Drones and the Future of Farming

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the world’s largest corn processor, received regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones that will locate and assess crop damage.
Using drones will help expedite the processing of crop-insurance claims, the Chicago-based company said in a statement Wednesday.“We are on track to have this technology in the air for our customers next year,” Greg Mills, president of ADM’s Crop Risk Services unit, which offers insurance, said in the statement.
Drones are one of the latest tools in precision agriculture, in which data is collected by satellites and sensors and analyzed to maximize farm yields.
While the FAA bans commercial drone use, it has granted exemptions to operators who track crop yields, monitor oil and gas facilities, and inspect power lines and smokestacks. To get an exemption, companies must certify that their drones will be operated by licensed pilots and that a second person observe the flights.

Farm Bill Deadline Nears

Deadlines are nearing for decisions farmers need to make to comply with provisions of the new farm legislation, Keith Coble reminded peanut producers at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Peanut Growers Association in a recent interview with Delta Farm Press.

“You have until Feb. 27 to update yield history and/or reallocate base acres,” he said. “You have until March 31 to make a one-time choice between ARC (Agricultural Risk Coverage) and PLC (Price Loss Coverage) for crop years 2014 through 2018. From mid-April through summer 2015, you can sign contracts for 2014 and 2015 crop years.”

Coble, who is Giles Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University, served as chief economist for the minority staff of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during the 2013/14 farm bill debate.

He notes that help is available to producers from MSU’s Agricultural Economics Department in the form of spreadsheets that can be used in making the calculations (http://bit.ly/1tW5dLl). “You can plug in your own circumstances and figure out how it will work for you.”

Coble says also  that the Mississippi Farm Service Agency has been “very cooperative in providing knowledgeable people to go to meetings and bring farmers up to speed on these provisions.” And he and other Mississippi Extension specialists have been on the meetings trail for the past few months.

Among the things farmers need to keep in mind about the new legislation, he says:

• “You can’t build base. If you have 200 acres of base on a farm serial number for a particular set of crops, when you get done you’re still going to have 200 acres of base. You can’t build it, but you can reallocate it.

• “Yield updating is probably one of the big no-brainers. Because of past programs and the inability to update base yields, we have a lot of farmers who have relatively low base yields. You now have the opportunity to take 90 percent of the 2008-2012 average, and in a lot of instances that will be a higher number. I would suggest you take a look at that.”

• PLC program: “The peanut industry and rice industry wanted a traditional price-triggered program however a price-triggered program was created for all program commodities. The corn reference price is $3.70, and the Congressional Budget Office said that would cost almost nothing — now look where corn prices are.”

In terms of ARC versus PLC, Coble says, “for rice and peanut farmers most analyses suggest PLC. I’d think really hard before I chose ARC on either of these crops. But for beans, corn, and wheat, it depends on what you think the price path is.

Decisions on ARC/PLC

Beans still look pretty favorable toward ARC; for corn, it’s more of a toss-up with an slight edge to ARC in most cases. In Mississippi, we have some counties that have a pretty good history with ARC, and others that don’t, so look at your own county.”

Farmers also need to keep in mind, he says, that “you can be in the PLC program and SCO (Supplemental Coverage Option), but if you’re in the ARC program you can’t purchase SCO insurance.

“The two versions of the ARC program are a shallow loss revenue program. The county-triggered program is commodity specific and pays on 85 percent of base acres. The area-triggered program is paid on 65 percent of base acres, and it is going to lump your farm serial numbers together and it’s going to be across all your commodities.”

While the farm level ARC program was designed for wheat farmers in Montana, Coble says, “I could envision a few cases in Mississippi where someone has one farm serial number and is only growing one crop. This is a scenario where individual ARC might work.”

It’s also important to understand, he says, that with ARC, “rather than a fixed legislative target, it uses an olympic average on yield and price. Take the last five years, drop the high and the low, and average the other three.

We were at pretty high commodity price levels when this bill was written; now we’re at lower price levels for several crops. What we’re going to see is that ARC will likely ride these price levels down.  We’ve got a lot of upward-trending yields, so it’s going to move in the opposite direction.”

SCO is very similar to ARC, he notes. “It’s a shallow loss insurance product, delivered by RMA (Risk Management Agency), with a premium subsidy of 65 percent of the total. The top coverage level is 86 percent, the same as ARC. For these products, RMA is moving toward using their own data rather than NASS county data for these yield series. It will be interesting to see how it works.

“You may purchase either STAX (Stacked Income Protection Plan) or SCO on cotton. STAX is just for cotton and is very similar to SCO, but has a higher premium subsidy — an 80 percent subsidy and a 90 percent guarantee. I think a lot of cotton producers will prefer STAX to SCO.”

Crop insurance coverage levels in Mississippi “have been going up fairly rapidly,” Coble says. “I thought we were catching up with the Midwest, but I was wrong. They’ve been moving to higher coverage (75 percent to 85 percent) and the primary reason for it is enterprise units — growers have gone to enterprise units in order to get higher coverage.

Switching for more benefit

The higher percentage the subsidy, the more benefit you get. That’s why I think we’ve got a lot of people switching from basic units to enterprise units. However, with enterprise units, you’re going to have some offsetting losses. If you’ve got a low yield field with a yield loss, and another field that doesn’t, they’ll be averaged together.

