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Mild, near-idyllic fall weather covers the Heartland – Brownfield Ag News

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Mild, near-idyllic fall weather covers the Heartland

Across the Corn Belt, dry weather and significantly above-normal temperatures remain ideal for late-season fieldwork. By November 12, only 12% of the U.S. corn acreage remained standing, along with 5% of the soybeans. In the western Corn Belt, where harvest is largely complete, topsoil moisture was rated more than one-half very short to short on the 12th in Nebraska (61%), Iowa (58%), and Missouri (53%).

On the Plains, warm, dry weather continues to promote autumn fieldwork. By November 12, U.S. farmers had sown 93% of their intended winter wheat acreage, with planting complete or nearly so in northern production areas. Wednesday’s high temperatures should reach 70°F or higher as far north as southern South Dakota. By the 12th, topsoil moisture was rated more than one-half very short in Kansas (69%), Nebraska (61%), and Colorado (60%).

In the South, rain is easing short-term dryness across the lower Southeast. However, much of the heaviest rain, associated with a developing low-pressure system over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, remains offshore. Meanwhile, dry weather has returned across the western half of Gulf Coast region, following drought-easing rainfall.

In the West, widespread cloudiness continues to spread inland, although any shower activity is light and widely scattered. However, higher elevations of the northern Rockies are receiving some accumulating snow. Across much of the region, warm, dry weather favors autumn fieldwork. In Arizona, the cotton harvest has passed the halfway mark, reaching 51% by November 12.

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Author: gsoulje@brownfieldnetwork.com

Northeastern North Dakota wheat condition depends on where the rains fell

AG Week

NORTHWOOD, N.D. — The territory Lucas Mohn covers in northeastern North Dakota shows a lot of variability in

cereal grain crops,

depending on when they were planted and whether timely rains fell during an unusually hot, dry June.

Mohn has been the agronomy manager at the Northwood Equity Elevator since Jan. 1 and previously began working there as an agronomist in 2021 after graduating from North Dakota State University with a degree in crop and weed science. He works with about 30 farmers in an area around Northwood that includes parts of Grand Forks, Nelson, Traill and Steele counties. That’s an area that has been labeled abnormally dry throughout much of the growing season, according to the

U.S. Drought Monitor

A man in a white Carhartt t-shirt stands in a wheat field — Lucas Mohn is the agronomy manager at the Northwood (North Dakota) Equity Elevator. Photo taken July 24, 2023.

Mohn said spring wheat planting was drawn out from the second week of May until the end of May, which means there’s a lot of diversity in crop conditions. June’s hot, dry conditions hit the crop differently, depending on what stage it was in and whether a given field caught any of the timely rains.

“It’s been very dry. We’ve gotten some timely rains, kind of, right along the river here,” he said. “But we’ve been very dry, and we’re seeing a lot of burnt-up tillers.”

The good part of the dry conditions, though, is that Mohn hasn’t seen much for disease pressure from things like scab and rust. Insect pressure started as wheat was heading out but was taken care of with an insecticide applied along with a fungicide.

According to the Crop Progress report released July 24 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Dakota’s spring wheat crop was 92% headed out, right on with the five-year average. The crop was considered 54% good to excellent, 28% fair, 12% poor and 6% very poor.

NorthwoodCropTourAslive.00_02_02_41.Still004.png — Cereals crops, like this spring wheat field, vary greatly across northeastern North Dakota. A hot, dry June impacted some fields more than others, as some fields received timely rains during the hottest periods or were more able to handle the heat due to their stage. Photo taken near Northwood, North Dakota, on July 24, 2023.

The field of Westbred 9590 spring wheat near the Northwood Golf Course that Mohn was in on Monday, July 24, was largely still green with some amber color mixed in. He expects harvest in the area to be — like the planting season — a bit drawn out, from early August and into September. Yields will be across the board, too, he said, depending on whether fields got rains and what stage they were in during the hottest weather. He expects yields could range from below average in the driest places to slightly above average in areas that got rain at the right time.

By
Katie Pinke

Katie Pinke serves as Agweek and AgweekTV’s publisher and general manager and since 2015 has written a weekly column. Pinke resides in rural North Dakota with her husband and children where she is a 4-H leader, active community volunteer, and a proud fifth-generation farmers’ daughter.

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Indiana Ag Policy Summit covers farm bill, conservation, and more – Brownfield Ag News

Brownfield AG News

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Indiana Ag Policy Summit covers farm bill, conservation, and more

July 26, 2023 By Amie Simpson Filed Under: Indiana, News

*Indiana Corn Growers Association President Scott Smith kicked off the 2023 Indiana Ag Policy Summit*

The 2023 Indiana Ag Policy Summit focused on issues affecting the state’s corn and soybean farms.

