You might be surprised to learn how long cover crops influence soil microbes. Emily Hansen, an Illinois State University graduate student in biological sciences, detected cover crops from the previous year continued influencing soil microbes after a soybean crop was harvested. Read her latest research and how it could help soil health. Read more

Fuel shortage challenges have gotten so bad in Ukraine that some farmers are bouncing from gas station to gas station just to fill up 5-gallon jugs with diesel. Gordie Siebring, an Iowa native who moved to Ukraine to farm in the 1990s, described the current environment and provided a planting update to RFD’s Rita Frazer. “We’ve made some slow progress,” he said. Read more LISTEN: Gordie Siebring describes the logistical challenges Ukrainian farmers face while attempting to plant crops amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

Agricultural producers and landowners have enrolled 2 million acres through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The 2022 total, which so far represents acres enrolled through the General CRP signup, will likely increase as USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) accepts acres for enrollment through the CRP Continuous, CRP Grasslands and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) signups. Read more

Illinois farmers have about four to six weeks before final planting dates have them turning to federal crop insurance. Doug Yoder, crop agency manager for COUNTRY Financial, emphasized the final planting date is not the final date you can plant a crop, but rather it’s the final date you can plant a crop before your crop insurance guarantee starts being reduced 1% per day after the final plant date. Read more

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer improved in April, up 8 points to a reading of 121. Although farmer sentiment is improving with strong commodity prices, Purdue’s Jim Mintert says high input costs remain a top concern. “It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of the cost increases producers say they are facing,” he said. Read more

Bryce Anderson, retired ag meteorologist for DTN, said cool and wet conditions are in play the next seven to 10 days. “This is the slowest corn planting we’ve seen since 2013,” he told RFD’s DeLoss Jahnke. “I don’t think we’re going to really open things up for fieldwork chances on a large-scale basis until the middle part of May.” Listen to his extended forecast. Listen