A successful harvest depends not only on crop conditions but also on properly functioning equipment. While you can’t eliminate all harvest losses, you can identify the source and adjust harvest equipment for optimum performance.

Fertilizer programs should begin with accurate soil testing. Growers who can self-sample reduce costs and better understand their soil situations. Review best practices so your samples lead to more reliable results and more educated management decisions.

Utilizing winter cover crops for hay and corn production allows you to realize soil conservation benefits while increasing dry matter production per acre. Proper cover crop management in the spring can ensure the subsequent corn crop is successful, as well.

Maximizing yield starts with correct planting, and correct planting starts with adjusting the planter to the proper settings. Carefully check planting equipment before you hit the field this spring.

Planting is arguably the most important time in crop production. Your crop has its maximum yield potential on the day it’s planted. Crop success or failure depends on your ability to control planting factors. Whether it is your first season or your 51st, it’s worthwhile to revisit planting fundamentals.

Soybean growers can maximize the yield potential of their crop by ensuring it is planted at an ideal population. Plant populations vary by geography, so it is important to consider local conditions as well as the variety, row width, seed treatments and other factors.

Planting larger seeds creates challenges. Growers should follow some basic management tips.

Extensive university research illustrates that corn planted in a twin-row configuration can have a significant yield advantage versus a single-row crop. Several factors support this conclusion.

Soybean seed produced during summers with high heat and drought conditions can lead to increased seed size for the next growing season. These larger seed sizes, ranging from 2,000 to 2,750 seeds per pound, require more management to ensure accurate planting densities. Follow these steps to prepare equipment for planting.

Soybean seed produced during summers with high heat and drought conditions can lead to a wide range in germination rate of seed lots available for the next growing season. The quality of some seed lots may fall below customary industry standards. Be aware of studies that demonstrate how soybean plants can compensate when stands are reduced. Understand factors causing reduced germination and adjust seeding rates, if necessary.

Planting corn at the appropriate population can help maximize the crop’s yield potential. Specific populations can vary by geography so it is important to consider management practices, ear type, row width and other environmental factors.

Sunflower maturity must be determined to accurately time desiccation and harvest. Applying a desiccant to sunflowers at physiological maturity can help flowers dry down faster, enabling earlier harvest. Desiccating also can help avoid rot issues and reduce the time the crop is vulnerable to birds.

An important part of corn silage production is proper and timely harvest management. Follow these guidelines when harvesting Mycogen^® brand Silage-Specific™ hybrids to be rewarded with corn silage that can help add profit to the bottom line.

Dry summers and relentless pests increase your corn crop’s susceptibility to aflatoxins, which are harmful to livestock. Reduce your exposure with effective management.

Early frost at harvest can lead to high or uneven moisture, low test weights and increased foreign material. Careful planning and management of drying and storage can help maintain yield.

Straight combining is a harvest technique for evenly mature canola, but it requires careful management. Also known as direct-harvesting, this harvesting technique can reduce the risk of windblown swaths and lower the green seed potential. Follow these steps and click here for a video to ensure high yield potential.

Heavy wind and rain late in the growing season can dramatically affect corn. Flooding, downed plants and disease are just a few of the potential management challenges related to extreme weather. Consider your options for recovering as much value as possible and take precautions when storing and feeding damaged corn.

Many factors can cause stand reduction in soybeans. Replanting may be one option to consider.

Planting corn at the proper depth helps to ensure proper germination and development, allows for optimum seed-to-soil contact, leads to more uniform emergence and helps achieve top yield potential.

Sunflowers are grown in many parts of the country and planting dates vary considerably from region to region. Both early and late planting dates have associated benefits and risks.

Since the adoption of corn hybrids with biotechnology traits, growers have continued to see more consistent 200-bushel-plus corn crops in past seasons. However, increased yields have created the challenge of dealing with increased levels of residue when planting next year’s crop.

Strip-till is a conservation system that uses minimum tillage. It combines the soil-drying and warming benefits of conventional tillage with the soil-protection advantages of no-till by disturbing only the soil that will contain the seed row. Strip-till rows are usually about 8 to 10 inches wide. Because special equipment is required for this type of tillage, understanding what is needed for a strip-till system can help you determine if it’s the right practice for your fields.

The most common problem associated with poor canola yield is a weak stand, so establishing strong, healthy canola stands is crucial for successful results. Before planting, take time to consider what is needed to get the crop off to a healthy and productive start.

Sunflowers are very adaptable and can be grown under different environmental and soil conditions. Several university studies illustrate how sunflowers planted at varying populations, depending on the environment, can result in similar yields. When determining planting populations, consider environmental, agronomic and marketing factors to maximize yield and profit potential.

Fair weather along with an early harvest provides conditions conducive for growers to fall-apply manure to their fields. Before applying manure, review your nutrient management plan to determine the appropriate amounts of nutrients needed to improve success in selected fields.

Proper canola harvesting techniques are the final steps to a profitable production season. Timely swathing and combining will produce the highest quality crop with the best yield. If used correctly, straight-cutting canola also can be an option under certain environmental conditions.

Summer drought noticeably limits corn silage production by reducing ear size and stalk growth. As few as four consecutive days of visible wilting during vegetative growth can reduce grain or forage yield by as much as 5 to 10 percent. Yield losses of 40 to 50 percent are possible if high temperatures and limited rainfall coincide with silking and reproductive stages.

Applying a portion of your crop’s nitrogen (N) requirement with irrigation water is a best management practice to reduce nitrate leaching in coarse soils. New irrigation technology systems have made the process of chemigating easier.