The drought is certainly taking its toll on row crops, as the latest USDA crop report out this morning shows that the corn harvest this year will be down 13 percent from last year’s numbers, with soybeans expected to be 12 percent lower than 2011. Meanwhile, cotton will see a 13 percent increase while winter wheat should be up 1 …
Soybeans Used for Tractors Now… and Back Then
Attendees at the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop this week in Dearborn, Michigan got a chance to step back in history. Antique Ford tractor collector Dave Schafer showed off his pair of 1939 Ford 9Ns, one that was given to his father by Henry Ford himself! “My father worked for Henry Ford as a tractor demonstrator,” Schafer explains. “The day …
Soybean Farmer Leaders Excited About New Uses
The U.S. soybean crop may be struggling this summer, but the farmers who grow it know there will still be plenty to go around and they are excited about the newest biobased soy products in the pipelines for the domestic market. Left to right here are Dale Profit and Jim Stillman – both from Iowa, Karen Fear of Indiana, and …
Senator and Secretary Attend Biobased Workshop
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were keynote speakers at the 2012 United Soybean Board Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Workshop at the Ford Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan this week to show their strong support for new products made from agricultural commodities. “I think the sky’s the limit,” said Sen. Stabenow. “I don’t believe you have …
Soybean Growers Also Interested in Conservation
While much of the focus of the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour has been on corn, and in particular, nitrogen use and runoff in corn, soybean growers are also interested in the event. “Corn is a major crop, but soybeans are also a rotational crop, and lot of the research they’re doing on nitrogen management is on corn-soybean rotation …
Drop in USDA Estimates Talk of Wyffels Event
Some significant drops in USDA’s expected corn and soybean yields due to the drought have been the talk of the recent Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies event. “USDA took 20 bushels off of its yield, end of July, and dropping the soybean yield down to 40 and a half bushels… that makes a huge statement, and USDA probably thinks it’s smaller …
Corn Crop is in Worst Condition Since 1988
Drought conditions in the Midwest are “almost historic” with 38 percent of the nation’s corn crop now rated poor to very poor, according to USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey. “That 38% represents the highest amount of U.S. corn rated poor to very poor since the end of the 1988 growing season,” said Rippey. “We now see in 13 of the 18 …
Weather Taking Toll on Crops
This is what the corn looked like near Bloomington, Illinois yesterday – and it looks much worse in other areas. The USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report out this morning did, as expected, lower corn yields as a result of the hot and dry conditions throughout much of the growing region this summer. “Dreadful,” said USDA Outlook Board …
“Decade of the Bean” Focuses on Higher Yields
Building on the successful launch of Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield trait technology, Monsanto Company is poised to deliver a dozen new soybean traits in the next decade, helping farmers boost yield to meet the growing global demands for soybeans. The 2010s have been coined the “Decade of the Bean” because Monsanto has a mix of 12 biotech and breeding …
Iowa Great Grower Pleased with Progress
Another of our 2012 BASF Great Growers is Steve Miller of West Union, Iowa in the northeast part of the state. He farms with his dad Henry and is pictured here with his adorable son Cam – the picture of a true family farm! I was actually supposed to interview Steve and his dad back in the freezing December of …