Starting in August, farmers are presented with purchasing programs for next season’s inputs. Which inputs should you buy now? What programs make sense? How much different are purchase decisions in an era of higher interest rates? Those questions and more are addressed as Damian Mason sits down with Jarod Creed of JC Ag Financial and Iowa farmers Kelly Garrett and Jeremy Muff.

Presented by AgXplore

There is an economic principle that states that, after a certain point, each additional unit of input (like fertilizer) will result in progressively smaller increases in output (like crop yield). This means that there's an optimal amount of fertilizer for a given crop in a given soil, and beyond that point, you're just wasting money. Well, as it turns out, much — or maybe even most — of your applied Phosphorous and Potassium is unavailable for your crops. In the old days of inexpensive fertilizer this was less of a problem. However, as commodity prices dip and fertilizer prices remain elevated, you need to maximize your fertility applications. Chad Henderson maximizes his investment by treating his dry fertilizer with a biocatalyst. The $4 per acre treatment yields Chad an additional 12 bushels while using less fertilizer. Agronomist Steve Sexton explains how it works.

Presented by Loveland Products

We are talking about rescuing a crop from chemical damage. Temple Rhodes talks about the confluence of factors that stunted his early corn crop and most importantly, how he nursed it back to almost full recovery.

Russ Uselton’s farm ground is so rough and rocky, he jokes that he looks south from his Tennessee perch and yearns for Chad Henderson’s red Alabama clay. All kidding aside, Russ — who started from scratch — is building a business on highly erodible, small patch farming, with a mixture of crops and cows. The first generation farmer bought cattle in 2005 and planted his first crop in 2018. Today he runs 200 cow-calf pairs on 1,000 acres of pasture and farms 500 acres of corn and soy. Russ talks to Damian about starting out, why he has to use cover crops, and the creativity required when you only own 40 acres!

Presented by Advanced Drainage Systems

Contrary to what you may have heard, you CAN increase the organic matter percentage in your soil. And…it won’t take you a lifetime to do so. The key: Roots. Darren Hefty joins XtremeAg’s Lee Lubbers in a hugely informative and enlightening conversation with Damian Mason about the critical role roots play in upping the organic matter in soil. Lee and Darren explain how they’ve increased OM composition considerably on their farms through reduced tillage, cover crops, and fostering soil biology. If you don’t value organic matter, you will after hearing Darren provide some of the numbers — higher OM equates to free fertilizer and better water holding capacity which means more bushels in the hopper and more money in your pocket. Organic matter: It’s all about the roots!

Presented by Loveland Products

When Should You Push Your Soybeans? Chad Henderson and Kevin Matthews are no stranger to high yielding soybeans. They discuss their soybean fertility programs with Damian Mason, and share their secrets for picking up extra yield by spoonfeeding their soybeans at specific times during the season.

There’s an old saying about good things taking time. Such is the promise of biological crop inputs— while they do provide an immediate result, their larger benefit accumulates over time. Chad Henderson compares biological usage to chicken litter. “We’ve been using chicken litter a long time. You don’t see immediate results…But by the third year of chicken litter, you can definitely see things changing in your soil.” Chad joins Holganix’s Mike Batson and Damian Mason to discuss the cumulative effect of biologicals.

Presented by Advanced Drainage Systems

Farmers have come a long way from the days of blasting out a load of dry fertilizer early in the season. Kevin Matthews and Jason Worley from Nachurs talk with Damian Mason about pushing a corn crop with late season applications. How late is too late?

Plant biostimulants have gained significant attention in the world of agriculture and in recent years. But what exactly are they, and how can they benefit your crop? Damian Mason is in the Stoller booth at Farm Progress to find out what exactly a biostimulant is and more importantly, what their role is in getting you to the next yield level.

Pigweed — layman’s term for Water Hemp and Palmer Amaranth — is a big problem. The species which is native to the desert southwest has successfully migrated to crop fields throughout the U.S. Because of its roots in the desert and its biology, the plants are tough to kill and getting even tougher. XA’s Matt Swanson and Caleb Traugh join FMC’s Blaire Colvin to discuss strategies to manage an increasingly resistant class of weeds that’s very prolific and capable of causing huge yield drags.

Presented by Advanced Drainage Systems