Boots In The Field Report
Business & Finance
About
One of the founding pillars of Crop-Tech Consulting is integrating a systems approach to farming. Crop-Tech is continually adding to their expertise and services. To aid in this process, CTC conducts over 150 test plots every year and works in conjunction with Farm Journal to gather research data on the industry’s equipment, practices, and technology. The Boots in the Field Report features Crop-Tech Consulting agronomist Ken Ferrie. He will keep you up-to-date by describing what he is seeing while in the field.
Episodes
- Episode 387: Boots In The Field Report May 15, 2026
In this week's Boots In The Field Report Ken gives a recap of some of the issues being called in from the field, planting updates, and a warning to map the gullies in fields that will get fixed this fall to avoid equipment damage this seas…
- Episode 386: Boots In The Field Report May 7, 2026
In this week’s episode, Ken Ferrie defines what constitutes a CTC “A+” planting rating and the specific environmental conditions needed to achieve it. He breaks down the CTC stoplight signals, showing growers how to use these metrics to gu…
- Episode 385: Boots In The Field Report April 29, 2026
Ken gives a quick update to the planting window warnings according to current forecasts.
- Episode 384: Boots In The Field Report April 20, 2026
Ken Ferrie talks frost damage on beans and planting windows for corn in this Boots In The Field Report
- Episode 383: Boots In The Field Report April 17, 2026
Ken was in Lindsay Ontario giving a presentation for the Durham Soil and Crop Improvement Association and got the chance to talk to a couple of Canadian farmers about what 2025 looked like for them and what they are planning for the 2026 c…
- Episode 382: Boots In The Field Report April 2, 2026
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie talks about how in the early planted beans, growers need to be watchful for a need to replant the ponds and to keep a close eye on conventional tillage fields for crusting. He encourages…
- Episode 381: Boots In The Field Report March 19, 2026
We need warm temperatures, moisture, and time for decomposition of last year’s crop. Due to the dry fall and cold winter temperatures, we will be facing a heavier carbon penalty this spring since we didn’t get much decomposed last fall. In…
- Episode 380: Boots In The Field Report February 27, 2026
Ken talks about what to consider in several areas due to drought conditions; tillage, anhydrous applications, topdressing wheat, population and hybrid selection and more in this week’s Boots In The Field Report!
- Episode 379: Boots In The Field Report February 5, 2026
Ken continues to answer questions that came in during our CTC Winter Virtual College and answers the following questions: “Where would you rank the closing wheel system when it comes to planter attachment updates in comparison to all the o…
- Episode 378: Boots In The Field Report January 28, 2026
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie walks through some of the questions that come in during the Virtual College about tillage tools and how to evaluate which is the right one for your situation.
- Episode 377: Boots In The Field Report January 9, 2026
In this week’s Boots in the Field Report Ken Ferrie walks through some important aspects of doing a good year end review session as you look forward to the coming growing season. “What worked, what didn’t, and why?” He also gives his…
- Episode 376: Boots In The Field Report December 12, 2025
Ken does a round robin crop recap with some of our northern growers who came to Osage, IA to help with the hand shelling day.
- Episode 375: Boots In The Field Report November 28, 2025
Ken recaps the IL edition of the hand shelling day and talks about things to consider when picking up new ground in this week’s episode of Boots In the Field Report
- Episode 374: Boots In The Field Report November 6, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks all things fall tillage including adjustments for dry soil and warnings about anhydrous applications in these drought conditions.
- Episode 373: Boots In The Field Report October 24, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken talks on streaks from aerial fungicide applications can skew plot data if not accounted for, tough tillage situations, why spreading out your planting window is so crucial, checking stalk qualit…
- Episode 372: Boots In The Field Report October 1, 2025
Beans are disappearing fast, but make sure to keep an eye on stalk quality while waiting for corn to dry down, especially in fields that didn’t get sprayed. Everyone at the field be on the lookout for signs of a field fire and of tea…
- Episode 371: Boots In The Field Report September 17, 2025
Drier areas showing some crazy swings in bean yields within a field. Ken shares that corn that dies before black layer will dry down slower, reminds growers to recalibrate yield monitors as need with moisture swings between fields, a…
- Episode 370: Boots In The Field Report September 8, 2025
“Don’t ignore your gas gauge” Ken Ferrie talks initial yields coming in from early April corn and breaks down why a statement taken out of context can be very dangerous for approaching phosphorus applications this fall in this week’s Boots…
- Episode 369: Boots In The Field Report August 26, 2025
In this Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie recaps his Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois farm visits comparing disease and insect pressure, pollination progress, moisture status, and yield estimates across the different territo…
- Episode 368: Boots In The Field Report August 13, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie reports high variability from field to field in pollination issues and disease pressure for corn in central IL. Between tip pull back, tar spot, and southern rust some of the top end yiel…
- Episode 367: Boots In The Field Report July 31, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers how heavy fog delayed pollination and what problems that caused. He advises scouting the fields and noting the issues with pollination now when the cause is evident instead of being mysti…
- Episode 366: Boots In The Field Report July, 14, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie covers how current weather patterns are setting the stage in Tar Spot Alley and shares an update on three new counties where tar spot has been confirmed. Ken also dives into pollin…
- Episode 365: Boots In The Field Report July 3, 2025
Ken covers how pollination uniformity can change the amount of silk clipping pressure a field can take, wide spread potassium deficiencies, how bean stage needs to be evaluated before doing rescue applications, and the elephant in the room…
- Episode 364: Boots In The Field Report June 20, 2025
In this week "Boots In The Field Report" Ken Ferrie dives deep into the "carbon penalty." He explains what this is, what specific conditions trigger it, and why growers are seeing a significantly worse impact this year compared to previous…
