Stories From The Field

“I wanted nothing to do with our family’s farm.” But over time, his attitude changed. In particular, while spending a year in Alaska as an athletic coordinator, Eric’s thoughts grew increasingly fixated on farming back home...

Roland started to experiment with biological tools for soil management by using microbial soil inoculants in conjunction with CMS (Condensed Molasses Stillage) last year. Molasses is gaining importance...

In the first place, technology provides many benefits. It changes the work on the fields, as well as in the office. Like nearly every other economic sector, work on the farm has become much more computer-driven...

When it comes to managing kochia on his farm, the last three years have been particularly challenging for Alex. “We’ve had some pretty dry years. That gives kochia a natural advantage over our crops..."

One challenge they face is a pest called the wireworm. This pest eats small corridors in the potatoes after planting. Once the potatoes are infested in most cases they-, cannot be sold anymore...

The Fuji apples in Nagamine-san’s orchard are individually hand-wrapped in protective bags, so that they achieve just the right color, sweetness and crispy texture and the farmer can delay maturity of the apples...

“That first year was difficult, but it just so happened that there was also peanut shortage. We managed to achieve an average yield of 4300 pounds per acre (approx. 4817 kg per hectare), which was really good..."

Rice, corn, wheat, coffee, bananas, fruits, nuts – all these things and much more that we see on supermarket shelves – Asia produces every day. In total, 400 million farmers work 365 days a year to feed not just their families but others throughout the world...

“In most cases we rely on the experience of the older ones. That’s the best way to learn it.” But handed-down knowledge isn’t everything. İhsan has also learned how to adapt his business to the changing times..."

 Today Necdet grows oilseed rape, sunflowers and wheat on about 200 hectares of land. He runs one of the largest farms in this region. But still, “Things are getting more and more difficult; the costs for fertilizers, for crop protection products and..."

Specialization has allowed the Rebers to fulfill the strict quality standards of the food retailers. Take salad: It has to be visually perfect, clean and meet the various residue limits. Rose Reber points to the heads of lettuce still lying in the field...

“I sell most of my crops at the local farmers’ market. My farm is quite small, so that this is the only chance for me to sell my crops. I can’t compete with the big supply chain requirements...”

“This little practice has helped me save lots of time, energy and money,” he confirms.“If we hadn’t taken these readings, I would probably be irrigating right now and getting nothing for it. Now I have the knowledge I need..."

Ross Langmaid has been responsible for his own farm since he was 17. Now he is 27, that means he’s been growing corn and soybeans - in addition to raising some 1,000 hogs - for ten years already. “And I’m pretty sure that I’m still the youngest farmer in the county..."

“It is important to use as few crop protection products as possible and as many as necessary.” That has stuck with me ever since I met Tanja Müller-Heinrich, from the small town of Gemmrigheim in Southern Germany...

For me, it was the first time I had actually seen white mold in person. It attacks the stem, and soon the entire plant shrivels up and dies. The assessment part is quite easy. You just have to look at the canopy for dried out plants...

Agriculture in East Java centers around rice and corn. These are the staples that feed the 240 million plus people currently living in this island-nation nestled in the South Pacific. That makes Indonesia the fifth-most populous country in the world...

The American Midwest is often described as one big open field. People hear “Corn Belt” and think of fields that go on forever, of a horizon line that belongs in another state. But here in Lee County, “It’s not flat,” as Tucker puts it...

1000s of drillings, 1000s of maps of the ground! Does this sound like oil exploration? It isn't. It's part of a major trend in agriculture called precision farming. A few weeks ago...

For many farmers throughout the world in 1865, farming was about small plots of land to grow vegetables, some cereals and having a handful of livestock including pigs, cows and chickens. The main aim was to provide enough fresh or preserved food for the family...

In 1865 there was only one truly global crop: wheat – still vital to many people’s diets today. Because of its worldwide reach, there are reliable figures on its production, consumption and trade from 1865 onwards...

Farming, the biggest job on earth in 1865. Farming was a lot less global than it is today. The diet of most people was based on products that could be made from locally grown grains...  

The Haber-Bosch process revolutionized farming. Through the use of cheap nitrogen fertilizer farmers achieved a sudden increase in productivity. They increased food production to the degree that they were able to keep up with a population growth...