Articles by Frank Lessiter

49 Highly Powerful No-Tilling Ideas

Four veteran no-tillers offer valuable tips to help you no-till more efficiently and profitably this year.

By Frank Lessiter posted on March 1, 2005 | Posted in No-Till Farming 101

With plenty of unique experiences, four veteran no-tillers shared lots of valuable tips, tricks and techniques that you can put to good use. They were part of a panel that shared ideas with attendees at the 13th annual National No-Tillage Conference held in January in Cincinnati, Ohio.

More Chemical Options Available For No-Till Corn

Manufacturers continue to evolve and expand their product offerings to control weeds and diseases, and suggest steps to avoid glyphosate resistance.

By Frank Lessiter posted on March 1, 2005 | Posted in Crop Protection

No-tillers can choose from a number of corn herbicides and fungicides that have become available since the last growing season. The new products for this year, listed by manufacturer, include:<

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Buy High-Fertility Land

By Frank Lessiter posted on February 1, 2005 | Posted in Soil Health

With no-tillers earning higher per-acre returns than farmers still relying on extensive tillage, many are looking for more land to farm. That’s why you’ll find the results of a recent survey of land prices based on fertility levels to be of special interest because of your no-till experiences.

Try These Proven No-Till Residue Management Tricks

Regardless of where you farm or the crops you grow, study these solid residue management lessons from no-tillers growing high-yielding grain crops.

By Frank Lessiter posted on February 1, 2005 | Posted in Residue Management

Just because you concentrate on no-tilling corn, soybeans or another crop doesn’t mean you can’t pick up plenty of yield-building residue management tricks from other growers. To do a better job of managing residues, check out how these eight Pacific Northwest and western Canadian growers go about managing residues for top profit.

Bin-Busting No-Till Soybean Yields Coming

With perfect weather and the right management package, you could break the 100-bushel no-till soybean barrier.

By Frank Lessiter posted on February 1, 2005 | Posted in Seeding & Planting

If you’ve already harvested 70-bushel no-till soybean yields and think you’ve hit a yield plateau, Palle Pedersen says, it’s time to rethink the situation. In fact, the soybean specialist at Iowa State University maintains 100-bushel soybean yields aren’t out of the question.

Spraying Late Is Costly

You’ll sometimes have less than a day to make a timely herbicide application — at a time when it may interfere with other essential no-till work.

By Frank Lessiter posted on January 1, 2005 | Posted in Crop Protection

When it comes to effective weed control, timing is always critical. But it is particularly important when you are using a total post program since dead weeds with late spraying can still trim your yields.

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Get After Those Rodents

By Frank Lessiter posted on January 1, 2005 | Posted in Crop Protection

While driving along Interstate 39 from Bloomington to Rockford, Ill., last fall, John Pickle Jr. conducted a windshield survey based on looking at the four outside rows in corn fields that were running parallel to the highway. His quick and easy visual survey indicated that 60 percent of the corn fields had rodent damage.

Seed Trait Development Is Hot Item

With today’s emphasis by seed and chemical companies on development of complete crop packages, herbicide development is taking a back seat.

By Frank Lessiter posted on December 1, 2004 | Posted in Crop Protection

With growers needing to find new ways to take U.S. yields to a higher level to compete with other countries, Rob Neill says increased emphasis needs to be placed on seed treatments, shifting resources to development of new seed traits and developing new pest control compounds.

New No-Till Money-Makers

Here are four of the best no-tilling products spotted at Iowa’s Farm Progress Show.

By Frank Lessiter posted on November 1, 2004 | Posted in Equipment

Making the rounds of exhibitors at the late August Farm Progress Show in Iowa, No-Till Farmer editors spotted a number of products from shortline manufacturers that may work in your operation.

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More Carbon, No-Till Corn

By Frank Lessiter posted on November 1, 2004 | Posted in Soil Health

Although previous studies have indicated significant carbon losses from plowing, a new Agricultural Research Service study indicates that there may not be a huge loss if a farmer plows only once.

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