With SCO, Coble says, “You’re topping off an individual coverage policy with an area trigger policy. In the past, you were never able to buy two insurance policies on the same acre — now you can. They’re intended to cover layers of loss. You can have two policies insuring the same acre.

“The ARC program, an FSA-delivered program, is doing much the same thing as SCO, but it’s not tied to the crop insurance choice you make. So, you can buy a coverage level that doesn’t match up to ARC, or you can buy a coverage level that laps over into the ARC range.”

As decision times near, Coble says, “I would suggest you ask your crop insurance agent five questions:

1.    Can you give me a quote for enterprise units and trend adjusted yields?

2.    Will you show me the premium for different coverage levels?

3.    What about topping off individual coverage with SCO?

4.    Will you give me a quote for separate coverage levels by practice?

5.    What about the APH (Actual Production History) yield exclusion?”

And he cautions, “There is a lot of bad information out there. Be very careful about using information from the Midwest to make decisions here in the South.

Questions growers “need to be asking” about the ARC/PLC issue, Coble says:

1.    How much do you want to protect yourself from risk or increase government payments? “Are you trying to protect yourself from risk, or are you trying to get the most money from the government?”

2.    How much do you value having a price floor under the price of a crop? “If you sleep better at night when you’ve got a $3.70 floor under your corn, then take the PLC program, even though ARC might pay you more money. We don’t know what these programs are going to pay you in 2018. It’s just a guess.”

3.    How much are you willing to depend on individual crop insurance for risk protection?

4.    How much are you willing to depend on area-triggered crop insurance for risk protection? “Remember that area-triggered programs may not trigger when your farm has a loss. It’s not about whether your average yield is higher or lower — it’s about whether the county yield is low when your yield is low.”

5.    How much are you going to worry about relatively small commodity program payments versus controlling cost?

Some “easy calls” for producers, Coble says, will be conversion of cotton base to generic base and yield updates. He notes that farm level ARC “may not be a good fit” for diversified producers, and says STAX will likely be preferred over SCO for cotton unless crop insurance coverage is low.

Among important things to remember: “Area-triggered programs may not trigger when you have a loss. Title 1 programs are on base acres, not planted acres. And, compared to direct payments which are paid every year, ARC, PLC, and SCO are expected to pay less than 50 percent of the time.”

Farming Near an Urban Enviroment

Adversity comes in many different forms for our nation’s farmers. From unpredictable weather patterns and fluctuating commodity prices to seemingly ever-increasing input costs and pest complexes that can keep even the most seasoned consultant guessing at times, adversity seems to be a word synonymous with farming.

For one Mississippian who farms just south of the Tennessee/Mississippi state line where Olive Branch (Desoto County) meets the southern boundary of Memphis (Shelby County), In a recent interview with Delta Farm Press, Wes Hoggard, owner of Hoggard Farms (and Stateline Turf and Tractor, a John Deere dealership), has to keep his eyes on farm land replete with a very specific kind of adversity with which more and more farmers are having to deal — urban encroachment.

From 1990 to 2000, the population of Olive Branch exploded from around 3,000, to over 21,000. From 1990 to 2010, Olive Branch was the fastest growing city in the United States with an astounding growth rate of 838 percent. Mississippi Highway 302 (known by most in the area as Goodman Road) is a major transportation corridor running thru Olive Branch, with its most western point ending in Walls, and the most eastern point terminating just west of Mount Pleasant.

Urban Movement

Hoggard has been farming in this area for over 20 years — long before urban encroachment veered its multi-faceted commercial head. “I’ve been lucky in one respect when it comes to proximity to warehouses, semi-trucks and subdivisions…,” he says, “…because the fields that I farm are, for the most part, linked together with suitable access roads which greatly reduces the number of times I have to move my equipment.”

But Hoggard not only has to deal with changing pest complexes each year, he also has to deal with what he calls “an encroachment complex.” It’s easy to understand his “personally-coined” term as we both turn our heads toward the highway, where a steady stream of cars, trucks and school bus traffic screams by at 65 mph — while we sit in his John Deere 9670 Bullet Rotor Combine just 50 feet from the east-bound shoulder of the four-lane highway.

The fields Hoggard has been farming in this area vary in their relationship to traffic density. “Some fields are still tucked away from most urbanization but some, especially in the last five years, have become neighbors to more and more warehouses, subdivisions and commercial real estate developments,” he adds.

When it comes to making applications on whatever crop he’s currently producing, his only option is a ground rig sprayer. “Ag pilots won’t even consider flying in this area due to the number of roof tops (single unit family dwellings), but even with a ground rig — if there’s a slight breeze, I have to delay spraying, especially if the wind is blowing toward someone’s backyard,” Hoggard says.

And he can’t even think about burning off a wheat field. “That gets people, and the local fire department, way too anxious,” as he shakes his head, pointing to a subdivision that rests adjacent to a set of massive power lines — both of which are juxtaposed along one of the larger fields he’s currently farming.

“Not knowing what land will (or will not) be available to me each year also makes it impossible to forward contract any of the crops I produce,” he adds.

Making it Work

Hoggard is a 30-year veteran producer who grows soybeans, wheat, corn and milo on fields that range in size from 5 to 120 acres. Any given year, Hoggard may farm anywhere from 1,200 to 1,800 acres of land on which he rarely drops down a plow thanks to advice from his long-time friend, John Bradley.

