July 31, 2009
Volunteer corn (corn growing due to seed from the previous year’s crop) can be a serious problem, and according to a 2007 Iowa State University study one volunteer corn plant per 10-foot of row resulted in a 1.3 percent yield loss. I haven’t seen many fields worst than this one… Algona, Iowa – Corn is [...]
July 26, 2009
I spent a half a day last week tagging along with two of MaxYield’s custom applicators as they sprayed soybeans. The first tractor I rode along in was AgChem’s RoGator. The picture below isn’t the actual tractor, but it is very similar. This particular RoGator was not the newest machine by any stretch of the [...]
July 17, 2009
I almost called them “field trips,” but that just sounds a little childish to me, like we’re in elementary school or something … don’t you think? Anyway – This last week the four other interns and I, who I will briefly introduce in a moment, went on two different facility tours. On Thursday we visited [...]
July 12, 2009
So my job hasn’t been all fun and games this summer … I’ve spent my fair share of time putting up seed signs; the worst part – pounding the posts into the ground. Seed signs are simply a plastic sign which displays the brand of seed and also lists the particular hybrid planted. We put [...]
July 7, 2009
Each season MaxYield has numerous seed plots located throughout their trade region. Many are simply trials of different hybrids planted in different farmer’s fields that are willing to help, but we also have two large “Knowledge Plots.” These plots include many different trials for both corn and soybeans including plant population trials, yield trials for [...]
June 29, 2009
One of my own personal projects for the summer includes doing planter analyses and sharing my results with farmers. When I say “planter analyses,” what I mean is calculating data in the field in order to reduce planter performance effects on corn yield. This post may be for the more agricultural machinery/agronomic savvy folks, but [...]
June 26, 2009
Yes, I have landed a summer internship with MaxYield Cooperative this summer… what, you are not from northern Iowa and do not know who MaxYield is? Well before I start blogging for the summer, let’s get you caught up on who MaxYield is, what they do, and where I fit into the mix. Agricultural cooperatives [...]