One of the goals with nitrogen in crop production is to make sure as much as possible is available to the plant. As a key component of amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins and enzymes, Nitrogen is present in the roots where the proteins and enzymes help regulate water and nutrient uptake. How are nitrogen stress and water stress related?

Did you catch “The Big Game” on Sunday? Regardless of whether your team won, without our farmers, we wouldn’t have a game to watch!

These are very uncertain times in the global market, and the agriculture industry is no exception. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, markets were facing problems brought on by the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Their struggles resulted in a major fall in the price of oil. Now with the coronavirus pandemic causing many markets to effectively shut down, the demand for oil has plummeted. This low demand combined with the price war have led to the lowest oil prices we have seen in years.

Planting dates and plant progression vary year to year due to variable temperatures. It’s not unusual for growers to use calendars to predict plant development, but the fact of the matter is that management decisions based off of planting calendars are not always accurate. Growing degree units, on the other hand, are based off of current temperature data and are a more accurate method of predicting plant progression.

Did you know that the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has several programs in place to help farmers pay for and implement conservation practices? Applications are taken year round, but there are deadlines to receive funding for the current year - some of which are in the next couple of weeks! Keep reading to find out the upcoming deadline in your state. 

I am sure you have heard many times that it is a good idea to use cover crops on your farm. We want to explain why it is a good idea and also give you some resources from accredited researchers and farmers on how to plant your cash crop into your cover crop. Additionally, we will give you information on how to apply for cost share contracts with NRCS for help getting started with cover crops and other sustainable practices.

When speaking with our customers regarding Weather Stations, we learned there was a need for an easy-to-use software application combined with accurate weather data. In 2019, Trellis added its telemetry to the Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station, allowing growers to get accurate weather data every 15 minutes.

It’s been about 10 months since Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, but a lot has happened since then! Here are the top 5 things you want to know about the latest legislation and how it affects your decisions now and as you prepare for next season.

Growers used to be able to rely upon predictable weather patterns during the growing season. Here in the Southeast, for instance, growers used to rely on a consistent summer rainfall to help their crops . However, over the past 4 or 5 years, growers have experienced wild swings in weather patterns, ranging from severe drought to heavy rains dumping more than three inches at a time. 

Farmers and consultants call, text, and email us every day to assist them in viewing their sensors. It is important that The Fields page in the Trellis Dashboard allows users to see an overview of each field, and whether the weighted average of the sensors in the field are wet, ok, or dry, based on the soil texture, crop type, and recorded readings. But the devil is in the details, right? How do you make sense of the soil moisture charts and use them to make decisions?

Growers and consultants often ask us, “How did you determine the Wet, OK, & Dry zones on the soil moisture chart?” & “How do I know when to irrigate?” With the growing season gearing up, we thought it would be a great time to dive into that topic!