“Dr. Bradley and I have been friends for a long time, and his advice has helped me be successful at no-till farming for as long as I can remember. It saves me time and labor, but the number one thing it’s done for me is, it has preserved so much land from erosion,” says Hoggard.

Hoggard took over some pasture ground and thought it would require tilling before he could put down a seed, but Bradley told him to let the land lay out over the winter. “The winter freeze and subsequent thawing would mellow the soil that was very compacted from years of cattle grazing. Dr. Bradley was correct, it worked,” Hoggard says.

Hoggard also has more than his share of unwanted activity on the land he farms. “I've got great neighbors, and I don’t hear much out of them, but every so often I’ll have a four-wheel drive truck or someone on a four-wheeler come on the land and see how much damage they can do — all in the name of having fun,” he says.

Hoggard also finds an occasional trespasser who thinks just because it is farmland, it’s ok to hunt on it. “The local game warden is a friend of mine. I keep his number handy, but I really don’t have to call him too often,” he adds.

There’s no shortage of wildlife on the land he farms, despite the constant activity from local businesses, warehouses and planes taking off from Olive Branch Airport (which was named the busiest Fixed Based Operation in the United States in 2012). “It’s absolutely amazing…,” he says, referring to the number of deer, turkey and other wildlife. “You would think this urbanization would push them further out. But it’s nothing to see a herd of 15 or more deer on one of the field access roads right next to the highway early in the morning or late in the day.”

Hoggard Farms is pretty much a one-man operation. “I do the majority of the farming myself while my son, John, holds down our John Deere dealership. When I do need help, he, along with my other son, Ben, are both quick to lend a hand,” says Hoggard.

He also has a daughter, Rachel, who is a school teacher (but when Hoggard calls, she gladly comes to the farm and drives the grain cart). “I’m also lucky enough to have a good friend who is an independent businessman and has a very flexible schedule. He just likes driving a combine — so I let him,” says Hoggard.

Looking Ahead

It should come as no surprise that with increased urbanization encroaching on more and more farming operations, Extension Service personnel across the country are receiving higher numbers of phone calls complaining about things like oversized equipment on roads or highways and smells with which the general public are just not familiar.

Desoto County Extension Agent Dan Haire, a 20-year row-crop veteran, moved into the area three years ago. “With the population growing as fast as it is, I find myself working mostly with homeowners rather than farmers,” says Haire. “It’s something I've had to do not out of choice, but out of necessity, to help keep local farmers in the good graces of their neighbors who just don’t know about or understand farming.”

With constant encroachment by numerous warehousing businesses, schools, shopping centers and subdivisions, it’s very likely more of the land around Hoggard’s fields will be sold for commercial development. “It’s disheartening to see beautiful country land turned into a concrete jungle,” he laments.

Hoggard doesn't exactly know what lies ahead for his operation — as far as what land will be available in the next year or two — but he sees the tell-tale signs offering more and more land for sale. He’s hoping to find more farmable land in more remote, less urbanized locations in the near future.

Food Police Strike Again!

Hembree Brandon from Delta Farm Press recently wrote an article about the issues with food and dietary issues in America.

We all chuckle at the Chick-fil-A TV commercials in which cows stare balefully at hamburger-consuming humans and wear crudely-lettered signs saying “Eat Mor Chikin.”

And we snicker at the anti-animal agriculture folks who lambaste cows as culprits in global warming because of the methane they produce from belching/flatulence (anywhere from 25 gallons to 50-plus gallons per cow per day they contend).

For years, they've advocated less meat in our diets (even “meatless Mondays”) and more plant-based foods, such as beans, lentils, nuts, and grains (and one wonders, doesn't this kind of diet swap animal gases for human gases?).

There’s little doubt millions of Americans, and particularly we southerners, eat too much of less-than-healthy foods — one has only to check the stats on obesity and all the ills that engenders, chief among them diabetes, which has become rampant in many areas of the country.

The alarming trend of obesity in school age kids, along with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes, has led to the banishment of snack/soft drink machines in many school systems and the USDA has decreed that schools should serve healthier, more nutritious foods in their meal programs.

Now, though, the food police are reported taking a new tack on forthcoming guidelines. A draft proposal to the USDA by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, is said to recommend diets lower in meat-based foods and higher in plant-based foods as not only better for humans — but healthier for the environment.

Wait just a minute, say ag organizations, it’s one thing to advocate for healthier diets, but adding an environmental component goes too far. A cattleman’s organization terms it “absurd,” and members of Congress from agricultural states are jumping into the fray — in the massive $1.1 trillion government spending bill approved last month, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was enjoined to include only nutrition/dietary recommendations, not “extraneous factors” in the final guidelines.

Current USDA dietary “food pyramid” guidelines — which are updated every five years — suggest that people should eat lean meats, but reports are that the advisory panel has considered whether that language should be continued. The panel’s December draft recommendations noted that a healthy diet should include fewer red meats and processed meats than currently consumed by Americans.

In its work over the past year, the panel is reported to have debated the possibility of including sustainability as a dietary goal with “lesser environmental impact.”

