Each year the Farm Progress Show hosts visitors from around the world. Brownfield’s Dave Russell talk with Louvane Marcom who was leading a delegation from Brazil and Paraguay. Louvane says while they have farm shows in both Brazil and Paraguay, nothing compares to the size of the Farm Progress Show.
Monsanto presents grant to IL school
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Farm Progress Show is an opportunity for companies to not only showcase new products, but for companies like Monsanto, the show is an opportunity to showcase the philanthropic side of the company. On Tuesday, Monsanto presented Olympia CUSD 16 in Illinois with a check for $25,000 as part of their America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program, one of three initiatives supported by the Monsanto Fund.
Audio: John Raines, Monsanto (3:30 MP3)
Audio: Matt Alexander, nominating farmer, Brad Hutchison, Olympia Schools (3:35 MP3)
Proposed changes to child farm worker rules
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The U.S. Department of Labor is proposing revisions to child labor regulations affecting young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The proposed regulations would NOT apply to children working on farms owned by their parents.
The proposal would prohibit farm workers under the age of 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment, there would be a limited exemption for some student learners to operate certain implements and tractors equipped with seat belts and roll-over protection structures. Farm workers under 16 would not be allowed to participate in the cultivation, harvesting and curing of tobacco.
The proposal would prohibit those under 18 years of age from being employed in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials including country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feedlots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.
The proposal will be published in the Federal Register on September 2, 2011. Public comments on the proposal will be accepted through November 1, 2011, a public hearing will be held following the comment period.
Read more here:
Soybeans make fourth straight contract high
August 31, 2011 By 1 Comment
Soybeans traded both sides of even money, settling slightly higher at the closing bell. November soybeans have now set contract highs in the last four straight sessions. The Linn group pegged yield at 41 bushels to the acre, only slightly below USDA’s August estimate of 41.4 bushels to the acre. However, they dropped harvested acreage to 73.1 million acres, 600,000 acres below USDA. That means Linn’s total production number is 59 million bushels below the August number.
Corn finished lower Wednesday after trading both higher and lower during the session. DTN cites the market as being overbought, which could lead to additional losses near term. However, private yield and production estimates are well below USDA’s August estimates. The Linn Group projects yield at 149.1 bushels to the acre on harvested acreage of 83.1 million acres, both well below USDA’s August numbers of 153 bushels to the acre and 84.4 million harvested acres. It also puts total production at 12.391 billion bushels, well below the current 12.914 billion bushels. It’s widely expected that USDA will lower its numbers in the September report, which should keep strength in the market.
Spring wheat rallied, creating a good showing at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange Wednesday providing spillover support to Kansas City and Chicago. Chicago futures spreads have strengthened this week, indicating wheat’s commercial side is growing more bearish toward longer-term supply-and-demand. This could ultimately weigh on all three markets, though continued strength in the row-crops should limit the downside.
Ag land a little cheaper in Wisconsin last year
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The price of agricultural land in Wisconsin slipped a little in 2010. The National Ag Statistics Service Wisconsin Field Office says the average price for ag land last year was $4,028 down $44 from 2009. Land without buildings increased $40 to average $3,791 per acre but land with buildings dropped $152 to average $4,363 last year. All prices are well below the highs set in 2006 when land with buildings hit $4,803, without buildings $4,613 for an average $4,711 for all ag land.
There were a total of 116,646 acres sold in the state last year, rebounding from the 79,134 sold in 2009.
Although the number of sales and acres of forest land sold increased in 2010, the average price declined 3 percent to average $2,255 per acre.
