WET CONDITIONS SLOW FIELD WORK

Hit-and-miss showers and thunderstorms kept some farmers from their fields this past week. Those farmers who were able to get into their fields made good progress wrapping up corn and cotton planting and getting soybeans planted. The winter wheat crop was heading toward harvest. Some producers were able to cut hay between rains. Livestock producers reported pastures were in mostly good shape. There were 4.5 days suitable for field work. Topsoil moisture was 4 percent short, 75 percent adequate and 21 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was 1 percent very short, 3 percent short, 77 percent adequate and 19 percent surplus. Continue reading at TN_06_05_17. The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at CropProg-06-05-2017.

Larry Steckel travels to the Mississippi River bottom – Ground Zero for Tennessee weed resistance. Watch the first in a series on management of resistant Palmer amaranth.

Corn, soybeans, and wheat were up; cotton was mixed for the week. For the month of May, prices traded: mostly sideways for December corn – opening at $3.89 ½, closing at $3.91, with a trading range of $3.82 to $3.95 ¾; down for November soybeans – opening at $9.56 ¾, closing at $9.18 ¼, with a trading range of $9.15 ½ to $9.80; mostly sideways-to-down for cotton – opening at 74.55 cents, closing at 72.79 cents , with a trading range of 72.15 to 75.15 cents; and sideways-to-down for July wheat – opening at $4.38 ¼, closing at $4.29 ½, with a range of $4.20 to $4.61 ½. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.