Soybeans were sharply lower on speculative and technical selling. The USDA’s national good to excellent rating declined to 51%, but beans have more time to bounce back than corn, with August the key month for beans. The ongoing El Nino pattern typically, but not always, leads to a wetter weather pattern in some currently very dry U.S. growing areas. It’s unlikely the USDA will make significant adjustments to yield projections […]
Organic dairy farmers and processors have issues they would like to bring up should the USDA hold hearings on the federal milk marketing orders. Adam Warthesen with Organic Valley says they have worked with seven other dairy processors and organic companies as the Milk Innovation Group to identify six changes needed to help fluid milk and value-added milk. “We are looking at how do we bring innovation and investment to […]
An extension agronomist says tar spot will be a concern this growing season despite the abnormally dry conditions. Meaghan Anderson is with Iowa State University. “We do know that this tar spot doesn’t necessarily need rainfall,” she said. “It just needs free moisture available on those corn leaves.” She tells Brownfield timing up fungicide applications can be tricky. “The unfortunate thing is it could start coming in next week and […]
The Indiana Climate Summit aims to start a dialogue on climate with the idea of agriculture as the solution. Sarah Beth Aubrey is the CEO and founder of IN-climate, a membership group based of ag and energy professionals. She says the second annual is providing an opportunity for a productive and practical dialogue with these industries that focus around the topic of climate. “Our major hope is that people come […]
Wisconsin will be getting more than a billion dollars in federal funding to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved areas. White House Senior Advisor Mitchell Landrieu says the formula for dispersing funds will serve rural America focusing first on unserved areas, and then underserved areas. “If you are engaged in agriculture, the ability to engage in precision agriculture with the best and the brightest in the entire world, you […]
A grain trading expert is encouraging farmers to use options as a risk management tool. Brian Wilson spent 25 years as a pit trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. He’s now using that experience to help farmers use options. “And have them be knowledgeable on it so that they can then go to their broker and say, look, I now know that the skew has come up,” he says. […]
A marketing analyst says the recent weather rally has helped some growers meet their sales goals for the year. Angie Setzer, co-founder of the grain marketing firm Consus, tells Brownfield she did not expect the market to rally like it has. “There are some pretty major production concerns with as dry as we’ve been, but we’ve been taking advantage of the market that’s provided us $1.25 rally in corn at […]
A Kansas farmer says it’s becoming more difficult to manage risk in 2023. Paul Penner tells Brownfield he’s concerned about the impact that drought in the Eastern Corn Belt is having on commodity markets. “If suddenly they get some rains between now and July 15, that maybe problematic and the price may not go up as much as I anticipated.” He says it’s hard to determine when to sell. “Right […]
The American Farm Bureau Federation says Congress needs to overhaul the seasonal H-2A guest worker program to help alleviate a tight labor market. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs, says the 40-year-old program is outdated and is difficult for producers and businesses to use. “It was formatted and designed in a way that is not dealing with the volume of the workers we are seeing now and the usage […]
