Plant & Soil Health: Making the Connection: Sulfur and Nitrogen Working Together
Maximizing protein production and nitrogen fixation requires an ample supply of sulfur. Soybeans require both nitrogen and sulfur and they are interrelated. Soybeans require [...]
Plant & Soil Health: Manure an Economical Fertilizer Option
Illinois farmers will need to rely on fertilizers to replenish soils after the record 2014 crop. Brothers Brad and Brian Thomas farm together near [...]
Plant & Soil Health – Gypsum Offers an Economic Source of Sulfur for Deficient Soybean Acres
Gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) is a mineral mined from sedimentary deposits created by the evaporation of saline water, where sulfuric acid comes into contact with calcium carbonate. [...]
Plant & Soil Health: Does Foliar Feeding Work?
Does the soil supply enough nutrients or can foliar feeding really help yield? It is becoming a common practice to foliar feed crop plants when [...]
SHOWCASE FARMER: Robert Woodruff
The farmer. Robert “Woody” Woodruff grows corn, soybeans and wheat in rotation on his farm near Modesto in Morgan County. He is a second-generation [...]
Plant & Soil Health: Phosphorus Availability
Phosphorus is one of the nutrients targeted in the nutrient reduction strategy recently proposed by the Illinois EPA. Phosphorus loss isn’t so much about amount, [...]
Plant Health: Applying Boron on Soybeans
While farmers don’t think much about applying boron, a micronutrient needed in small amounts, it is the most common micronutrient deficiency in soybeans, followed [...]
Plant & Soil Health: Importance of Potassium in Soybeans
Soybeans have a big appetite for potassium, so ask yourself, are you feeding them enough? Soybeans require potash and plenty of it and remove [...]
Plant & Soil Health – Availability of Phosphorus in Manure Applications to Soil
The total phosphorus content in manure varies depending on the animal species, age, diet, and how the manure has been stored. Concentration of phosphorus [...]
Agronomy: Thinking about Nitrogen Fixation
Are your soybeans fixing as much nitrogen as possible and how much nitrogen can a soybean plant fix? Soybeans are a legume and take [...]