Web Version   |   Mobile Version   |   Add us to your Safe Sender List   |   Renew your Subscription to Corn & Soybean Digest
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF CORN & SOYBEAN DIGEST
CORN E-DIGEST
In the February 8, 2010, Issue:
Market Incentives Could Boost 2010 Corn Acreage
Vomitoxin A Concern When Choosing Corn Hybrids
Air Clutches Save Seed, Boost Corn Yields
Net Returns -- Corn Over Soybeans
If You Want U.S. Customers For Corn, Stop HSUS!
High-Protein DDG Provides A Swine-Feed Alternative
EPA's Renewable Fuels Rules 'Workable' - ILUC Inclusion Still Problematic
Obama Seeks Farm Payment, Insurance Support Cuts

Key Kernel

Market Incentives Could Boost 2010 Corn Acreage

By John Pocock, Corn & Soybean Digest
U.S. farmers will likely see price incentives ahead that will reward planting more corn acres at the expense of soybeans in 2010, says Chad Hart, Iowa State University ag economist.

“Current futures prices are signaling the market would like to see more corn acres than beans,” says Hart. “If those price signals continue, I think we’ll see a shift in acres from soybeans to corn.”

Unfortunately, both corn and soybean prices are currently lagging due to record U.S. production in 2009, says Hart. However, with a record South America soybean crop probable for 2010, soybean prices are likely to drop more than corn prices, he adds.

“The good news for U.S. corn growers is that when South America increased their soybean acres this season, their corn acres ...
READ FULL ARTICLE
Advertisement
FieldPilot® Assisted Steering Does More, Costs Less
FieldPilot from TeeJet Technologies is the new best value in assisted steering. Smooth PWM hydraulic steering, exclusive RealView™ Guidance Over Video for monitoring implement operations, a choice of GPS options and a price 10% to 30% less than comparable systems make FieldPilot the best choice for assisted steering.

Cob And Kernel

Vomitoxin A Concern When Choosing Corn Hybrids

Source: Ohio State University Extension
As Ohio corn growers struggle with moldy grain in storage and costly vomitoxin problems, they are faced with the challenges of selecting hybrids for the 2010 growing season that they hope will help them avoid a repeat of poor grain quality.

But no matter how good their choices may be, the weather may ultimately decide the season, says Pierce Paul, an Ohio State University Extension plant pathologist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

“If all you need is favorable weather to cause the development of ear rots and vomitoxin, then that tells me the hybrid has no genetic resistance to fungal infection,” says Paul. “So it’s easy to say then that if the hybrid you planted in 2009 had ear rot problems, then don’t plant that hybrid in 2010."

On the other hand, ...
READ FULL ARTICLE
Advertisement
Matrix™ with RealView™ Guidance Over Video
Only Matrix displays guidance and video simultaneously. With RealView, guidance information is displayed over live video of what’s ahead. Or, use the camera to monitor hard-to-see implement operations. Or do both by adding additional cameras. You choose what you see – guidance over video, guidance or video. Only from TeeJet Technologies.

Air Clutches Save Seed, Boost Corn Yields

By John Pocock, Corn & Soybean Digest
Automated on-off controls have allowed Clay Mitchell, Buckingham, IA, to virtually eliminate seed overlap since 2007. That's when he installed independent air clutches on every row of his 12-row planter. Guided by a RTK sub-inch accuracy global positioning system (GPS), Mitchell's row-by-row planter controls have also helped to boost yields where double-planting had previously caused harvest headaches, he says.

“With seed costs so high compared to other input costs, we need to be careful about seed overlap,” says Mitchell, who uses Tru Count air clutches with a Trimble Field Manager controller to prevent double planting.

“Depending on what traits you want, seed costs are now between $60 and $100/acre, even with discounts. For farms with a lot of grass waterways and irregularly shaped fields like we have, seed overlap would normally run about 5% of total acres. So, the savings can add up pretty quickly,” Mitchell says.
READ FULL ARTICLE
Advertisement
More Air Induction Choices
With the broadest range of styles, operating ranges and materials, we’re sure to have the ideal AI tip for your application. Choose from AIXR tips that provide excellent chemical resistance, AI/AIC tips that produce large, air-filled, drift-resistant droplets and Air Induction Turbo TwinJet® tips with dual flat sprays that provide superior leaf coverage.

Net Returns -- Corn Over Soybeans

By Hembree Brandon, Farm Press Editorial Staff
Production costs for both corn and soybeans will be higher this year than in 2009, but budget projections indicate a better revenue stream from corn than beans, says David Asbridge, president and senior economist for NPK Advisory Service, Inc., an independent consulting company.

“By the time we get into the spring season, I think we’re going to see soybean prices fall relative to corn prices,” said Asbridge at the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Winter Commodity Conference.

“I think corn prices will go lower, but soybean prices will fall even faster,” added Asbridge. “By the time we get into the 2010 marketing year, we’re going to see a lower gross revenue for soybeans, with about a $30-35/acre decline in the net margins for production in the U.S. We’re projecting $251 for returns over operating costs in 2010, a 12.2% drop from $286 in 2009.”
READ FULL ARTICLE

Off The Cob

If You Want U.S. Customers For Corn, Stop HSUS!

