Corn, cotton, and soybeans were up; wheat was even for the week. December corn has moved sideways for the past two weeks bouncing between $3.83 and $3.90. Total corn exports continue to lag behind the pace required to meet the USDA’s projection of 1.65 billion bushels for the current marketing year. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
Corn: The USDA is to release their planting intentions report next week. On Thursday, Farm Futures released their survey of farmer’s planting intentions for 2016. Their survey indicated that farmers intend to plant 90 million acres of corn, which is a 2.3% increase from last year. The abundance of grain supplies is keeping a lid on U.S. corn prices. Argentina’s government has projected that their corn crop to be approximately 37 million metric tons. This is larger than USDA’s projection of 27 million metric tons for Argentina’s crop. Over the past week, September corn futures increased by $0.01 while the average local harvest basis equaled -$0.17. Continue reading
Increased infiltration rates, increased soil water retention, and decreased rates of erosion are frequently mentioned as benefits of integrating a cover crop into a production system. In order to test these proposed benefits, a site was selected early in 2015 to compare a wheat cover crop versus fallow management Continue reading
It is clear we have a fairly widespread problem with ryegrass escaping burndowns this spring. I have received many calls on glyphosate completely missing ryegrass and indeed here at Jackson we have seen the same thing. Continue reading
Corn, cotton, and soybeans were up; wheat was down for the week. Soy-beans set new four week highs in both the nearby and harvest future con-tracts. November soybeans closed at $9.09 above last week’s four week high of $9.07. Since March 1st, harvest corn and soybean futures contracts are up 9 ½ ($3.76 to $3.85 ½) and 36 ¼ ($8.73 ½ to $9.09 ¾) cents or 2.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Producers that have not started pricing 2016 production may want to consider pricing some production on this rally. There are still major concerns with global stocks, production, and exchange rates (with other exporting nations) for both grains and oilseeds so rallies should still be considered as opportunities to sell. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
Cover crop questions have begun to pick up in recent weeks. Many of these have stemmed around termination timing and method to maximize the benefit of the cover crop while minimizing the potential negative impacts associated with the cover on the following cash crop. I’ve got good and bad news for you. . .
As we approach corn planting time, I’ve had several questions related to cutworm management and/or the use of in-furrow insecticides. I’ve written about this subject before (https://news.utcrops.com/2015/03/is-it-too-early-to-think-about-cutworms/).
Although cutworms are not a common problem on most acres, they can sneak up on you. The suggested treatment threshold for cutworms is when 5% or more of plants are damaged or 2 or more larvae are found per 100 plants. However, I often recommend a Continue reading
Corn: Over the past week, September corn futures increased by $0.06 while the average local harvest basis increased by $0.02 in West TN. The increase in corn prices can be attributed to the recent weakness in the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar has shown signs of weakness due to sluggish economic news. In fact, the Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, stated this week that the Fed will not raise interest rates as high as previously thought. Prior to this week, the Fed was expected to raise interest rates up to four times throughout 2016. However, due to lackluster economic data within the U.S., it seems that the Fed will only raise rates twice this year. Continue reading