corn
Soybeans to tie corn in 2018 on way to becoming top U.S. crop
For decades, corn has been the most widely planted U.S. crop. But the era of “king corn” is ending and the reign of soybeans, the versatile oilseed and the more profitable crop, is dawning, said the Agriculture Department in its 10-year agricultural projections.
Amid Iowa’s corn and soy, the stirring of a small-grain renaissance
Iowa is best known as the top corn-producing state in the nation, but a small and determined group of farmers is trying to chip away at that reputation by bringing back small grains like rye, oats, and triticale, Twilight Greenaway reports in FERN’s latest story, published in collaboration with Yale Environment 360.
Cruz says he’ll block USDA nominee until White House calls ethanol meeting
The winner of the 2016 Iowa presidential caucuses, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he will block a confirmation vote on a key USDA nominee until President Trump convenes a meeting to hash out oil-state complaints about the Renewable Fuel Standard.
USDA to pay $8 billion in crop subsidies, $1.6 billion for stewardship
With the start of the new fiscal year, the USDA will issue $8 billion in crop subsidy payments, triggered by persistently low commodity prices, to hundreds of thousands of farmers. The government also said it will pay $1.6 billion in annual rental payments to landowners who enrolled fragile land in the Conservation Reserve.
Corn surge fuels second-highest grain harvest ever
Larger corn crops in Argentina and the United States will push global grain production to the second-highest total ever, just a year after the record was set, said the International Grains Council, based in London. The global appetite for grain continues to grow, likely setting its own record, so the global stockpile will shrink by 5 percent, said the council’s monthly Grain Market Report.
Dicamba debacle spreads, Illinois sees more crop damage
The 2017 growing season was supposed to be the year of “spotless” soybean fields after Monsanto introduced a new generation of soybeans – the largest single biotechnology launch in the company’s history. The new soybeans can tolerate the use of dicamba, a traditional herbicide used on corn that spreads easily and has historically harmed soybeans. But the Illinois Department of Agriculture has received 368 complaints so far in 2017, which are more alleged pesticide misuse complaints than in the previous three years combined, according to a review of a statewide database of complaints by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
GMO corn found in most tortillas in Mexico
Ninety percent of tortillas tested by researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico contained traces of genetically modified corn, said the site Mexico News Daily. The lead researcher said the results were striking because “cultivation of genetically modified corn in open fields is not allowed in Mexico.”
New study tracks corn’s impact county by county
A first-of-its-kind study lays out, on a county-by-county basis, the environmental impact of growing corn in the United States, offering the industry an unprecedented tool for improving sustainability along its supply chain.
U.S. soybean price to sink under weight of record crop
A University of Missouri think tank says the season-average price for this year's soybean crop, forecast at a record 4.381 billion bushels, will fall to $9.07 a bushel. The 43-cent a bushel drop from the average price paid for the 2016 crop will encourage growers to plant somewhat fewer acres of soybeans and more acres of corn in 2018, says the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
Farmers lean toward more corn and wheat, less soy in 2018
After setting back-to-back records for soybean plantings, U.S. farmers indicated in a survey that they will plant more wheat and corn while cutting back on soybeans in 2018, said Farm Futures. Soybeans nearly matched corn, the most widely grown crop in the nation, in acreage this year with farmers believing the oilseed would be more profitable than corn.
U.S. ag exports rebound from slump, tie for third-largest ever
U.S. farm exports will total $139.8 billion this fiscal year, the third-highest tally ever and ending a slump in sales that begin in 2014 following the collapse of the commodity boom, estimated the USDA in a quarterly report. In its first forecast for fiscal 2018, the USDA pegged exports at $139 billion.
World grain stockpile to shrink for first time in five years
Although the world will harvest the third-largest grain crop ever in 2017/18 — only 4 percent smaller than the record set last season — the global grain inventory will decline for the first time in five years, forecasts the International Grains Council.
Drawing a road map of corn’s ‘jumping genes’
An international team of researchers has mapped the “jumping genes,” formally named transposable elements, or transposons, in corn, says UC-Davis. “The discovery could ultimately benefit the breeding and production of maize, one of the world’s most important crops.”
Scientists eager to see how eclipse impacts the farm
A total eclipse of the sun will plunge many parts of the Great Plains and Midwest into darkness on Monday, August 21, and researchers are excitedly preparing to study the event’s impact on farm crops and animals. During the eclipse, which will occur in the middle of the day, the sun will disappear for about two and a half minutes and the temperature will drop some 10 degrees.
Drought hurts Iowa, North Dakota farmers
Iowa, the top corn-producing state in the nation, has faced a punishing drought this summer, all but eliminating any hope of a “bin buster” corn year, despite rain this past week. North Dakota is also facing devastating drought conditions, says the AP, and its biggest ranch and corn organizations have launched efforts to help ranchers and farmers.
Midwest farmland values rise for first time in three years
Although corn and soybean prices are lower than a year ago, farmland values in the Midwest are up by 1 percent compared to this point a year ago, the first year-over-year gain in three years, said the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. But land values fell in the central Plains, according to ag bankers surveyed by the Kansas City Fed.
U.S. growers to harvest record soybean crop for fourth year in a row
In its first estimate of the fall harvest, the USDA said farmers will harvest a record soybean crop for the fourth consecutive year, fattening a large global stockpile. The government forecast of the corn crop also was larger than expected, with USDA saying this year's crop would sell for the lowest price per bushel in 11 years because of ample supplies.
Analysts expect sharply smaller U.S. corn crop this year
Dry weather in Iowa, the No. 1 corn state, will contribute to a smaller-than-expected U.S. corn crop this year, say analysts ahead of USDA's closely watched August crop report, to be released on Thursday. Even so, this year's harvest would be the third-largest on record for the grain, fundamental to food, feed and biofuel production. The August crop report is USDA's first estimate of the fall harvest and is based on spot checks of thousands of fields and a survey of growers as the crop nears maturity. In a Reuters survey, analysts said they expect a USDA estimate of 13.855 billion bushels based on conditions in early August, down 8.5 percent from the record 15.148 billion bushels of 2016.