Corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat were up for the week. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights 4_5_2019.

PERSISTENT RAINS, FREEZING TEMPERATURES, LIMITED FIELDWORK

Continued rains and wet, soft ground kept producers out of the field again this week, allowing only 2.1 days suitable for field work. Freezing temperatures accompanied by a frost over the weekend have some worried about wheat, fruit trees, and gardens. Wet weather has hindered corn planting. Many producers are waiting for a window of opportunity to return to fields. Some are optimistic for future pasture conditions due to the recent rainfall, though cattle still need fed due to wet conditions. Pasture and Strawberries appear to be in mostly good condition. Generally, crop progress seems to be comparable to last year. Topsoil moisture was 1 percent short, 53 percent adequate, and 46 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was 55 percent adequate, and 45 percent surplus. Continue reading at TN Crop Weather 04_09_18. The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at US Crop Progress 04_08_2019.

Below is a synopsis of take home points about insect management that I tried to make during the winter meeting season. Obviously, I’ll get into many of the topics in greater detail as the season progresses, but here is some food for thought. Continue reading →

Corn, soybeans, and wheat were down; cotton was up for the week. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

2019 USDA March Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks Reports

On Friday March 29, the USDA released the Prospective Plantings and March Grain Stocks
reports. Corn, soybean, and wheat futures closed down for the day; cotton closed up.

Prospective Plantings

Principle Crop Area Planted – Includes: corn, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, winter wheat, Durum wheat, other spring wheat, rice, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower, cotton, dry edible beans, chickpeas, potatoes, sugarbeets, canola, and proso millet. Projected at 315.352 million acres, down 4.226 million acres compared to 2018. A substantial decline reflective of weak profit margins for principle row crops. Reduced planted acreage of principle crops will transition to lower acre a regional alternatives, pasture and forage, or be left fallow. Continue reading at Comments on Prospective Plantings Report.

Released: March 29, 2019

March 1 Planting Intentions Indicate Record Low Burley Tobacco Harvested Acreage

Farmers in Tennessee intend to plant 850,000 acres of corn, 110,000 acres more than 2018. U.S. corn growers intend to plant 92.8 million acres for all purposes in 2019, down 4 from last year and 3 percent from 2017.

Soybean acreage in Tennessee was expected to total 1.50 million acres, down 200,000 acres from the previous year. U.S. soybean planted area for 2019 is estimated at 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year.

Upland cotton acreage to be planted in Tennessee is forecast at 360,000, unchanged from 2018. The U.S. total upland cotton acreage is estimated at 13.5 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous year. Continue reading at MarchPP19_TN.

In this podcast, UT Extension Corn and Soybean Specialist Angela McClure covers some of the top corn planting considerations for 2019, including weather, soil temperatures, planter settings and nitrogen recommendations. Listen.