By Renee Duff
A slow-moving system (click here) will unleash flooding downpours and locally severe thunderstorms across the southern United States into Thursday.
The system will tap into plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico as it crawls south and east through midweek.
Downpours that will first deliver a thorough soaking from St. Louis to Dallas into Tuesday night will expand into the corridor from Nashville to Houston by Thursday....The map to the right is December 26, 2017. Below is the latest US Drought map for March 20, 2018. For many the rain will bring much needed water, however, erosion may be an issue.
March 27, 2018
It may be spring, (click here) but the winter weather is lingering on... and if it continues... it could be a real headache for farmers.
This extra–long winter might delay spring planting. The later a farmer has to wait, the less yield they will get from their crops, especially corn.
Kent Thiesse, a farm analyst, said: "According to some of the official measurements by the University of Minnesota out by Lamberton, there's still 2 to 3 feet of frost in the ground and bare soil, so until you get that frost out of the ground it takes a while to warm that ground up."
Thiesse thinks the weather is not a major concern yet, but if the snow continues into April, it definitely will have an impact on the growing season.
"We need an extended period of above normal temperatures, at least normal, but above normal and probably a little drier conditions.", he said.
The University of Minnesota recommends planting corn between April 30th and May 5th for the best yield....
It makes no sense to plant ? conventional corn ? vs Non-GMO corn. Why would anyone want treated seeds? At any rate the farmers planting non-GMO corn will receive higher prices for their crop, especially if there is a decrease in production.
March 27, 2018
By Mary Kennedy
As the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) (click here) March 31 Prospective Planting report nears, speculation abounds over what farmers intend to plant this spring.
The annual report is based on a survey the USDA conducts with farmers around the country as to what crops they intend to plant, and how many acres of each crop they will plant. In anticipation of the upcoming report, I reached out to farmers and elevator managers and asked them what their intentions are and what changes would be made compared to 2017 planting.
An elevator manager in eastern North Dakota told me that spring wheat planting will be up 15%, soybeans beans will be up 10% and corn down 8%. Keith Brandt, general manager of Plains Grain and Agronomy, LLC, Enderlin, North Dakota, said he sees a similar pattern in his area.
“There will be a 10% decrease in corn acres, a 3%-to-5% increase in soybeans and an 8%-to-10% increase in spring wheat,” said Brandt. “I don’t see much field work until later in April. If some of that wheat seeding goes into May, we will lose wheat acres and increase bean acres. Also, there will be more dicamba-resistant beans planted this year in order to avoid vapor drift issues.
“We will see more conventional (non-GMO) corn planted this year because of seed cost. The savings on seed cost is about $60-to-$70 per bag, which equates to about $20-to-$25 per acre. Farmers have to be careful, because additional chemical cost for corn borer or some other insect, plus chemical cost for weed control, could push that back up to the same or more as GMO seed. If they have insect issues and field loss of corn, they won’t save anything,” Brandt said....
March 27, 2018
Kiev - UkrAgroConsult (click here) on Tuesday cut its forecast for Ukraine's 2018/19 barley harvest and exports citing a smaller sowing area caused by late spring.
At the same time, the consultancy raised its outlook for Ukraine's maize harvest and exports.
Ukraine is likely to harvest 25.7 million tonnes of maize and 8.2 million tonnes of barley this year, while exports would total 20 million and 4.6 million tonnes, respectively, UkrAgroConsult said.
"The dates of planting early spring crops in Ukraine are going to get shifted, or even narrowed. In case of a sharp temperature rise, farmers may find themselves short of time to sow early spring cereals and pulses in full," the consultancy said in a report.
It said almost the entire country was still covered with up to 25 cm of snow and planting was already delayed by a couple weeks compared to last year....
"World Agricultural Supply and Demand" (click here) - March 8, 2018 edition
It makes no sense to plant ? conventional corn ? vs Non-GMO corn. Why would anyone want treated seeds? At any rate the farmers planting non-GMO corn will receive higher prices for their crop, especially if there is a decrease in production.
March 27, 2018
By Mary Kennedy
As the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) (click here) March 31 Prospective Planting report nears, speculation abounds over what farmers intend to plant this spring.
The annual report is based on a survey the USDA conducts with farmers around the country as to what crops they intend to plant, and how many acres of each crop they will plant. In anticipation of the upcoming report, I reached out to farmers and elevator managers and asked them what their intentions are and what changes would be made compared to 2017 planting.
An elevator manager in eastern North Dakota told me that spring wheat planting will be up 15%, soybeans beans will be up 10% and corn down 8%. Keith Brandt, general manager of Plains Grain and Agronomy, LLC, Enderlin, North Dakota, said he sees a similar pattern in his area.
“There will be a 10% decrease in corn acres, a 3%-to-5% increase in soybeans and an 8%-to-10% increase in spring wheat,” said Brandt. “I don’t see much field work until later in April. If some of that wheat seeding goes into May, we will lose wheat acres and increase bean acres. Also, there will be more dicamba-resistant beans planted this year in order to avoid vapor drift issues.
“We will see more conventional (non-GMO) corn planted this year because of seed cost. The savings on seed cost is about $60-to-$70 per bag, which equates to about $20-to-$25 per acre. Farmers have to be careful, because additional chemical cost for corn borer or some other insect, plus chemical cost for weed control, could push that back up to the same or more as GMO seed. If they have insect issues and field loss of corn, they won’t save anything,” Brandt said....
March 27, 2018
Kiev - UkrAgroConsult (click here) on Tuesday cut its forecast for Ukraine's 2018/19 barley harvest and exports citing a smaller sowing area caused by late spring.
At the same time, the consultancy raised its outlook for Ukraine's maize harvest and exports.
Ukraine is likely to harvest 25.7 million tonnes of maize and 8.2 million tonnes of barley this year, while exports would total 20 million and 4.6 million tonnes, respectively, UkrAgroConsult said.
"The dates of planting early spring crops in Ukraine are going to get shifted, or even narrowed. In case of a sharp temperature rise, farmers may find themselves short of time to sow early spring cereals and pulses in full," the consultancy said in a report.
It said almost the entire country was still covered with up to 25 cm of snow and planting was already delayed by a couple weeks compared to last year....
"World Agricultural Supply and Demand" (click here) - March 8, 2018 edition
