Moving from the city to a small farm is the right choice for many families. Is farming life new to you? Some families mistakenly romanticize life in the country. Farming the land is hard work and involves financial risk. Smart novices consider not only their agriculture interests, but also their financial resources, attributes of their property and benefits of the crops they choose to plant.

The crops are in and the work in the fields is over for the year. You can sit back and relax. Wrong, your farm equipment is the bread and butter of your operation and if you maintain it properly by paying attention to records, cleaning, drying, lubricating, having a suitable workshop, getting engine oil analyzed, and appropriate servicing and tuning you could save a lot of frustration in the fields and potentially thousands of dollars.

$50 Off per ton or $1.25 Off per bag plus No-Payments/No-Interest* until June 30, 2010 on 40 Bags or More! See details.

On January 20th, Mike Peacock and Dr. Jody Wade from Southern States Cooperative conducted a Cattle Care Webinar. It provided insightful information on beef health and nutrition during winter calving. If you missed the webinar, you can catch it again right here!

Beyond a regular supply of nutritious fresh eggs, you may want to sell your eggs to others. Such sales can yield profits for you and a quality, locally produced product for your customers.

With late harvests and wet weather, getting fertilizer down early was nearly impossible this past fall. It’s not too late to get a head start on your spring fertilizer needs! Purchase your fertilizer and application services from Southern States between NOW and January 31, 2010 and take advantage of No Payments/ No Interest until June 1, 2010, followed by Prime +2% APR*.

Winter Wheat can be more profitable as it requires fewer inputs than spring wheat and it has a higher yield potential; the winter wheat harvest for 2009 for South Carolina averaged 55 bushels per acre, a reduction of just over eight per cent from 2008.

On December 9th, Mike Nash and Dr. Lance Minnear from Southern States Cooperative conducted a Poultry Nutrition Webinar. It provided insightful information on the nutritional requirements of chickens in backyard conditions, as well as some management aspects of raising and caring for birds in the backyard environment. If you missed the webinar, you can catch it again right here!

Put your money to work today!
Southern States has been farmer-owned since 1923. And, our years of working with farmers have taught us what farmers, like you, need. That’s why, unlike a lot of other pre-payment programs, Southern States pre-payment credits can be used for anything we sell, including fuel and fencing. There are no limitations. The dealers participating in the program have the equipment and supplies you want, when you want them. So, placing your hard earned dollars with a Southern States pre-payment program makes a lot of sense.

Chickens are a fresh, nutritious source of home grown meat and eggs. The birds also provide teens and children with exhibition animals for county fairs. Chickens can be raised in rural, suburban and urban settings. However, check your local laws and zoning ordinances to see if keeping chickens is allowed, and if so, under what rules.

Maintain a healthy flock of chickens by providing a balanced diet, clean and appropriately sized housing and sanitary living conditions. Optimal growth and performance depend on balanced nutrition.

Crop rotation planning is not a new tool in the farming armory, the Romans practiced a system known as, “food, feed, and fallow” 2,000 years ago. The basics haven’t changed that much. Crop rotation promotes soil fertility, can contain plant disease, help prevent weed infestation, and last and by no means least, lessen the risk or impact of insect infestations and thus lessen the need for costly and sometimes environmentally unfriendly pesticides.

Soybean rust is a fungus that targets the foliage of the soybean plant. Previously prevalent in Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and India, the disease has since found its way to South Africa, Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. There are two types of fungi that cause soybean rust. Phakopsora pachyrhiz is the most aggressive form of soybean rust and was first identified in the U.S. in 2004 in Louisiana. Read more about soybean rust, its effects and how it may affect our farmers.

• Soybean Rust Profiled
• Strategies for lessening the impact of Asian soybean rust

Spray drift is a serious concern for agricultural property owners, their neighbors and crop protectant spray operators. When crop protectants drift off-target, they can cause health issues and property damage, and can harm the environment. Knowledgeable spray operators understand what can cause drift and then they work diligently to mitigate those factors in reducing spray drift.

• Don't get the drift - spray drift that is
• Using the proper equipment can reduce spray drift