Watching tractors and grain carts move through the field alongside combines is a common sight during harvest time in the Midwest, but a new project from Kinze Mfg. could make the grain cart operator “optional” once tractors are programmed to run themselves.
The Kinze Autonomy Project uses autonomous agricultural equipment to complete many tasks on the farm with minimal direct human input.
“It’s our goal to help reduce grower fatigue and help them make the most of their harvest,” says Susanne Kinzenbaw Veatch, vice president and chief marketing officer at Kinze, in a company news release.
Kinze has also designed an autonomous planter that doesn’t require an operator in the tractor cab. A field map, including field boundaries and any predesigned non-field areas like waterways, is loaded into the global positioning system. Once the farmer takes the tractor to that field, the system generates the most efficient planting method.
“As growers ourselves, we know how crucial it is to be productive during the short planting and harvest windows,” adds Kinzenbaw Veatch. “With this technology, producers can set the equipment to run all night if necessary.”
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
“Harvest Fatigue” May Become A Thing of the Past
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Celebrating National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, Oct. 21
It’s funny how nostalgic something as simple as a pumpkin can be as people are reminded of Halloween and various other childhood memories. The smell of Pumpkin Pie Spice causes me to reminisce of Thanksgivings and Christmases from yesteryear.
I love pumpkin anything – except pumpkin pie. (I know, call me crazy!) This Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe is a great alternative to pie, especially for those cheesecake fans out there. Add a dollop of whipped cream to the top and you’re all set for a delicious treat.
PS. Since they’ve created a national holiday to celebrate National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, it has to be worth a try!
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If you’d rather watch your calories this season, Meg Benson of Clermont, Iowa, shares this Cooking Light recipe with only 256 calories per serving and less than 10 grams of fat. She says this cheesecake is also good with a graham cracker crust and recommends going heavy on the spices!
COOK’S TIP: Meg says it took almost 2 hours for the cheesecake to bake in her oven. She also notes that she bakes cheesecakes in a water bath and then lets them sit in the oven for an hour or so after turning off the oven off.
Light Ginger Pumpkin Cheesecake
Photo Source: MyRecipes.com
Yield: 12 slicesIngredients
Crust:
- 56 reduced-fat vanilla wafers (about 8 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
- Cooking spray
Filling:
- 3 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Dash of allspice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- To prepare crust, place wafers in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until finely ground. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
- To prepare filling, beat cheeses with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and next 8 ingredients (granulated sugar through vanilla), beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin; beat well.
- Pour cheese mixture into prepared crust; bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set. (Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched.) Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill at least 8 hours.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
WHY DROPPED EARS ARE WIDESPREAD IN 2011
It’s been said that a 1,000 variables affect a crop from the time seed is planted in the spring until grain is harvested that fall. The 2011 growing season certainly put that theory to the test!
Many Midwest growers planted their crops much later than they would’ve liked because heavy spring rainfalls prevented them from getting in the fields any sooner. Just when plants started to look really good across much of the country, several thousand crop acres were hit by straight-line winds in July and August. Then, adding insult to injury, many of these same areas suffered from excessive heat and lack of moisture during a key period of crop development in late summer. In addition to these challenging growing season conditions, this fall many fields suffered from an early frost plus were subject to rapid dry down from above-normal fall temperatures.
Environmental conditions in 2011 certainly weakened corn stalks and predisposed ears to drop at the shank. It’s no wonder that Wallaces Farmer reports corn lodging is a greater problem than normal, with 21% of Iowa’s corn crop experiencing moderate to heavy lodging compared to 10% on average. And 10% of Iowa’s corn crop is experiencing moderate to heavy ear droppage compared to 5% normally.
Although stalk rot is the cause of lodging in most cases, they are not the only cause. Below are other reasons for early ear droppage:
- Damage to conventional hybrids by European Corn Borer. Ears that have dropped and still have husks on them are typically caused by European corn borer.
- Nutrient imbalances and/or deficiencies predispose corn plants to stalk rot and stalk lodging. Potassium deficiency has been shown to reduce stalk quality and strength, and stalk rot resistance.
- When fast dry down occurs, the ear shank may not develop properly. Sometimes a shank gets pinched if there are a lot of aborted kernels near the butt of the ear, thus leading to poor attachment and wind causes ears to drop.
