Logan Hawkes
06/10/09
The summer growing season is in full swing yet a
great deal of replanting is still taking place in the Eastern Corn Belt.
And it's not only the Midwest that is behind in soybean planting.
Reports from the Southland also indicate a delayed start to soybean
planting because of heavy rains. All in all, however, planting has
wrapped up across most of the Midwest as the growing season settles
in.
Once again we offer up the latest in issues and information for your
consideration. Dig in and let's get started - and happy reading.
State
budgets pressure Extension, research
The ailing economy hasn’t only clobbered housing,
banking, and the automotive sectors — a lot of agricultural Extension,
research, and education programs face sharp cutbacks in the proposed
fiscal 2010 federal budget and from major declines in tax revenues at
the state level.
A report by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government shows that
47 states had a decline in first quarter 2009 revenues from personal and
corporate taxes of more than $20 billion compared to the same period in
2008.
Nationally, Alaska was down the most, at 74.1 percent, a casualty of the
big drop in oil prices; followed by Arizona, down 20.8 percent,
reflecting the housing market bust. - Hembree Brandon, Farm Press
Editorial Staff
FULL ARTICLE >>
Soybeans
behind schedule
Rain delays and changes in planting decisions are forcing
a later than ideal start for Mississippi’s soybeans. As planting
window dates have been closing for other crops, growers are switching
some fields to soybeans before time runs out for them as well.
Trey Koger, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University
Extension Service, said the crop’s ideal planting window closed around
the first of May, but fields planted now still can succeed.
Other row crops such as cotton, corn and rice aren’t as flexible when
it comes to planting date and optimal yields, so when rain kept fields
from being planted in these crops, many farmers turned to late-planted
soybeans. Soybeans also are not as expensive to grow as other crops.
- Bonnie Coblentz, MSU Ag Communications
FULL ARTICLE >>
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Asian
rust in Louisiana soybeans
Asian soybean rust has been found in a soybean sentinel
plot maintained by agricultural consultant Blaine Viator in St. Martin
Parish near Coteau, La., according to LSU AgCenter plant pathologist
Clayton Hollier.
The infected soybean plant was discovered on June 4 and verified by
Patricia Bollich, an LSU AgCenter research technologist, by a field
test, Hollier said.
“The significance is that this is the first sighting of Asian soybean
rust on soybeans in Louisiana during 2009,” Hollier said. “The
variety is unknown at this point, but the plant is in maturity group 5."
- Rick Bogren, LSU AgCenter
FULL ARTICLE >>
Investors
moving to commodity markets
Fear of inflation is driving investor dollars into
commodity markets. Fund traders and speculators, including trend
traders, are moving into the buy side of grain, oilseed, fiber and
energy markets taking long positions. This activity is increasing price
volatility.
Planting progress is rapid but weather remains a market factor.
Favorable rain and unfavorable rain are significant price moving
factors.
Increasing oil prices support corn and soybean prices. - Ray Nabors
FULL ARTICLE >>
High
hurdle for ethanol
The first successful attempt to drill for oil in the U.S.
almost didn’t happen. According to Pulitzer-Prize winning author
Daniel Yergin, the small band of drillers who accomplished the feat had
already been instructed to suspend operations when they struck oil on
Aug. 27, 1859.
Until then, workers dug shafts by hand to mine crude oil, which was
refined into kerosene or “coal oil.” (What became gasoline was
considered a useless by-product prior to the invention of the
automobile.) The process of digging for oil was expensive, yielding only
small amounts per day. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff
FULL ARTICLE >>
South
American grain production
Robert Wisner says he’s never seen the kind of drop that
occurred in grain production in South America this spring. Farmers in
Argentina and Brazil are expected to harvest 675 million fewer bushels
of corn and 711 million fewer bushels of soybeans than they did in
2007-08.
The decrease, which could prove to be even greater when USDA issues a
new forecast on June 12, was not good news for pork producers attending
the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. Those producers, struggling
with higher feed costs for months, have been hoping for some relief in
the corn and soybean markets. - Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial
Staff
FULL ARTICLE >>
FSA
county committee nominations
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that
farmer and rancher candidate nominations will begin on June 15, 2009,
for local Farm Service Agency county committees. The nomination period
continues through Aug. 3, 2009, with elections taking place this
fall.