North American Meat Institute President and CEO Barry Carpenter, says the change, “made behind closed doors during a lunch break” isn't ‘rooted in science” and doesn't “ make good public policy.”  He terms the action “arbitrary and capricious” and says the committee “fails to recognize the nutritional value lean meat offers and is ignoring the scientific evidence supporting its inclusion in the American diet.”

Wheat Producers Should Pay Attention

Who would have predicted that gasoline prices would be below $2 per gallon (down from $3.50 in June 2014), that oil prices would be below $50 per barrel (down from $110 in August 2014), and that Perryton, Texas, corn prices would bottom out below $3.40 (down from a peak of $8.90 in August 2012)?  South West Farm Press reported that wheat producers should learn from these price declines.

Wheat prices have declined. In July 2014, wheat prices were near $8.50. By June 2014, cash wheat prices were near $7.50. By the end of September 2014, wheat prices had fallen to $5.30, which is not nearly as low as wheat prices could go.

What current oil, gasoline, and corn prices show is that if U.S. wheat ending stocks go above 850 million bushels and world wheat ending stocks go above 7.5 billion bushels, Oklahoma and Texas cash wheat prices could go below $4. In June 2010, Oklahoma and Texas cash wheat prices were near $3.50.

The good news is that relatively tight hard red winter wheat stocks and cold temperatures, with little to no snow cover, are supporting wheat prices. Oklahoma and Texas wheat prices have increased from the $5.30 September low to near $6. At this writing, wheat may be contracted for 2015 harvest delivery for about $6.05 in central Oklahoma and about $5.90 in the Texas Panhandle.

At this writing, U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat 2014/15 marketing year ending stocks are projected to be 227 million bushels compared to a five-year average of 333 million bushels. The HRW wheat stocks-to-use ratio is 30 percent compared to a five-year average of 37 percent. Relatively low HRW wheat stocks, the number of planted acres and current wheat conditions lower the odds of 2015/16 HRW wheat ending stocks going above 333 billion bushels and wheat prices going below $4.50.

A negative price factor is the value of the U.S. dollar compared to other major currencies. Since early July 2014, the index measuring the value of the U.S. dollar to other major currencies has increased from 80 to near 92.

A 15 percent (80 points to 92 points) increase in the value of the dollar effectively increases the cost of exported wheat by 15 percent. Assume that the HRW, 12 percent protein wheat price at the Texas Gulf (FOB) is $7.50. If the index of the dollar was 80 rather than the current 92, the effective price would be $6.52. The increased value of the dollar has effectively made the cost of U.S. wheat about $1 higher to foreign buyers.

Producers could believe that $7.50, as compared to $6.50, implies a higher farm level price. The fact is that this $1 has no direct impact on producer prices. A direct impact is that the higher value of the dollar increases the cost of U.S. wheat, export demand is less and producer prices are lower.

Producers ask what the petroleum industry’s reaction will be to extremely low prices. High-cost oil wells will be shut down; fewer oil wells will be drilled; and the least efficient distilleries will be closed, resulting in decreased supplies and higher prices.

Evidence exists that for the most part, the petroleum industry has prepared for lower prices. Extremely low prices happen. Smart managers prepare for extremely low prices by building cash reserves. Then when prices go back up, they will be in business to take advantage of profitable prices.

Wheat producers need to do the same thing. That is, know that $4 wheat is a possibility and that staying in business requires being prepared with cash reserves and having a plan for extremely low prices.

2001: A Farm Oddessy

In the classic science-fiction film Star Wars, the character Han Solo turns to Luke Skywalker during a heated space travel scene and says "Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy!"

Well, Han Solo may be wrong.

Agriculture.com recently covered a story about  SpaceX.  A company that is one of a handful of companies in the world whose scientists and engineers are producing rockets and spacecrafts that company leaders including CEO Elon Musk hope will one day lead to a completely privatized space travel industry with an ultimate goal of "making humanity a multi-planet species." The company is based in Hawthorne, California, but has facilities and employees in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Texas.

What's this got to do with agriculture? SpaceX officials recently announced a farmer in Texas will soon become one of the company's 3,000 employees.

Responsibilities of the job include planning and executing budgets, operating and maintaining machinery, nailing down crop inputs and maintaining the ability to "understand the implications of the weather and make contingency plans," according to a SpaceX report. The job takes at least 10 years of "row crop farming experience" in central Texas and "which shall include a working knowledge of every process required for crop production in the region," according to SpaceX. "Experience in repair and preventative maintenance of John Deere agricultural equipment."

So, is SpaceX sending a farmer to space? Though company officials have been tight-lipped about why they're hiring a farmer, there's speculation that the position has as much to do with the company's operating budget as it does coming up with ways to grow food in space. Agricultural use nets tax-exempt status for not just land, but the tools, equipment and inputs used for growing crops or raising livestock in Texas.

Though SpaceX's ultimate goals in hiring a farmer have yet to be specifically outlined, it's clear company leaders intend for the position's occupant to both continue farm work and have at least some role in the company's operations.

"This position will be required to work around test schedules as necessary to ensure the successful crop production does not interfere with testing progress," according to a statement from SpaceX's website.

Market Confusion!

This week the soybean market is fulfilling one of Murphy’s Laws: “The market will do whatever is necessary to fool the majority.” According to a report by Agriculture.com, cash soybean bids broke above the $1.00 rally level on October 29. Strength at that time led many to believe there were large gains still ahead. Since then, action has leveled off, and prices have become much less volatile. Bets that prices could go straight up were tempered by two days, November 4 and November 19, when they broke below the dollar level. Both times there was a quick rebound back above that “magic“ level.

