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FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF CORN & SOYBEAN DIGEST
CORN E-DIGEST
In the November 2, 2009, Issue:
Corn Price Outlook Looks Promising
Corn Drying Tips
Combine Considerations for a Wet Corn Harvest
2009 Corn Quality Issues
Understanding Corn Test Weight
Moldy Corn Could Cause More Problems
New Ethanol Engine Delivers Performance
Watch For F.I.R.S.T. Harvest Reports
Challenge Your Marketing Knowledge

Key Kernel

Corn Price Outlook Looks Promising

By John Pocock, Corn & Soybean Digest
Corn prices appear to be on the upswing for both the short- and long-term forecast, according to two university economists.

“This is the slowest corn harvest on record, and the added threat from harvest losses, plus the high moisture content and drying costs have all contributed to boosting prices,” says Chad Hart, Iowa State University agricultural economist. “The season-average price is already up 40-50¢/bu. compared to mid-October.”

In addition to the potential for more weather scares, the global demand for corn continues to provide a price boost to corn, says Hart.
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Cob And Kernel

Corn Drying Tips

Source: University of Illinois, Farm Gate
Immature corn will have trouble drying down, says North Dakota State University Ag Engineer Ken Hellevang, and it will have low test weights and potential ear molds. He says the only way to stop those is either drying or ensiling. Here are more tips:
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Combine Considerations for a Wet Corn Harvest

By Matthew Digman, University of Wisconsin Extension-Madison
Adjusted properly, your combine can handle corn between 20% and 30% moisture. However, as moistures exceed 30%, your work will be a balancing act between leaving unthreshed grain in the field and grain damage. Here are a few tips to help guide you along in this wet harvest season.
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2009 Corn Quality Issues

Source: Iowa State University
The state experienced a hard freeze Oct. 10 and 11, ending a growing season that had been slowed by rain and, in some areas, snow. Despite the overall cool growing season – highlighted by a warm period in early September – the USDA October yield estimate of 186 bu./acre in Iowa is the highest on record. As often happens with high grain yields, quality issues are surfacing. This article summarizes current field conditions, looks at test weight, weight shrink, and corn storability; two other articles in this series discuss field molds and storage management.

A cool, long growing season will often result in high yields with high grain moistures and low test weights.
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Understanding Corn Test Weight

By Mike Rankin, University of Wisconsin Extension-Fond du Lac Co.
Corn test weight (TW) is an often discussed topic of conversation among corn growers. The topic moves to the forefront in years when corn has been stressed at some point during the grain filling period or when the growing season is ended by frost before physiological maturity is reached. In many cases, the concept of test weight is misunderstood.
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Moldy Corn Could Cause More Problems

Source: Purdue University
Corn farmers across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are battling moldy corn, which causes challenges from a grain handling and storage standpoint. Richard Stroshine, a Purdue University researcher, offers tips and advice for farmers in the eastern Corn Belt dealing with diplodia, giberella and other corn ear rots.

Stroshine, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, says that if farmers try to operate like they normally do during harvest this year, it could cause some major problems during the storage of this year's crop.
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Off The Cob

New Ethanol Engine Delivers Performance

By Susan Winsor Corn & Soybean Digest
Imagine your equipment fueled entirely by what you grow: corn that produces ethanol. An engine developed by Ricardo Inc., claims to be as thermally efficient as a diesel, and to substantially improve upon ethanol's efficiency. It's called the ethanol-boosted direct injection (EBDI) engine.

“It turns the gasoline-ethanol equation upside down,” says Ricardo's Rod Beazley, director of its gasoline product group. “It has the performance of diesel at the cost of ethanol, and runs on ethanol, gasoline or any blend of both.”
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The Ear-Tip Extra

Watch For F.I.R.S.T. Harvest Reports

Source: Corn & Soybean Digest Editors
Check out the Corn & Soybean Digest’s December issue to find out how well specific hybrids performed this year. Farmers Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.) will provide information for both corn and soybeans. The supplements will provide hybrid and yield performance data, along with other information from plots across the Midwest and the DelMarva peninsula.

To receive the information before the December issue, sign up to receive F.I.R.S.T. Harvest Reports in your email. These information reports will let you know who’s harvesting and how yields are looking. To sign up to receive the emailed reports, go to: subscribe.cornandsoybeandigest.com/subscribe.cfm?tc=NNWEB. You can also access the F.I.R.S.T. data online as harvest progresses at: cornandsoybeandigest.com/firstharverstreports/?cid=promo.

Challenge Your Marketing Knowledge

Source: Corn & Soybean Digest Editors
Are you a master marketer? Or, could you benefit from learning a few marketing lessons? Either way, go to www.cornandsoybeandigest.com and click on the Back To School graphic to take quizzes and exams from Ed Usset, Corn & Soybean Digest marketing columnist. Back To School with Ed Usset is designed to test your grain marketing knowledge, and will help you learn while having fun.
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FROM THE EDITOR
Carbon Credit Scam?

Veteran no-till farmer Jim Kinsella, Lexington, IL, recently wrote to Corn & Soybean Digest editors, calling the carbon credit program “a scam on the environment and the general public.” See a copy of his letter by clicking here: scam.

In the letter, Kinsella states that “the primary beneficiaries of this program appear to be the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the aggregators, who receive nearly as much as farmers to administer the program.”
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100-Bu. Beans?
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