Author: staff

For the majority of the nation’s top corn-growing states, drought conditions remained completely unchanged this week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) report. However, some states did see minor to significant changes in drought across their regions. The most notable changes happened in North Carolina. Here’s a look at where things stand in the Tar Heel State, along with input from the State Climate Office.  Drought on the Rise According to the USDM report released Jan. 23, D1 moderate drought in North Carolina jumped 20 points compared to the week prior, from 45% to 65%. Also, the overall…

Bipartisan members from both chambers of Congress have introduced the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which would allow for unflavored and flavored whole and reduced fat (2 percent) milk to be offered in school cafeterias. The act focuses on highlighting the known health benefits and nutrients milk provides to young Americans, including better bone health, lower blood pressure, and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes. According to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, milk is a source of two under-consumed nutrients — calcium and vitamin D — along with other key nutrients. Most importantly, in…

Just ahead of 9 a.m. CT, March corn was down 3¼¢. March soybeans were down 9¢. March wheat contracts were also down. CBOT wheat was down 8½¢. KC wheat was down 11½¢. Minneapolis wheat was down 9½¢. This morning, USDA released the weekly U.S. Export Sales report for the week that ended Jan. 16. It was delayed one day because Monday was a holiday. Concerning corn, soybean, and wheat net export sales for the 2024/2025 marketing year, The Brock Report said: “Corn net export sales of 1.66 million metric tons were at the high end of trade guesses that ran…

By Nicolas Misculin BUENOS AIRES, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange announced cuts to estimated yields for Argentina’s soybean and corn crops by 1 million metric tons each, citing hot weather and insufficient rainfall, according to a statement released on Thursday. The new forecast for the 2024/25 soybean crop is for 49.6 million tons, while the same season’s corn crop is expected to come in at 49 million tons. A weekly crop report from the exchange blamed high temperatures and an ongoing lack of humidity mainly in southern farmland as well as central-eastern areas in Entre Rios…

By Laurie Chen, Mei Mei Chu, Ella Cao, Naveen Thukral and Ana Mano BEIJING/SAO PAULO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, has stopped receiving Brazilian soybean shipments from five firms after cargoes did not meet plant health requirements, according to a statement from the Brazilian government confirming what Reuters had learned from two sources on Wednesday. The phytosanitary-related suspension comes as Brazil has been bolstering its share of the world’s biggest soybean market at the expense of the No. 2 exporter, the U.S. It’s also an unexpected twist in the global agricultural supply chain, as U.S.…

While supply of grain hopper trailers have taken a hit since the early 2020s, as with all other types of equipment, the market is returning to a stable place. “2024 was an interesting year,” said Brian Anderson, Timpte’s eastern region general manager. “The first half of the year, we were still on the COVID highs, where supply did not meet the demand. But in the second half, that changed.” He said new and used trailer purchasing slowed as the year went on, with more used trailers available later in the year than at the beginning. “Our core customer is a…

John Deere has announced a new lineup of high-speed disks to replace the 2680H series. The new high speed disks have an additional 4 inches between the disk and the finishing basket for improved residue flow. This helps to reduce plugging in tougher conditions such as high field moisture or high residue situations. “By increasing the distance between disks and basket, we found the tool had better residue flow from previous models, leading to even better field finish in high-residue conditions,” said Michael Porter, go-to-market manager for tillage equipment at John Deere. “This allows the tools to be pulled up…

The U.S. Senate began reconsidering legislation on Wednesday that seeks to clarify the labeling and definition of cheese products. Originally introduced on March 27, 2023, the Codifying Useful Regulatory Definitions (CURD) Act aims to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by formally defining the term “natural cheese.” Sponsored by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), the bill is intended to emphasize transparency and consistency in the dairy industry. “Wisconsin’s dairy farmers and cheesemakers work hard to produce high-quality cheese products that are known across the globe…

Do you know how to tell popular Christmas tree varieties apart? We’ll show you! Which tree will your family choose? Balsam Fir The best way to tell different Christmas tree varieties apart is by the look of their needles and branches. A balsam fir tree will have dense, dark-green needles. The top of the tree will be much more slender than the bottom half. The look of a balsam’s needles will be different depending on how old the branch is. The needles will be shorter and curved upward and will usually have a sort of notch at then end. Douglas…

Garlic is adept at repelling rabbits, deer, and the occasional vampire horde … so why not nematodes as well? Bayer is banking on some of these more potent properties and has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with UK-based Ecospray to market a biological liquid nematicide sourced from garlic. The product presents a biological alternative to traditional synthetic chemical nematicides in vegetable and potato crops, and will be marketed in the European Union under the new name Velsinum. Nematodes cause over 75 billion euros worth of damage to crops globally each year, with all crops facing at least one nematode pest…