soybeans
Monsanto expects its dicamba-tolerant seeds on 40 percent of U.S. soy acres this year
The world’s largest seed and ag-chemical company said it expects U.S. farmers will plant 40 million acres of its dicamba-tolerant GMO soybeans this year, double the 2017 total and equal to four of every 10 acres of projected soybean sowings.
Arkansas board sticks to April 16 cutoff of dicamba on cotton and soybeans
The Arkansas State Plant Board voted for the second time on dicamba regulations and had the same answer: a ban from April 16 to Oct. 31 on use of the weedkiller on cotton and soybeans, said the Associated Press.
China wants less trash in U.S. soybean imports
The No. 1 soybean importer in the world, China, is toughening its standards for imported U.S. soybeans, a step that may cut into the U.S. share of the market, said Reuters.
Will commodity prices go up or down in 2018? Yes, say analysts.
Goldman Sachs said agricultural commodity prices are on course for a fourth year of decline, with corn prices at the end of 2018 running 33 cents a bushel below the current futures price for December 2018 delivery, said Agrimoney.
Debating the differences between gene-edited crops, GMOs, ‘accelerated breeding technology’
Thomas Stoddard used this pitch — “You make a little more money, you have a great experience, and you are part of a revolution” — when he recruited farmers to plant a gene-edited soybean variety that yields a healthier oil, says the MIT Technology Review.
Minnesota is fourth state to set a cut-off date for dicamba on soybeans
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture set a June 20 cut-off date for spraying the weedkiller dicamba on GE soybeans and barred application of the herbicide when temperatures top 85 degrees, said the Associated Press.
Monsanto asks Arkansas court to ban a ban on dicamba
Faced by hundreds of complaints of crops damaged by dicamba, the Arkansas Plant Board proposed a ban on use of the weedkiller on soybeans and cotton for most of the 2018 growing season.
Dicamba damage increases; retailers says it’s difficult to control
Most of the pesticide retailers who took part in an Illinois trade association poll reported damage from the weedkiller dicamba even when the weedkiller was sprayed in good conditions, says the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting (MCIR). Separately, the University of Missouri said the herbicide was blamed for damage to 3.6 million acres of soybeans as of Oct. 15, a 16 percent increase from its Aug 10 tally.
Up is down in USDA forecast of 2018 ag exports
U.S. farm exports are headed uphill and downhill at the same time in the USDA’s quarterly forecast of overseas sales, the source of one-fifth of farm income. The agency forecast that exports will reach $140 billion in fiscal 2018.
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.
Monsanto takes aim at researchers who question dicamba
Monsanto is fighting back as agricultural scientists accuse the company of misleading farmers about the safety of its weedkiller dicamba. The chemical has been blamed for millions of dollars in crop damage this year.
Minnesota soybean task force suggests a temperature cut-off for dicamba
State officials should set a cut-off date for spraying dicamba on genetically engineered soybeans as well as a temperature cut-off of 85 degrees to reduce greatly the chance of damage to neighboring crops, says a task force of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. The state restrictions would be in addition to the more stringent rules recently adopted by the EPA.
For soybeans damaged by dicamba, timing is everything
With growers reporting dicamba damage to 3.1 million acres of soybeans, the harvest-time question for farmers is how much their yields will suffer from the weedkiller. University of Tennessee weed specialist Larry Steckel says the earlier that soybeans were hit in their lifecycle, the less likely yields will be reduced.
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.
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.
Dicamba is ‘tremendous success,’ says Monsanto; EPA mulls rule change
Monsanto chief technology officer Robb Fraley says there will be enough dicamba-tolerant seed available to account for half of U.S. soybean plantings next year. At the same time that EPA reportedly is considering new guidelines on use of the weedkiller, Fraley described dicamba as a "tremendous success" for "the overwhelming majority of farmers using" the low-volatility formulation of the herbicide.
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.
Exports boom as bumper corn crop pulls down farm-gate prices
U.S. corn exports are climbing for the third year in a row and will be the fourth largest on record this trade year, thanks to the mammoth crop now being harvested and falling market prices, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. The 15.2 billion-bushel crop would be just a hair smaller than the record set last year.