Corteva Agriscience U.S. product manager for fungicides and biologicals Ryan Ridder says there are several reasons more growers are using biologicals on their operations. He tells Brownfield while they aren’t a replacement for synthetic products, biologicals work in tandem to provide farmers flexibility and fit well with sustainable practices. ...
Wisconsin’s 75th Alice in Dairyland is Taylor Schaefer. Schaefer was selected Saturday during the Alice in Dairyland Finals hosted by Dane County in Madison. Schaefer tells Brownfield while growing up on a Racine county farm and showing animals at the fair, she looked up to Alice in Dairyland. “As a young exhibitor I really did look up to Alice but I never thought I could be her. You know, these […]
Across the Corn Belt, a strong cold front extends from the upper Great Lakes region into the lower Missouri Valley, preceded and accompanied by showers and thunderstorms. The rain is slowing corn and soybean planting activities, which had been quickly advancing in recent days. Warmth lingers in the eastern Corn Belt, where Friday’s high temperatures will range from 85 to 90°F. Meanwhile, sharply cooler weather is arriving across the upper […]
Drought conditions in New Zealand are impacting milk production. USDA’s Foreign Ag Service says dryness in key producing areas, high feed prices, a smaller herd, and labor shortages all contributed to a 6% drop in first-quarter milk production since last year, and the lowest first-quarter production since 2013. USDA says New Zealand has record farmgate dairy prices, but the drop in milk supply will likely lead to fewer cheese and […]
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle were mostly lower and feeders were lower ahead of Friday’s On Feed numbers, which will likely be considered bearish in the near-term. June lives closed $.07 higher at $131.57 and August lives closed $.47 lower at $131.55. August feeder cattle closed $1.27 lower at $163.92 and September feeder cattle closed $.90 lower at $167. It was a quiet Friday for direct cash cattle […]
Two US Senators want the Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential price fixing in the beef industry. The bipartisan resolution, introduced by Senators Mike Rounds (R) of South Dakota and Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts, would direct the FTC to report its findings to Congress within one year. The investigation would look at the extent of anticompetitive practices and violations of antitrust law in the beef packing industry; the monetary […]
An ag economist says supplies of cattle could get very tight in the next couple of years. University of Missouri’s Scott Brown says the industry continues to pull cattle forward, leading to more head on feed and placed into feedlots, “By and large, that’s probably bearish for markets, in at least the short run, I don’t think we can keep doing this. Fewer cows, pulling cattle forward, whether it’s off […]
Farmers are evaluating stands as newly planted crops emerge. University of Minnesota Extension Integrated Pest Management Specialist Bruce Potter expects early season insect pressure. “Right now if you’ve got corn emerged or even wheat, you should be seeing some leaf feeding from black cutworm larvae. They’re not quite big enough to cut corn yet, they’ll hit that growth stage probably the early part of June.” He tells Brownfield in areas […]
A southeast Iowa farmer says he made the most of a small planting window this year. Mark Jackson grows corn and soybeans in Mahaska County and tells Brownfield conditions didn’t become fit until the second week of May. “Changed the oil a couple times trying to wait for everything to get ready, and greased the planter multiple times to try to get going. And all of a sudden it opened […]