Several environmental factors contributed to the higher amount of ear droppage this fall. While we can’t control Mother Nature, we can help minimize its effects through hybrid selection. When making purchasing decisions for the 2012 growing season, remember that not all hybrids offer the same degree of stalk strength and some are more susceptible than others to stalk rot. Search for the strongest genetic package that delivers the traits needed to fit your particular growing situation.
At Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, we partner with our farmer-customers to identify the traits necessary for their growing conditions, above- and/or below-ground pests and weed control options. A new option for corn growers in 2012 is Refuge in a Bag (RIB), which makes the complex world of refuge simple. The RIB concept involves mixing the refuge seed with both the corn borer and rootworm insect protected corn seed, so growers have everything they need to be refuge compliant in just one bag. Growers no longer need to weigh adjacent versus in-field configurations; they can simply open the bag and pour. Growers will be able to purchase the first single-bag RIB solution for the 2012 season from Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds. Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete™ Corn, a blend of 95% traited seed and 5% refuge seed. With only 5% refuge seed, you’ll be able to protect more of your acres from corn borer in the year ahead.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
“70 is the new 50”
Bill Latham, Chief Technology Officer “70 is the new 50.” Although I turned 70 years old this year, I’m not talking about my age. Rather I’m talking about the new expectations of our customers.
So many Latham customers are getting whole-field yields in the 70s and 80s now that 70 bushels per acre (bu/A) has become what a 50-bushel was 30 years ago. Latham soybean genetics, stacked with the Genuity® Roundup® Ready 2 Yield trait, is giving us yields that we’ve never before seen. The precise insertion of the RR technology without yield drag, combined with Latham genetics, is a winning combination. Our soybean lines are bred to fight common diseases – and yield robbers in our area – like Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC), as well as Phytophthora Root and Brown Stem Rot.
During the 45 years I’ve spent developing soybeans varieties, I’ve never seen anything like this! We’ve all seen test plots go over 70 and 80 bushels before, but this year we are seeing whole fields average over 80 bushels for the first time. At Dows, Iowa, an 80-acre field of Latham L2084R2 went 77.8 bu/A over the scale. At Lancaster, Wisconsin, an 84-acre field of Latham L2084R2 made 79 bu/A, and in Hawkeye, Iowa, an entire field of Latham 2183R2 broke the 80 bushel barrier!
I hope none of you believe 50 or even 60 bu/A is good enough. We hear from many farmers, who are planting our competitors’ products, say they’re excited about yields in the high 50s. Recently, I spoke with a Pioneer customer who said, “This year I got 59 bushels from my Y series soybeans. Those are some of the best yields I’ve ever had.”
“That’s a shame” I replied. “Your neighbor down the road is getting 75 bushels from Latham beans with Genuity Roudup Ready 2 Yield trait. 70 is the new 50.”
Keep in mind that Pioneer’s Y series soybeans contain the old Roundup Ready 1 technology. What is that old technology costing you?
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Serve Up Soup for Supper This Season
Crock-pot meals are a favorite this time a year: they offer flexibility at meal time since you don’t have to worry about the pot roast burning or the soup boiling dry; you can make hearty meals that will help fuel a hardworking body for hours; and crock pot recipes usually require minimal prep time.
Minimizing time in the kitchen is key for busy farm wives, who drive the combine or haul grain carts during harvest and work in town. They’re also perfect for non-farming mamas like me, who are busy chauffeuring kids between football practice and gymnastics lessons, 4-H meetings and Scout activities.
So, you can imagine how delighted I was when I visited the Nelsen family last week in southern Minnesota last week and came home with two easy-to-make, nutrition-packed recipes. Pasta Fazula Soup is a Nelsen family favorite. Shirley Nelsen got the recipe a few winters ago while visiting her sister in Texas, and it’s become a go-to meal. This meal is such a hit that her son, Patrick, requested she “teach” his fiancée, Jody, how to make it.“There isn’t much to teaching someone how to make Pasta Fazula Soup,” says Shirley with a smile. “All you really do is dump a bunch of canned items – plus a few fresh ingredients – into a crock pot. It’s a great harvest-time recipe and also freezes well.”
