The UT Institute of Agriculture has launched a new podcast series. It’s called AgCast. These audio broadcasts will cover topics important to the Institute and our stakeholders.
A recent podcast that would be of interest to many UT Crops readers is a conversation with Larry Steckel on the recent EPA approval of new dicamba herbicides. You can listen to that discussion by clicking the link below,
For West Tennessee Grain elevator bids as of today’s market close: grain-newsletter-12-9-2016
Corn: The corn market has recently experienced a bit of an uptick in prices. The March contract has gained approximately $0.12 this week. However, September futures for next year have traded virtually sideways this week. Why have corn prices begun to show signs of improvement? Well, the answer is a mixture of things. First off, the financial sector continues to show signs of strengthening after the presidential election. The DOW Jones closed at record high of 19,756.85 yesterday. The financial markets and the commodity markets are interrelated. Therefore, the gains felt on Wall Street find their way over to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Now, that is not the only reason that corn prices have increased this week. Export sales continue to exceed USDA expectations and are ahead of last year’s numbers. The combination of a positive mood on Wall Street and better than expected sales make for a recipe for higher corn futures. Continue reading
Corn, soybeans, and wheat were up; cotton was down for the week. On Friday, the USDA released the December World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Overall the report was pretty benign. No changes were made to the domestic balance sheets for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Only minor changes to yield – increased 18 lbs/acre, domestic use – decreased 200,000 bales, and exports – increased 200,000 bales were made for cotton. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
This link to December 9, 2016 – USDA World Supply and Demand Estimates contains a summary of the USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Domestic balance sheets for corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat are displayed along with price reaction in futures markets for each commodity on the day of the report release. Additionally, supply and demand estimates for key importing and exporting countries are provided for the current month along with change in estimates from the previous report. The Profitability Outlook section contains estimated returns per acre for each commodity for 2017 based on Tennessee state average yield projections and estimated price offerings for 2017(note: cotton prices include a seed and hauling rebate). Variable expenses are based on the University of Tennessee Extension 2016 Row Crop Budgets. Prices are updated monthly; expenses are updated as warranted during the year and may be different than the expenses contained in the 2016 Row Crop Budgets. This section provides an estimation of the current relative profitability amongst major row crops in Tennessee.
A new Focus on Cotton webcast titled “Changing Bt Technologies and Bollworm Management in Bt Cotton” helps cotton growers, consultants, and other industry experts monitor the potential impact of bollworm populations and determine when additional treatments may be advantageous. This 53-minute talk by David Kerns, Associate Professor at Louisiana State University Continue reading
The University of Tennessee’s 2017 Insect Control Recommendations for Cotton, Soybean, Corn, Sorghum, Wheat and Pastures (PB 1768) is now available online. Once available, hard copies will be distributed at Cotton Focus, grain conferences, and other crop production meetings.
Some features you may have overlooked in the back of the book include:
Corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat were down for the week. For the month of November, March 2017 corn futures closed down 14 ¼ cents, opening at $3.62 ¾ and closing at $3.48 ½; January soybeans closed up 20 ½ cents, opening at $10.11 ¾ and closing at $10.32 ¼; March cotton closed up 2.21 cents, opening at 69.37 and closing at 71.58; and March wheat closed down 31 cents, opening at $4.33 ¾ and closing at $4.02 ¾. Large gains in November occurred for the DJIA – up 981 points closing at 19,124 (up 5.4%), the Shanghai Composite Index – up 4.8%, and the USD index – up 3.2% closing at 101.54. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
SCATTERED SHOWERS PROVIDE LITTLE RELIEF
Scattered showers across the state brought little relief to farmers desperate for rain. Livestock producers continued to have to feed hay to make up for the lack of forage. This early dependence on hay has caused concerns there may not be enough hay to carry herds through the winter. Some livestock producers are also having to haul in water to replace drying ponds. On a brighter note, winter wheat growers were busy planting ahead of anticipated rains. Continue reading Tennessee NASS report at tn_11_28_16. The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at cropprog-11-28-2016.