Read the full ag land sales report here:
Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: August 31, 2011
August 31, 2011 By 1 Comment
Sept. corn closed at $7.57 and 1/2, down 6 cents
Sept. soybeans closed at $14.49, up 1/4 cents
Sept. soybean meal closed at $380.80, down $.30
Sept. soybean oil closed at 58.55, up 35 points
Sept. wheat closed at $7.45 and 1/4, down 5 cents
Oct. live cattle closed at $114.02, down 50 cents
Oct. lean hogs closed at $85.50, down 20 cents
Oct. crude oil closed at $88.81, down $.09
Oct. cotton closed at 105.88, up 97 points
Sept. Class III milk closed at $18.69, down 4 cents
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 11,613.53, up 53.58 points
A little more profitable on the farm in August
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Index of Prices Received by Farmers in August increased 1.1 percent from July. The National Ag Statistics Service says the Crop Index was 1 percent higher and the Livestock Index increased 1.9 percent for the month.
In the Crop Index, the price of corn gained 30 cents in August to average $6.62 per bushel, soybeans were down 30 cents to $12.90. The all-wheat price increased 46 cents for the month to $7.56 per bushel while the all-hay price is $2.00 higher at $172 per ton.
In the Livestock Index, the price of hogs increased $5.00 to $76.70 per hundredweight for the month while beef cattle were $1.00 lower at $110 per hundredweight. Broilers were a penny higher, turkeys gained 2 cents per pound and eggs jumped 30.7 cents a dozen for the month. The August all milk price is a dime higher than July at $22.00 per hundredweight.
Dairy profitability slipped a bit in August, while the all milk price increased a dime, the cost of feed to produce that hundred pounds of milk increased 23 cents leaving income-over-feed at $10.36 per hundredweight, down 13 cents from a month ago.
The Index of Prices Paid by Farmers is unchanged from July. Higher prices for feed grains, nitrogen, mixed fertilizer, hay and forages were offset by lower prices for feeder cattle, feeder pigs, complete feeds, potash and phosphate. August prices for diesel, gasoline and LP were slightly lower than July.
The Index of Prices Received by Farmers in August is 29 percent higher compared to August of 2010. The Index of Prices Paid by Farmers is 12 percent higher than a year ago.
Read the full NASS report here:
Still assessing Irene’s damage to agriculture
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Still no real dollar value put on the losses to agriculture from Hurricane Irene. New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand are asking Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to declare an agricultural disaster in the area of their state hit by the storm. The two Democrats cite damage to crops and losses to dairy farmers who have to dump milk because milk trucks can’t get through.
In Vermont about a dozen small and medium-sized dairy farms are dumping milk as trucks are still unable to get through. A spokesman with FEMA in the state says while many Vermont farms lost electricity most have generators, he only knew of two unable to milk. They have had to airlift diesel fuel in for some to power the generators. Still no estimate on crop losses but flood waters are receding. Daily Dairy Report says cheese production in Vermont and New York is quickly recovering from the storm.
New Jersey’s Agriculture Department reports reported sporadic damage to sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes and squash.
The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says corn in the central and eastern part of their state has been flattened and there is considerable damage to the Keystone State apple crop.
First award from Ag Disaster Fund to be given
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The first award from the Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund will be made Thursday in a Southeast Missouri County. Missouri Ag Department Director Jon Hagler will make the first award in Marble Hill, in Bollinger County. Since the fund was opened by the Ag Department in May, it has received more than $175-thousand dollars. Its purpose is to provide additional assistance to Missouri farmers who suffered losses from among the many natural disasters this year, including floods, storms, and tornadoes.
Bayer amends patent infringement lawsuit
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bayer CropScience reportedly has amended its pending lawsuit against Dow AgroSciences since Dow has applied for approval to launch a three-gene herbicide tolerant soybean under the Dow Enlist brand name.
Bayer’s existing patent infringement lawsuit claims that Dow’s new Enlist brand products for corn, soybeans and cotton infringe on Bayer’s 2,4-D tolerance patents.
In the amendment – according to AgriMarketing.com – Bayer CropScience also claims that those products from Dow “also infringe on several of Bayer’s patents covering glyphosate-tolerant plants.
Bayer is seeking a permanent injunction on what it says is Dow Agrosciences’ “unauthorized use” of those patents.
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