Agronomy

Get your hands dirty in Crop Production! Find out how soils, bugs, beetles and more affect your crops. Whether it’s corn, soybeans, wheat, hay or silage, 4-H crop production is for you!

Learn how soil, seeds, weather, pests, and fertilizer affect field crops
Be a scientist and do experiments with crops
Use new technology that is changing the way field crops are grown
See the value and uses of field crops

Ideas for Project Area Learning!

Find differences when you: plant seeds in different soils, use different fertilizers and control weeds & pests
Identify what helps plants grow, and what’s harmful to them
Take a soil sample and learn soil and nutrient requirements
Calculate growing degree days
Scout fields for pests and growing conditions
Decide what varieties of crops to plant and at what time
Manage your own crops based on Integrated Crop Management principles
Calculate harvest losses and their causes
Identify how new technology impacts crop production

Project Area Events

Project Helpers

Iowa 4-H Contact

Maya Hayslett

hayslett@iastate.edu

Share What You Learn With Others!

Communication

Show your group the difference between a healthy plant and a sick one, and tell how that happens.
Develop a journal with the details of the fields you scout.
Present on the insects that are beneficial and pests to crops (visit the 4-H Entomology page).

Civic Engagement

Help teach others about farm safety.
Join and participate in a farm commodity association.
Organize and lead an appreciation event for farmers during harvest.

Leadership

Create farm safety rules for your family and share with others.
Plan a tour of a seed corn plant for your group.
Develop a “harvest loss frame” and use it to help other farmers calculate their harvest losses.

Exhibit Ideas

Create a booklet of different uses of corn and soybeans
Keep a journal of your plants, recording rainfall and other weather data, fertilizer and pesticide application, hybrid variety selection and other factors that influence the growth and development of your crop
Create soil maps of a farm and demonstrate different properties such as soil types, drainage, CSR, and slope. (For a program to create soil maps, visit the USDA Web Soil Survey page.)
Design a poster to teach others about the information provided on seed labels
Give an educational presentation on resources that are available to help in conservation planning
Follow commodity markets for a month. Record the change in prices. Create a chart to show the changes prices and how it would change a decision to purchase or sell.
Develop a journal of common diseases, insects, and other problems found in your area while crop scouting.