XtremeAg: Cutting The Curve Podcast

Humic Acid and Fulvic Acid. What's the difference? One is for soil building and one is for nutrient uptake. We break down the details on when and how to use Humics and Fulvics on your farm and how do you know if they are working?

You listened/watched to the debate in part 1 (To Tissue Sample Or Not?), and you've decided you want to be a better tissue sampler now. In part 2, Chad, Molly and Stephanie talk about and demonstrate the best practices for tissue sampling.

The Red River valley of southern Manitoba experienced flooding in Spring 2022. XtremeAg affiliate Riley Anderson had one field submerged under flood waters for more than a month. This would be a problem anytime of the year but with it happening during spring warm up, the flooding killed off soil biology. As Riley puts it, “It smelled like it was dead and rotting.” Now he’s working to revive his so...

Chad Henderson has been applying sugar to his crop well before it was a "thing." In fact, before it was commercially available for agriculture use, Chad got his supply from the local warehouse supermarket until they stopped selling it to him as they thought he was making illegal whiskey. He knows it increases yield, but is he right? We ask the experts at Teva Corporation: why corn needs sugar?

Each year 10 Million soil samples are pulled in North America. Those samples are sent to labs for analysis and the results are returned to farmers and their crop advisors. This is a good thing — knowing your nutrient and pH levels provides guidance for fertility treatments. The only problem: Much of what we do and how we do it when it comes to soil sampling hasn’t changed since the 1950’s! Al Toop...

An estimated 5% or less of all farmers actually engage in regular tissue sampling of their crops. So, if you are not doing it, you are not alone. But that may not make it right. Chad believes in tissue sampling, sort of, and in certain situations, but he certainly does not live or die by the almighty tissue sample when it comes to his farming operation. Chad debates the value of tissue sampling wi...

What's the deal with the second ear? Do you want a second ear? It is another ear of corn after all that contributes to yield, right? Or is it a bad thing that takes nutrients away from the primary ear? So is a second ear a good thing or a bad thing? We pose the question: 2 Ear or Not 2 Ear?

USDA’s June 30th planted acres report sheds light on the reality of what’s in America’s fields (and decreases the amount of soybean acres by a couple million!). Two weeks later, the July 12th WASDE report gave us another batch of information. Between the two reports, commodities are down significantly from just a month ago. What does this mean for your marketing plan? Is now the time to cut your l...

Farming has changed significantly in the past few decades, and at top of the list in changes has been the increased availability and use of biologicals on modern farms. Will there soon be a time when all crop protection inputs will be biological based? Damian talks to Matt Miles and Trey Curtis from Concept Agritek about the not so far off future of agriculture.

Lee Lubbers farms in a pretty tough neighborhood, weather wise. Gregory, South Dakota receives about 18 inches of annual precipitation — and on dry years Lee reports less than 10 inches of precipitation. So, how does a farmer yield a good crop and produce a profit under such conditions? Lee explains his drought resistant practices and his product selection to produce a crop when it’s dry. Lee also...

Riley Anderson farms 24 miles north of the North Dakota / Canada border. As our newest XtremeAg affiliate, Riley will be providing insights, updates, and product trials from his Manitoba operation. What unique challenges do farmers face in an area that dips down to —40 degrees Fahrenheit? How does the product mix change when you go north of the border? And how are commodity markets navigated diffe...

It's all the same seed in a different bag with different label? Right? Damian asks the question and more with Agrigold's Leslie Rogers and XtremeAg's Matt Miles and Robb Dedman.

A few years ago we didn’t do much in way of fertility applications during the middle part of the growing season. That all changed for Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett after he experienced a 9 bushel yield bump on soybeans after he foliar-applied nutrition products mid season. Now mid season nutrition applications are standard practice for Kelly who’s experienced a 3 fold return on his fertility investmen...

Crop diseases — and we’re mostly talking about fungal problems — cost you yield and money. The worst part: By the time you know you have a problem, much of the damage is already done. That’s why, in general, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Kim Tutor, Technical Marketing Manager with BASF explains disease issues to lookout for this year — from Tar Spot in corn, to Pythium in soybea...

Matt Miles will make11 different foliar passes on his cotton field this season. Seems about right for a plant that Matt says is trying to die from the minute it emerges. 6 of those passes will be part of a trial he is doing with Agroliquid to foliar feed potassium into the plant. He is joined by Molly from Agroliquid and his agronomist, Robbo, to talk about the foliar feeding regimen he plans to i...

Modern farming operations have a lot of moving parts and, as such, farm operators wear a lot of hats — business owner, equipment manager, purchasing agent, employee supervisor, part time agronomist, and grain marketer. The last role — grain marketer— can be a real challenge given the volatility of commodity prices and the complexity of the marketplace. Because grain marketing is so challenging, th...

As Fertilizer prices are high, farmers like Matt Miles are looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of their existing nutrients. We talk to Robbo Dedman from Ultimate Ag Consulting and James Paterson of Agrotech USA about increasing plant uptake availability, how it works? and why you need to understand what is happening in your soil?

You’ve likely been hearing about carbon revenue opportunities for farmers for a couple years now. But what’s the deal and how do you go about making a carbon deal? What changes to your farming practices are required and who monitors your practices? Most importantly, how much money are we talking about — because let’s face it, carbon credit deals are still anything but mainstream. We know you have...

Soil compaction is a silent yield robber. Unlike a wind storm or hail damage, you may not see the harm to your crop — but you will certainly see it on your combine’s yield monitor. In the old days we thought deep ripping was the solution to correcting soil compaction but that’s timely -- and with the price of diesel — exceedingly expensive. XtremeAg’s Kevin Matthews discusses the cause and cost of...

We've heard of secret agents and talent agents, but what is a plant health agent? And more importantly, do you really need one? Damian talks with Matt Miles and Trey Curtis from Concept Agritek about a 40 acre trial they are running with a new product called Bio Health that coats the plant with hundreds of different strains of bacteria and fungi that increases photosynthesis, respiration and keep...

Temple Rhodes farms on Maryland’s eastern shore, operates a couple other business ventures, and he’s now contributing to XtremeAg. Throughout the season we’ll tune in to see what Mr. Rhodes is doing with fungicide treatments, seed plots, and micronutrient products to increase fertility uptake — a big issue for his geography. Because Temple farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, he’s under an envir...

Miles Farms is not only a producer of corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat, but they also manage a significant rice growing operation. Rice is a unique crop that many people outside of the 6 big rice growing states no very little about. Matt and Robbo talk with Damian about the unique needs, growth and care that is required to grow rice in the delta region. Tune in and learn something about a crop you...

Beef production has a long timeline —more than a year from birth to processed beef and if you count in 9 months of gestation, you’re pushing two years from start to a finished product. So, just like every other form of Agricultural production, beef producers need tools to remain profitable. Jared Clark — a Texas cow/calf rancher and CEO of Silveus Financial and Fidel Burciaga, Cattle Risk Advisor...

Cotton is a plant that is born to die. It emerges and then it spends the rest of its life trying to die. Well, maybe not exactly, but, let's face it Cotton is finicky and requires a lot of attention. We are in Matt Miles' cotton field with Molly Alexander and Stephanie Zelinko from Agroliquid talking about in-furrow trials and needs of cotton.

We’ve been hearing about the financial promise of carbon markets in production Agriculture for a couple years. What’s the deal? What is required of you and your farm to get paid for carbon? What changes to your practices will be required? How long is the contract and who exactly pays the carbon bill? How much carbon are you sequestering? And most importantly, is the financial incentive enough to j...