob Schrock was a pioneer when he began growing winter canola eight years ago. The crop was new and unusual, almost a novelty, in his area. But the Kiowa, Kan., farmer, who planned to begin swathing this year’s canola in mid-May, has seen acreage of the crop expand steadily on the southern Great Plains.

• Great spring for canola
• Canola

Trading hours compromise

A lot of people who buy and sell grain worried that this would be a long, complicated summer. Some, though not all, of their concerns were eased today.

Collin Peterson wants farm bill input

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Congress may be reaching the final stage of work on the 2012 farm bill, and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., wants input from his constituents.

• Collin Peterson

Of early springs and scientists

If you’re bored by data and scientists, you might as well stop reading right now. But if you enjoy early springs and wonder how they affect plants on the Northern Plains, keep going.

• Steven Travers

CBOT expands hours

Area grain elevator officials are evaluating the effect expanded hours at the Chicago Board of Trade will have on their operations.

Insect poses unusual threat

Aster leafhoppers are uncommon in North Dakota — so uncommon that Janet Knodel, North Dakota State University Extension Service entomologist, is drawing on a 1932 paper for information on how to fight them.

In his genes

Randy Spronk likes to say that “hog production is in my genes.” Spronk, whose ancestors raised hogs in the Netherlands and who today is a pork producer in Edgerton, Minn., has been elected president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council. He becomes the organization’s president next spring.

• Randy Spronk

Corn is king this spring

Robert Stover has been raising corn all his life in eastern North Dakota. His grandfather, Frank Stover, brought ears of corn with him from Indiana when he moved to the Larimore, N.D., area in 1901, and subsequent generations of the Stover family have kept raising it.

• Planting more corn
• Planting corn

Another 'screwy' year

For the second straight spring, farmers in much of northwestern North Dakota are experiencing what Ross, N.D.-based grain elevator manager John Woodbury calls “a screwy year.”

Columns

We're right, you're crazy

This past winter, I attended an area farm conference at which one of the speakers blasted the intelligence and common sense of environmentalists.

• Jonathan Knutson

How do you view agriculture?

OK, Agweek readers, I have a question for you. Which of the following best describes your view of agriculture? A) It’s a business that should be treated like any other business. B) It’s a way of life that should be protected at any cost. C) It’s both a business and a way of life.

• Jonathan Knutson

If you were an urban congressman ...

Planting, harvesting and marketing a crop isn’t easy. But it’s child’s play compared with writing a new farm bill.

• Jonathan Knutson

Thinking internationally

Through the years, I’ve dealt with a lot of successful agriculturalists — and a few who weren’t so successful.

Harvest changes with the times

Agriculture has changed in so many ways through the years, and harvest is no exception.

‘Wet cycle’ brings new challenges for area agriculture

Moisture is both the great friend and great enemy of agriculture. And because agriculture is so important in this part of the world, the amount of moisture we receive has a huge impact on our fields, towns and economy.

Two things we all agree on

Despite what urban folks might think, farmers often disagree among themselves. Everything from proper economic policy to the best brand of tractor is debated, sometimes with logic and sometimes with passion.

Frequently asked questions come with the job

Agricultural journalists often are asked about their job and the subject they cover. Here are some of the questions and my responses.

Enjoy the good times, but don’t get carried away

I don’t know if the past few years have been the best stretch ever for farmers on the Northern Plains.

Ag needs young blood in rural areas

Sure, wheat, corn and cattle are common on the Northern Plains, but the prairie’s leading staple may be gray hair.