Mindy Ward

1 month ago | beefmagazine.com | Mindy Ward

Farmer Iron: Farm shows offer unique look at what’s headed your way in the next few years. Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri RuralistJuly 18, 2023TALK IT OVER: Technology continues to advance in the agriculture industry. The one place to talk with company designers, engineers and even fellow farmers about how it will impact your farm is at a show — such as the Farm Progress Show in Illinois this year or Husker Harvest Days in Nebraska.

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Mindy Ward

Early in our marriage, decision-making for the farm and home came with only two approaches: leap before you look and analysis paralysis. But over the years, we’ve learned to blend the two to create a process that works for big and small choices. For those like me, who run headfirst into an opportunity without weighing the challenges and costs, I hope you have someone on your farm or family team who doesn't move until they investigate every aspect of the opportunity.

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Mindy Ward

As soybean farmers deal with the ups and downs of production, figuring out whether to use foliar fungicides is becoming a bigger decision — especially with crop prices and input costs constantly changing. University of Missouri plant pathologist Mandy Bish has strip trial research that shows spraying fungicides as a routine practice may not always yield a positive return on investment, making it worth farmers reconsidering the approach.

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Mindy Ward

Urban development and sprawl consume more farmland each day, but a partnership between crop growers and cattle producers may be the sustainable way to maximize the use of remaining acres. With increasing land scarcity, Jacob Gilley, a Virginia-based cattle producer and technical livestock and grazing specialist with American Farmland Trust (AFT), advocates for integrating livestock into cropland to maximize efficiency. “We’re losing 2,000 acres of farmland a day,” he warns.

2 months ago | farmprogress.com | Mindy Ward

Corn leafhoppers showed up in Missouri fields last year and impacted yields, but will they return in 2025? The newest pest to hit cornfields not only feeds on corn plants, but also spreads pathogens that cause corn stunt disease, resulting in deformed grain, loose kernels and short stalks. University of Missouri Extension state crops entomologist Ivair Valmorbida expects this pest will return in the upcoming growing season, possibly arriving even earlier.