The roller coaster ride that was 2020 is over. A bit dazed (but undefeated), forage exporters can reflect upon a difficult year full of challenges that nonetheless yielded a new record for international sales.

Have you ever stopped and considered which you prefer, a salad bowl or a salad bar? If you get salad from a salad bowl, you reach in with the tongs and pull out whatever vegetables the chef decided to put in the salad.

Now that the calendar has flipped to 2021, it’s important to evaluate how your weed management program performed in 2020 so you can make informed choices about this year’s inputs.

Chemicals used in forage production – namely pesticides and herbicides – represent a significant investment. Despite the impressive price tag, they are far from indestructible.

Plants need nitrogen to grow and produce high-quality crops. How much will be required is difficult to predict with absolute certainty. What we do know is that the soil in crop fields can be a very important source of nitrogen for crop growth.

There are numerous approaches to manage nitrogen to fertilize crops. Many of the pros and cons were described and summarized in the 2018 Agronomy Journal publication “Strengths and Limitations of Nitrogen Rate Recommendations for Corn and Opportunities for Improvement.”

In 2021, the level of corn rootworm (CRW) resistance to the current Bt-RW corn varieties will increase another significant level with associated yield losses.