corn
To boost cover crops, shift funds from crop subsidies and insurance, group urges
Cover crops are a well-known way to reduce nutrient runoff and soil erosion when farmland is idle outside of the growing season but few corn and soybean farmers plant them, says the Environmental Working Group. In a report, EWG suggested "shifting a small allocation" of money from crop subsidies and crop insurance to pay for a dramatic boost in the cost-share funds that help farmers get started with the practice.
Ethanol rumors swirl and die, as does corn market rally
The corn ethanol industry squabbled over a rumored White House overhaul of the Renewable Fuels Standard, which guarantees biofuels a share of the gasoline market and provides a market for more than a third of the U.S. corn crop. By the end of the day, however, the White House knocked down talk that it would allow year-round sales of a 15 percent blend of ethanol, a step up from the 10 percent blend that is now standard, and potentially a large expansion in ethanol sales.
USDA projects 5-percent leap in record soybean plantings
U.S. farmers are projected to plant 88 million acres of soybeans, up 5 percent from the record set last year, while cutting back on corn and wheat, said USDA chief economist Robert Johansson. Futures prices indicate soybeans will be more profitable than corn and wheat this year.
Record soybean plantings to top corn for first time in 34 years
In a survey by Farm Futures magazine, farmers say they will abandon corn and wheat in favor of planting the largest area ever to soybeans, the crop most likely to turn a profit this year. "If achieved, soybeans would attract more acres than corn for the first time since the PIK year of 1983, when growers idled ground in a government program," says Farm Futures.
Smallest U.S. winter wheat plantings in 108 years
Faced by the lowest average wheat prices in a decade, U.S. growers slashed winter wheat plantings to their lowest level since 1909, when USDA began its wheat records. The 10 percent cut in acreage from 2016 sets the stage for potentially the smallest harvest in four decades of winter wheat, used in bread and other baked goods.
Tough year ahead for farmers due to low grain prices, says Purdue
Grain prices will run at or near decade lows, keeping farm income in a slump, say Purdue agricultural economists. In the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report 2017, they say the average value of farmland in Indiana was $7,041 an acre, down by 13 percent from the 2013 peak because of weakness in the farm sector.
U.S. files second WTO complaint against China grain aid
U.S. farmers lost as much as $3.5 billion in corn, wheat and rice sales to China last year because the world's most populous nation used its tariff system to unfairly limit imports, the Obama administration said in a complaint to the World Trade Organization. Separately, the U.S. asked WTO to appoint a dispute panel to investigate its complaint of excessive Chinese subsidies of corn, wheat and rice.
Iowa farmland values down for third year, more declines expected
Farmland values in Iowa, the No. 1 corn and hog state, are down by 17.5 percent since the collapse of commodity prices in 2013, says an annual survey by Iowa State University. ISU researchers joined other analysts in forecasting land values will continue to fall for a couple years more in the first significant adjustment in U.S. values since the agricultural recession of the mid-1980s.
Some U.S. crops are boosting yields and improving sustainability, while others fall behind.
The Field to Market alliance says in an assessment issued every four years that, on the whole, 10 major U.S. crops have produced more yield on less land with improved environmental outcomes on a per-unit-of-production basis. The alliance calls this "a significant step toward a more sustainable farming system," but cautions that "improvements are plateauing for a number of crops and indicators."
Growers embrace some GMO crops, but only give GMO alfalfa a handshake
Two decades after the first GMO crops were approved for cultivation, nearly half of U.S. cropland is planted with genetically engineered seeds, chiefly corn, soybeans and cotton. Farmers have greeted GE canola and sugarbeets with ardor, but alfalfa is the wallflower at the GMO party, says a USDA report.
Mexico loses appetite for U.S. grain after Trump win
Traders and industry analysts say campaign promises by President-elect Donald Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement have spooked the cross-border grain trade as well as driving down the value of the peso, said Reuters.
Cheap corn isn’t enough to keep U.S. cattle herd growing
Beef prices set records in 2014 due to short supplies and rising demand in the U.S. and overseas, encouraging cattle producers to chase profits by expanding their herds. Now, despite declining prices for corn, they're cutting back because slaughter cattle prices this year are forecast by USDA to be an average 18 percent lower than last year.
Three years in prison for Chinese national who stole valuable seed corn
U.S. district judge Stephanie Rose sentenced Mo Hailong, a Chinese national also known as Robert Mo, to three years in prison for conspiracy to steal trade secrets, the Justice Department announced. Mo took part in the theft of hybrid seed corn, developed by Monsanto and Pioneer, for shipment to a Chinese conglomerate that owns a corn seed subsidiary.
DuPont Pioneer and CIMMYT to jointly develop CRISPR crops
The second-largest seed company in the world, DuPont Pioneer, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, or CIMMYT, said they reached an agreement to jointly develop improved crops using the gene-editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas for smallholder farmers around the world. The agreement, announced at CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference in Mexico City, brings the new technology into the public breeding organization for the first time.
Green Revolution 2.0: It’s no longer just about boosting food
At the 50th-anniversary meeting of the main body that launched the Green Revolution, a range of researchers and policymakers made clear that the focus of their efforts is no longer just raising crop yields to “feed the world,” as their mantra had been for decades. Production is now just a starting point for a range of food issues faced by developing countries.
Court approves class-action lawsuit against Syngenta GMO corn
A U.S. district judge has decided a proposed class-action lawsuit against Syngenta will include half a million U.S. corn growers, but excluding those who planted two GMO strains from the Swiss seed company, says AgWeb. The lawsuit stems from China's rejection in 2013 of cargoes containing Syngenta's Viptera strain and the subsequent decline of corn prices.
Crowdfunding drive for international germplasm bank
Plant breeding company KWS, of Germany, has pledged $10,000 in a crowdfunding initiative to help maintain the world's largest corn and wheat germplasm bank, says the international research center that owns the bank. The "Save a Seed" drive was launched at the 50th anniversary celebration for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), based in Mexico.
Corn and soybean harvest slows in rain-hit heartland
The U.S. corn harvest is running four percentage points behind normal and the soybean harvest is three points behind the five-year average for late September, said USDA's Crop Progress report. Rainy weather slowed the pace of fieldwork and prompted fear of disease losses that would cut into the value of crops, which are forecast to be record-large.
Corn earworm develop Bt resistance via unexpected genetic path
The corn earworm is a widespread crop pest, particularly in the U.S. South, and adept at quickly developing resistance to genetically engineered crops. Over time, researchers looking at lab-selected strains of earworm have identified 20 genes that harbor mutations conferring resistance to pest-killing proteins in so-called Bt crops, which have been genetically engineered to produce bacteria that repel the earworm.