Waffles, Not Pancakes: Local Farmer’s Invention Could Improve Crop Yields

By | March 31, 2018 |
Plastic disk from TerraManus Technologies

As vice president of Shatto Milk Company, Matt Shatto also wears another hat, that of CEO of TerraManus Technologies. Shatto has come up with a simple way that he says can increase crop yields. It’s a plastic disk that, when used with regular tilling, can help soil retain water and consolidate it instead of compact it. He says…

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As High-Tech Farms Take Hold, Can Farm Towns Hold On?

By | June 17, 2017 |
The small town of Haxton, Colorado.

Brandon Biesemeier climbs up a small ladder into a John Deere sprayer, takes a seat in the enclosed cab, closes the door, and blocks out most of the machine’s loud engine hum. It is a familiar perch to the fourth-generation farmer on Colorado’s eastern plains. He turns onto a country road, heading south to spray…

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Without Big Trade Deals, Missouri Farmers Worry They’ll Lose Out

By | May 27, 2017 |
A man standing in front of his cattle

President Trump made campaign promises to pull the U.S. out of big international trade deals and focus instead on one-on-one agreements with other countries. But that has farmers worried they will lose some of the $135 billion in goods they sold overseas last year. Two years ago, Missouri rancher Mike John expected the U.S. beef…

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Big Data Is Transforming How Scientists Create Better Seeds

By | May 13, 2017 |
An Iowa State University professor.

This summer, in cornfields in Iowa and Nebraska, about a thousand small point-and-shoot digital cameras will be enclosed in waterproof cases, mounted on poles and attached to solar-powered battery chargers. They will take pictures every ten minutes as plants grow; all part of a plan to create better seeds. “We watch plants go through their…

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