This graphic shows the percent of the eight state total intended corn acreage planted by May 15 over the past number of years and the change if any the USDA made in its corn yield projection from the May to the June WASDE report.
Arguments from senators to open up the U.S. sugar market were that Americans pay $14 billion more or so for food with sugar than if the U.S. didn't have such protectionist measures for U.S. sugar growers. Really, well what's the cost to health care for that cheaper sugar.
Attention agricultural employers: Mandatory health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) won't start until January 2014, but government requirements already are in play to get you and your employees ready for this monumental and potentially mind-boggling event.
Despite a few daily spikes in the market, the ethanol to RBOB gasoline price spread has narrowed through May. This continues to focus on tighter supplies and growing summer demand.
5/24 8:19AM July corn is down 2 3/4 cents, July soybeans are down 8 cents, and July Chicago wheat is up 2 3/4 cents.
Weather
Rain Friday: Prairies, Plains, Midwest5/24 7:11AM Rain in the Canadian Prairies and the southwestern Plains Friday will slow field work. Areas of the Northern Plains and western Midwest will also see some rain.
Crops
Bee health is the focus of a new report from USDA. Beekeepers and bees are challenged by a host of environmental factors that have increased bee deaths and decline. (DTN photo by Pamela Smith)
Honey Bee CauseNo Easy Answer on Bee Health5/2 2:12PM A new report blames multiple factors for the challenges in honeybee deaths and declines.
Mon May 13, 2013 06:59 AM CDT Delayed soybean planting requires some management changes.
Livestock
Heat synchronization allows this operation to breed 350 cows and heifers in one day, using artificial insemination. (DTN/Progressive Farmer photo by Becky Mills)
Synchronization ProsBreed the Herd in One Day5/20 10:45AM For brothers Phil and Jim Ham, heat synchronization is not negotiable. They breed 350 cows and heifers using AI for at least one service, and say it's a job they wouldn't want to attempt without synchronization.
Mon May 20, 2013 11:12 AM CDT Texas ranchers Emry Birdwell and Deborah Clark are pushing the limits when it comes to stocking capacity for their native rangeland. But the payoff is hard to question. Not only are they producing more pounds of beef per acre, but when weather cooperates, they are also covering bare spots in rangeland with grass.
Mon May 20, 2013 11:30 AM CDT Despite complaints from Canada and Mexico, USDA has moved ahead with attempts to rewrite its rule following a trade case in the WTO against the U.S. that concluded USDA's original label discriminated against livestock from other countries. Canada has threatened to offer a list of U.S. products for retaliatory tariffs if the new rule goes into effect.
Mon May 20, 2013 11:08 AM CDT What did I do wrong when I started to use AI?
Land Management
The guy who writes about fertilizer for us choose fertilizer placement equipment as one of the Top 5 Farm Machinery Trends. (DTN/The Progressive Farmer photo by Bob Elbert)
Dirt DiscipleReducing Global Erosion and Soil Perservation5/20 12:45PM Author preaches agriculture needs to reform farming practices to reduce global erosion and preserve the soil for generations.
Mon May 6, 2013 11:39 AM CDT The buzz in ag last week was the obvious late start to planting across the heart of the corn/bean belt and what effect it will have on planted acres.
Farm Business
Four generations of the Gorden family of Decatur, Ill., have a vested interest in their farm, even though none of 91-year-old Ken Gorden's descendants operate it. (DTN photo by Elizabeth Williams)
Senior Partners - 4From Here to Eternity5/10 6:33AM For sentimental or practical reasons, some owners want their farmland to stay in family hands for generations to come. Sharing family stories builds commitment, but buy-sell agreements can impose disincentives to liquidate.
The guy who writes about fertilizer for us choose fertilizer placement equipment as one of the Top 5 Farm Machinery Trends. (DTN/The Progressive Farmer photo by Bob Elbert)
Top 5 Farm Machinery Trends TodayMy List: Top 5 Farm Machinery Trends Today5/20 12:48PM Nowadays, everyone has a list and not to be outdone, DTN reporter Russ Quinn, has come up with his own list -- The Top 5 Farm Machinery Trends -- for this year.
Wed May 22, 2013 11:29 AM CDT For Russ Quinn, author of the Vintage Iron column, having an interest in vintage equipment and farming practices, living on a farm and raising his own young family, has led Russ to try his hand at vintage farming.
Mon May 6, 2013 11:32 AM CDT Kubota builds compact and small tractors in Georgia. But it is looking to acquire an existing manufacturer to build large-scale production farm equipment.
Ag Policy
USDA issued a final rule Thursday modifying country-of-origin labeling. A new labeling rule was required after the U.S. lost a World Trade Organization case last year to Canada and Mexico. The countries had argued that the rule, which went into effect in 2009, discriminated against imported livestock. (Photo courtesy of USDA)
Critics Lament New COOL RuleU.S. Packers, Canadian Cattlemen Chide USDA Position5/23 12:56PM Opponents of COOL on Thursday criticized USDA and the new labeling requirements. Those criticisms were loudest from U.S. meatpackers, feeders and Canadians. The new rule would prohibit packers and retailers from co-mingling meat coming from animals born or raised in different countries.
Thu May 23, 2013 04:08 PM CDT Repeating a provision they introduced last year, senators backed a plan that would lower the premium subsidy for farmers making more than $750,000 adjusted gross income. The vote was 59-33 despite opposition from leaders on the Senate Agriculture Committee. The farm bill debate is now on hiatus until the Senate returns June. 3.
Wed May 22, 2013 05:17 PM CDT Senators seeking to overhaul sugar policies argued in vain that food-processing and confectionary jobs are lost to Canada because of import restrictions and tariffs that protect a small number of domestic sugar growers.
Thu May 23, 2013 11:51 AM CDT While ballot initiatives and state legislators continue pushing labels on foods that include ingredients from biotech crops, an amendment to the farm bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to ensure states have the freedom to require such labels, received just 27 votes on Thursday with 71 senators rejecting such state-created food labels.
Farm Life
Iowa State University economist Bruce Babcock has spent much of the last decade arguing agent commissions and subsidies for crop insurance remain too high, but House and Senate Ag Committees are poised to add to program costs, not delete. (DTN photo by Marcia Taylor
Taxpayer Bloat or Farmer Safety Net?Raising Cain Over Crop Insurance5/20 11:00AM One of the creators of modern crop insurance now takes the thankless job as its chief critic. He admits "maybe only five people in Congress" share his views to raise premiums and eliminate the popular harvest-price coverage.
Mon May 20, 2013 11:05 AM CDT The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday both expressed displeasure with an Obama administration proposal to shift at least some U.S. foreign food aid from buying domestic commodities to direct cash purchases overseas and said they were flat-out unwilling to go along with it.
Mon May 13, 2013 12:08 PM CDT For sentimental or practical reasons, some owners want their farmland to stay in family hands for generations to come. Sharing family stories builds commitment, but buy-sell agreements can impose disincentives to liquidate.
Featured Column
(Public domain photo courtesy of U.S. National Archives)
Newsom on the MarketPerspective5/24 6:27AM Heading into the Memorial Day holiday weekend, I received a phone call talking about planting progress, but providing so much more perspective.
= Subcriber Content:
Raising Cain Over Crop Insurance
