Producers who have an unplanned need for a harvest machine should evaluate carefully the solutions available to them. Many times, producers will make a quick decision to get harvest back rolling. The decision may be the right one, but sometimes it can have financial consequences.

The most common solutions to getting back into harvest when a combine goes down and can’t be fixed in a timely way are:

1. Employ a custom harvester to assist getting the crop out.
2. Lease a combine to finish out the harvest.
3. Buy a combine for this year and future years.

Let’s look at each one of these possible solutions. Continue reading at Southeast Farm Press.

ANOTHER GREAT WEEK FOR HARVEST

Continued hot, dry conditions last week were favorable for farmers and kept harvesting at a good pace. The crops that are being harvested show real overall promise for good yields. Soybean harvest is in progress and on track with the 5-year average. Double-cropped soybeans would benefit from rain to help pods fill out and pastures are showing heat stress. Farmers continue to feed hay, which brings with it fear of a shortage this winter. Tobacco cutting is progressing nicely. There were 6.4 days suitable for field work. Continue reading Tennessee NASS report at tn_09_19_16. The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at  cropprog-09-19-2016.

Corn and cotton were down; soybeans and wheat were mixed for the week. Early this week the USDA released the September WASDE and Crop Production reports (a detailed review of the reports can be found here: http://economics.ag.utk.edu/outlook.html). US corn yield and production were estimated at 174.4 bu/acre (down 0.7 bu/acre) and 15.092 billion bushels, respectively. In Tennessee, corn yields were estimated at 150 bu/acre down 5 bu/acre from last month and 10 bu/acre from 2015. Domestic and foreign corn ending stocks for the 2016/17 marketing year were estimated at 2.384 and 6.256 billion bushels, down 25 and 28 million bushels, respectively. Overall the reports for corn were neutral. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

This link to UT Monthly Crop Outlook  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 based on 2016  Tennessee state average yield projections and current price offerings (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. This month marks a transition to 2017 Profitability Outlook.

The report is prepared monthly by Dr. Aaron Smith and Chuck Danehower.