XtremeAg: Cutting The Curve Podcast

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 k...

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...

Nobody can excel at everything. Your farm operation is not an exception to this reality. As such, most farms excel at production while delicately managing around — or oftentimes overlooking — their weak spot. This isn’t criticism, it’s truth and it applies to every business, farm or non-farm. Reality: Farms are businesses and businesses are meant to be profitable. You can achieve profitability whe...

Generally when we think of crop stress, we think of heat and drought. However there’s also stress of cold and wet and many other stressful occurrences that arise throughout a growing season. Successfully getting your crop through those stressful times can make a huge difference on your yield monitor. Mike Evans of Integrated Ag Solutions explains practices and products he’ll be deploying for Garre...

Matt Miles's father used to say, “Cotton is always looking for a reason to die.” Matt explains cotton production in the Arkansas delta — from moisture issues to managing a high maintenance crop to capitalizing (hopefully!) on record high cotton prices. As Matt explains, cotton is a high risk, high reward crop. With cotton picking equipment costing $900,000 new, it needs to be. This is XtremeAg...

At the time of recording this episode, the Midwest is cold and wet. Less than ideal conditions for sure and planting progress is considerably below average. Toss record high input prices into the mix and we have the recipe for some very stressed farmers. But Kelly Garrett says, don’t sweat it. “It’s still early and conditions aren’t right.” Kelly defies the common recommendation to hold off on soy...

Renewable diesel isn’t the same as biodiesel because it’s made from a variety of oil seed crops and it’s not blended with fossil fuel. Why does any of this matter to American farmers? Because renewable diesel has the potential to gobble up trainloads of soybeans, increase demand for alternative crops such as Canola and Camelina, and improve the environment. Pete Meyer, head of grain, oilseed, and...

In the old days, we dribbled out fertilizer from our planters and hoped it found its way to the seed to boost early growth. Basically, as Stuart Meacham of CapstanAg says, it was a “controlled spill.” But with all the technological advancements in machinery, field mapping, and data analytics, isn’t it time for precision in-furrow fertilization? Lee Lubbers thought so, which is why he sought out Ca...