Shirley, who has worked for 27 years at the Hy-Vee food store in Austin, Minn., also told me about a recipe that the store’s nutritionist recently shared with her for Sweet Potatoes with Black Bean Salad. It doesn’t sound like something a Midwest family would traditionally serve at mealtime, but it certainly sounds like a great way to (1) get out of a food rut and (2) provide a satisfying last-minute supper. For those two reasons alone, I believe it’s worth having a few sweet potatoes on hand.
“The fragrant filling of beans and tomatoes adds protein,” writes Jen Haugen, registered dietitian at the Hy-Vee store in Austin, Minn., in The Austin Daily Herald’s food column. “Be sure to eat the potato skin, which is full of fiber, as well.”
Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean Salad
Photo Source: EatingWell.com
Serves 4 (1 potato each)
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutesIngredients:
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1, 15-oz. can black beans (rinsed)
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- ¾ tsp. salt
- ¼ c. reduced-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places.
- Microwave on high until tender all the way to the center, 12 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, bake at 425º for about 1 hour.)
- Meanwhile, in a medium microwaveable bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on high until just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat.)
- When cool enough to handle, slash each potato lengthwise.
- Press open to make a well in the center and spoon the bean mixture into the well.
- Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Put Safety First During Harvest
Submitted by Tracy Schlater
Marketing Director, Farm Safety For Just Kids
Harvest is such an exciting – and exhausting – time for farmers. Daylight is diminishing little by little and the weather plays an uncertain hand. Farmers must take advantage of the time they are given to get crops out of the field, so they work long hours doing a physically strenuous job.
The demands of harvest make it the most prevalent time for farm accidents. Fatigue and a lengthy list of to-dos can result in farmers sometimes cutting corners to save time. However, farmers need to remember they can’t afford to have an accident. A 10-day stay at a hospital will cost approximately $143,000 plus another $4,200 in lost productivity – such losses could wipe out a farm’s entire operating earnings for a year!
It pays to “play it safe.” Here are a few harvesting tips to avoid accidents during harvest:
- Stop at least once an hour and turn off the engine to clear plugged equipment – especially considering the extremely dry conditions.
- All guards and shields should be secured before equipment is turned on.
- Avoid sleep deprivation and take plenty of breaks.
- Always let someone know where you are and check in regularly.
- Do not allow riders unless machinery is equipped with an instructional seat.
- Ensure all lights are working properly before heading onto public roads.
For many of you, the farming operation is a family affair. Please make sure all your harvest help, especially children, are aware of the dangers of harvest. For more information about farm safety, visit fs4jk.org, or click the links above for activities pages you can complete with your kids. Stay safe and have a happy harvest!
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Time to Develop a Residue Management Plan
Baling cornstalks is an option to reduce surface residue. The loss of that much organic material will deplete some soil nutrients, however, especially Potassium. Farmers just need to bear this in mind as they develop their Nutrient Management Plans. Getting rid of crop residue can allow the soils to warm up quicker and dry out faster in the spring. But there is a fine line between removing residue to provide such benefits and leaving so much residue that it actually impedes crop development. Taking time to develop a crop residue management plan this fall may greatly improve crop emergence and reduce disease problems next spring.
Options to manage crop residue include: tillage, chopping, the use of residue cleaners or burning.
If you believe burning is your best option, keep these tips in mind from county conservationists, who were recently interviewed by the Iowa Farmer Today:
- The best time to burn is when grass has gone dormant, after the first killing freeze and into April or early May.
- Conditions need to be favorable to prevent a wildfire. The National Weather Service offers a fire weather forecast on its website. Also be cognizant of whether there is a ban on burning in the area.
- Fire breaks should be established by creating a line of bare soil to stop the fire.
- Once a burn is scheduled, notify the local fire department. That puts the department on alert in case the fire burns out of control. Once the burn is done, the local fire department should be notified again.
- Smoke also needs to be managed to avoid having smoke cover a road.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Cook Once for a Bunch!
Sticking with this month’s “pumpkin theme” for our recipes, today I’d like to share with you the amazing Pumpkin Cake Roll that Kaitlyn Bartling made when we got together a few weeks ago. I love this recipe because it’s delicious, looks gourmet but is actually quite easy to make.
