Very few Corn Belt farmers are unaware that 74 acres of northwestern Iowa farmland reached the $20,000/acre mark recently, with one farmer purchasing the land from an out-of-state owner. It was the second occasion in a short period of time that Sioux County, IA, farmland established a new record for land values. As land prices push higher every week, growing concerns are expressed that the values will not hold and land prices will collapse into an economic meltdown for rural communities.
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As smartphone use grows among the U.S. population, so do applications to use on those devices. Most have heard the phrase, “There’s an app for that.” And for managing your personal life or for entertainment, there usually is. There’s also an ever-growing population of apps to help your farming operation. Whether it’s tankmixing formulas or farming news, apps to help you on the farm are available. Do you use apps on your smartphone? Take our poll and let us know!
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The practice of deep-banding fertilizer is growing in popularity as more growers turn to strip-till. However, this method may be costing growers more than it is worth. A new University of Illinois (U of I) study revealed that strip-till was superior to no-till and increased yield in soybean. However, the results showed no difference in yield between fertilizer application methods.
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Following nearly three hours of not answering Senate Agriculture Committee questions on Tuesday, a trio of MF Global executives may have thought they’d slipped the noose. In the face of increasingly exasperated committee member questions, the executives – responsible for the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and the odd, potentially criminal, loss of an estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds – exhibited amnesia symptoms, reciting a wide range of variations on “I don’t recall.”
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Crop prices are heading to year’s end on a weak note, says University of Illinois Agricultural Economist Darrel Good. “Corn prices are near the level that existed in the first week of January and well below the late summer highs. Soybean prices are well below the level at the start of the year and at the lowest level since early October 2010. Prices of soft red winter wheat are at the lowest level since July 2010,” he notes.
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