Lifestyle

Increasing nitrogen & phosphorus efficiency

February 4, 2025

Plants need both Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) to grow well. A lack of these two elements limits growth. Farmers apply N & P fertilizer, especially to corn, to increase yields but there is a limit. Since the 1900’s, N fertilizer applications have increased 5X or 500% while P fertilizer inputs have increase 76%. Too much N fertilizer ties up soil P levels and other nutrients. A recent study looked at how farmers may be able to reduce N fertilizer inputs while increasing crop yields and enhancing P fertilizer use efficiency. P fertilizer stocks are running low in the USA (expected to be depleted by 2050), so farmers need to start thinking about how they can use our existing stocks of P fertilizer better, both mined and in the soil, to enhance yields.

Daughter Verena shares her adventures with the grandchildren

January 29, 2025

This is Lovina’s daughter Verena writing. I decided to write, as I have some free time. I am staying with my sister Susan’s five oldest children: Kaitlyn, 8, Jennifer, 7, Isaiah, 6, Ryan, 5, and Curtis, 5, for eight days, as Ervin’s parents took Susan and Ervin to Florida as a wedding gift. They took Ervin Jr., 1, with them. Ervin’s parents had been wanting to take them sooner, but something always came up.

Groundhog Day across the country

January 29, 2025

Groundhog Day originated in German-speaking areas of Europe. When German immigrants migrated to the United States, they brought their traditions with them, particularly those who gravitated to areas of Pennsylvania.

Lovina shares about growing church districts; family meets baby Kylie

January 28, 2025

It is Monday morning and the temperature is 19 degrees Fahrenheit. The windchill is at 7 degrees, so it feels cold when the door opens. We sure have had our share of cold temperatures. Son-in-law Tim is hoping the lakes will freeze hard so he can take his children Abigail, 8, and Timothy (T.J.), 6, ice fishing.

January 24, 2025

January is when the coldest weather generally occurs in winter. For agriculture, cold temperatures can be beneficial. Many insect and disease organisms are reduced due to the freezing and thawing. Slug and vole (field mice) populations often decline, especially if the snow is not too deep to insulate them from the cold. Another benefit occurs when microbes freeze, they split open and spill nutrients into the soil. Plant spring green up is a natural benefit as long as these enriched nutrients do not leach away.

Lovina’s daily diary for a January – Friday Diary for January 10, 2025

January 17, 2025

4:40 a.m. Our alarm rings, telling us it’s time to start a new day. Joe only works until 12:30 today, so I don’t have to pack more than some snacks for him and fill his water jug. I make him breakfast, which is the usual weekday sausage patty, egg, and cheese on tortilla. I cut an 8-inch soft tortilla into four pieces and use two every morning to make a sandwich. It’s a way to stay away from too much bread.

Dwayne Beck insights

January 16, 2025

Dr. Dwayne Beck, retired researcher, shared insights on arid farming at the Louisville National No-till meeting last week. Dwayne Beck managed the Dakotas Lake Research Farm in Pierre, SD for many years. Here are some insights.

January 16, 2025

Psalm 1: 1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walkÂ in step with the wicked or stand in the wayÂ that sinners take or sitÂ in the company of mockers, but whose delightÂ is in the law of theÂ Lord, and who meditatesÂ on his law day and night.â