- Episode 363: Boots In The Field Report June 13, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie catches up with Matt Duesterhaus in the western part of the state and they talk about beans caught in the carbon penalty, herbicide carryover, sulfur deficiency, in season look at plot f…
- Episode 362: Boots In The Field Report May 30, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken talks evaluating stands and diagnosing causes of non-uniformity. He covers why growers may have seen even emergence initially but now are seeing uneven plants. Ken stresses the importance of kno…
- Episode 361: Boots In The Field Report May 23, 2025
This week on the "Boots in the Field Report," Ken discusses the recent weather and dust storms, highlighting concerns about residue, sandblasting, and replant decisions. He also addresses nutrient and herbicide loss due to the lack o…
- Episode 360: Boots In The Field Report May 16, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers why timeliness is important when it comes to making replant decisions and how accurate stand counts and ear counts are crucial in making the right call. For beans, the count is mor…
- Episode 359: Boots In The Field Report May 2, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie covers the good coming from this rain delay for spreading out our crop stages and reducing risks. He also reminders growers to switch up planting order for beans now that we are back in…
- Episode 358: Boots In The Field Report April 22, 2025
With a green light for planting corn in central IL this week, Ken advises growers to spend a lot of time on the ground checking planter settings to make sure it is set correctly before going full out. He covers setting down pressure, check…
- Episode 357: Boots In The Field Report April 8, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks about thinking through conserving water with your tillage decisions, reminds growers to hoe before they know and recaps what the seed results that are back are indicating abou…
- Episode 356: Boots In The Field Report March 25, 2025
The first podcast on what to consider when changing to corn on corn produced a flurry of questions coming in, so this week Ken dives into questions like: Which fields do I choose for going corn on corn? What hybrids do I pick? Why do…
- Episode 355: Boots In The Field Report March 17, 2025
This week in the Boots In The Field Podcast, Ken Ferrie talks spring anhydrous warnings, compaction from 1st pass reminder and tips to think about with early beans
- Episode 354: Boots In The Field Report March 10, 2025
With current commodity prices, several growers are looking at switching some fields to corn on corn for a better ROI. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie issues some reminders of things to think about or plan for when switc…
- Episode 353: Boots In The Field Report March 3, 2025
While we don’t plan for a drought, we can make sure we are picking the right hybrid for the ground and our management style that will mitigate risks like a drought. Matching defensive ground with a defensive hybrid and offensive ground wit…
- Episode 352: Boots In The Field Report February 7, 2025
In this weeks episode Ken Ferrie gives an update on where we stand with 45Z
- Episode 351: Boots In The Field Report January 21, 2025
This winter growers are asking about what to do when they notice they have stand issues and Ken Ferrie gives some tips for how to hunt down the root of the problem in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. Yield maps can tell us where a pr…
- Episode 350: Boots In The Field Report January 3, 2025
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie answers a grower’s question about if you can create enough efficiency in banding fertilizer in beans to be able to reduce the amount of product applied. There are several factors that pl…
- Episode 349: Boots In The Field Report December 23, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken answers a question that came in from a Beyond the Basics series viewer concerning what to consider when laying out a 4R nutrient plan that involves manure.
- Episode 348: Boots In The Field Report December 12, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers some things to consider when evaluating how many acres to allot for new hybrids that are winning yield contests. He also has an interview discussing farming in Utah from a recent m…
- Episode 347: Boots In The Field Report November 22, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie walks through considerations for fall tillage and if the window closes, plan Bs for getting ready next spring. He explains the different considerations for growers this fall depending on…
- Episode 346: Boots In The Field Report November 1, 2024
A 4R nitrogen plan starts now. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie reminds growers that if they are applying anhydrous this fall that they need to do it in conditions that will allow it to seal and conserve the nitrogen bei…
- Episode 345: Boots In The Field Report October 28, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks early plot results from fields harvested last week and also walks growers through options on fall tillage for the dry conditions we are facing.
- Episode 344: Boots In The Field Report October 11, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie advises growers to have a harvest fire plan, and make sure everyone is aware of the plan and their part in the plan. In the dry areas he also recommends not just doing the stalk push test…
- Episode 343: Boots In The Field Report September 27, 2024
In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie says yield information is coming in slow, but yield reports are strong. How yields are affected by this late season drought depends on soil type, compaction present, and health of crop c…
- Episode 342: Boots In The Field Report September 5, 2024
If you aren’t seeing photocopy stands and photocopy ears, do a little investigation before the combine rolls through to figure where adjustments need to be made for next year to improve your systems approach.
- Episode 341: Boots In The Field Report August 30, 2024
Ken gives a crop condition recap and a pest scout report from farm visits. The dry weather has some big ears wanting to tip down early and nitrogen deficiencies are showing up strong in fields that didn’t have the nitrogen plan adjusted fo…
- Episode 340: Boots In The Field Report August 19, 2024
In this week’s #BIFR Ken gives a crop report both locally and on the road from OH, IA, and IN and recaps what he sees as the biggest risk to each area in finishing out their growing season.
- Episode 339: Boots In The Field Report August 5, 2024
Ken Ferrie covers crop conditions from his farm visits in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. He reports cases of SDS, white mold, red crown rot, aphids, and tar spot. He mentions that this is the heaviest corn aphid year he has seen an…
- Episode 338: Boots In The Field Report July 8, 2024
During the roundtrip from Heyworth, Illinois to Northeast Iowa and back, the area affected by heavy rains was larger than Ken was expecting to see. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report he gives a recap of the field conditions along the…