Information on soil tests are essential to understanding the condition of the soil and how to determine nutrient recommendations, says field agronomy manager John Leif.

The theory in using starter fertilizer is that it gets the plant growing faster after emergence and that rapid establishment will enable better yield. However, some experts believe a faster start doesn’t necessarily mean a higher yield.

According to NASS, Illinois producers harvested 36 percent of the corn crop and 52 percent of the soybean crop by October 20. That’s still behind the average pace of harvest, but harvest continues in many areas this week, and as it progresses, fields in many areas are becoming available for fall field work to begin.

In many nitrogen-fixing bacteria, a protein called RirA plays a key role in regulating iron by sensing high levels of the metal and shutting down the production of proteins that bring in more iron. RirA contains a cluster of four iron and four sulfur atoms, which acts as a sensor for iron availability. But until now, exactly how this cluster structure detects iron levels in a cell was unclear, says the University of East Anglia.

Streator, Ill., strip-tiller Larry Tombaugh took us into his farm “laboratory” to discuss some biological solutions he’s experimenting with on his corn and soybean operation, including Compost Tea, a biological soil stimulant which has 4,000 different strains of colony forming fungal units.