Wheat organizations from The U.S., Canada and Mexico are urging negotiators to reach a successful North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a letter addressed to negotiators and President Donald Trump, several wheat-based groups from the three nations detailed the importance of the trade agreement to wheat growers and their associated industries. National Association of Wheat Growers President Gordon Stoner …
Ice Blockage In Major Waterways Slowing Grain Shipments
The brutally cold arctic air that’s covered the U.S. at different times this winter has caused an unusually high buildup of ice in some of the nation’s waterways. Portions of the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio Rivers that are open year-round have become smaller, or closed entirely, due to ice buildup. Mike Steenhoek of the Soy Transportation Coalition says it’s impacting …
The Importance of Proper Wheat Staging
During a recent Wheat U event in Spokane, Washington hosted by High Plains Journal and BASF, Jim Vandecovering with BASF talked with wheat growers about the importance of proper wheat staging and whether it really matters for overall plant health and profitability. Yield He says another important part of the wheat plant factory is the assembly line. Wheat Farming with …
Farm Futures Releases 2018 Planting Intentions Survey Results
Farm Futures magazine recently released its survey of 2018 planting intentions, which shows that farmers aren’t quite ready to make major changes to their crop rotations. However, they are going to plant more of what paid best in 2017. For the first time since 1983, farmers want to plant more soybeans than corn. Back then, the government’s PIK program idled …
Corn Yield and Soybean Production Up in 2017
Winter Wheat Seedings and Grain Stocks also reported Across the Midwest, a lack of extreme heat helped boost the nation’s corn yield to its highest level on record – slightly above 2016. The nation’s soybean yield was down 6 percent from 2016, but production reached a record level due to record high acreage, according to the Crop Production 2017 Summary …
U.S. Crop Prices Forecast to Remain Stable
U.S. grain prices and demand for grain products will likely not change much, if at all. That forecast comes from Dr. Keith Coble, the Agricultural and Economics Department head at Mississippi State University. He spoke to attendees of the American Farm Bureau national convention during a workshop on global crop trends and the U.S. farm policy forecast for the year …
Winter Wheat Growers Holding on Through Cold Snap
The nation’s winter wheat growers have learned through experience to be prepared for more trouble ahead. Much of the nation has been in a deep freeze for the past several days. Hard red winter wheat growers in Kansas and Oklahoma are already not expecting to have a large crop this year. They’ve been battling lower prices because of a large …
Stable Forecast for U.S. Crop Prices Forecast
U.S. grain prices and crop demand for 2017-2018 will likely show no major changes, according to Dr. Keith Coble, former chief economist for Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans and the head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Mississippi State University. Coble spoke to workshop attendees during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2018 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show about global crop …
Winterkill Likely in Wheat Belt
A large portion of the nation’s winter wheat crop lacks a protective layer of snow cover and meteorologists are saying the recent deep freeze is doing some damage. Snow cover is adequate in the northern plains and the northern Midwest. However, an Agriculture Dot Com article says the snow cover is very thin in the central and southern plains as …
U.S. Crop Acreage Still Moving to Soybeans
Farmers in the United States have been slowly switching their cropland to just two field crops. Corn is king in the United States. Soybeans have been on a swift move upward. And wheat acreage has been on the decline for about 40 years. About half-way through those four decades two important things happened. Congress passed the 1996 farm bill – …