As planting ramps up after spring was slow to arrive in many parts of North America, farmers will be closely monitoring their early-season fertilizer applications to ensure crops get off to a strong start. Use of nitrogen stabilizers are a staple on some farms to prolong the effectiveness of spring-applied nutrients. But a new company is beta-testing a unique alternative to chemically-applied nitrogen inhibitors.

As planting ramps up after spring was slow to arrive in many parts of North America, farmers will be closely monitoring their early-season fertilizer applications to ensure crops get off to a strong start. Use of nitrogen stabilizers are a staple on some farms to prolong the effectiveness of spring-applied nutrients. But a new company is beta-testing a unique alternative to chemically-applied nitrogen inhibitors.

In this episode of the Precision Farming Dealer podcast, Jeremy Wilson, technology specialist with Crop IMS in Effingham, Ill., shares his experience as both a service provider and farmer crunching the numbers to make farm data a decision-making precision tool.

News broke last week that, it appears the mega-merger between Bayer and Monsanto will happen, creating another diverse giant in the ag industry. The Germany-based Bayer had launched data-driven platforms including xario and Zoner in recent years. But in an increasingly crowded data management service field, those brands got little if any attention in North America.

Last week in Valley City, N.D., John Deere showcased their largest version of the 1895 No-Till Drill to date with a 60-foot model. Offered in addition to the release of the drill is the RelativeFlow Blockage Monitoring system, designed to monitor each primary tower and secondary hose on the drill for seeding blockages, and alert users of any particular issues from the cab before they occur.