Crop Production And Management

Products, such as the EasyKeeper Herd Manager , are available to help track livestock, their health and sales. For instance, a lightning strike could kill six of your best cattle in an instant.

Pruning is as much art as it is science—and never more so than it is in the orchard. Remove any branches that are low to the ground. Proper fruit-tree pruning is a deciding factor in both fruit production and tree health.

“Then, pull back on watering, so by harvest time, you've stopped all watering.” Besides conserving water, another advantage to this method is that the resulting fruit will have a more intense tomato flavor.

To a large extent, modern gardening mimics big ag instead of nature. He describes the sensations of life surrounding him, from the softness of the earth to the sounds of frogs and toads.

It's best to rotate goats quickly and use them strategically in the woods, especially to clear out poison ivy, briars, honeysuckle and other invasive species. The woods offer a nice environment, as well as many of the materials, needed to grow food.

Sycamore, ash oak and evergreen elm trees are particularly prone to anthracnose, though other deciduous and evergreen trees, as well as fruits, vegetables and grasses, can be infected, as well.

Once you've made a single frame, an assembly line approach can help speed the process by building all the frames that will go between a single set of rafters. Your drying screens will be based off the length of the roll, so be sure to measure so you don't...

Topping a tree involves hacking off the main leader branches of the tree, leaving only ugly, flat cuts. Learn more about growing trees from HobbyFarms.com: 10 Reasons to Plant a Farm Tree Growing Nut Trees 7 Common Tree-Transplant Mistakes Protect Trees...

Read the full articles in Popular Farming Series: Orcharding , a publication with in-depth information for those who grow or would like to grow orchard crops. For example … Birds adore mulberries, so planting mulberry trees can distract them from eating...

Lombardy Poplar Although not generally recommended as a top-notch windbreak tree, if aesthetics are important and you're looking for an attractive, stately tree that can help reduce wind levels, lombardy poplars might be the tree for you.

Kaolin clay products, such as Surround, coat the developing fruit with a white clay dusting that discourages pests. Don't prune fruit trees now, as this chore is best done in late winter.

No plant stores more carbon for longer periods of time than trees. The management of trees on the farm can serve as another cash crop, but it takes a lot longer to harvest. Evergreen trees can add a splash of life to that drab winter scene.

This also means that these tiny trees can be surprisingly old. However, removing them is easier said than done. Much to my surprise, it was more than 20 years old. And … are those apple leaves?

But so is the calmest autumn day when everything's going perfectly and chores are over in a snap. Very few people can watch a mama sow gently nose her piglets while they skitter underfoot.

The trees will look a little funny coated in the white spray, but it's well worth it. Although these insects are most common on apples, they also attack plums, pears and cherries. Hang two traps per full-sized tree a few weeks before bud break.

“However, as the sprouts increase in size, the cankers also increase in size. They are also encouraged to visit, tour and help out on the organization's research farms in Meadowview, Va., and have access to expert advice on growing chestnuts.

They are naturally occurring from plants. That's, in fact, a distress signal from the plant, warning others around that there's a dangerous predator about—in this case, a lawnmower.

Here are five trees you want to avoid planting to keep your livestock safe. The growing leaves and acorns contain tannin and can be toxic to livestock if eaten in large amounts. As with oak trees, a buckeye tree or two near your pastures probably won't...

Commercial growers can use sources that rigorously screen the seed fields for nematodes, but small-scale growers have a harder time finding guaranteed nematode-clean stock. Tags garlic diseases and pests , garlic problems , Lists , nematodes , thrips...

To sit still and wonder at all that is going on around us. It occurred to me that I had a way to explain that there wasn't really anything “occult” or intimidating here. We need science to back up the “folklore” of our ancestors.

It's often served as a tea in formula with other herbs soothing to the lungs with a bit of honey added to it. The plant is propagated by birds that eat the fruits and drop the seeds, as well as by rhizomes, and the combination of its vining habit and...

Buy soybean meal 12.000 Have Soybeans for sale. Competitive with todays rates. Please contact only if you are a serious buyer.

Should I Try Farming With Draft Animals? Let's be honest, that wouldn't be so bad. And admittedly, what it describes would be a little by default, but it's certainly provocative, no?

A cool-season pasture can dramatically reduce your need for stored feed and extend your grazing season through the winter months. “The only time I've had to feed hay is during drought years.” In the 1990s, dairy farming across the U.S. changed, with...

Fortunately, digging a few drainage ditches can solve the problem! Needless to say, there's going to be some mud! And while mud is an expected side effect of the spring thaw , that doesn't mean that we have to stand aside and let mud puddles take shape...

Fly predators do not kill adult flies, so you must eliminate them with insecticides. Fly-control Products In addition to keeping your barn as clean and dry as possible, you can buy a number of products to get a handle on fly populations in your buildings...

Wildlife Corridors Wildlife corridors need to be maintained on wild farms. Crops choices on wild farms are determined based upon what the site can sustain instead of utilizing it until depleted.