Michaels to Scientists & Policy-Makers: Look at Farm Progress

Midwestern BioAg CEO Tony Michaels told one of the most influential audiences of scientists and policy leaders in the U.S. that many of the necessary advances in agriculture were already happening on Midwestern farms.
In a keynote address to the annual meeting of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), Michaels described progress at several farms currently being managed with the help of Midwestern BioAg products and services.
In each case, before touching on environmental issues, he made it clear that these farms have …

Improving Yields & Quality

The first year of using Midwestern BioAg (MBA) fertilizers led to a 15 percent yield increase in soybeans, while oats grown on soils that had used MBA fertility for multiple years saw significant gains in nutritional values, according to two studies done in concert with a large food company (LFC). In both cases, the BioAg fertility program outperformed industry-standard recommendations.
The soybean results come from the first year of a six-year study designed to analyze how Midwestern BioAg fertilizers and practices affect soil biology, crop yields …

Waking the Soil

Forty-year farmer and Marine veteran Gary Rademacher never stops improving. When he first started farming near Holdingford, Minnesota in the 1970s, 100-bushel corn yields and 40-bushel soybean yields were the status-quo. “Those were bar-stool yields,” said Rademacher, “yields you could go into town and be proud of.”
Rademacher’s farm has come a long way in the past 40 years. Today, he averages 200-bushel corn and 66-bushel soybeans in the short Minnesota growing season. “If you always do everything the same, you’ll get the same yields.

The Farming Pharmacist

A New Jersey native — with no farmers in his family tree — is now a successful beef breeder and cash cropper in Minnesota’s Winona County, southeast of Minneapolis. Tom Scarponcini came to his beautiful Rushford-area farm by way of Maine, where he started a small enterprise pasturing 16 head of cattle and learning about rotational grazing. “I wanted to be a farmer, but I have no idea where that came from,” he says.
After getting a taste of farming in Maine, Scarponcini wanted to expand …

Midwestern BioAg Expands South and East

Two new regional Midwestern BioAg facilities, one in Ohio and the other in Illinois, will improve customer service and make more product locally available as Midwestern BioAg continues to grow and expand.
At Bellefontaine, Ohio, approximately 60 miles northwest of Columbus, the new BioAg facility includes 5,000 square feet of warehouse space and 2,500 square feet of office space. The warehouse provides on-site storage, improving product availability as well as serving as a clearinghouse for organizing small loads.

Top 6 Benefits of Applying Calcium

With farmers searching for new ways to increase yields, they’re looking more closely at nutrients and minerals. Gone are the days when it was all about N-P-K. Today, growers are learning how to enhance fertilizer performance, soil health, and plant nutrition.
Ag scientists are providing new information on the benefits of applying natural inputs like calcium to get better results.
“Calcium kicks soil into high gear,” says Leroy Stuecker, a Midwestern BioAg customer who farms in Lee County, Iowa.

5 Ways Biological Farming Can Improve Your Operation

What’s coming down the pipeline to help farmers increase profitability? Biological farming has been getting a lot of attention lately — and for good reasons. Genetic technology and equipment innovations have made dramatic changes in farm management and profitability within a generation. Yet most farmers are still using the same fertilizers their fathers used. That’s where looking at soil nutrients comes in, says Bob Yanda, a 25-year biological farming industry veteran and Vice President of Development for Midwestern BioAg.

BioCal® in Rotation

As we move forward into fall, it’s important to remember a valuable piece of information—all part of how we got to where we are…
Manage the agronomics
The term “Agronomics” can be misused in many ways, but it all comes down to maximizing the crop yield while maintaining the soil ecosystem.
BioCal® has been an integral part of many successes we have had at MBA, and you have had as a farmer. 

From the Farm of Gary Zimmer

Dear Farmer/Agribusiness person,
We are glad to have gotten through the year with enough feed for the cattle. It was not a fun year. Where are we going to go after having experienced the summer of 2012? By July 20, I thought it was over. With no rain in sight, every promise fizzled. We obtained a temporary permit to pump water out of Otter Creek. By the time we got that paperwork done, found the equipment, realized the hassles and found that there were only small …