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Logan
Hawkes
08/27/08
Crop News Weekly
No one needs to tell the farmer what inflation
is. He knows it well. He knows it when he visits the seed store and when
he buys his chemicals. He understands its effect on energy and feels the
impact in his home - just like everyone else. But in a less-than-stellar
crop year, inflation can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Some
blame the election year. Others might argue that Congress has lost touch
with reality. For the farmer, inflation is just a way of life.
In the news this week, having topped $4 per gallon, diesel prices have
made farmers consider the propriety of continuing to use the fuel to
power water pumps. That’s especially true when diesel costs are
compared to electricity. What's powering your pump? Also this week, just
what is the truth about the global warming issue? There are so many
skeptics and so many supporters of the theory, how's a fellow suppose to
know who is right and who is wrong? Farm Press staff writer Elton
Robinson explores the issues and presents the facts. This should help.
And here's some food for thought: Researchers are discovering that
through the process of producing ethanol, beneficial by products are
emerging. Get the skinny below. Also in this issue, we've got the latest
on the USDA Crop Report and an insight into current crop conditions. And
we'll give you the low down on how to manage expensive nitrogen. We'll
cover these topics and more in this issue of Crop News Weekly.
Happy reading.
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Inflation
new element of farmer’s uncertainty
“I was down in the dumps and feeling sorry for
myself,” the old story goes, “and my friends told me, ‘Cheer up
— things could be worse.’ So, I cheered up, and sure enough things
got worse.” Farmers can relate. While the past couple of years brought
record prices for several major crops, it didn’t translate into an
instant gravy train for producers. “We read in the papers how farmers
are doing well with high commodity prices,” a producer lamented
recently. “If they could look at our bills for fertilizer, fuel, seed,
chemicals, labor, and other costs, they’d see a different story —
we’re struggling just like everyone else.” But however challenging
the high prices/costly inputs scenario, the greater fear for farmers is
that commodity prices will fall precipitously as production adjusts to
demand, and input costs will not. - Hembree Brandon, Farm Press
Editorial Staff
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Diesel
prices drive producers to electric pumps
Having topped $4 per gallon, diesel prices have made
farmers consider the propriety of continuing to use the fuel to power
water pumps. That’s especially true when diesel costs are compared to
electricity. Ron Sheffield, LSU AgCenter agricultural engineer, says
Louisiana producers are increasingly curious about making the switch
from diesel to electricity. “There was a lot of interest —
especially earlier in the season. Now, since we’re so far into the
season it’s slowing down. And, in southern Louisiana, fields have been
getting a lot of rain.” As fuel prices have risen, “there is a cost
benefit — at least it’s worth a look — from switching from diesel
to electric. Most folks, especially with older power plants, could see
cost savings fairly quickly. They can probably get a return on their
investment within two years. At least that’s what most of the growers
I’ve worked with have penciled out.” - David Bennett, Farm Press
Editorial Staff
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Global
cooling gains momentum among scientists
Two weeks ago, after writing about the possibility
that the Earth may actually be entering a cooling phase, I braced myself
for a torrent of icy missives from the global warming crowd suggesting
that the heat must have fried my noggin. By the way, it is very
difficult to discuss global cooling in the midst of a summer when
temperatures are hovering around 100 degrees and crops are wilting. As
one friend and colleague from the sweltering Southwest noted after
reading the column, “Please send some of that cooling this way.”
However, one response opened my eyes to the growing community of global
warming skeptics out there, most of them merited scientists. I thought
it might be worth presenting their thoughts — a little equal time if
you will. Marc Marona, a global warming skeptic who works for the U.S.
Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works, sent me these
excerpts from a U.S. Senate report. - Elton Robinson, Farm Press
Editorial Staff
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Researchers
make ‘elusieve’ dreams happen
What comes first from the processing of corn — the
ethanol in the car, the egg in the refrigerator or the enhancements in
plastic lumber? Mississippi State University researchers think that one
manufacturing process can produce materials for all three products at
the same time. Commanding the most attention is ethanol, which is made
from the starch in corn. The manufacturing process to make the fuel also
yields a protein-fat-and-fiber byproduct known in the industry as
distillers dried grains with solubles, or DDGS. This byproduct is used
primarily as a nutritional supplement in cattle feed. - Patti
Drapala, MSU Ag Communications
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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THIESSE'S
THOUGHTS: USDA Crop Report
The USDA Crop Report issued on August 12 came in with
a larger-than-expected crop production estimate for the 2008 corn crop
in the U.S., which would make it the second largest U.S. corn crop in
history, trailing only the 2007 total corn production of 13.1 billion
bushels in the U.S. Based on Aug. 1 conditions, USDA is estimating the
2008 corn crop at almost 12.3 billion bushels, which is an increase of
about 570,000 bushels from the July 1 estimated production of just over
11.7 billion bushels. The August estimate is slightly higher than the
just-under 12 billion bushels that most private analysts estimated. The
USDA soybean report on August 12 was slightly below grain trade
estimates, and slightly lower than the USDA estimate on July 1. USDA now
projects the 2008 U.S. soybean crop at 2.973 billion bushels, which
compares to 3 billion bushels estimated by USDA on July 1. - Kent
Thiesse, Corn & Soybean Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Crop
ratings mostly steady to lower
USDA’s rating of U.S. corn conditions held steady
last week, but soybean conditions declined slightly as dry weather
affected crops in the eastern Midwest. USDA’s latest weekly crop
update rated corn condition 67% good/excellent, unchanged from a week
earlier and up from 58% a year earlier as improved conditions in the
western Corn Belt offset lower ratings in the eastern Belt. - Richard
Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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ASTA
launches Guide to Seed Quality Management
The U.S. seed industry, through ASTA, has developed
the Guide to Seed Quality Management Practices to offer general guidance
for the development and production of seed products intended for food,
feed, fiber or fuel use and for the maintenance of product integrity and
purity of both biotechnology-derived seed and non-biotechnology seed.
