The Next Front

I just got off the phone with a contact I value highly and I wonder what the next front is in agriculture?

Farmers are conservative by nature, always waiting for the next storm, whether it be weather or economy or whatever.

He described to me new technology that I can adapt to my farm and then share with others. My brain hurts after one hour of discussion. I took notes.

We talked about corn hybrids and inoculants and everything we could both think of.

I love talking to people who really know what they are talking about. It is invaluable to me.

An old friend came to warm me up on this discussion first. He is all about making farmers more money so he can make a good living for his family.

One question that came up is how do you control volunteer corn in a quad stack that will be resistant to glyphosate and glufosinate? These are chemical names for RoundUp and Liberty, now sold as Impact herbicides.

My first question is why would you want the quad stack in the first place? I don't want or need that now. I do live in the land of rolling hills and crop rotation and conventional corn genetics still perform as well as their modified cousins.

Those conventional hybrids are getting harder to find. Since Monsanto Company rules the roost on genetics, they want to sell what makes them more money and that is modified hybrids by genetic insertion.

The farming field is wide open right now from land value, rent, input costs, machinery costs and the list goes on and on.

I am sure it is that way for many businesses.

Technology has surely changed the way we farm and live.

The next front is hard to imagine. Many of us can't digest the last front yet.

Ed Winkle