U.S. corn and soybean condition ratings declined last week as hot, dry weather in many key growing areas impacted crops. Temperatures in most of the region have been mild to start the week, but could turn hot again ahead of July 4th weekend, and some areas need rain. The USDA says 67% of corn is rated good to excellent, 3% less than a week ago, and 4% of the crop […]
Milk futures were down and cash dairy prices were all lower except for whey again on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Monday. June Class III milk was unchanged at $24.33. July closed down $0.35 at $22.43. August closed down $0.42 at $23.08. September was down $0.16 at $23.42. October through May contracts ranged from nine cents lower in April to nine cents higher in November. Dry whey was up $0.0250 at […]
A new report from the USDA shows a slow decline in the number of farms in the country. Dr. Michael Langemeier, professor of agriculture economics at Purdue University, tells Brownfield the decrease has been going on for several decades. “When you see a disappearance of farms, a lot of times it’s people that are retiring from the farm and there is nobody there to takeover, or something similar to that,” […]
Wisconsin’s egg production during the month of May was up ten percent from the previous month, but down 33% from the same month last year. USDA’s Wisconsin statistician Greg Bussler tells Brownfield that avian influenza influenced those numbers. The average number of all layers in May was just over five million, up 4% from the previous month as the flocks began to recover, but nowhere near last year when avian […]
A Wisconsin farmer says along with worrying about crops, weather, and input costs, now he is concerned about having electricity when he needs it. Tony Mellenthin Tony Mellenthin raises crops near Menomonie, Wisconsin, and uses several irrigation pivots. He says, “We’ve gotten a letter in the mail from our power provider about the possibility of rolling blackouts this summer. they hope it doesn’t happen, but we’ve never gotten a letter […]
The USDA says that as of the week ending June 23rd, corn, soybean, and wheat export inspections remain behind the needed paces to meet projections for the current, respective, marketing years. The 2021/22 marketing year started September 1st, 2021 for beans, corn, and sorghum, while 2022/23 kicked off June 1st, 2022 for wheat. The USDA’s next set of supply and demand estimates is out July 12th. Wheat came out at […]
An Eastern South Dakota cattle producer says hay supplies are tight from drought across the Great Plains. Alan Vedvei of Lake Preston tells Brownfield “Right now, hay supplies are really short all over South Dakota and Nebraska. We actually last year had to cut a little extra corn silage and then we put up whatever forage we could get like Sudan grass and put up some ruffage and baled some […]
President Biden has signed the Keep Kids Fed Act that extends funding and flexibilities for summer youth meal programs. Vince Hall, chief government relations officer with Feeding America, tells Brownfield the law extends child nutrition waivers that were set to expire at the end of the month. “This hunger is afflicting children at a much higher rate than the rest of the population. We know that about 22 million kids […]
The American Coalition for Ethanol recently unveiled its carbon intensity calculator. ACE CEO Brian Jennings says it’s designed to help estimate potential improvements corn farmers and ethanol producers can make to reduce their carbon footprint. He tells Brownfield changes on the farm can dramatically reduce ethanol’s carbon score. ...