Scanning the charts of cash bids and March futures gives the impression that the high was on October 31 with the price of $9.69. However, the ability of the market to rebound every time the support level is broken makes me think that the bids could hold in this area or higher for a long time.

In addition to chart action that is somewhat bullish is the fact that basis has finally started to improve. I admit that the move is small and not consistent across all price levels. It is at least better than having the basis deteriorate as the record soybean crop finally comes to town. Hope that the end of the year will see much better basis and gradually improving cash bids.

Meanwhile, corn bids continue to plug along, pennies up and pennies down. The net result has been a gradually improving cash bid. That is better than having violent large moves up and down but not going anywhere. At least the price today is such that market analysts have stopped taking about cash corn prices below $3.00. With the size of the 2014 crop, it may take until spring for corn to be above production cost if indeed it ever gets there for most of us.

All cash bids quoted in this column are from Midwest Farmers Co-op in southeast Nebraska.

The Crops and the Bees

Delta Farm Press reported on the EPA release was news to farmers who have been producing significantly higher soybean yields in the Mid-South.

“EPA finds neonicotinoid seed treatments of little or no benefit to U.S. soybean production,” the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention said in the release. “There is no increase in soybean yield using most neonicotinoid seed treatments compared to no pest control at all.”

The study, which comes as EPA is under pressure from environmental activist groups to withdraw the registrations of neonicotinoid insecticides because they claim they are a threat to bees, caused quite a bit of consternation in the farm chemical industry.

“On the 15^th of October, we got an October surprise from EPA when they issued this very cursory report saying they had done a benefits analysis and found there are little to no benefits for the use of seed treatments of neonicotinoids on soybeans,” said Jay Vroom, CEO of CropLife America, the organization representing  crop protection chemical manufacturers.

“That is a great reminder to me that part of the truth is way more harmful and damaging than an outright lie, and, unfortunately, our friends at EPA know that a lot better than we do.”

Vroom, speaking at the Southern Crop Production Association annual meeting in New Orleans, said the industry was determined not to let the claims go unchallenged and began responding almost immediately after the EPA press release hit the streets.

“Fortunately, the neonicotinoid registrants already have massive benefits analysis underway. That was being used that Wednesday afternoon just hours after we met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the team from the Office of Pesticides, and we voiced our frustrations and dismay that they kept this analysis of benefits a state secret and blindsided us with it.”

“I think we’re on top of this now, and in my subsequent conversations with EPA leadership, I’m beginning to hear that they may be thinking about doing a little bit more course correction on some of the follow-on label change actions that they were contemplating at EPA,” Vroom said.

Most Americans have only a cursory knowledge of honeybees, he noted. Some may have heard of the threat the Varroa mite poses to bees, but they have no idea what the mite is or what it does to pollinators.

Vroom displayed a photo taken at the Bayer CropScience Bee Center in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Center personnel use a visual that is about the size of a sofa pillow to show visitors the impact one Varroa mite can have on a honey bee.

The primary weapon for combatting the Varroa mite is a miticide or a pesticide that will eliminate the pest without endangering the honeybee.

“It’s a great reminder in a visual way to those who have concerns about the health of pollinators that there are a lot of factors associated with pollinator health that go well beyond inadvertent exposure to pesticides that may diminish honey bee health,” he noted.

“And, in fact, the answer to the mite problem is miticides, which are pesticides. That’s an eye opener for a lot of folks in the public that don’t know anything about these issues.”

The bee health issue has now gone all the way to the top, he said, with President Obama creating a federal government pollinator task force last June. He made USDA and EPA the co-chairs of the task force.”

“We were pleased with that and commended the president for that move,” said Vroom. “But we’ve been disappointed that USDA has not kept pace with the leadership from EPA around driving the bus on the pollinator task force for the president."        `

Since the EPA's release, the neonicotinoid registrants - Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and Valent USA Corp. - have issued a number of reports about the efficacy and benefits of the compounds in seed treatments on a number of crops, including soybeans. To see those reports, visit www.GrowingMatters.org.

Fertilizer Prices & The 4 R's of Nutrient Application

I hope harvest has been going smoothly for you, though delayed for most in Ohio this fall. This week Agriculture.com has some information that is important as we think about fall and spring input prices.

Fertilizer prices are higher this fall compared to a year ago on seven of the eight common forms.

Some farmers anticipate prices softening between now and spring so they are holding off on purchasing fertilizer inputs. This may or may not hold true as retailers say that the high cost of freight and rail will keep fertilizer prices locked in. Retailers are seeing less fertilizer sales today compared to a year ago.

Fertilizer accounts for over 40 percent of your variable input costs for corn and about 25 percent of your soybean variable input costs. The way this input is managed can have a large effect on your bottom line - yield and cost.
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Remember the four “R”s of nutrient application: the right source, and at the right rate, in the right place, at the right time.

Fall Nitrogen Application Tips

Efficient nitrogen (N) applications can translate into a better bottom line. Here are five tips Agriculture.com came up with to help you efficiently manage your fall N applications.

1. Watch the temperature.“Our guideline is, when it hits 50°F. between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. at the 4-inch depth, it’s time to apply,” says Dave Franzen, North Dakota State University Extension soil specialist. 

