Farm Progress

Corn and Soybean Digest takes a look back as part of the 75th birthday celebration of the magazine.

Kurt Lawton

January 5, 2017

16 Slides

As part of our 75th birthday, we look back at interesting editorial stories during each decade (see 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s here: http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/csd-75).

We begin this snapshot of the 2000s – the seventh decade of Soybean Digest – by examining one year of back issues from January through December 2005.

The 2000 decade began with a continued historical cycle of low prices, supplemented by higher government safety net and emergency support. As the decade progressed, technology such as autosteer and sectional sprayer boom and planter row control took off. Ethanol continued its huge rise in use and in grain market support, forever linking corn with oil. And farmers began a heightened awareness of the market impact by global weather and other issues.

In this snapshot from the second half of 2005, editorial focus dealt with such issues as biotech crops, narrow-row soybean economics, biofuel expansion, high-speed internet, nitrogen rates, glyphosate-resistant weeds, rootworm variants, grain storage and transport turmoil, corn and soybean acreage expansion, cover crops, new products and more. Take a look…

About the Author(s)

Kurt Lawton

Kurt Lawton of Eden Prairie, Minn., is a writer and owner of Stellar Content LLC. He is the former editor of Corn+Soybean Digest, a Farm Progress publication.

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