Planters are halted again after a brief window of ideal conditions for a western Indiana farmer. Kevin Cox raises corn and soybeans in Clay and Parke counties. “We got two days of corn planting in, and we got rained out one night. Fortunately, we didn’t get a lot of rain, so we were able to get started back running again the next day but then got a lot more rain […]
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds credits work between last year and this year’s legislative sessions for getting her Biofuels Access Bill across the finish line. Speaking to Brownfield Tuesday, Reynolds says they gathered a lot of stakeholder input after the first iteration of her bill fell short a year ago. “We met with a lot of individuals (because) we wanted to make sure we weren’t impacting our rural retailers as they […]
Fencing shortages and rising cost have creating a ripple effect in livestock industry. North-Central Kansas rancher Ethan Dickerson tells Brownfield he began replacing fence in mid-December after a wildfire destroyed thousands of miles of fence. “We ended up getting a semi-load of barbwire out of San Antonio. We ended up paying a pretty penny for it even though we had to pay close to double what it was worth.” He […]
A livestock economist says the drought in the Great Plains and Western U.S. could create a tighter hay market. University of Kentucky’s Kenny Burdine says, “I think it’s very likely that hay is in much shorter supply in a lot of areas as we think about the coming winter, granted, we are still six months away from.” He tells Brownfield hay production has already been impacted. “I hear folks in […]
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says the ethanol industry can support increased demand for permanent, year-round sales of E15. She tells Brownfield there’s adequate infrastructure to deliver the fuel to retailers. “There is now. Now, if demand is goes sky high, we may have to beef that up. But at the moment, I think we have the infrastructure to get that distributed.” She says E15 sales can help curb inflation at […]
New research by the Soil Health Institute is working to measure soil organic carbon and its water retention properties to better combat drought. Researchers say new models developed in the study found as much as three times more water is available with increased soil organic carbon. Soils with better water holding capacity also had larger amounts of calcium carbonate which authors say should incentivize farmers to use more responsible soil […]
U.S. ethanol exports during March were 125.1 million gallons, 13% less than in February. The Renewable Fuels Association says that was the lowest total for the month of March in six years. The top customer was Canada for the twelfth month in a row, followed by South Korea, India, Nigeria, and Mexico, with the shipments to South Korea and Nigeria record large. Exports of distillers dried grains with solubles were […]
Higher retail meat prices will likely hold steady this summer. Brian Earnest is the lead animal protein analyst with the knowledge exchange division at CoBank. Healthy Living: ...
An extension weed specialist says the late start to the planting season could make it easier to manage some weeds this spring. Mark Loux tells Brownfield assuming farmers start with clean fields, there is a shorter period of weed emergence to deal with. “And the crop grows faster,” he says. “What we find is there’s less of a need for a second post-emergence application.” He says farmers have lost an […]