Source: National Corn Growers Association
We knew the counter attack would come, and today the bugle sounded. So says Tricia Braid Terry of the Illinois Corn Growers Association. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed a petition in Ohio to bring a ballot initiative to the voters of that state that would dictate livestock care standards. It’s like déjà vu all over again, right?

Ohio farmers tried to beat HSUS to the punch last fall and developed the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. The HSUS backed petition filed today would recommend standards to the farmers… Because vegans have the best ideas about caring for livestock, of course? Right?

The gargantuan (HSUS) is now the animal rights industry’s richest and most powerful player. HSUS is exercising its prohibition-minded influence in every corner of America, over everything from the pets in our homes to the eggs on our plates.
READ FULL ARTICLE

High-Protein DDG Provides A Swine-Feed Alternative

Author: Jennifer Shike, University of Illinois
As swine producers continue to find ways to survive in today's economic situation, researchers at the University of Illinois (U of I) are exploring alternative feedstuffs in growing pig diets to provide producers with more options.

Hans H. Stein, U of I associate professor in the department of animal sciences, says his team's research has shown that high-protein distillers’ dried grains (DDG) can replace 100% of the soybean meal in a diet fed to finishing pigs without any effect on growth performance or carcass characteristics as long as the diets are fortified with crystalline Lysine, Threonine and Tryptophan.

High-protein DDG is produced through a fractionation technology. In this process, bran and germ are removed from the corn, resulting in endosperm that is used for ethanol production. The co-product that results is high-protein DDG, ...
READ FULL ARTICLE

The Ear-Tip Extra

EPA's Renewable Fuels Rules 'Workable' - ILUC Inclusion Still Problematic

Source: Renewable Fuels Association
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently promulgated the final rule for implementation of the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Among other provisions, the RFS will set mandatory blend levels for renewable fuels while implementing a framework for carbon emissions calculations that will be the basis for future carbon reductions from fuel.

“EPA was right to recognize that ethanol from all sources provides significant carbon benefits compared to gasoline,” says Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President Bob Dinneen. “As structured, the RFS is a workable program that will achieve the stated policy goals of reduced oil dependence, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship.”
READ FULL ARTICLE

Obama Seeks Farm Payment, Insurance Support Cuts

Source: Brock Associates
President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget proposal, which was made public last week, calls for lower income caps on eligibility for federal farm programs, a reduction in the maximum amount of direct payments that producers can receive annually and a cut in federal support for crop insurance.

The Obama administration estimates $2.26 billion can be saved over a 10-year period by reducing federal farm payments to “wealthy farmers,” while $8 billion can be saved by reforming the crop insurance program to end what it calls “huge windfall profits” for insurance companies.

The administration proposes to limit farm subsidies to “wealthy farmers” by reducing the adjusted gross income (AGI) caps on eligibility for crop payments by $250,000 and cutting the annual maximum for direct payments by 25% to $30,000/farmer.
READ FULL ARTICLE
Today's Corn E-Digest
Brought To You By:

RECENT VIDEOS
Purdue's Bill Johnson On Residual Herbicides
Bill Johnson of Purdue University talks about residual herbicides and how they can help manage herbicide-resistant weeds, specifically glyophosate-resistant weeds, and protect crop yields from yield loss due to weed competition...

U.S. Corn Growers Produced Another Big Crop In 2009
U.S. corn growers produced another big crop in 2009. Rather than weighing on the market, the 2009 crop could be a plus if EPA approves an increase to a 15% ethanol blend in motor fuels. Still, the 2009 crop could present some problems because of the amount of time it remained in the field, according to Iowa State University’s Charles Hurburgh...

FROM THE EDITOR
Reader Replies To Cap & Trade Question

In a Nov. 11 issue of the Corn E-Digest, I asked readers to respond to recent legislation being debated in Washington on climate change and cap-and-trade issues. Grant Corley, a farmer from Westphalia, KS, wrote in with these thoughts about the Obama administration’s proposed carbon credit program:

“I see nothing in it for the no-till farmer who has already been no-tilling. I started no-till in 1971, and after talking to our Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington, D.C., I don't see enough money in it to pay for the paperwork that will be involved. It’s likely to pay far, far less to the farmer than it will cost us in increased energy costs and red tape to take part in.”

On the topic of manmade climate change, Corley shared these thoughts: ...
READ FULL ARTICLE

MOST RECENT ISSUE

Can Our Rivers Deliver?
Spring could be a logistical nightmare thanks to compounding threats to our river network. If you want to understand the many challenges facing the Mississippi River system ...
VIEW ISSUE

LATEST QUICK POLL
Corn Seeding Rate
Please cast your ballot in the latest Corn & Soybean Digest (CSD) quick poll. The most recently posted question is: What is your corn seeding rate?

Your can cast your vote on CSD's home page. (The poll question is just to the right of the “What’s New” top section of the Web site.)

CHANGE EMAIL ADDRESSUNSUBSCRIBE ONLINE VERSIONARCHIVESPREFERENCES