"County committees are an important link between the farm community and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture and give landowners, farmers and
ranchers a better chance of having their opinions and ideas heard," said
Vilsack. "In recent years, we have seen a trend of increased nominations
of minority and women producers and I hope that will continue."
FULL ARTICLE >>
Farm
groups and climate change legislation
The National Corn Growers Association and other leading
agricultural organizations have sent a letter to Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer expressing concerns
about the cap-and-trade portion of the American Clean Energy and
Security Act of 2009.
“Your leadership is needed to ensure the final legislation is crafted
in a way that maximizes the participation of farmers and ranchers while
minimizing the economic burden in the climate change equation,” the
letter stated. “From an environmental perspective, maximizing
agriculture’s role results in significant carbon benefits to the
country and provides a vital component to addressing global warming.”
FULL ARTICLE >>
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AUDIO/VIDEO FEATURES
KENT THIESSE
RICHARD BROCK
MORE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS
 DOC,
SHOULD I FIX IT?
I have been getting e-mails and questions coming faster than a Twitter
following for a big time professional athlete or high-priced college
basketball coach. The questions’ central focus has been: “Should I
fix my interest rates in light of the recent run up of long-term
rates?” Well, the following is my generic answer, and terms and
conditions may vary with individual situations and circumstances.
First, there is a much higher probability of long-term interest rates
increasing than decreasing. With stimulus packages being implemented not
only in the U.S. and Canada but throughout the world, more than likely
inflationary pressures will result.
Next, quantitative easing, or printing more money, by the Federal
Reserve may result in a devaluation of the dollar, which will make
imported goods more expensive. - Dave Kohl, Corn & Soybean
Digest
MORE
QUICK POLL
QUESTION
This week's poll question: Have you had glyphosate resistance problems
to the extent that you have to spray with another chemistry to finish
the job?
* YES
* NO
Log on now to the Corn & Soybean Digest and take our quick poll. We
would all like to know your answer! (And check the current results
while you're there)
VOTE NOW
VOLUNTEER
CORN MANAGEMENT IN CORN & SOYBEANS
Large populations of volunteer corn are being reported in some fields in
Minnesota this year. What impact the volunteer corn will have on this
year’s crop yield and the viable management options available will
depend upon in which crop the volunteer corn is present. Making the
assumptions that the majority of the volunteer corn present is
glyphosate resistant and that glyphosate-resistant crops were planted in
the field this year, your only management option in corn at this time is
cultivation. In soybean you have the herbicide options of the ACCase
inhibiting herbicides such as: Select Max (clethodim), Fusilade DX
(fluazifop-P), Fusion (fluazifop-P & fenoxaprop) and Assure II
(quizalofop); note Poast Plus (sethoxydim) is not as active as the other
herbicides on volunteer corn. The ACCase inhibiting herbicides are
generally targeted on 12-24-in.-tall volunteer corn. The ALS herbicide
Raptor can also effectively control smaller (2-8 in.) volunteer
corn.
In 2007, researchers at South Dakota State University indicated that
volunteer corn is much less competitive in corn than soybean. The South
Dakota study (Alms et al. 2007) evaluated the full season effect of a
range of volunteer corn densities (800-14,000 plants/acre) on both corn
and soybean and reported yield losses that ranged from 0% to 13% in corn
and 0% to 54% in soybean. A 2007 University of Minnesota (U of M) study
reported yield loss potential in corn that was very similar to the South
Dakota study. Iowa State reported one volunteer corn plant per 10 ft. of
row reduced corn yield 1.3%. This lower impact on corn is likely due to
a volunteer corn’s reduced demand for resources and the competitive
vigor of the planted F1 hybrid. Volunteer corn has a lower yield
potential than the planted F1 hybrid resulting from delayed emergence.
In the U of M study, volunteer corn plants lagged from one to six leaf
stages behind the crop and few plants produced an ear by harvest. -
Corn & Soybean Digest
MORE
DROUGHT-TOLERANCE
GENE BY 2012
BASF Plant Science and Monsanto have jointly announced the discovery of
a naturally occurring gene that will be used in drought-tolerant corn.
They say producers could see products containing the cspB gene as early
as 2012. - Farm Industry News
MORE
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