Agriculture News
Ranchers handbook on grazing, hunring and livestock leases
agrilife.org | Posted on July 11, 2016Whether a person owns land or is seeking to find land to rent, leasing property for grazing or hunting leases can be beneficial for both parties. Similarly, both the owner and lessee of livestock benefit from lease agreements as well. This handbook details issues to be aware of.
How GMOs Fit Into the Farm Toolbox
Biotech Now | Posted on July 11, 2016On the farm our tools range from the typical tractor and seeds to tablets and satellites. While some are more important than others, each tool has its place and without the others would not be as effective or efficient. Probably the most important tool we use is human capital. Our rural community is full of experts in their field. Our neighbor knows our tractors inside and out. Friends from high school now sell seed and fertilizer, recommending combinations that might work well in our fields. Agronomists, crop specialists, grain marketers . . . all these people live and work in our communities, proving that farming is not an insular activity, but very communal and very dependent on others.
It seems the world would like to talk only about GMOs, but on the farm we have to talk about more than that, because farming takes tools and lots of them. GMOs are one tool – a valuable one at that – and not the whole toolbox.
Off label use of Dicamba causing problems down south
DTN | Posted on July 11, 2016Soybeans are very sensitive to dicamba and this summer is showing it. Damage complaints have been filed in several Southern states because of what appears to be off-target movement of dicamba herbicide onto sensitive crops.
The damage is also being connected with applications made in herbicide-tolerant crops that do not yet have a federally approved dicamba herbicide labeled for in-crop use. The situation could hold legal implications for errant applicators and bring additional regulatory scrutiny to a technology many farmers have been asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to sanction. Seed companies repeatedly issued warnings that there would be no approved dicamba product available for use on the trait this growing season after EPA failed to label the product in May. However, dicamba herbicides are readily available in the marketplace. Growers that applied those herbicides are not only in violation of federal and state law, but the herbicide formulations currently available tend to be volatile and more likely to move off-target under summer conditions, according to university weed Extension specialists contacted by DTN.
"It looks like a bomb went off in some parts of the South," said Ford Baldwin, an independent weed consultant based in Arkansas. "Some growers returned dicamba soybeans when they learned the beans did not yet have clearance in the European Union (EU) and dicamba applications would not be legal. It's a good thing, otherwise we might have been facing Armageddon." The EPA told DTN it "is aware of reports of illegal use of dicamba having caused damage to neighboring crops. We are working with state and other federal agencies to investigate these incidents."
Guilty of forced labor on Ohio farm, man gets 15 years
Farms.com | Posted on July 7, 2016man who smuggled Guatemalan teenagers into the U.S. and forced them to work on an Ohio egg farm was sentenced in Toledo last week to 15 years in prison. Aroldo Castillo-Serrano and associate Conrado Salgado Soto had previously pleaded guilty to labor-trafficking and immigration offences, according to a report in The Marion Star. Ana Angelica Pedro-Juan, who ran the operation for Castillo-Serrano, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another individual, Pablo Duran Jr., pleaded guilty to immigration offenses. Back in December 2014 federal agents and local police took down the operation based in a trailer park near New Bloomington, rescuing some 35 young captives at the time.
New York Dairies Talk Labor Woes, Impact of Minimum Wage Hike
Ag Web | Posted on July 7, 2016A global glut of milk is now in the market, but dairy producers worry immigration and farm labor issues could dry up milk supply. “It’s a competitive pay. I think we’re just having trouble finding enough people to do it,” says Kendra Lamb, a dairy farmer in Oakfield, N.Y. That’s especially true for dairy farms in New York. Farms which hire seasonal workers to harvest fruits and vegetables can use the H-2A Visa program. But dairy is not seasonal. It’s 24 hours, seven days a week.
“We have no access to H-2A here in dairy in New York. We have no options really to bring a foreign person in unless they have the documents that come through our federal system,” says Sarah Noble-Moag who works in dairy production operations in Pavilion, N.Y. "What we need to see is a guest worker program nationally. New York is not the only one that has labor challenges,” says Tonya Van Slyke, executive director of the North East Dairy Producers Association. These dairies say they’re reaching out locally, but aren't have much luck.
Corn Prices Face Strong Headwinds
Farm Doc Daily | Posted on July 7, 2016December 2016 corn futures moved $0.80 per bushel higher from April 1 to June 17. The strength reflected a short fall in the size of the Brazilian corn crop and resulting large export sales of U.S corn, expectations that planted acreage of corn in the U.S. would be less than intentions reported in March, above normal temperatures in the U.S. in June, and concerns that hot, dry weather in July would reduce yield potential.
The price of that contract has since declined by $0.95 and is currently trading at contract lows. The price decline reflects a change to more favorable weather conditions in the U.S. and forecasts for less stressful weather in July. Additional price weakness followed last week's USDA reports that showed larger than expected June 1 stocks of U.S. corn and a larger than expected estimate of planted acreage of corn
Monsanto Mum on Bayer Deal as Profit, Sales Slip
The Wall Street Journal | Posted on July 7, 2016Earnings hurt by glyphosate pricing declines, delayed product launch and other headwinds. Mr. Grant said that Monsanto’s “growth prospects with or without a deal remain strong” despite a “low point” in the agricultural business that has pressured profits for the world’s top sellers of seeds, pesticides, tractors and fertilizer. As crop prices remain low and farmer income pressured, Monsanto on Wednesday said fiscal third-quarter earnings fell more than Wall Street analysts anticipated, and projected that full-year profits would come in at the lower end of the range the company outlined in the spring.
Cargill selling US ag-retail business to Agrium
Agri-Pulse | Posted on July 7, 2016Cargill Inc. has agreed to sell its 18 ag-retail outlets in the U.S. to Calgary-based Agrium Inc., the largest retail seller of crop inputs in North America. The outlets, located in Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan, have annual revenues of over $150 million.
Washington warns pot growers about unapproved pesticides in products
Capital Press | Posted on July 7, 2016The Washington State Department of Agriculture Thursday identified 15 products thought to be commonly used in marijuana cultivation that contain undisclosed pesticides. WSDA issued a notice telling growers to immediately stop using the products. Processors were told to notify retailers about the possible use of unapproved pesticides and for retailers to post the notice for their customers to see. “There has been a lot of concern by both consumers and retailers regarding pesticide use in marijuana production,” WSDA spokesman Hector Castro said. “These are essentially all unregistered pesticides.” WSDA inspectors pulled 39 products from four garden stores in March. Inspectors were looking specifically for products used by marijuana growers, Castro said.
Appeal to delay $50M settlement to Northeast dairy farmers
CNBC | Posted on July 7, 2016An appeal of a financial settlement to be paid by a national dairy marketing cooperative to thousands of Northeast dairy farmers could delay the payments for at least a year. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Vermont approved a $50 million settlement to be paid by Dairy Farmers of America to about 8,860 farms to settle a lawsuit that accused the marketing group of trying to drive down milk prices. A lawyer representing one group of plaintiffs in the case says a small group of farmers are unhappy with the settlement terms and have appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture says word of an appeal comes as many dairy farmers are grappling with low milk prices.