Corn production in Tennessee is estimated at 117 million bushels, up 3 percent from the November forecast and down 17 percent from the previous crop. Yield was estimated at 160 bushels per acre, unchanged from the previous forecast and down 8 bushels from the 2014 level. Acres for harvest as grain were estimated at 730,000 acres, down 110,000 acres from 2014. Continue reading at AnnualCrop15_TN.
U.S. feed grain supplies for 2015/16 are lowered as small increases in corn and sorghum imports and sorghum production are more than offset by a reduction in corn production. Harvested area for corn is raised slightly, but the national average yield is estimated 0.9 bushel per acre lower than the previous forecast at 168.4 bushels per acre. Corn production for 2015/16 is estimated 53 million bushels lower, but remains the third largest crop on record at 13.6 billion. Continue reading at Monthly Crop Comments & Profitability Update.
Corn and cotton were down; soybeans were mixed; and wheat was up for the week. For the second consecutive week, March corn set a new contract low, this time at $3.48 ½. Abysmal export sales year-to-date point toward a significant reduction in 2015/16 marketing year exports on January’s WASDE report, along with a corresponding increase in carryover stocks into the 2016/17 marketing year. The key obstacles to a significant rally in corn prices – a high USD and a surplus supply of coarse grains domestically and globally – remain a major problem that could easily get worse in 2016 before it gets better. March soybeans have traded in a 79 cent range ($8.47 to $9.26) since mid-August. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights .
The 2015 TN Cotton Variety Trial Results Publication (PB1742) is now available online. This document contains detailed results from all harvested trails in the 2014 University of Tennessee Cotton Variety Testing program. This expanded publication follows the recently published summary publication, 2016 TN Cotton Variety Guide (W285), which was released a few weeks ago. Continue reading
Corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat were down since Friday, December 18. December was a rough month for corn, soybeans, and wheat with the March, January, and March futures contracts, for corn, soybeans, and wheat, finishing down 13 ½, 9 ¾, and 4 cents, respectively, from where they opened the month. Cotton was the lone commodity, out of four, that had a positive month, as March cotton increased a modest 0.54 cents in December. This December was perhaps a fitting close to an underwhelming commodity price environment for many producers in 2015. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
Soybeans were up; cotton and wheat were down; and corn was mixed for the week. On Thursday morning, March corn set a new contract low of $3.62 ½, before bouncing back on Thursday afternoon and Friday, closing down 1 cent for the week. Corn exports continue to lag well behind USDA projections at 17% (297.5 million bushels) of the 1.75 billion bushels projected for the 2015/16 marketing year. The five year average export pace would have 25% of the marketing year total (437.5 million bushels) exported by this week. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
The 2016 Weed Control Manual for Tennessee (PB1580) and the 2016 Insect Control Recommendations for Field Crops (PB1768) are now available online. As always, hard copies will be made available at various county and state production meetings and at Extension county offices. But they are always a couple of clicks away at UTcrops.com.
The 2016 TN Cotton Variety Guide is now available 
online. This document summarizes results from the 2015 University of Tennessee Cotton Agronomy program and serves as a precursor to a full release of trial results in PB 1742 to come within the next few weeks. Summaries from the 2015 season were calculated from four Official Variety Trials (OVTs), four large, replicated on-farm trials and nine County Standard Trials (CSTs) scattered throughout TN’s cotton producing counties. Continue reading