A popular tractor series for John Deere, the 6M performs work on dairy, livestock, hay and other diversified operations, including mowing and snow removal. The 2020 6M series tractors mount...
Dan Miller
Progressive Farmer Senior Editor
Dan Miller has been writing farm and ranch stories for 32 years. He came to The Progressive Farmer in October 2008 as the magazine's Midwest Editor, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prior to that, he wrote for four years at Iowa Farmer Today, also in Cedar Rapids and for two years at the Dixon Evening Telegraph, in Dixon, Ill. Among the issues he has written about are the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, the presidential elections of 1988 (including interviews with then vice president George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, Bob Dole and Jesse Jackson), the Midwest's 1993 floods, numerous farm bills, including the game-changing conservation programs of the 1980s, the introduction of genetically engineered crops, and tools and machinery. Dan was the editorial lead on PF's six Idea House programs, beginning in 2003. He has traveled widely across the United States, to Canada (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, World Trade Talks); to Germany for a look at farming practices there; to the former Soviet Union in 1989 where he reported on an agricultural system that was changing as rapidly as the nation's political system, and to Finland where he wrote about that nation's seaside fresh-food markets. Dan's writing awards include two Oscars in Agriculture, Story of the Year -- American Agricultural Editors Association -- and business journalism's Neal Award, among many others. Dan has lived in Chelsea, Alabama since 2003. He writes about land, land management, conservation, row crops, the ATV industry, shop design and structure, tools and equipment. He is married to Kim, and they have three grown children.
Recent Blogs by Author
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"SILO" is not a grain bin safety film, done large. It is a well-done feature film, two stories of time -- one where the viewer instinctively feels death only seconds away, the other played out...
More From This Author
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Machinery Link
CNH Industrial sets out to divide itself into two, separately traded entities by 2021 -- one focused on agriculture, the other focused on its highway truck business.
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Best Blog of the Week
'SILO' Brings Horrific Reality to Grain Bin Entrapment
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Handy Devices
Thomas Simpkins, Hiwassee, Virginia, had a problem with deer destroying his young fruit trees.
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The Tire Killer
The archenemy of ag tires is stubble. Brad Harris, manager of the field engineering group at Firestone, says corn and cotton stubble inflict the worst wear on agricultural tires.
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Custom Rates Rise
The cost for custom work in Nebraska has increased during the past two years. But, it is a bit surprising still, says Glennis McClure, farm and ranch management analyst for the department of ag economics, at the University of...
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Quality Fuel Maintenance
Good fuel management begins in the fuel storage tank, says Ron Jessen, director of product management and business development for Cenex, Eagan, Minnesota. Given tight tolerances for fuel in today's diesel machinery, it's...
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Rack It
Every shop has a set of go-to tools. They are the tools you spend all your time looking for--rarely are they where you think you left them.
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When To Say No
David Hula sits high in his Deere S670, its header chewing through nearly impenetrable rows of corn at 2 miles an hour--52,000 plants to the acre, 780 kernels per ear, eight rows on a pass. He watches the yield monitor tick up...
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New Equipment Rollout
These products caught our attention while walking among exhibitors at this year's fall farm shows.
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FirstLook
Lower commodity prices may make it difficult for some farmers to meet their loan obligations and pay for production expenses, a new report from USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) finds. The report examines the health of U.S...
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Transforming Digital Deserts
Jamie Blythe tries to upload a map from her office computer to her John Deere 4730 self-propelled sprayer as the driver--her employee--turns out onto the county road bordering her farm. Once. Twice. Several times, she tries to...
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Fendt IDEAL Revealed
AGCO's new Fendt IDEAL combine, featuring 16-foot-long dual rotors, 485-bushel grain tank and automated systems monitoring capabilities, shows "we are serious, and we will be a player in the market worldwide," says Richard Kohnen...
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MachineryLink
There's a new digital partnership in the ag world. AGCO Corporation has announced it has joined forces with Solinftec, an international developer of digital ag solutions. Solinftec was founded in 2007 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and today...
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MachineryLink
A next generation telemetry product, AGCO Connect allows farmers to maximize the efficiency of machinery operations with near real-time visibility into all field operations, including monitoring of fuel and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid...
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MachineryLink
Fendt is rolling out this fall an aggressively-styled and fully redesigned 900 series tractor targeting the North American row crop market. From first look, it is a tractor distinguished by the smooth lines of its narrowed hood...
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Wide Operator
John Deere earlier this spring rolled out its 60-foot-wide, 1895 No-Till Air Seeder with new ProSeries openers. Small-grain and oilseed producers will plant more acres more accurately with this seeder, Deere says. The 1895s are 40...
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Field of "Bots"
"Farmers don't want to be morticians," says Steve Gerrish, explaining that growers would rather be proactive in addressing field problems. "[Can] we fix something before it happens?" he asks. "Can we ID and kill weeds in one...