Applying anhydrous ammonia before soil temperatures reach 50°F. can lead to ammonium conversion to nitrite, says John Sawyer, Iowa State University Extension soil fertility specialist. He recommends spring N applications and sidedressing instead of fall applications to avoid loss.

2. Consider the soil type.“Soils that have a greater chance for N loss would be less preferred for fall applications,” says Sawyer. Also, avoid applying N in the fall on historically wet fields.

3. Plan split applications.
Franzen recommends applying half of the total N rate in the fall or preplant, and then the other half when the corn reaches V5 to V8.


“That way, if it does become really wet in May and early June, you only have half of your N at risk,” Franzen explains.

4. Use the correct form.
Only certain types of N fertilizer should be fall applied. For fall applications in Iowa, Sawyer only recommends anhydrous ammonia. All other forms should be spring-applied he says. 


“Some states don’t recommend putting on urea at all, but we haven’t found that to be an issue,” says Franzen. However, he doesn’t recommend UAN for fall applications.

5. Follow the guidelines. Franzen recommends checking state guidelines before making N applications. State guidelines will give combinations recommendations for fall N applications, he says.

Super weed! Fact or Fiction

Journalists like Paul Holis from South East Farm Press love a good buzzword or moniker – a “trending” name or nickname that can be used in place of a much more ordinary-sounding word or phrase.

For one thing, it’s just more fun to use such words. For another, it’s more likely to catch the attention of the reader, translating into a greater readership and the resulting increased number of “hits” on a website.

But there are admittedly cases where we simply use such a word to death. A case in point might well be the infamous “superweed.” Holis goes on to write about the subject.

Originally, I suppose it was a fairly good substitution for glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth pigweed. It certainly takes less time to write “superweed,” and it sounds sexier than the aforementioned technically accurate term.

But in recent years, we’ve overused it to the point to where no one’s really certain what “superweed” truly means. It has been used for a lot more than just glyphosate-resistant weeds, and therein lies the problem. “Superweed” makes for a swell headline, such as in “Superweeds Choke Farms,” but what does it really mean?

To help dispel some of the common misconceptions about superweeds, the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) recently published an excellent fact sheet to clarify two common misconceptions about superweeds. The WSSA, if you don’t already know, is a non-profit organization that promotes science-based information about weeds, their impact on the environment, and how they can be managed.

While there is no science-based definition for superweed, the WSSA points out that the term is often used to describe weeds “believed to have special capabilities that are helping them outcompete other plants in ways never experienced before,” with many associating superweed with glyphosate-tolerant crops and the suspected transfer of resistance genes from these crops to weeds.

The first superweed misconception, according to the WSSA, is that rampant gene transfer between genetically modified crops and weeds is creating weeds able to resist treatment by herbicides.

In reality, states the fact sheet, there is no evidence that gene transfer is a major factor in the development of herbicide resistance. Instead, overreliance on herbicides with a single mechanism of action to control certain weeds has led to the selection of weeds resistant to that mechanism of action.

“The transfer of resistance traits from genetically modified crops to weeds growing in the field is rare, and the occurrences observed and reported to date have had minimal impact. The only currently known mechanism for any crop trait to move into weeds (or vice versa) is through cross pollination – a sexual crossing between the crop and the weed. Gene flow is more likely to happen if the crop and weed are sexually compatible, near relatives. Gene flow among more distantly related plant species is rare because they do not cross as readily. There are often physiological barriers, including pollen incompatibility, varying numbers of chromosomes and other factors that serve as impediments.”

Even among sexually compatible crops and weeds, states the WSSA, the opportunity for crop-weed gene flow depends on the proximity of the crop plant to its wild weedy relatives. For example, there have been no reports of gene transfer in the more than 160 million annually planted acres of genetically modified corn, cotton and soybean crops where herbicide resistance weeds are such a significant issue today. Since these crops don’t have sexually compatible, near relatives in the U.S. and Canada, the risk of gene flow to other plants in the region is extremely low.

The second major misconception, according to the WSSA, is that herbicide use is creating a new breed of herbicide-resistant superweeds unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

“In reality, the costly issue of herbicide resistance isn’t new – and neither are the competitive characteristics of weeds. Although the number of acres affected by resistant weeds has increased over the last decade as more growers have come to rely solely on herbicides with a single mechanism of action for weed control, weeds have exhibited resistance to many types of herbicides over the past 40 years. Many weed populations have even evolved resistance to multiple herbicide mechanisms of action,” states the report.

Herbicide resistance is an important, costly and escalating issue, especially as growers have come to rely more than ever on a single class of herbicides that targets weeds in the same way, states the WSSA, and it is more critical than ever for a variety of carefully integrated weed management strategies to be used so weeds resistant to one method can be controlled in other ways before they have an opportunity to spread. This includes nonchemical means of weed control, such as crop rotation, tillage, cultivation, hand hoeing, seed capture, etc.

As to those super powers that many individuals ascribe to herbicide-resistant weeds? Under herbicide-free conditions, says the WSSA, resistant weeds are no more competitive or ecologically fit than their susceptible partners. Both can crowd out crops and other desirable plants by outcompeting them for water, nutrients, sunlight and space. They grow incessantly and can be prolific seed producers. A single Palmer amaranth plant, for example, can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds, regardless of whether it is herbicide resistant or not.

