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Supercharging soil with algae

Ever wonder how farmers like Russell Hedrick of North Carolina win national corn growing contests? While there’s no silver bullet, Hedrick used a system of biological inputs and regenerative management practices to help him reach 459.1 bushels per acre in 2022 — a milestone many corn ...

Market Insider Weekly Newsletter

NEWS *The USDA has suspended all imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico effective immediately due to the northward spread of the New World Screwworm, a parasitic fly that poses a severe threat to livestock. The screwworm, eradicated from the U.S. in 1966, has been detected in ...

An emotional day

DES MOINES — Sen. Dave Rowley, R-Iowa, District 5, said it was an emotional time in Des Moines on the day Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that prohibits Iowa drivers from using their electronic devices while driving, unless they are in hands-free mode. Reynolds was surrounded by ...

‘Every tractor has a story’

POMEROY — Remember when finding vintage tractors wasn’t as easy as a quick online search? In the 1990s and earlier, the hunt required persistence, connections and a sense of adventure. “It was called networking and usually involved road trips,” joked Steve Rosenboom, a vintage ...

Warren Buffet’s annual meeting last hurrah

I am glad that we took the opportunity a couple years ago to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha while both Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet were running the show. I have referred to the late Charlie Munger as my fantasy mentor as I love his take on many things, particularly ...

Helping run the show

Farm wives come in every form and know what it is to face their brand of reality. You have the farm wife who grew up on a farm and can ease into that role regardless of what her jobs on the farm were as she was growing up. In my case, there were enough boys evenly spaced among my siblings ...

A tale of two tractors

CLEAR LAKE — Ron Franks lives on the farm where he grew up north of Clear Lake. At age 85, Franks is mostly retired but still helps Jim Barkema, who operates the farm, as needed. In his farming career, Franks has raised crops, fed hogs and was a Pioneer seed dealer for many ...

Back in the family again

SPENCER — Farm family ties can run as deep as a plow’s furrow. That notion became evident in the physical sense in the Bob and Linda Neppl family, when Bob Neppl purchased his father’s tractor at a bitter-cold 1970 farm auction. “It’s a 1968 John Deere 3020 diesel,” said ...

Time on the fender with Dad

DAYTON — Leroy Jones spent a lot of time on the fender of a tractor just like the one that is now among his favorite restored tractors. The fender is round and narrow — and not at all where anyone is supposed to ride — but farm kids of the 1950s had no problem sitting up here for hours ...