A quick yield and price assessment to estimate income along with examination of remaining outflows for the year can prevent problems before they occur. Include in the outflows- operating loan, equipment & land loans, cash rent, and an estimate of remaining expenses. Continue reading at Southeast Farm Press.
Article by Danny Morris, UT Extension Area Specialist – Farm Management
With commodity prices trending lower over the course of the past two years, producers are looking at alternative crops to potentially increase their net farm income. An example of this would be producers planting more grain sorghum, or milo, as they have done here in Tennessee for this crop year. Some West Tennessee growers are contemplating planting canola this year due to a canola processing facility in Kentucky and a few local grain elevators expecting to be buying stations in 2016. Continue reading at Profitability of Canola for West Tennessee Growers.
A recent survey in Tennessee showed that 22% or our row crop acres were planted after a cover crop. In light of the PPO resistant Palmer amaranth we believe this number should go up as a good cover crop may help improve control of Palmer amaranth in an integrated system with herbicides. It is time to be making decisions about the cover crops you will be planting this fall. Continue reading
As reported by NASS on August 24, 2015
LIMITED CORN HARVEST BEGINS; RAIN WELCOMED
Limited corn harvest began between rains last week. Producers welcomed the rain which boosted pastures, thus improving cattle condition. The rains also helped bring a good finish to crops. Producers are cautiously optimistic about yields this season. Continue reading at Crop Progress 8 23 15.
The West Tennessee Research and Education Center (WTREC) would like to cordially invite you to the 2015 University of Tennessee Cotton Tour. This event is scheduled Continue reading
While prices have declined for grains, they are not that far off from when the crop was planted. Grains and soybean prices for harvest delivery have dropped 2 percent to 5 percent since mid-May. Prices have been volatile in between with some opportunities for pricing. Still, further declines in prices even at record or close-to record yields are not needed. Continue reading at Southeast Farm Press.
Soybeans and wheat were down; cotton and corn were up for the week. December corn has bounced back from the August 12th low of $3.57 ½. Corn yields continue to be the subject of great debate as several crop tours have substantially different state yield estimates than the August 12th USDA Crop Production report. It is generally accepted that the Western Corn Belt will have record-to-near record yields while the Eastern Corn Belt will have yields that are below trend. Whether the good yields in the west offset the poorer yields in the east will determine if the USDA’s estimated national average yield of 168.8 bu/acre is high or low. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently released publication Farm Computer Usage and Ownership. Highlights for Tennessee include an increase of the number of farms with computers from 55% in 2011 to 68% in 2015; increase of farms that use computers for farm business from 26% in 2011 to 35% in 2015; and increase in farms that purchase inputs over the internet from 10% in 2011 to 17% in 2015. The publication in its entirety can be found at Farm Computer Use – Aug 2015.