Ag News for America
The theme of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) display at Husker Harvest Days is “Strengthening the State of Beef”.
Richardson County Extension Educator Lindsay Chichester is one of the coordinators of the exhibit.
AUDIO: Lindsay Chichester (1:56 MP3)
According to the South Dakota office of the National Ag Statistics Service, dry weather continues to force crops into maturity, triggering an early harvest.
Other activities reportedly included haying CRP acres, hauling water for livestock, and early moving cattle to stubble fields.
89% of corn for silage has been harvested with 7% of the grain crop harvested, and 45% of corn has reached maturity.
3% of soybeans have been harvested with 34% mature.
8% of the winter wheat crop is planted, compared to 14% both last year and on average.
74% of the third cutting of alfalfa is complete, behind a year ago but ahead of the normal pace.
92% of topsoil and 93% of subsoil are short to very short of moisture, while 57% of feed supplies are short to very short and 73% of stock water is short to very short.
4% of pastures and rangelands are called good, 65% of cattle are rated good to excellent, and 72% of sheep are in good to excellent shape.
Cash cheese prices held steady on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Monday while Class III futures fell again. A week ago the October, November and December contracts were over $20 now they are edging closer to $19. The Class III futures have fallen three consecutive days ever since the July cheese production numbers came out last Wednesday showing overall cheese output was up 2.3 percent compared to a year ago. Many had expected that the heat of July would have brought that number down from a year ago. That in turn has some traders wondering if milk production will not take as big of a hit from the heat this year as previously thought and that the Class III futures might be oversold.
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 11 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 3.337 million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and 385,809 pounds of butter, to customers in Asia and the Middle East. The product will be delivered September 2012 through February 2013.
In 2012, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese totaling 82.4 million pounds, butter totaling 57.1 million pounds, and anhydrous milk fat totaling 123,459 pounds, to 34 countries on four continents.
Aurora Organic Dairy of Boulder, Colorado has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit to avoid further expenses. The company maintains no wrongdoing and says its organic certification is not in question.
The suit was filed in 2007 after USDA and Aurora signed an agreement requiring the dairy adhere to stricter organic standards including more access to pasture and better transitioning of cows from conventional herds. The plaintiffs in the suit charged Aurora was not following organic standards and therefore were misleading consumers when selling non-organic milk at organic prices.
The original claims in the suit were dismissed in 2010 after a judge ruled Aurora products were organic but the litigation over misleading consumers continued.
Aurora said it was going to cost more to continue the suit than to settle it. Under terms Aurora will pay $7.5 million which the company says will cover the fees of 60 plaintiff lawyers.
If approved by a federal court in St. Louis, consumers will be able to get $10 rebates without a receipt and up to $30 with a receipt.
Aurora has dairy farms in Colorado and Texas and has been organic since 2004.
More trouble for China’s dairy industry, Bright Dairy and Food Company is recalling some fluid milk after receiving more than 950 consumer complaints that the milk had soured. The company says the problem was the milk was not kept cold enough in transport and says it has made the necessary corrections. No mention of just how much milk is involved or how the company is going to compensate customers.
The recall is just the latest in a series of problems in the Chinese dairy industry dating back to the melamine scandal of 2008 which have caused a lack of consumer confidence in the industry. In July China’s biggest dairy company, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group recalled baby formula tainted with what it describes as “unusual levels” of mercury.
Meanwhile, Chinese dairy giant Mengniu has signed an agreement with Arla to bring the European dairy company’s management and quality experience to China. A new cooperation center will be established in Beijing and will focus on pasture and milk source management, dairy production management, product research and development and customer and consumer relationships. Mengniu says it will adopt Arla’s quality and food security monitoring system in hopes of rebuilding confidence in the Chinese dairy industry. Arla owns about 5.9 percent of Mengniu.
Heavy thunderstorms rolled across Wisconsin last week improving the soil moisture conditions a little but 71 percent is still short to very short. The northern part of the state is getting drier while the central and south are actually improving a bit.
The weekly crop progress report from the National Ag Statistics Service Wisconsin Field Office reports the condition of the Badger State corn crop is 38 percent poor to very poor, 26 percent fair compared to 39 and 25 a week ago. The corn is 95 percent dough, 76 percent dent and 23 percent mature all well ahead of the five-year average. Corn silage is 38 percent chopped compared to just 16 percent normally in by now. The crop is drying down quickly; a number of growers are reporting small, weak stalks this year prompting growing concern for standability. Clark County reported some wind damage to corn fields.