How to Reduce Risks for New Herbicide Resistant Plants

With all the new technology and herbicide resistant crops coming onto the market, there are risks of chemical application mishaps.  Farmers are being urged to use a free program to reduce those risks.

Agricultural engineer Dharmendra Saraswat from the University of Arkansas Division of Agricultural Cooperative Extension service helped develop the technology.  He recently spoke to Delta Farm Press about the new product.

On the program’s genesis:

“The flag the technology cloud (FTTCloud) program was launched last April, 2014, and is currently used by hundreds in Arkansas.

“The precursor to FTTCloud was initially launched in Clay County in 2010 -- but under a different name: Color Identifies the Field Technology (CIFT). Following the initial success, the program was launched statewide in 2011 and renamed ‘Flag the Technology.’ The changed name directly conveyed program’s focus on use of color coded flags to aid farmers in identifying which fields they are planting to what herbicide-tolerant technology.

Dicamba-tolerant crops soon to be a reality

“In subsequent years, Flag the Technology program also brought forth some unanticipated challenges. During the summertime, as farmers know very well, there are often gusts of wind. Those would sometimes pull the flags out of the ground and take them all over the place.

“In some cases, there were also mischievous people who would intentionally move the flags around.

“Obviously, movement of flags would be a cause of concern for chemical applicators. That’s perfectly understandable. ‘What if we rely on the flags and spray a product that injures the crop?’”

On the switch to a digital program…

“Due to these concerns we began considering how we could keep the program but ‘flag’ fields in a different way. In discussions with some county agents and forward-looking consultants and producers it was decided to launch a digital version of Flag the Technology program.

“The digital version doesn’t store any information on any of university servers. To provide quality experience to the current and potential users, the program has been hosted on a scalable cloud platform.

“The digital version, FTTCloud, retains the simplicity of its field-based precursor.

“Producers, consultants and chemical applicators can all participate after registering an account. The participation is voluntary. A registered producer can allow his/her consultant or chemical applicator to access complete information about entered fields by following certain protocol. The other registered users are provided essential information about herbicide technologies reported nearby or in the target field as new information is added to the program.

“Producers can either manually draw or upload field boundary data in shapefile format and then
interactively assign an individual field or a group of fields to herbicide-tolerant technology of their choice. The program assigns a color to the field based on selected technology. Fields with stacked technologies are also assigned colors, using a protocol slightly different from the field version of the program.

“The FTTCloud tool also allows users to identify other sensitive areas such as pumpkin patches, bee hives, fish ponds, vineyards etc., thereby not limiting its use to only those interested in row crops.

“Participation is free and the whole effort is being funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.”

On the digital program savings…

“When using actual flags, fields require an average of five flags. That is at a cost of about $25. If someone has 100 fields in herbicide-tolerant technology, that means an expense of $2,500. However, use of FTTCloud program costs nothing.”

An estimate on how much crop damage has been reduced through the use of the flags?

“That’s a good question. The program is aimed at avoiding risks. An erroneous chemical application can almost ruin an entire field. So, you’re protecting a field that can be worth several thousand dollars to, in some cases, six figures.”

Enlist traits approved, Enlist herbicide next

On the safety of farmers’ data…

“Misuse of online information is an obvious fear in the minds of many and farmers are no exception. The FTTCloud program explicitly recognizes that all the information entered belongs to the producer. The university has no role in accessing it. The information is encrypted and then stored on the cloud platform.

“Towards the end of each year, we will send emails to those who registered an account. That will remind them to download their information for next year’s use. We don’t encourage archiving the information since the university wants to limit its role to providing educational means for chemical risk aversion.”

Farmland on Hulu

I'm sure by now you've heard of the documentary "Farmland" directed by Academy Award winning director James Moll.  Well, in case you missed it in the theater's, you can now watch it on Hulu.  Just click here to watch it.  I thought it was a very educational documentary for folks who know very little about modern day agriculture.  Enjoy.

The Return of Agent Orange?

The USDA recently approved a new technology which conveys resistance to 2,4-D and glyphosate herbicides in corn and soybeans.  The anti GMO crowd was, as usual, up in arms again.

Delta Farm Press recently covered this reaction.  Those whole believe farming should remain in the stone age reacted predictably.  Some even compared this technology to Agent Orange, a herbicide used in the Vietnam war and has been connected to cancer among vets.

Let's take a look at what Agent Orange was.  It was a mix of two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, with only the later associated with the negative impacts on health.  According to studies done by the National Pesticide Information Center, 2,4-D has not been implicated in any relationships between pesticide exposure and subsequent disease.

Despite all that information being out there, a New York Times reporter mentioned the Agent Orange connection.  This sent the anti GMO crowd into a frenzy.  Some news websites have even called it Agent Orange technology.

Fortunately there is science to calm everyone down.  Also, the USDA, EPA and farmers know better.  My hope is rational eventually takes over.  I understand peoples hesitance to this technology.  But it's unfounded.

Will this bring farming back to the "good old days"?  Where farmers could spray with impunity and no fear?  Far from it.  With all this new technology, farmers will have to make sure and spray properly and avoid as much drift as they can.  They will need to communicate better with their neighbor farmers on what they're doing and vice versa.

