The 31st Annual Sunbelt Ag Expo kicks off today in Moultrie, Georgia as there will be exhibits and events that most anyone will enjoy during the 3-day event.
Sunbelt’s Executive Director Chip Blalock invites everyone to attend.
The question was posed, how many people walked to this meeting room today? Only two of the 30 or so attendees to the Horizon Luncheon Series presented by the Georgia Agribusiness Council raised their hands. Murray Campbell, CEO of First United Ethanol llc. (FUEL), knew he had captivated his audience of Georgia agri-leaders.
FUEL is in the process of constructing a 100 MGY corn-based ethanol manufacturing facility in southwest Georgia’s corn-belt region. According to their website, www.firstunitedethanol.com, this will be a destination plant, which will strategically create value by being close to the customers and markets it serves. Read the rest of this entry »
The August forecast for the U.S. peanut crop is out and according to USDA, it is up compared to the past two years. Tyron Spearman has those and other crop numbers.
Monsanto/Delta & Pine Land held their Technology Showcase this Thursday in Camilla, Georgia giving growers in attendace a chance to see some of the latest varieties and how they are developing during this years growing season. Dave Rylander spoke to those at the event and said their commitment continues with research efforts to develop varieties that best fit growers across the Southeast.
Listen to report here:
The annual Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day took place today at Spence Field in Moultrie, Ga. as farmers from across the region were on hand to see the progression of the crops being grown there. I had a chance to talk with both Sunbelt Executive Director Chip Blalock and Associate Farm Manager Michael Williams about the day and the crops.
Next Tuesday June 8th the annual Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition Field Day will be held at Spence Field in Moultrie, Georgia. The associate farm manager for Sunbelt is Michael Williams who soon will take over for his dad Darrell who has managed the research farm there since 1980, and invites farmers across the southeast to attend next week’s event.
According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, peanut acres in the U.S. are up this year compared to last year. Tyron Spearman runs through those and other crop numbers which were released this morning. Report (1:15 mp3)
With all the wet weather problems in the corn belt, USDA has reduced their forecast for this years corn crop which will likely mean higher corn prices for livestock producers. Report (:35 mp3)
A good crowd made it a day at the UF/IFAS Plant Science and Education Research Unit in Citra, FL. Rotating classroom sessions allowed the large crowd to split, so some could do the classroom sessions while others did the field trip around the facility. A good group of exhibiting sponsors were on hand to mingle before lunch, and we were able to get some good interviews with a couple of the key presenters, including Dr John Bernard from the University of Georgia (photo left) and University of Florida’s Dr Matt Hersom (photo right). Hear more details about how livestock producers can mitigate some of their fertilizer and feeding costs in the reports herein and more reports yet to come in the days ahead. Report 1 (1:00 mp3) Report 2 (1:00 mp3)
It is with great sadness and tremendously heavy hearts we report of the passing of Lee V. McCoy, known to many of his legions of friends and colleagues as the “RealMcCoy”. Lee lost his battle with cancer early morning Thursday May 22 in a Georgia hospital, admitted the Monday before in a bout with pneumonia.
Please find details regarding Lee’s memorial services at the end of this news post.
For nearly a decade until making a move into a new career opportunity last year, Lee was a regional representative of this radio network. He travelled the region and nation, and occassionally overseas, newsgathering and representing the network from his home location Read the rest of this entry »
Gainesville, May 7, 2008: The 2008 Corn Silage and Forage Field Day has been scheduled for Thursday, May 29, 2008, at the UF/IFAS Plant Science and Education Research Unit; Citra, FL. There is no charge for this event, but registrations should be mailed by May 19, 2008, or faxed to Pam Gross at (352) 392-9059, by May 27, 2008, to ensure your reservation for a sponsored lunch. To register or to view the agenda, please visit http://animal.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/CSFD/index.shtml. Read the rest of this entry »
Cotton planting has yet to begin in Georgia, according to the state ag statistics service, but that is normal for this time of year. Growers are looking to plant just a few more acres than last year, bucking the national trend of declines in cotton acreage. Meanwhile, corn acres are expected to increase almost 80 percent in the state and planting is going strong.
The US Department of Agriculture announced this week that farmers are expecting to plant more soybeans and less corn. Despite the eight percent expected decline in acreage, National Corn Growers Association official say the forecast of 86 million acres is still historically high.
In these reports, comments from commodities trader Roger Corrado at I C E Futures U S in New York. He says it’s a historic but sad time as the open outcry system for trading futures contracts is silenced. In the third report posted below, some interesting reflections about how Corrado and others got a start in the business. Report (2:00 mp3) Report (2:00 mp3) Report (2:00 mp3)
Plant Health Care’s Jeff Glass has information for growers concerning their satisfaction guarantee for a couple of their products used in the upcoming season. Report (1:00 mp3)
FEBRUARY 4TH IS THE DEADLINE - HAVE YOU RETURNED YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE YET?
As a producer you should of received your Ag Census form in the mail, and you are urged to complete it and return it by the deadline. Tyron Spearman tells us today just how important this census is. Report (:45 mp3)
Sponsoring this special announcement:
Agriculture producers in North Florida and throughout the Wiregrass region of southwest Georgia and southern Alabama are invited to attend any of six grower meetings being hosted in coming days by Stallings Crop Insurance. Learn more about the meeting agenda, times, places and dates here. Read the rest of this entry »
Growers throughout the Southeast may be interested in finding out more about Specialty Fertilizer Products, a company who can help boost the yields of your crops. Report (1:00 mp3)
To find out more about Specialty Fertilizer Products, click Here
It only happens once each five years and producers of any kind of agriculture products are required to be counted. We’re working with USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service in our region again to help get the word out about the Census of Agriculture, so stay tuned for lots of information and frequent reminders about it in the coming weeks. Agriculture Census questionnaires will be mailed the last week of this year and should be returned by the first week of February 2008. Prompt action by producers will save a lot of extra time and effort to chase down the forms not returned on time. Learn more from USDA’s special Census of Agriculture website.
This post sponsored by:
USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service released the November 1st crop estimates this morning, as Shiela Corley in Washington D.C. runs through the cotton numbers.
Overall, peanut harvest is still behind what’s normal for this time of year, while the cotton & corn harvest is ahead…..that is in some areas it is. Report (1:00 mp3)
Being the dog lovers we are around the network headquarters, I thought I’d share this commentary in particular. It’s from Southeast AgNet’s long-time commentary producer, Everett Griner. He first did this one many years ago, and I recently asked him to do it again so it would become part of these network on-line archives. By the way, in case you’re not aware, all of Ev Griner’s daily commentaries can be found in the “Agri-View” category of this website. Enjoy! Report (1:15 mp3)
According to this mornings report, the forecast put out by USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service has the cotton and corn crops up, but peanut and soybean crops down. Report (1:30 mp3)
The latest supply and demand forecast brings news about corn prices that livestock producers are glad to hear, that is compared to earlier forecasts. Report (1:15 mp3)
Alan Banks is President/CEO of Losonoco Inc, a company presently building Florida’s first ethanol plant in Bartow. Banks wants to talk to Florida farmers and citrus growers about contracting for materials for the plant, set to go on line in 2008. Listen to the entire interview in this report, particularly at the very end where Banks says to Florida Farmers, “We’re going to be spending about $15 million dollars on feedstock, we want you to send it to us, we don’t want to have to import it from the midwest.” Report (3:43 mp3)
Sponsoring this news report:
Like many fields this season, it’s been a struggle to keep the amount of water needed for the crops at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, but things are ready to go for their annual Field Day event coming up Tuesday.