House lawmakers approved a scaled-back version of the farm bill Thursday after stripping out the popular food-stamp program used by 48 million Americans. The bill narrowly passed on a 216-208 vote, largely along party lines. A dozen Republicans voted against the measure while no Democrats voted in favor.

Data harvested from the sky may give researchers a view into the future of food production while opening insights to the implications of climate change.

Goss's wilt of corn often is most severe after fields are exposed to high winds and/or hail damage, because the causal bacterium readily infects corn leaves through wounds.

When farming gets tough, farmers get creative. Mark Muench, of Muench Farms Grain and Cattle Co., in rural Ogden, switched to strip-tillage in 2002 with the goal of building organic matter and reducing erosion to preserve the soil while still achieving maximum yields.

The Fertility Recommendation Spreadsheet has been updated to provide more functionality in developing fertility recommendations based on the tri-state fertilizer recommendation. Feedback from the release last fall was used in updating this version.

Beck's Hybrids is excited to announce a new territory expansion into the western two-thirds of Tennessee, plus 35 additional counties in eastern Kentucky.

The hottest topic of discussion and research by entomologists of the world appears to be RNAi-based insecticides.

A report has just been released with detailed results from a farmer survey on cover crops. The survey was carried out in partnership between the USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC).

Researchers say they now know what allows some Western corn rootworms to survive crop rotation, a farming practice that once effectively managed the rootworm pests.

The Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator is an online tool that allows determination of nitrogen (N) application rates for corn production and is helpful in determining the effect of fertilizer and corn price on needed rates. The method for calculating suggested N rates is based on a regional (Corn Belt) approach to N rate guidelines.