Soil Health – More than just a soil test

Juan Aldaz2017-12-01T14:48:33-05:00

In this article, we will review "Soil Health" a more holistic approach to soil testing. In the past, we’ve written various articles about soils.  How they are formed; climatic regions and their effect on soils; soil texture; soil nutrients; and more.  Over the past few decades, as Agriculture moves more toward Sustainable Systems and away from strictly chemical-based decision making; we have found researchers and consultants have expanded their measurements of soil quality.  Many of the parameters that come [...]

November 22, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Organic Amendments and Fertilizer Spreaders

Juan Aldaz2017-11-16T18:04:09-05:00

Farmers around the world have always known the benefits of manures, composts, leaf and yard waste; and other bulky organic materials, and the fertilizer spreaders to deliver them.  With more emphasis on sustainability and recycling; reducing the use of costly chemical fertilizers, and managing the organic fraction of the soil better; advancements in the ‘science’ of it all have kept pace to assist farmers while equipment technology also has become more precise for field and operating efficiency. Sources of Bulky [...]

November 16, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Solar Energy in Agriculture

Juan Aldaz2017-11-10T14:39:12-05:00

We wanted to bring an article about Solar Energy in agriculture because in these times farmers in tropical and developing countries are learning first hand how Climate Change and Global Warming are changing the way we do things in agriculture and other industries.  A key component of mitigating Climate Change is Energy.  Without practical and reliable sources of energy, the challenges with increasing production and stepping up to processing requirements to create more value-added commodities for markets and the community. Solar [...]

November 10, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Mobile Apps for Agriculture and Internet-Cell Phone Technology Hold Promise for Developing Countries

Juan Aldaz2017-11-06T11:47:22-05:00

As technology continues developing at a breakneck pace in the US and other developed countries of the world, the use of Apps for agriculture (Smartphone Applications) has expanded well. The many apps now being used in Agriculture focus on these primary functions or specializations: Weather and Climate – farmers rely heavily on information that relates to weather and climate in real time. Each season delivers a different frequency and duration of rainfall, and wide swings in temperature can present themselves [...]

November 3, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Industrial Hemp Making Strides as an Emerging ‘New’ Crop

Juan Aldaz2017-10-27T16:52:45-05:00

Industrial Hemp, historically somewhat misunderstood by the general public, is making strides in being recognized for what it is… a crop completely different than its related strain which is still classified as a narcotic. Hemp is a form of Cannabis sativa L., is still classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S.  This past July, legislators introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017, authored across party lines and seeks to remove Hemp from [...]

October 27, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

GPS in Agriculture – A Rapidly Evolving Technology

Juan Aldaz2017-10-23T15:43:01-05:00

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has been around for a long time, but the use of GPS in agriculture is quite recent.  The ability to locate a geographic position using satellites was first introduced in the 1970’s.  GPS is really just the core technology, however.  It has evolved tremendously to real-time data exchange, which probably contributed the most to its practical application in Agriculture. It wasn’t until another layer of technology, namely, Geographic Information Systems came about that we’ve seen [...]

October 23, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Selecting a Mechanical Transplanter

Juan Aldaz2017-10-11T14:52:50-05:00

Rice Seedling Mechanical Transplanter – Source:  Rice Crop Guide - Growing Rice - Haifa Group One of the key challenges to small landholders is achieving timeliness of operations.  With the high costs associated with finding and retaining good workers when growing small acreages of crops; whether for a market or a community-supported system, the decision to mechanize certain operations can be a tough one. A good example is in the decision to purchase a mechanical transplanter.  While hand planting can be effective [...]

October 11, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Perennial Forage and Cover Crops in Tropical Climates Can Help Solve Many Problems

Juan Aldaz2017-09-29T11:32:47-05:00

Many Subtropical regions experience an extended dry season, and this is expected to increase as a trend with Global warming and shifts in climate patterns throughout the world, but cover crops can help.  Left unmanaged, dry soils will have sparse vegetation, be much warmer, and when combined, these conditions lend themselves to massive nutrient losses within the soils impacted.  The lack of soil cover from the lack of biomass subject the surface horizons to soil erosion when hard rains [...]

September 29, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Effect from Hurricanes on Farmers Can Be Devastating

Juan Aldaz2017-09-25T11:58:39-05:00

In this historically active Hurricanes season across the Caribbean and Gulf Coasts of the US, we read and see the horrific damage to homes and properties across vast areas of land.  The impact on Agriculture as an industry and farm families as a demographic is equal or greater in its impact; not the least of which is the effect on market prices to the consumer.  While the oil refineries and retailers of gasoline have the ability to be ‘ahead’ [...]

September 21, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Soil Compaction Robs Yields and Profits

Juan Aldaz2017-09-18T16:56:05-05:00

Soil compaction is a significant issue in production agriculture around the world.  It can be caused by several processes and/or activities in your crop management practices.  Essentially, soil compaction is defined as an increase in bulk density (weight of soil at a given volume) and/or a decrease in porosity (air exchange) within a soil.  It degrades the structure of a soil, and degrades the soil’s ability to drain, exchange nutrients, sustain microbial life; prevents ideal root development, and other [...]

September 18, 2017 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...