Grain Handling news
Wet and hot conditions in northern Illinois are impacting crop growth, as well as providing an opportunity for increased disease pressure this year.
Berkeley Boehne and his brother, Vaughn, raise corn, soybeans and wheat on their DeKalb County farm, where they also feed pigs and operate a custom manure application business.
Five new officers elected by the delegates during the 96th Illinois FFA State Convention will be traveling throughout the state during the upcoming year engaging with members to inspire them to achieve their goals.
The Stars Over Illinois announcement of the top four FFA members in the state was just one of numerous highlights of the 96th Illinois FFA State Convention held in the state’s capital city.
We began plant 2024 in March, and we ended Friday, May 31. It was the longest planting season in my 50-year experience of planting. We have corn that is waist-high and some that is just peeping through the soil.
The winner of the Star in Agricultural Placement award will be announced during the Wednesday afternoon session of the Illinois FFA State Convention starting at 2 p.m.
Construction on a new GSI grain system is complete and the final touches are being made on a farm in Putnam County in west-central Indiana.
CHS has signed an intent to purchase agreement for eight grain assets in five states from Cargill.
Bruce and Linda Muegge lead their family farm with faith and a strong work ethic. They’ve worked hard to build the farm to what it is today — a successful corn, soybean, wheat and cattle operation with an on-farm meat store.
The 2023 U.S. corn crop is projected to be the largest on record with the lowest percentage of broken corn and foreign material to date, according to a report.
Tim Gauck is the new president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, the state’s corn checkoff program.
We had a record week for harvesting of acres starting Saturday, Oct. 28, to Saturday, Nov. 4. Then we started to get full. Now we need to worry about trucking, so the focus has shifted. Plus, our dryer is getting backed up.
How can every harvest be so similar and yet completely different? The goal is always the same — get everything through the combine and into bins, and yet there are so many circumstances that come into play.
It’s been really pretty good harvest weather. On Oct. 9 and 10, it rained about two-tenths and that let everybody stop for a day and get caught up with maintenance and hauling some grain and that kind of stuff.
A milling company has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that employees at a Wisconsin corn plant falsified records in the years leading up to a fatal corn dust explosion.
Properly timing corn and soybean harvest is a critical crop management decision. While an early harvest can reduce field losses, drying costs can increase. Likewise, harvesting later reduces drying costs, but may result in decreased crop quality and reduced yield.
In southern Illinois, as in most of the Corn Belt, the 2023 corn and soybean harvest is shaping up to be a year of averages — and variability.
August is the month for maintenance jobs and preparing for harvest on Chris Gould’s farm. “We finished sweeping out the bins so the wheat and corn are all gone,” he said.
Last year saw a roughly 40% increase in the number of reported cases nationwide involving agricultural confined spaces, according to a report recently released by Purdue University.
Farmers will soon be getting their combines ready for the harvest season. Justin Render, senior product specialist for Kinze Manufacturing, said it’s also important to perform basic maintenance on grain carts.
Dairymen have the potential to harvest some good corn silage this year even though the early part of the growing season was dry.
We are finishing our last fungicide and herbicide applications. We have had a few weeds push through our early herbicide application, so we have been forced to make another pass to clean some weeds up.
Picking and shelling ear corn is a rarity in today’s agriculture, but visitors to the Half Century of Progress Show can see the entire process from start to finish.
A grain storage system designed to add more research capabilities at the Precision Technology Institute farm is anticipated to be online for harvest this fall.
Chris Gould harvested record wheat yields from his farm in July. “The wheat produced 115 bushels per acre,” said Gould, who together with his wife, Dana, grow corn, soybeans and wheat on their Kane County farm.
There was a 40.7% increase in the number of reported cases involving agricultural confined spaces last year, according to the 2022 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities report.
The high quality corn harvested last fall continued to maintain high grades through the supply chain to the export channels.
GSI is introducing a new mobile app, called GSI Connect, that will optimize the quality and profitability of dried grain and eventually connect customers with their entire grain system.
Increasing productivity and profitability of AGCO customers is important for the company to meet the needs of a growing population.
Mathews Company, a leading provider of agricultural equipment, announced the launch of its new grain handling product line.
It only takes 20 seconds to become fully engulfed in a bin of flowing grain. It takes 3.5 hours, on average, to extract someone from a grain bin.
The annual summary recording nationwide grain dust bin explosions reported nine incidents in 2022.
Rural Illinois stands to benefit from increased funding and changes in the Rural Energy for America Program.
If it’s January, you’re most likely to find Matt Rush on the road and on his way to a meeting.
When her father became ill several years ago, the interactions with his doctors stood out to Rock Falls native Heather Moser.
Kinze Manufacturing is introducing a new grain cart row crop tire next season for custom harvesters and farmers who transport their carts by truck from farm to farm.
Each year, Steve Pitstick develops a plan for his farm and adjusts during the growing season based on the conditions. “The real key to being a good farmer is being able to adjust on the fly,” said Pitstick, who farms about 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans near Maple Park.
This has been an amazing fall. We never know what to expect, but we’ve only had a couple of days off and the corn has dried down great. This field is 20% and yesterday the moisture was at 18%. We were fearful a month ago about drying costs, but it worked out.
The Precision Technology Institute farm added more research opportunities with the installation of a grain storage system being used for the first time this fall.
Dry weather has made quick work of harvest on the Kron family farm, where progress to finish the crop is being made each day. Randy Kron, farmer and president of Indiana Farm Bureau, shared an update with AgriNews.
Steve Pitstick started harvesting soybeans about a week later than he planned this year. “Part of that is due to the later than normal start in the spring and we had a cloudy, somewhat cool summer,” said Pitstick who farms about 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans near Maple Park.
Green combines. Red tractors. Blue grain carts. Although the equipment varies in size and color, the job is the same — to help farmers get their crops out of the field, because it’s harvest season.
With harvest season approaching, Kinze Manufacturing offers maintenance recommendations to ensure that grain carts will be field-ready this fall.
It’s important to check grain dryers prior to the harvest season for any wear or tear that could affect safe and proper operation this fall.
Variability is one way to describe the 2022 growing season. “It’s really the story of variability because it depends on where you’re at and if you were lucky enough to catch some rains,” said Jared Goplen, agronomy manager at Wyffels Hybrids.
GrainVue continuously monitors the condition of crops stored in grain bins and controls the aeration system. “Farmers have to make the decision every day to run the fans or not when they have a crop in a bin,” said Greg Trame, director of technology sales for GSI.
A northern Iowa farmer spent a night trapped in a grain bin before crews rescued him. The farmer became trapped in the afternoon by grain in the bin on his farm in the Ackley-Iowa Falls area, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Although he has not found tar spot in his cornfields yet, Steve Pitstick will spray a fungicide for prevention of the disease. “We’ve had tar spot since 2018,” said Pitstick who farms about 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans near Maple Park in northern Illinois.
The Ogle County Farm Bureau Young Leaders through financial support from COUNTRY Financial recently donated grain bin rescue augers to three area fire departments serving Ogle and Lee counties.
The Indiana Farm Management Tour is coming to Tipton and Clinton counties July 19-20. Guests can learn about farm and crop management techniques at the free event, held in conjunction with the Master Farmer Reception.