Strip-tillers looking for a new tool to fight pests might look back at history again and see what a trap crop might do on a small area of their farm. You’ll never know for sure unless you experiment.

With an industry that is seemingly on the brink of a crisis, a coalition of more than 400 of U.S. farm, agricultural and grower groups sent a letter to Washington imploring Senate members to confirm Brooke Rollins as the next USDA secretary. 

The U.S. leads the world in no-tilled acres, while two nations with the highest populations, India and China, don’t even make the Top 5 list. India has the second most arable land in the world and China comes in fifth.

Several years ago the Rotenbergers committed to using a strip-till system for planting 30-inch corn and applying the bulk of their fertilizers in the strip, rather than knifing in nitrogen (N) and broadcasting and incorporating phosphorus (P) and potash in spring like most farmers in their area do.

Researchers at the University of Illinois conducted a thorough review of federal data to analyze how inflationary pressures are affecting the reach of USDA’s conservation assistance to farmers. Read on to see what they found.

With no labor deal in sight, the agricultural industry is rushing headlong into economic straits due to the International Longshoremen’s Association port strike that began Tuesday, and the effects could be felt across the farming landscape from delayed exports of grain to certain markets and delayed import of inputs, equipment and other items.