The Wisconsin soybean crop is 25 percent poor to very poor and 35 percent fair compared to 27 and 33 percent a week ago. 70 percent of the beans are turning collar and 24 percent have dropped their leaves compared to 41 and 10 percent normally by now. Here again the crop is drying down quickly.
Read the full NASS report here:
Last week was another hot, dry one across Nebraska according to the state office of the National Ag Statistics Service.
Dryland corn harvest continues to move ahead, some of the early planted irrigated fields are also seeing activity, and seed corn harvest is widespread. 12% of the total crop is harvested, compared to 1% both last year and on average, and producers are being advised to stay alert for fire during harvest.
25% of soybeans are dropping leaves and 77% of the crop is turning color.
8% of the winter wheat crop is harvested, compared to 19% a year ago and 16% on average.
Selling of cattle is called active because of high feed prices and supplemental livestock feeding continues due to the reduced forage supplies.
The fourth cutting of alfalfa is 74% complete, compared to 28% last year and 24% on average.
Scattered rains across Missouri last week helped pastures but cut back the days producers could do field work. Subsoil moisture supply has improved slightly but is well below normal.
Corn harvest is 53 percent complete and maturity is about 90 percent, well ahead of last year and the average. Eighty-four percent of the crop is in poor to very poor conditions.
Soybeans turning color and dropping leaves are about a week ahead. Of the two percent of soybeans harvested, conditions were 74 percent in the poor categories while seven-percent of the crop was good to excellent.
Missouri pasture conditions improved – as of Sunday, the state ag statistics office said 92 percent of pastures were poor to very poor and eight percent were in fair shape. The supply of hay and other roughages continued to decline.
Iowa’s office of the National Ag Statistics Service reports corn harvest continued last week with farmers getting wind damaged and weaker corn done first, adding soybean harvest has gotten started in some areas as well.
As of Sunday, 10% of corn is harvested, compared to 5% a year ago, and 1% for the five year average. 82% of corn is either showing little or no lodging or ear drop, and 72% has reached maturity.
77% of soybeans are turning color and 26% are dropping leaves, both ahead of the respective average paces, with 24% in good to excellent condition.
84% of topsoil and 93% of subsoil are short to very short of moisture, and 4% of pastures and rangelands are in good shape with 77% called poor to very poor.
Still, livestock conditions are called excellent even as some farmers supplement with grain and hay.
Soybeans were lower on technical and fund selling. China’s August soybean imports were smaller than expected at 4.42 million tons, down 24.7% on the month and 2% on the year. Edible oil imports by Beijing were 649,000 tons, 11% less than July and 7.2% below August 2011. At this point, the trade’s getting ready for Wednesday’s USDA numbers, due out at 7:30 AM Central. According to the USDA, 36% of beans are dropping leaves as of Sunday, compared to 12% last year and 20% for the five year average, while 4% is harvested, compared to 1% a year ago and 2% on average, with 32% of the crop rated good to excellent, up 2% from a week ago. Soybean meal and oil were lower on spillover from beans. Safras & Mercado, via Dow Jones Newswires, states 43% of Brazil’s 2012/13 soybean crop has been sold, compared to 39% a month ago, 22% a year ago, and 16% on average.
Corn was lower on fund and technical selling. At this point, the smaller crop is mostly considered old news and the trade’s increasingly concerned about the slowdown in demand. The Ag Department states 93% of corn has dented, compared to 80% last year and 77% on average, and 58% has reached maturity, compared to 25% a year ago and 27% for the five year average. 15% of corn is harvested, compared to 5% both last year and on average, while 22% of the crop is rated good to excellent, steady with last week. Ethanol futures were lower. Ukraine’s Ag Ministry reports corn sales from July 1 to September 7 were 1.18 million tons, up sharply from the same period last marketing year.
The wheat complex was lower on technical and fund selling, along with the higher dollar. There was also not much fresh news for wheat, but there is renewed talk that Russia and Ukraine will have to limit exports. Ukrainian sales are running well ahead of the year ago pace, according to Kiev. Via Dow Jones, total wheat sales for just over two months of the marketing year are 1.67 million tons, 65.7% ahead of last year’s pace, with 1.19 million of that milling wheat and 480,000 tons feed wheat. USDA states 4% of winter wheat has been planted as of Sunday, compared to 5% a year ago and 6% on average. According to Kazakhstan’s Ag Ministry, 69.8% of the grain crop is harvested with the total at 8.678 million tons. The pace is ahead of last year while the totals are down due to drought.
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