I have become a big fan of technology. Although I’m a traditionalist at heart, I have seen the huge positive impact of technology on farms and ranches firsthand. I’m convinced that technology is the tool that will allow farmers of the future to feed the growing world population. No matter which direction we turn, technology is making waves. The way we communicate, the way we select seed, view fertility, handle pests and build organic matter are all tied intimately to…

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I was talking the other day with some well-meaning, but misguided urban folks about the impact of drought on farmers, farm families and rural communities. I was trying to explain how most of the corn we raise in Nebraska goes to livestock feed and ethanol. I was trying to explain the difference between field corn, popcorn and sweet corn. I thought I was making some headway in the discussion, when these lifelong city residents asked me if we had computers on the farm. It was then that I…

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I’ve been attending workshops lately dealing with resistance issues. At the weed herbicide resistance field day in David City, I heard experts and researchers say that we need to rotate our way out of resistance issues. Rotate chemistries of our herbicides, rotate crops, rotate herbicide tolerance and insect traits. My head even started to rotate after a while. We’ve heard this before. We’ve been told for years that rotation was a good idea. Crop rotation is a longstanding…

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When Plainview native, Brandon Christiansen, was sitting in the classroom during his Senior year of high school, he had no desire to return to the farm. Although he grew up helping his father, Rick, he didn’t think the farm had a future for him. Rick says that he always believed his son would one day return. He recalls the days when young Brandon would curl up asleep inside the door of the farm house, so his father wouldn’t forget to wake him and allow him to ride along when…

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We Americans are so fortunate. We have the safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply on earth. I don’t think most American consumers appreciate this fact completely. As a nation, we do not know hunger as they do in other countries. There is no question that hunger exists in our country, and it is something we should diligently work to stamp out. But, as a nation, we have not known hunger, except perhaps during the Great Depression. As we celebrate National Agriculture Week…

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Five percent of households in the state rely on dial-up Internet, but more Nebraskans have broadband than the national average.   We are wired, at least when we compare ourselves with the rest of the country. That’s the word from a survey conducted in 2010 by the University of Nebraska Center for Applied Rural Innovation. Results of the survey, shared at a series of broadband forums making their way across the state, were a little surprising, but in a good way. I came into this…

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When automatic tractors become the norm, farmers can multitask like never before.   I love all the new technology and precision ag tools on the market today. Most farmers who are utilizing these tools tell us that the tools earn their way and add immensely to the efficiencies on their farms. They save input costs, help prevent fatigue and conserve valuable seed and nutrients, placing seed, fertilizer and other inputs where they will produce the most profit. Simply put, precision tools…

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