Confession time: I have to admit that I never would’ve tried making a Pumpkin Cake Roll without Kaitlyn there to walk me through the steps. Now I’m looking forward to making it again soon, along with her wonderful Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole.
Cheesy Chicken & Rice is just one of the five new recipes I collected last month when I invited a group of ladies into my kitchen to “Cook Once for a Bunch.” I believe Kaitlyn actually coined this phrase to describe what happens when you get a group of friends together and prepare meals for the freezer.
Each participant brought copies of her recipe, along with enough ingredients to make that recipe six times. Then we set up an assembly line and put together meals in a matter of minutes. It helped that each person took the time to either pre-cook and cube chicken or brown hamburger ahead of time. In less than five hours, I had six different meals prepped for the freezer plus my friends had done all of my dishes and put them away. (How great is that? Kitchen cleanup is on my list of “things I really don’t enjoy.”) Some ladies chose to put the casseroles into two, 8×8 pans, which allowed them to have 12 freezer-ready meals.
Whether you’re a working wife, a farmer’s wife or stay-at-home mom, freezer-ready meals make dinner a snap. Kaitlyn, for example, enjoyed getting together before harvest began. This way she can heat up a good meal for her family without spending a lot of time in the kitchen during the busy harvest season.
What’s your favorite freezer-ready meal?
P.S. We featured Kaitlyn’s family and her recipe for Stuffed Pork Chops last October during our National Pork Month celebration. It’s a recipe worth repeating. 🙂
Wild & Cheesy Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1, 6-oz. box of long grain & wild rice with herbs, spices & seasoning packet
- 2 T. butter
- ½ c. celery, diced
- ½ c. onion, chopped
- 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 2/3 c. milk
- 1, 10.5-oz. can Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 2 c. cooked chicken
- 1 c. shredded cheddar
Directions:
- Cook rice according to package.
- Melt butter and sauté celery, onion & mushrooms until tender.
- Mix everything together and pour into buttered casserole or 9×13 pan.
- Bake 30 minutes at 425° if unfrozen.
- Bake at 350° for 90 minutes to 2 hours and leave almonds off until last 30 minutes.
Great casserole to serve for company!
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
TIPS TO AVOID COMBINE FIRES
Dry conditions and strong winds have contributed to several combine and field fires across the Midwest this harvest season.
Remember to clean and maintain your machines regularly because static electricity, which is generated as the combined moves through the field, can ignite the residue. Use a pressure washer or a compressed air blowgun to thoroughly clean your machine. Remove excess crop residue from rotating units. Frequently blow leaves and chaff off the engine with compressed air or a portable leaf blower, and remove wrapped plant materials on or near bearings, belts or other moving parts.
Mark Hanna, Iowa State University Extension agricultural and biosystems engineer, offers additional tips to prevent combine fires:
- At the beginning of each day, check engine fluid levels (such as coolant and oil).
- Check the pressurized oil supply line to the turbocharger shaft for areas that may rub from wear and start an oil leak.
- Examine exhaust or hot bearing surfaces. Repair leaking fuel or oil hoses, fittings, or metal lines immediately.
If a fire does occur, CALL 911 FIRST. Then attempt to extinguish the fire by pulling the pin on the fire extinguisher and squeezing the handles together. Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire and sweep from side to side. Remember P.A.S.S., which stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. For more tips on how to avoid and handle a combine fire, click here for a related Farm Journal article. -
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
HARVEST PROGRESSES LIKE WILDFIRE
Gusting winds, dry plant material and hot combines sparked several field fires last week throughout Latham Country. A combine fire on Thursday caused fire to stretch two miles wide and 1 mile long near Kanawha in North Central Iowa. As a result, law enforcement officials asked farmers to temporarily cease harvesting due to the elevated risk of fires.
Although harvest came to a temporary halt in some areas, great progress was made statewide over the last seven days. Twelve percent of Iowa’s corn crop has been harvested, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service report on Oct. 3, which is ahead of the 10 percent five-year average. Ninety-eight percent of Iowa’s soybean crop has turned color, but just 21 percent of the soybean crop has been harvested to date.
Select a territory in the map below to view a region’s most recent crop report, provided by Latham’s regional sales managers
