Mention hybridization, and growers often think of corn. That’s not surprising since the scientific foundation to develop hybrid corn varieties has been around since the 1940s.

It’s not exactly a crystal ball, but new technology allows farmers to determine the best planting depths, distance between crop rows and other data aimed at increasing crop output. Those who have tested the technology say they won’t plant without it, but it leaves others a little worried.

The non-profit Pollinator Partnership (PP) released the 2013 Preliminary Report and Provisional Recommendations of the Corn Dust Research Consortium (CDRC), a multi-stakeholder initiative formed to fund research with the goal of reducing honey bee exposure to fugitive dust emitted from planter fan exhaust during mechanical planting of treated corn seed. View the report with provisional recommendations starting on page 23.

The large, air-filled spaces or “macropores,” in untilled soil often resemble the branching vessels of the human circulatory system. Taking advantage of this similarity, a team of Nordic researchers led by Per Schjønning combined computed tomography (CT) scanning with traditional measurements of air exchange to “diagnose” the long-term impacts of soil compaction on the hidden, but vital, soil pore network.

Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co. each recently struck deals aimed at expanding “data-driven analysis of dirt for farmers,” according to a report by Jacob Bunge of The Wall Street Journal.

Much expense and many long hours go into harvesting and storing hay for winter feeding. So why waste it? There are many ways to reduce your hay losses.

Commercial drone use is illegal, but that hasn’t stopped a growing number of people from using them for commercial purposes. The issue puts the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the fast track to turbulence, according to a report by Kevin Robillard on Politico.

The California drought may seem a world away for most Americans in the eastern and central parts of the country, but the effects will be felt from coast to coast in 2014. Despite some light rainfall in recent weeks, much of the West Coast has seen an extremely dry winter, which makes many producers fret about the 2014 growing season.

Severe drought in the western U.S. has left alfalfa as not only one of the victims but as a possible villain.

Robert Glennon, a water policy expert at the University of Arizona, said he was struck with “utter disbelief” when he first learned that the U.S. was exporting alfalfa crops that had been grown with limited western irrigation water.