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Showing posts from April, 2014

Palmer Amaranth Untreatable 10 Days after Emergence

University of Illinois Weed Scientist Aaron Hager is urging farmers to diligently control a new weed species in the state. Palmer amaranth plants reached a 4-inch height less than 10 days after emergence. Palmer is very hard to control after it is taller than four inches. You can read more from Aaron Hager on the weed in The Bulletin.
photo comparing the growth rate of waterhemp vs palmer amaranth
This greenhouse demonstration compares the growth rate of  palmer amaranth compared to waterhemp at 4 days post emergence and 16 days. Palmer becomes nearly untreatable after reaching a height of 4 inches, usually less than 10 days after emergence.



State of Overwintering Row Crop Insect Pests

Tough to Predict U.S. Growing Regions Weather



There are a handful of meteorologists on the planet that follow weather in all the places farmers grow commodity crops like corn, soybeans, wheat and rice. Each is likely to tell you the most difficult forecast to produce is for the Midwest.

Visit tStorm Weather's Website

Check out Farmers from around the Globe

Farmer Derek Klingenberg likes to make videos. He does a great job. #WeAreFaming

CME Grain & Oilseed Trading Limits to Change Regularly

The CME Group Inc said today it will implement a new system for setting daily price limits for U.S. grain and oilseed futures starting next month. It will regularly change the limits to markets including corn, soybeans and wheat. These will reset twice a year with the change based on underlying price levels. CME will also remove price limits for all grain and oilseed options.

Both changes are set to take effect the first trading day of May which begins the evening of Wednesday April 30th. The semi annual adjustment of the limits will widen the trading range during periods of higher prices and narrow the limits when market prices are lower.

The reset dates will be the first trading day in May and the first day in November.

On May 1, the initial daily limit for corn will drop to 35 cents a bushel from 40 cents, rise to $1.00 from 70 cents for soybeans, and drop to 45 cents a bushel from 60 cents for CBOT soft red winter wheat.


10pm on Saturday Night

It can be lonely on the farm. However, it sure looks like Twitter is letting guys striving for the same thing talk in realtime when they're busy. This 'screen shot' is a 10pm Saturday night conversation from a western Illinois farmer. He simply asked for a roll call of who was still in the field. The answers came back from across the Midwest.


No Signs of Weakening Soybean Exports

U.S. grown soybeans are being shipped out of the nation at an astounding pace and, as you'll hear from University of Illinois Ag Economist Darrel Good, there doesn't appear to be any slowdown in the movement.   

Corn Consumption Continues to Exceed Projections



Farmers are going to the field this spring feeling much better about the price of corn. Todd Gleason has more on the reasons why things have gone from dire to acceptable.

Forward Figuring Corn & Soybean Ending Stocks

The March reports released by the United States Department of Agriculture can be used to estimate how much corn and soybeans will be left in the nation for this fall and next. Todd Gleason has more on the calculations from the University of Illinois.

USDA April 9, 2014 World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates

Bt Resistance Rant

April 3, 2014 Mike Gray posted a note into the University of Illinois IPM bulletin about the addition of three more counties to the Yieldgard resistant western corn rootworm saga. The Entomologist also reprimanded the industry for not taking academic recommendations on management of GMO products seriously a decade ago. You may read the FULL ARTICLE here, and an excerpt below.

"While the greater implementation of best management practices is a step in the right direction — let’s be clear, these practices should have been in place when Bt corn rootworm hybrids were first used over 10 years ago. Accelerated reliance upon the pyramided Bt rootworm products with reduced seed blend refuges will not solve this resistance management challenge. Increased use of soil insecticides, along with Bt rootworm hybrids, will likely only exacerbate resistance development. As I have done in the past, I urge producers to implement a long-term integrated pest management approach for corn rootworms. This includes the use of multiple tactics (over time, not all in the same season), such as: use of a more diverse crop rotation system, use of a non-Bt hybrid in conjunction with a planting-time soil insecticide, rotation of pyramided Bt hybrids, and consideration of an adult suppression program in heavily infested fields."

EIA Press Release on Ethanol Price Spike

APRIL 3, 2014

Rail congestion, cold weather raise ethanol spot prices

graph of ethanol and gasoline prices, as explained in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration based on Oil Price Information Service (ethanol prices) and Thomson Reuters (RBOB prices).
Note: RBOB is reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending gasoline, a motor gasoline blending component intended for blending oxygenates to produce finished reformulated gasoline.

Ethanol spot prices have increased steadily since early February. By late March, New York Harbor (NYH) spot ethanol prices exceeded prices for RBOB (the petroleum component of gasoline) by more than $1 per gallon. Ethanol spot prices in Chicago and Gulf Coast markets also rose above NYH RBOB prices.