corn
Iowa company builds first large-scale corn ethanol plant in Brazil
Summit Agricultural Group, based in north-central Iowa, is building a 60 million-gallon corn ethanol plant in Mato Grosso, the largest corn and soybean producing state in Brazil, says DTN.
Low prices pull down U.S. crop plantings
Farmers say they'll plant the third-largest amount of corn grown since World War II and the third-highest soybean area on record, superlatives that disguise some of the bad news in the annual Prospective Plantings report.
Abandoning wheat, farmers head for monster corn crop
U.S. farmers say they will plant the third-largest amount of land to corn since World War II -- 93.6 million acres -- the first step toward a record-setting fall harvest, assuming normal weather and yields.
As growing season opens, winter wheat in strong condition
In its first Crop Progress report of the year, the USDA rated 59 percent of the winter wheat crop in good or excellent condition, 15 points higher than a year ago.
China vows to stop stockpiling corn, try other ag subsidies
Stuck with a six-month supply of corn in the warehouse, China “has pledged to end a costly corn stockpiling policy that has hit world markets,” says the Financial Times.
A little less corn, a bit more soybeans — it still means mammoth crops
The government releases two important reports this week for forecasting U.S. crop production and supplies for the growing season that is just beginning.
Iowa congressman, backer of ethanol critic Cruz, draws primary challenge
Seven-term Rep. Steve King, a rock-ribbed Iowa conservative, is being challenged in the Republican primary by state Sen. Rick Bertrand of Sioux City in a contest where ethanol may be the elephant in the room.
Slightly larger world corn crop this year, says IGC
Farmers around the world are expect to expand corn plantings by 1 percent in 2016/17, including larger corn areas in the United States, the former Soviet Union, South America and Africa, says the International Grains Council.
Report calls for Hawaii to clamp down on pesticide use
Hawaii’s legislature should “undertake a major update of [state] pesticide laws and regulation,” says a draft report commissioned by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and by Kauai county.
Resilient corn hybrids may benefit from late-season nitrogen
‘Virtually every corn farmer’ could become party to Syngenta lawsuit
When China rejected shiploads of U.S. corn in 2013, it shook the commodity market and spawned hundreds of lawsuits against Syngenta. Harvest Public Media says lawyers involved in the lawsuits "are preparing to ask for the cases to be certified as a class-action lawsuit.
Below-average corn yield a possibility following El Niño
An examination of weather and yield data does not provide a definitive indication of whether corn yields will be above or below average this year, but the risk of below-normal yields has to be considered, write two U-Illinois economists.
More public support for climate-change aid to agriculture
A poll of Michigan residents suggests there would be high public support for government assistance to help farmers adapt to climate change, according to three researchers from Michigan State U.
Boulder County considers ban of GMOs on public land
In Boulder County, Colorado, county commissioners are slated to decide whether to ban GMO crops on publically-owned land, reports Harvest Public Media.
Landrace corn in Mexico gets a helping hand from epicures
U.S. demand for high-quality Mexican food, especially tortillas, "has created a small but growing market for the native, or landrace, corn that is central to to life" in the central plains of Oaxaca, reports the New York Times.
A trail of records for U.S. agriculture
The productive capacity of U.S. agriculture is on full display in the USDA's record books: The three largest corn crops ever harvested came in 2013, 2014 and 2015, with back-to-back record-setting crops in 2013 and 2014. Soybean growers set back-to-back records in 2014 and 2015.
Contrary to expectations, soy returns may exceed corn
After record-setting soybean crops two years in a row, U.S. farmers are expected to expand corn plantings and throttle back on soybeans this year.
Lowest U.S. corn, soy, wheat prices in a decade
The outlook for commodity prices has worsened since last fall due to large harvests that fattened stockpiles around the world, said USDA chief economist Robert Johansson at the annual Outlook Forum.
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.