Western Edition
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April 14, 2009
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A Penton Media Property
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Vol. 1, No. 6
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Click
here to see how Affinity® BroadSpec herbicide (with
TotalSol® soluble granules) controls broadleaf weeds in wheat,
barley, and fallow.
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Wheat Forecast At $6.80-$6.90
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By Larry Stalcup
 USDA's
forecast for 2008-2009 wheat prices is from $6.80 to $6.90/bu. following
last week’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE)
report. Melvin Brees, University of Missouri Extension agricultural
economist, says most analysts consider the report neutral for wheat and
bullish for corn and soybeans.
In his analysis of the report on Friday, Brees says USDA’s forecast
for increased feed use of wheat and a slight increase in seed use
resulted in a reduction in projected ending wheat stocks from 712
million bushels in March to 696 million bushels in April.
“This was near the average prereport trade expectation,” says Brees.
“However, world wheat carryover continues to increase. In spite of
small downward adjustments to total world production, increases in
beginning stocks and reductions to expected use more than offset
production changes and world wheat carryover is expected to be 158.10
million metric tons (mmt). This is up 2.25 mmt from the previous
estimate.”
For more on this story, click
here
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Wheat Prices Getting Closer To Breakeven
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By Kim Anderson, Oklahoma State University
grain marketing economist
 Most
producers have calculated the per-acre cost to produce 2009 wheat.
Producers with 35-bu./acre average wheat yields have variable cost
estimates between $140 and $220/acre (the $220 cost included $40 cash
rent). Without a land charge, the average cost is about $180.
The range of breakeven prices would be between $4 and $6.29/bu. The
average breakeven price, before including a land charge, is about $5.14.
Per-acre costs may be known, but per-acre yields are not. During the
last three years, some land that averages 35 bu. produced 0 bu./acre in
2007 and 44 bu. in 2008. About 70% of the time, yield is expected to
vary about 20% or be between 28 and 42 bu. for 35-bu./acre average land.
With the exiting drought conditions in most of the hard red winter wheat
area, per-acre yields are expected to be below average. Breakeven prices
will not be between $4 and $6.20. At the low yield (28 bu.), breakeven
prices would be between $5 and $7.86.
For more on this story, click
here
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Seeding Rates For Hard Red Spring Wheat
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By Jochum Wiersma, University of Minnesota
Extension small grains specialist
 Each year
questions arise about the correct seeding rate for hard red spring
wheat. “Is a bushel and a peck enough?” is a question I have been
asked more than once. Research in the mid-1990s demonstrated that, on
average, an initial stand of 30-32 plants/sq. ft. maximized grain yield.
As planting was delayed past the optimum, the initial stand needed to be
increased by 1 plant/sq. ft. for each week of delay to maximize grain
yield. With this number in mind and assuming a stand loss between 10-15%
one can calculate a seeding rate using the following formula.
Seeding rate equals: (desired stand)/(1 – expected stand loss)
divided by (seed count x percent germination).
Repeated research, however, has demonstrated that the optimum seeding
rates differ for individual varieties. To determine this optimum seeding
rate the variety in question is tested at a wide range of seeding rates.
The seeding rate for maximum grain yield can be derived from the
parabolic response curve of grain yield vs. number of plants per unit
area, which increases quickly to a maximum and slowly decreases at
higher plant densities.
For more on this story,
click
here
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Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Promote
Biofuel Pipelines
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U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Thune (R-SD) and Tim
Johnson (D-SD) have introduced legislation that authorizes loan
guarantees for the construction of renewable fuel pipeline projects.
The senators say that while the Midwest and plains states produce the
majority of the biofuels in the U.S., the nation is currently lacking
the infrastructure to efficiently transport these liquid fuels to
population centers. This bill will address this issue by encouraging the
construction and use of pipelines, which can easily transport these
fuels in a clean, safe and cost-efficient manner.
"We must seize control of our energy future and take major steps towards
the use of clean, renewable home-grown sources of energy," says Harkin.
"Promoting the planning and development of projects that transport
renewable fuels efficiently and inexpensively helps enlarge the market
for biofuels like ethanol, reduces our dependence on foreign fuels and
will provide good construction jobs."
For more on this story, click
here
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NAWG Submits House Ag Climate Change
Questionnaire
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National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) has
submitted its responses this week to a House Agriculture Committee
questionnaire on climate change, emphasizing Association policy
supporting a cap-and-trade program that allows unlimited agriculture
sequestration. NAWG responses include:
- A cap-and-trade program is the most effective approach to
addressing climate change issues because this type of program would be a
market-based system and able to provide the least costly means of
delivering the greatest possible amount of greenhouse gas reductions.
For more, click
here
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ACRE Program Enrollment Opens April 27
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USDA has announced that farmers can enroll in the
Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program beginning April 27. Growers
have until Aug. 14 to make their decisions for the 2009 crop. USDA will
not accept any late-filed applications. Those who elect the ACRE program
for a farm agree to forgo counter-cyclical payments, accept a 20%
reduction of the direct payments and accept a 30% reduction in loan
rates for all commodities produced on the farm.
