Agriculture News
Arkansas judge rules six farmers can spray controversial weed killer made by Monsanto and BASF
St Louis Post Dispatch | Posted on April 4, 2018An Arkansas judge has ruled that six farmers in the state this summer can spray a weed killer made by Creve Coeur-based Monsanto Co. and BASF SE that was blamed for hurting millions of acres of U.S. crops last year.The decision is the latest twist in the saga surrounding herbicides based on the chemical known as dicamba and immediately sparked concerns about the potential for more damage. Other states are also limiting sprayings of the herbicide, and farmers are suing its manufacturers over crop damage linked to its use last summer.Dicamba is meant to be used during the summer on soybeans and cotton that Monsanto genetically engineered to resist the chemical. Growers across the U.S. farm belt said last summer that dicamba drifted away from where it was sprayed, damaging crops that could not tolerate the chemical.
Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg Importing Apple Trees Instead of Apples, Russia Secures Food
Bloomberg | Posted on April 4, 2018To understand how President Vladimir Putin is weaning Russians off foreign food, look no further than the apple trees growing in the Krasnodar region near the Black Sea, where a Soviet-era orchard once flourished. They’re mostly from Italy. Russia is the world’s largest apple importer because local varieties spoil faster than those grown in Europe or China and shoppers often prefer the taste of imported fruit. When farm operator AFG National Group sought to upgrade supplies in 2015, rather than use domestic crops, the company shipped in 143,000 trees from fields 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) away. It’s new orchard near the Caucasus Mountains will produce about 8,000 metric tons of Gala, Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples this year. Deciding to use the latest technology in planting orchards, we realized that, unfortunately, national research in this area lags behind the leading European and global trends,” said Oleg Ryanov, who runs the orchard unit at AFG, which until the apple investment in Krasnodar was growing mostly rice on 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) in southern Russia. “From the very start, we took a cue from European countries.”
Webinar April 9th on Dairy Margin Protection Program Changes
Dairy Herd Management | Posted on April 4, 2018Significant changes to the Margin Protection Program for dairy producers were made in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The Farm Service Agency has recently announced new implementation rules to accommodate the changes. Mark Stephenson and Andrew Novakovic, dairy economists with the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University, respectively, will conduct a webinar Monday, April 9th, at 1 p.m. Eastern, to walk you through these changes and to assess impacts on producers who participate.
Wall Street hit by trade war fears
BBC | Posted on April 4, 2018China said it would place 25% trade tariffs on 106 US goods, including soybeans, aircraft and orange juice.The tit-for-tat action comes hours after Washington detailed about 1,300 Chinese products it intended to hit with tariffs - also set at 25%.Wall Street opened sharply lower, but regained ground by mid-day.After starting down more than 400 points or 1.75%, the Dow was only down by about 0.6% by late morning.
Tree Defender proves to be a highly effective, profitable weapon against citrus greening
PR Newswire | Posted on April 4, 2018The Tree Defender was originally created by growers for growers to provide an immediate solution to citrus greening by preventing psyllids from infecting trees. Having been in the field now for over three years, Tree Defender can still confidently say that no psyllid has yet to be found on any tree being covered by their protective, breathable screen.The goal is to use Tree Defender to protect young trees from psyllids and greening during their first two years as they are in a vegetative and growing state. After those two years, the bag is removed, and the trees are healthy, pesticide free, and ready to start producing fruit and crops immediately. If the grower wishes to continue protecting the tree into the mature years, then they simply purchase a larger Tree Defender.
Pork Tariffs Sour Industry Outlook
Farm Doc Daily | Posted on April 4, 2018The 2018 outlook early this year was for modest profitability. Now, it has shifted to losses. The reasons are clear. Higher costs and lost exports as China has implemented a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork that goes into effect today, April 2, 2018. Several forces are driving costs higher, but feed is the primary culprit. Since the start of the year, corn futures are about 27 cents per bushel higher and soybean meal futures are about $55 per ton higher. This means that feed cost are nearly $3 per live hundredweight higher. This is composed of $1.20 higher because of corn prices and $1.75 due to higher meal prices.Other costs of production are rising as well. Energy costs are expected to rise with the government Energy Information Agency forecasting a nine percent rise for on-road diesel prices this year and a seven percent rise in retail gasoline prices. The tight labor market is expected to result in a three percent rise in wage rates. Interest rates are also rising. The Chicago FED reports the average interest rate on farm operating loans in 2017 was 4.9 percent. If that rate rises by 100 basis points this year to 5.9 percent, that is a 20 percent increase. Finally, the Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum will likely put upward pressure on metal prices that are important to buildings and equipment used in pork production.
Delaware County officials end fight against 10,000-hog farm
Daily Herald | Posted on April 4, 2018Officials in a central Indiana county are dropping their fight against a proposed 10,000-hog farm after threats of legal action since a state agency has approved the project. The Delaware County commissioner had put a hold on building permits for the farm in the northern part of the county. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently approved plans for the confined animal feeding operation. That's despite concerns from residents over possible well water pollution and the farm field application of manure produced in the site's four barns.
Yeast engineered to manufacture complex medicine
Science Daily | Posted on April 4, 2018Bioengineers have figured out a way to make noscapine, a non-narcotic cough suppressant that occurs naturally in opium poppies, in brewer's yeast.
Prospective soybean planted acres a ‘stunner’
Agrinews | Posted on April 4, 2018The prospective plantings report released March 29 sent ripples across the commodity trading floors and turned screens green. The U.S. Department of Agriculture report, based on farmer surveys, projected U.S. soybean planted acres of 89 million and 88 million corn acres. The USDA initially projected 90 million planted acres of both corn and soybeans in its Feb. 23 agricultural outlook forum.
Human-centered design is key to forming partnerships for large-scale conservation succes
Science Daily | Posted on April 4, 2018To recruit more fishers to help with marine conservation, cast a wider net. New findings question previous assumptions in the field that the payments themselves are the most effective motivator of participation. "Similar to the way consumers make purchasing decisions, voluntary conservation programs are value propositions," said Josh Donlan, founder and director of Advanced Conservation Strategies and co-author on the study. "While payments are important, fishers also consider other costs and benefits they expect to occur and then decide whether their overall wellbeing would be improved."The human-centered design approach works by attracting fishers who may be otherwise uncertain or unenthusiastic about the payment program. Their study found that desirable programs were better able to attract fishers who thought the program was a good idea, but who might have low trust that the conditions exist to make it happen. They also found that fishers who were not sure it is a great idea were more willing to participate based on program adjustments like shorter enrollment periods.