Brownfield

31902D, Chain Reaction Innovations and Argonne Design Works portraits: Bernard Johnson A company whose technology enables semi-trucks to operate on biofuels recently celebrated a major milestone. ClearFlame CEO BJ Johnson tells Brownfield they outfitted a Cummins 500-horsepower engine to run on ethanol and during road tests in late December the truck performed the same as if running on diesel. “It’s a huge validation, both to all the R&D that we […]

An extension crops educator says arranging for agronomic inputs will be very important this year. Dave Nicolai with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield growers are concerned about the price of nutrients and availability of crop protection products. “There are certain products like Liberty or glufosinate that we know are going to be in tighter supply. Even glyphosate, knowing that we can’t maybe get the generics, maybe the U.S.-based. But […]

As labor and trucking shortages create challenges nationwide, the National Pork Board is working to quantify those impacts at the farm level. CEO Bill Even tells Brownfield they launched a comprehensive labor study on the US pork industry last week. “Because at the end of the day, if we go up to somebody and say we have a labor shortage, they’ll say take a number and get in line because […]

Mar. corn closed at $6.83 and 3/4, up 9 centsMar. soybeans closed at $16.75, up 40 centsMar. soybean meal closed at $471.10, up $17.40Mar. soybean oil closed at 70.72, up 57 pointsMar. wheat closed at $8.76, up 31 and 3/4 centsApr. live cattle closed at $143.05, down 70 centsApr. lean hogs closed at $108.02, down $4.05Mar. Class III milk closed at $22.02, down 44 centsApr. ...

Soybeans were sharply higher on commercial and technical buying, with March closing just shy of the 2021 spot price high. Beans roared to new highs with strength in bean meal, with March establishing a fresh closing high, and China buying 132,000 tons of 2022/23 U.S. beans. That is the sixth day in a row with an announced purchase of U.S. soybeans for a running total of 815,000 tons, including 575,500 […]

February Class III milk futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange steady at $20.89.  March down 44 cents at $22.02.  April 38 lower at $22.48.  May through July contracts 3 higher to 18 lower. Dry whey unchanged at $0.81.  Blocks steady at $1.99. Barrels down $0.02 at $1.9350. Butter down $0.01 at $2.64.  Five trades, ranging from $2.64 to $2.6475. Nonfat dry milk up $0.01 at $1.86.  Twelve trades with a […]

The leading yielder in the pilot of the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network says 140-bushel wheat was below average for him.  Modeled after efforts to improve wheat yields in the United Kingdom, the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network started last growing season with a few dozen growers including Jeff Krohn. “It really is learning a lot about how the wheat is growing, weather conditions, nutrients that we’re putting on, trying […]

Photo Credit: IL Pork An Illinois farmer says input costs are just as much of a concern on the livestock side of his operation as they are on the grain side. Thomas Titus raises corn, soybeans, and pigs in Elkhart, Illinois. He tells Brownfield the good news for grain farmers is high commodity prices are helping ease high fertilizer costs, but those high grain prices are both a blessing and […]

When it comes to snow this winter in South Dakota is a story of haves and have nots. South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal farms in the eastern part of the state, “We’ve had a pretty decent winter as far as snowfall. Not a lot of it. Out in western South Dakota they want some snow and they’re not getting it because they that to melt next spring and […]