Corn yields and soybean acreage set records in 2017, according to the Crop Production summary from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) out Friday. Corn production was four percent lower in 2017 compared to 2016, but a record high 176.6 bushel per acre yield helped to make up a little bit for the five percent drop in harvested acres. The …
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue at #AFBF18
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue set the stage for his boss and our President Donald J. Trump to address the largest general farm organization in the country Monday. Perdue highlighted accomplishments of the Trump Administration related to agriculture and discussed the importance of trade and NAFTA in particular to U.S. agriculture. “To get a deal, we need all sides …
What Secretary Sonny Needs From Santa
It’s been a long and busy year for Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, but here at the end he is still short-staffed at USDA and could use some help from Santa to get the job done. “I had no idea we would be delayed like this and it’s unfortunate,” said Sec. Perdue in a recent interview with Iowa Agribusiness Network‘s …
USDA Boosts Corn for Ethanol Forecast
Ethanol is driving up demand for corn in the December supply demand estimate from USDA. The forecast for 2017-18 increases the amount of corn used to produce ethanol by 50 million bushels to 5.525 billion, based on less sorghum going to ethanol production. Corn ending stocks are lowered in turn by 50 million bushels but the impact on the season-average …
Agriculture Secretary Addresses Ag Retailers
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue topped off the ARA Conference and Expo on Thursday in Phoenix, covering a broad range of topics in his comments including tax reform, de-regulation, trade, food security, infrastructure, school lunches and the farm bill. Perdue, who noted his past experience in the fertilizer business and with ARA’s predecessor organization, the National Fertilizer Solutions Association, talked …
Get Ready for the Census of Agriculture
It’s that time farmers. The 2017 Census of Agriculture is coming in December. The survey is conducted by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. It has been conducted since 1840 and is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. It takes place every five years. During the NAFB Trade Talk session I visited …
Corn Crop Increase Surprises
USDA surprised many with the crop production forecast out this month estimating a two percent increase from last month for corn. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 175.4 bushels per acre, up 3.6 bushels from the October forecast and up 0.8 bushel from 2016. If realized, this will be the highest yield on record …
Secretary Sonny’s First Visit to NAFB
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made his first visit to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual convention, where he made a stop in at Trade Talk and then spent nearly an hour talking with broadcasters. The secretary’s first topic was the launch of USDA’s new resources to support veterans who might wish to pursue opportunities in agriculture, agribusiness, …
Clovis Declines USDA Post as Northey Nomination Still Stuck
Controversial USDA nominee Sam Clovis of Iowa has withdrawn his name for consideration as Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. Clovis has been controversial from the start, since the position is also called chief scientist, and the talk show host/economics professor has no scientific background. But grand jury testimony on Russian campaign involvement put Clovis in the spotlight last …
New and Expanded ZimmCast
After 12 years, the ZimmCast is getting a bit of a makeover. The new and expanded ZimmCast is here. After informally polling our audience and looking at new podcast research, we clearly heard that you want more. So the length of the ZimmCast will increase with more interviews and audio from the travels of the ZimmComm Golden Mic. The mission of …