by Ethan Begle As corn fields begin to tassel, it’s easy to spot signs of stress just by driving past. Uneven tassel emergence—where tassels appear several days apart—is often a red flag. This delay typically traces back to early-season challenges like shallow planting or compaction that restricted roots from accessing
by Ethan Begle As I write this, a few states are still experiencing wet conditions heading into June. If you’re like me, you waited patiently through the cool temps in April in hopes May would bring some heat and drier conditions. Only to find the same wet soil as in
By Ethan Begle In early April, the forecast looks cool, but the field conditions are dry enough to plant. Considering what varieties to plant first, it would be helpful to know which one has the best cold germination. If there is a chance for rain, the worst thing for a
by Ethan Begle Do you plant in wet soil in the spring, or is it usually too dry? When it’s wet, it’s tempting to scratch the surface with vertical tillage to dry the top out. Then another rain shower comes and it’s soft and muddy which delays planting even longer until
by Ethan Begle Is there one right way to do everything or are there multiple ways to arrive at the same result? Listening to opinions that something worked excellent for one farm, while the next one down the road had a bad experience explains a lot. The value of on-farm
If you are a JD box drill owner thinking about going to a wider drill or deciding whether to trade for a new box drill, let’s look at some numbers to help with the decision. John Deere has upgraded the newer N series openers with features Exapta has offered for
A Summary of 2024 Air Seeder Know-How by Ethan Begle, Technical Service “Will it last longer?” “Is this really better?” “How do I know when this is shot?” “How many more acres will this last?” At Exapta we have been listening to your questions, and our Engineering and Inspection teams
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service Kinze 4000 and 5000 series planter owners have a renewed option to place liquid in-furrow under the seed. The Valion seed tube guards last 3 – 4 times the life of OEM guards. Not only will you not have to change the guard as often, but a
By Ethan Begle, Technical Service Exapta now carries Airguard products to fix many common issues with your air seeder. Overheating, hoses pulling out, gunk in your lines, seed bunching up and seeds blowing out of the furrow can be a thing of the past. Give your air system a boost
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service Just as a dentist can quickly tell your eating and brushing habits, a visit to your field will reveal visual indicators providing clues about what is being done to grow the grains. All season long you can see variations throughout the field, tougher acres vs
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service By June and July it’s usually hot and dry when double-crop planting tries to follow wheat harvest. “Trying” is a good description, as the hot and dry soils make for a tough time penetrating to get the seed into moisture. By the end of July
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service A weed is a plant in an undesirable place. When we are trying to grow a monoculture of corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, etc., any other plant in the field is a weed. Whether it’s from birds, wind, or some other mode of transport they find
Derek is Kansas native who grew up in a 100% no-till farming operation. From an early age the benefits of no-till were made known to Derek by his father and by attending no-till conferences. From there he furthered his passion for soils while at Kansas State University getting his agronomy degree. He has had the experience of working in various roles and sectors of agriculture from sales and consulting to management, which have all been within production agriculture. Derek has also worked in specialty ag markets such as turf and ornamentals.
Sales & Service Representative
Prior to joining Exapta, Bob Pagel was an Agricultural Territory Sales Manager for Ritchie Brothers, serving parts of MN, WI and IA. He continues to support his family farm in SE Minnesota.
Current Product Engineer
He brings hands-on experience in no-till planting equipment, agricultural research, and design engineering. With a background in farming in NE Kansas and an engineering degree, he spent seven years at Kansas State University and three at Landoll Company. He’s passionate about solving engineering challenges and developing durable, user-friendly products.
