Agriculture

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U.S. rice acreage is up on the year, while cotton is down. The USDA says 2.687 million acres of rice were planted, most of that long grain, an increase of 465,000 on the year, including a solid year-to-year jump in Arkansas, the top long grain state, while California nearly doubled medium grain acres. Harvested area for all types of rice is seen at 2.645 million acres, compared to 2.172 million […]

Being proactive in managing resistance development is critical for the success of soybeans. In this episode, the soy checkoff has designed a farmer-focused education platform that helps with weed and insect control. https://art19.com/shows/brownfield-ag-news/episodes/7d08630a-e903-4df8-9c80-5ea0a7ae7c53 ...

The USDA’s latest round of quarterly grain stocks numbers were below what analysts were expecting heading into the report. Both corn and soybeans saw slower third quarter usage, but that was canceled out by tighter supplies to start out with, while fourth quarter usage for wheat was stronger than the year ago pace. On June 1st, corn stocks in all positions were 4.106 billion bushels, 6% under last year, even […]

Severe storms moved through Missouri Thursday causing damage to crops and buildings, but also bringing much needed rains to some areas.  This was part of the derecho that moved across the Midwest bringing 80 miles-per-hour winds, hail and tornadoes. Michael Phillips from Clark County, in northeast Missouri, tells Brownfield there was a tornado and corn is down, but this was the first rain he’s had since March. “If we wouldn’t […]

There’s a push in Congress to increase funding for USDA’s Farm and Ranch Assistance Network. Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer tells Brownfield he led a group of 11 U.S. representatives who want to support rural Americans facing acute mental health challenges. “Even with this clear need, rural areas routinely have less access to mental health resources. Since 2018, the last time we passed a farm bill, we’ve led the effort to […]

An integrated pest management specialist in Minnesota says rootworm pressure is showing up in corn that followed soybeans. Bruce Potter with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield there’s some lodging in rotated corn. “So it looks like extended diapause is back, people should be paying attention to that.” He says all the pressure on rotated corn has been on crops without the rootworm trait. “I don’t know if that’s going […]

A severe weather system that swept through a large section of central Illinois Thursday damaged some crops while bringing much needed rain to others. Marty Marr grows corn and soybeans in Sangamon, Morgan and Logan counties and tells Brownfield an isolated section of their farm was hit by a derecho. “We had several acres that were pretty well flattened and tossed around, twisted up, snapped off. It was a hard […]

A crop insurance agent says volatile futures prices for hogs and cattle have more producers looking into Livestock Risk Protection. Jon Strohl with Farm Credit Illinois tells Brownfield recent shifts in the market have more producers interested in protecting their bottom line from uncontrollable factors. “Here this last week with the uptick in the futures on the fat cattle side, guys are taking advantage of those, especially for next April. […]