The guide covers the plant product life cycle from the point of
incorporation of a trait into a breeding program through commercial seed
production and sale. The Guide to Seed Quality Management will be
maintained in a dynamic and interactive format on the ASTA Web site.
- Corn & Soybean Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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How
to manage expensive nitrogen
Managing your nitrogen (N) properly has never saved
you so much money. Bob Hoeft University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
professor of soil fertility, offers these pointers for squeezing every
penny out of your input dollar: Application timing makes a difference.
Fall application increases your chances of N loss through
denitrification and leaching, he says. *Precipitation makes a huge
difference. Rainfall threatens to carry away your N unless you have a
plan to anchor it in the soil. “We can manage to reduce N loss but we
cannot overcome what Mother Nature sends our way” Hoeft says... -
Corn & Soybean Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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A little effort can save a lot of fuel for tractor
operators
Fuel economy is a topic at the top on most people’s
minds these days, and farmers are no different. Taking some time to make
sure that a tractor is set up properly and using fuel-saving practices
can help producers keep money in their pockets, according to Michigan
State University (MSU) Extension. “One estimate that I’ve seen is
that U.S. farmers could potentially save up to 150 million gallons of
fuel each year,” says Mike Staton, MSU Extension agriculture and
natural resources educator based in Van Buren County. “The strategies
we suggest aren’t expensive, but do take a little time – like making
sure the tractor is set up properly.” - Corn & Soybean
Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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ROAD
WARRIOR: More numbers away from the office
Dave Kohl writes: "In my last Road Warrior
stop, we discussed important financial numbers that producers need to
keep top of mind while in the combine or working cattle. Now let’s
jump into some more key numbers and financial metrics. 700 Credit Score:
Whether you are applying for credit with John Deere Credit, Farm Credit,
the local bank or another lending institution, you need to know your
credit score like your collateral level or pulse rate. Five Different
Sources of Credit: This was the battle cry of a stressed agricultural
credit in the 1980s. Split lines of credit – particularly more than
five different sources – are often considered a red flag in credit
risk..." - Corn & Soybean Digest
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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NCC:
Congress did not make required changes
Despite claims by some lawmakers to the contrary,
Congress did not mandate any changes in the “actively engaged”
language in the new farm bill’s payment limit reforms, National Cotton
Council leaders are saying. Two Midwest senators, Charles Grassley of
Iowa and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, have written Agriculture
Secretary Ed Schafer, urging him to produce interim rules on actively
engaged and schemes and devices to “restore integrity to our payment
limit system.” Grassley, one of the Senate’s longest-running
advocates for payment limit reform, claims that an amendment he and
Dorgan offered during the farm bill debate should serve as a “starting
point” for USDA’s rewriting of its rules on payment limits. The
amendment failed to receive the 60 votes Senate leaders said it needed
for passage. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Upper
Southeast soybean crop promising
Economics and agronomics appear to be in harmony for
the 2008 soybean crop, leaving growers hopeful for both a big and a
profitable crop. Hot, dry weather has slowed soybean production in parts
of the upper Southeast, but in general the 2008 crop, both conventional
and double-crop, looks good in terms of both price and production. USDA
reported in early July that U.S. farmers expected to harvest more than
72 million acres of soybeans. The 2008 crop is on schedule to be the
third largest on record and up 17 percent from last year. Even though
planted acres were up, the USDA report shows stocks at 663 million
bushels, down 13 million bushels from June estimates. - Roy Roberson,
Farm Press Editorial Staff
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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Soybean
Checkoff powers Lincoln exhibit
Like the great American president Abraham Lincoln, the
fuel of his traveling bicentennial exhibition will be “Made in
America.” Checkoff funding from the United Soybean Board and the
Illinois Soybean Association will provide biodiesel to power the tractor
trailer that houses a new traveling exhibit highlighting an important
Lincoln milestone. The mobile museum is touring the United States to
commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, giving people
across the nation an opportunity to experience the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum, stationed in Springfield, Ill. The
subject of the exhibit, “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America,”
highlights Lincoln’s humble beginnings and rise to a historic
presidency.
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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USDA,
China sign biofuels agreement
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the People’s Republic of
China have signed an important agreement to collaborate on biofuels
research. The signing came during a meeting of over 200 scientists,
industry leaders and government officials in Houston, Texas during the
International Conference on Sorghum for Biofuel.
“We have an existing cooperation between USDA and the Chinese Ministry
for Science and Technology,” said Eileen Herrera, Acting Deputy
Director for the Office of International Research Programs at USDA’s
Agriculture Research Service (ARS).
(To read the complete article, click on the headline above)
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