Report: Wetter Midwest led to higher crop insurance payouts, not more cover crops
Rain, snow and sleet increased in almost all midwestern counties between 2001 and 2020. Along with that additional precipitation came increased federal crop insurance payments to farmers whose crops failed due to “excess moisture,” said a report Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group.
U.S. corn and soy crops: Not quite as big now
In the space of two months, the USDA has shaved more than half-a-billion bushels from its estimate of this year’s corn harvest and pared the soybean forecast by a similar 3.5 percent. The crop are still bin-busters but they are more manageable than initially expected and should fetch much …
Derecho blows away expectations of a record-setting U.S. corn crop
The windstorm that blasted across Iowa — "basically a 40 mile-wide tornado," in the words of Gov. Kim Reynolds — wiped out 9 percent of the crop in the nation's No. 1 corn state and obliterated the chances for a record-large corn harvest nationwide, said the USDA. Farmers will see notably higher season-average prices for the smaller, but still ample, crop that remains in the field.
Trump visits derecho-hit Iowa, talks about China
President Trump spoke of large corn exports booked for delivery to China while assuring Iowans of “the full support of the federal government” in recovering from a derecho in a Tuesday visit. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said agriculture — flattened crops and wind-blasted farmsteads — accounts for …
Derecho hit 10 million acres of crops in Iowa
Roughly four of every 10 acres of corn and soybeans in Iowa “was impacted” by a fast-moving, intense windstorm, said Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday. Radio Iowa quoted the governor as saying the estimate of 10 million acres affected “is really an early estimate. Some of the photos have just …