The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new requirements for the use of dicamba formulations “over the top” to further minimize the potential for drift when applying to dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. EPA worked worked with impacted states and land-grant universities, as well as Monsanto, BASF and DuPont on measures that will allow farmers to make informed choices for seed purchases …
Bayer Showcasing Commitment to Cotton
The Head of Seeds, North America, for Bayer CropScience is Lee Rivenbark. Lee was a lunchtime presenter during the Bayer Showcase Plot Tour in Lubbock, TX. I thought he would be a great person to provide an overview of why Bayer holds these events and especially the one in their new Cotton Breeding Station. He started out by telling me, …
Conaway Comments on Cotton Damage in Texas
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) toured south Texas last week with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see first hand some of the agricultural damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. Conaway and Perdue viewed the area by helicopter and visited farms that were anticipating a record crop before the snow white fields of cotton were covered in flood waters from …
Ag Secretary Surveying Hurricane Damage
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is in Florida today after surveying Hurricane Irma damage in his home state of Georgia last week. In Georgia, Perdue toured pecan farms where thousands of trees were lost and will take years to replace, with estimates that 20-30% of this year’s crop was lost, and also visited with cotton farmers who may have lost …
No Hurricane Damage Included in New Crop Report
Two hurricanes in the past two weeks mean that the September Crop Production report is already a bit out of date. Rainfall from Hurricane Harvey caused flooding in parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, impacting data collection activities for the September report, so NASS will collect harvested acreage information in both states for a number of crops in preparation …
Bayer Showcases Cotton and Peanuts
The peanut and cotton crops are looking especially good right now in Georgia and with harvest still about two weeks away farmers are hopeful Hurricane Irma will spare them. “Harvest season is always critical and you can have a great year and it all be ruined by one hurricane,” said Keith Rucker, Bayer Southeast region technical service rep, during a …
USDA Reports Record High Soybean Acreage, Corn Acres Down
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is estimating a record high 89.5 million acres of soybeans planted in the U.S. for 2017. That’s up seven percent from last year. Corn acres are looking to be down about three percent. All cotton acreage for 2017 is estimated at 12.1 million acres, 20 percent above last year, while all wheat planted …
Wet Weather Delays Corn Planting
Many planters around the Corn Belt were sitting idle last week as wet weather continued to delay planting progress at the start of the season, much to the dismay of farmers anxious to get into the fields. The latest crop progress report from USDA this week shows corn planting progress at six percent falling behind last year at this time …
Peanut and Cotton Growers Provide Farm Bill Input
Peanut and cotton growers provided their input into commodity programs in the next farm bill during a hearing this week before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. Georgia farmer Tim McMillan testified on behalf of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation in support of maintaining the peanut provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill and the …
More Beans and Cotton, Less Corn and Wheat
The first estimate for crop plantings this year by USDA is calling for less corn and wheat but more soybeans and cotton. The 2017 Prospective Plantings report based on farmer surveys estimates that corn planted area for all purposes in 2017 will be 90 million acres, down 4 percent or 4.0 million acres from last year. Soybeans planted area for …