For more, click
here
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ACRE Spreadsheet Helps Farmers Decide
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Farmers thinking of signing up for the countercyclical
revenue program in the 2008 Farm Bill should not give up in despair,
says Peter Zimmel, University of Missouri economist. While benefit
calculations seem complex for ACRE (Average Crop Revenue Election), new
software speeds the decision.
Missouri economists built a spreadsheet, called FARM Tool, posted on the
Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Web site www.fapri.missouri.edu/.
Farmers can download the tool for use in their farm office. Benefits for
signing up can be quite large, says Zimmel.
For more click
here
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When temperatures dipped well below freezing the night
of April 6-7, it may have caused moderate to significant damage to wheat
in parts of Kansas (as well as Oklahoma and Texas), says Kansas State
University Agronomist Jim Shroyer.
"Wheat that has either one or two joints can be injured by several hours
of temperatures in the low 20s or lower," he says. "Even wheat that is
not yet jointed will probably have some damage to the leaves, but this
is just cosmetic injury that will not affect yields." However, producers
should not make any quick decisions about the condition of their wheat
crop.
For more on this story, click
here
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Texas AgriLife Research scientists are taking a close
look at the damage caused by the wheat curl mite to determine some best
management practices for producers and researchers. Jacob Price,
AgriLife Research associate researcher-plant pathology, participated in
a virus survey in 2008 that encompassed most of the central U.S.
In the survey, the most common wheat viruses found in the 75 million
acres of wheat across the U.S. were wheat streak mosaic virus, wheat
mosaic virus (formerly High Plains virus) and a fairly recently
discovered one, Triticum mosaic virus.
For more, click
here
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Vilsack Announces $17 Million For Beginning
Farmers
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Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has announced that
USDA is making more than $17 million in grants available under the
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. “This program
underscores President Obama’s commitment to support the nation’s
beginning farmers and ranchers,” says Vilsack. “Through the
Beginning Farmer and Rancher grant program, we can help ensure we are
doing all we can for the next generation of America’s farmers and
ranchers.”
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program is an education,
training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help
U.S. farmers and ranchers, specifically those who have been farming or
ranching for 10 years or less. Congress authorized the fiscal 2009
funding for this program in the 2008 Farm Bill, with another $19 million
in mandatory funding for fiscal 2010.
For more, click
here
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Take Part In Corn & Soybean Digest
Poll
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If you haven't already done so, please take part in an
anonymous Corn & Soybean Digest (CSD) quick poll. The most
recently posted question is:
What is your main limiting resource?– time, operating capital or
know-how on using new technologies. Answer the question and view
quick poll results on CSD's home page at cornandsoybeandigest.com.
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Growers, What New Creations Are You Using?
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Dear Corn & Soybean Digest reader – All signs
indicate that it’s soon time to get out into those fields and start
the 2009 planting season. What new creations will you be using in your
spring fieldwork? Did you modify anything over the winter months? Build
a new implement in the warm shop while the temps fell outside? Corn &
Soybean Digest wants to know!
When it’s time to get out to the field with your newest project,
we’d like to be right there with you to see what new or different
ideas took shape with the torch and welder through the winter. If you or
someone you know has built or modified machinery, we’d like to hear
from you. No idea is too big or too small. We’re interested in
machinery that’s been built from scratch, or several pieces of
equipment that have been torn down and re-assembled as a single unit, or
simple modifications to existing equipment.
It’s always interesting to see anhydrous applicators, planters,
sprayers and tillage tools that farmers have constructed to help them
farm better, bigger or more efficiently. Also, we’re interested in any
cost-cutting ideas that you’ve been doing to stay profitable. For
example, have you been involved in any machinery sharing ventures, group
input buying clubs, etc.? We can’t promise that we’ll get to every
farm, but we promise to try. If you have an idea you’d like to share,
please send an e-mail to CSD@csdigest.com or call Managing
Editor Susan Winsor at 952-851-4662, or click below to enter your
project. We will be in touch.
Tell us about your creation! <insidepenton.com/research/sg/csd09shopproject.htm>
Thanks for your help,
The Editors
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Go to www.agribizjobs.com/home/
and view some great opportunities for job seekers and ag companies
looking for good employees. The site, part of Penton Media’s Ag Group,
of which Corn & Soybean Digest and Farm Press are members, has a
targeted online career center. Agribizjobs.com offers industry employers
a growing, qualified audience of ag professionals and industry job
seekers with agribusiness-specific categorized job listings. It’s a
joint effort by Corn & Soybean Digest, Farm Press and sister
publications, BEEF, Farm Industry News, Hay & Forage Grower and National
Hog Farmer.
At www.agribizjobs.com/home/
employers can view complete but anonymous resumes for free, and pay only
to connect with a job seeker. Job seekers can post resumes in
ag-specific employment categories and sign up to receive e-mail alerts
when new positions are posted that match their search
criteria.
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Thanks For Viewing eWheat
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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on
the content of this newletter, please contact your editor Larry Stalcup
at beef2lar@suddenlink.net.
Also, thanks to our exclusive sponsor, DuPont, and its products and
services for growers like you.
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