There will be lots of eyes watching this new technology.  And there are plenty of people out there who can't wait for something to go wrong.

Yield Reports Are Coming in High

This year is looking great when it comes to yields.  They are coming in very high.  Compared to this point last year, we are coming 24% higher on corn and 30% higher on soybeans.

Keep in mind these are self reported yields.  In good years like 2009, yield reports ended up being 37 bushels per acre higher than the USDA.  And bad years like 2012, they were actually lower than the USDA.

With that in mind, take a look at these yield maps and charts and see for yourself.

8 Ways Cover Crops Pay

Think about the land you drive by that's idle and not being farmed.  What do you see?  Weeds usually.

"Mother Nature keeps the ground covered, and a living root in the soil, for nine to ten months out of the year.  Then we came along and started doing tillage to grow row crops.  By growing corn or soybeans, we keep a living plant on the soil surface just five months or so a year," says Paul Jasa, engineer in biological agriculture systems at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in a recent interview with Agriculture.com.

Why Plant Cover Crops?

Jasa, who studied cover crop and no-till systems for more than two decades, farmers need to understand why they want to grow cover crops.

There are numerous reasons:

1. Erosion control
2. Nutrient capture/recycle
3. Improved soil health
4. Water management
5. Biodiversity
6. Nitrogen fixation
7. Reduced compaction
8. Weed supression

The Clock is Ticking on Cover Crops

Harvest looks like it may be coming later this year than normal.  This poses a serious problem of when to plant cover crops into corn.  Most cover crops need five to six weeks of growth to be able to withstand the winter hardiness.

Cereal rye can be planted later than most.  It can still grow at 34 degrees F.

The question is when is the right time to aerial supply serial rye to a corn field.  If you apply too soon when the corn is still green you may not get the seed to the ground and the sun may not reach through the crop canopy.  On the other hand, if you wait to close to harvest, you may not give enough time for growth before winter.  The time to look for is when the sunlight is hitting the soil roughly 50% of the time.

Wheat fields that did not have a crop after harvest have much more flexibility to plant cover crops now.  Your options are wide open.  The Midwest Cover Crop Council has excellent information to help you with cover crop selection.  Just go to their Cover Crop Decision Tool to find more info.

Agriculture.com has found the following chart also gives some good information about when to plant cover crops.  As you can see we are in the prime time as to when to plant.

Ryan Moore is the cove crops specialist with Becks who came up with this chart.  You may email him rmoore@beckshybrids.com, contact your local dealer or seed adviser for more information.

Farming Like a (Go) Pro

I thought this was a pretty cool video from the Peterson farmers out in Western Kansas.  This is what farming looks like with a Go Pro.

Knock Down Weeds With Grit

If you're battling weeds in the field, a recent report shows that spraying them at this point may not work.  So what do you do?  Knock them down, literally.

A system being tested by USDA-ARS researchers in Minnesota.  Targeted primarily at organic production systems, the "Propelled Abrasive Grit Management" (PAGMan) replaces chemical with compressed air and "grit particles" to control weeds "around the base of the corn, soybean, and other row crops," according to a report from USDA-ARS by Jan Suszkiw.

The system expels .5 millimeter wide particles in a "cone shaped pattern" at a 100 pound/square inch rate.  The results have been eye opening.

"Field trial results from 2013 showed season long weed control levels of 80% to 90% in corn using two treatments of the abrasive grit - one at the first leaf stage, and the second at three or five leaf stage of corn growth," he said during an interview with Agriculture.com.

"Ongoing field trials may foretell of the systems potential to help organic growers tackle within row infestations of weeds that have sprouted around the base of corn, soybean and other row crops," he says.  "For organic systems, the grit selection can have more of an effect than just knocking down weeds."

Corn & Soybean Crops Continue Historic March

U.S. corn and soybean producers are again on pace to set a new high in yields according to USDA's Aug. 12th Crop Production report.  Last years corn crop was a new record, and soybeans were the third highest ever.

Corn

Corn production is projected at 14 billion bushels, based on conditions as of Aug. 1st.  Yields are expected to average 167.4 bushels per acre, up 8.6 bushels from 2013.  If this turns out to be correct it'll be the highest yield recorded in the United States.  

Market analyst Brain Basting, Advanced Trading, said in a recent interview with Delta Farm Press that the corn production numbers "were a little below the average trade guess of 14.25 billion bushels.  It's a start, a mark on the wall.  Historically, there have been significant changes over time relative to the August report."

USDA's estimated ending stocks for corn, at 1.8 billion bushels, was also well below the average trade guess of 2.03 billion bushels, according to Basting.  "The key thing now is to see if we have some more export demand surface at these lower prices."

Soybeans

Soybean production is forcasted at a record 3.82 billion bushels, up 16 percent from last year.  Based on Aug. 1st conditions, yields should average 45.4 bushels per acre, up 2.1 from last year.  Area for harvest in the United States is expected to be 84.1 million acres, up 11 percent from last year.

Soybean carryout is expected to be 430 million bushels "which is exactly triple the estimate for 2013-14, at 140 million bushels," Basting said.  "That is a burdensome carryout.  The trade is going to be watching the weather the last three weeks of August.  The southwestern Midwest did get some good rains recently which helped those double-cropped soybeans there.  The soybean market is looking at what could be the largest soybean crop ever."