Farmers and agricultural industry professionals attended the annual event hosted by The Indiana Corn Growers Association and Indiana Soybean Alliance’s Membership and Policy Committee today in Greentown.

Senior Director of Industry Affairs Steve Howell tells Brownfield policy that allows sales of higher blends of ethanol and a biodiesel tax credit are top of mind.

“Biofuels specifically are a state issue that we’re going to pursue. Last year we had a bill to provide incentives for higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel. The biofuels industry in Indiana is extremely important to our farmers. We’ve got the largest fully-integrated soybean processing and biodiesel facility in the United States based in Claypool, Indiana. There are 15 ethanol plants across the state, soon to be 16 with Cloverdale opening up again,” he says. “That’s an extremely important market for our farmers— about 45 to 47% of our corn crop goes through an ethanol plant. It adds value to the local farmers who can sell to those ethanol plants and truck soybeans that Louis Dreyfus facility up in Claypool. Expanding those opportunities with the infrastructure of the processing we already have is extremely important and we see it as an easy way of moving more corn through ethanol plants and more soybeans through biodiesel.”

Other state policy issues he discussed include carbon sequestration as well as the bill that will create an inventory of the farmland that has been lost in Indiana over the last 12 years.

On the federal side, he says the 2023 Farm Bill is a priority for the state’s corn and soybean farmers.

“The the current farm bill expires at the end of this fiscal year on September 30 so we do need a reauthorization of the farm bill. That happens every five years and that’s the big lift this year. Oftentimes people think maybe we’re saying the same thing (that we have in past farm bill discussions), but we are because it’s so important to have a strong safety net. We’ve got to have the crop insurance product that works given the costs that we have on the farm and what it costs to plant an acre of corn or an acre of soybeans. What we have now is working so we’re working to defend that, he says. “We also need to have conservation programs that are voluntary and incentive based. That message is one that we’re carrying and again it may sound like we’re saying a lot of the same things we did back in 2018, however, given the turnover we’ve seen in Congress over the past few years, there’s nearly 240 members of Congress, both House and Senate who not worked the farm bill. A lot of it is some basic education for those members. But again, what we hear from farmers, overall, is the farm bill works well. We want to keep a lot of the components of the current bill in the next bill.”

He says other federal policy issues include Mexico’s ban on biotech corn and the EPA Endangered Species Act.

Audio: Steve Howell

Be on the lookout for more coverage from the event on Brownfield Ag News.

Tags: 2023 events, 2023 Farm Bill, 2023 Indiana ag policy summit, ag policy, Agriculture, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Farm Bill, ICGA, Indiana, Indiana Ag Policy Summit, Indiana Corn Growers Association, Indiana farmers, Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership and Policy Committee, policy, Soybeans, Steve Howell

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Author: Amie Simpson

Shower clusters on the Plains; fair, dry cool weather covers the eastern Corn Belt – Brownfield Ag News

Brownfield AG News

Weather

Shower clusters on the Plains; fair, dry cool weather covers the eastern Corn Belt

Across the Corn Belt, scattered frost was noted Friday morning in the upper Great Lakes region and parts of Michigan. Throughout the region, cool, dry weather favors planting of any remaining corn and soybean acreage. However, topsoil moisture shortages are becoming more apparent. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, the portion of the nine-state Midwestern region experiencing abnormal dryness or drought increased from 22 to 27% between May 16 and 23.

On the Plains, warm, dry weather in the Dakotas favors the emergence and growth of late-planted summer crops. Meanwhile, scattered showers and thunderstorms are affecting the High Plains from Montana to western Texas. The High Plains’ rainfall—although accompanied by scattered reports of high winds and large hail—continues to chip away at long-term drought and is providing beneficial moisture for rangeland, pastures, immature winter grains, and spring-sown crops.

In the South, rain has largely shifted offshore, although spotty showers linger across Florida. The return of dry weather favors Southeastern fieldwork, which has been periodically delayed. By May 21 in Georgia, for example, planting for both peanuts (59% planted) and cotton (51%) was 6 percentage points behind the state’s respective 5-year averages.

In the West, showers remain active across the northern Intermountain West and northern Rockies. Runoff from the rain, combined with melting of high-elevation snowpack, continues to result in some river flooding. In southern Idaho, the Portneuf River at Pocatello—at its highest level since May 1984—continues to slowly rise.

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Author: gsoulje@brownfieldnetwork.com