USDA To Help Drought-Stricken California
California ag producers may receive additional funding from the USDA to help cope with drought-related water cutoffs. Full story. Yara Won't Increase Offer for Terra
Even though Terra Industries received a new acquisition offer from CF Industries last week, Yara International had decided not to raise its offer. Full story. University of Nevada to Close Ag School
Due to budget cuts, the University of Nevada, Reno will close its College of Agriculture and eliminate some departments and degree programs. Full story. ARS Testing Five New Potato Breeding Lines
Potatoes that can resist powdery scab and black dot diseases are being tested on five potato breeding lines, according to the Agricultural Research Service. Full story. Bayer Introduces New Herbicide Formulation
Rely herbicide from Bayer CropScience will be available in a new, more powerful formulation, Rely 280, for 2010 and at a reduced price. Full story. Wilbur-Ellis Acquires Kroeplin Ag Service
Kroeplin Ag Service, a retailer and aerial applicator company, has been acquired by Wilbur-Ellis in South Dakota. Full story. DuPont Opens New Soybean Facility
Pioneer Hi-Bred plans to construct a new $55 million soybean seed production facility in New Madrid County, Mo. Full story. Four Aerial Application Businesses Acquired
The Aurora Cooperative will acquire four aerial application businesses in Nebraska. Full story. Dow AgroSciences to Expand Headquarters
An investment of $340 million will allow the company to expand its global headquarters in northwest Indianapolis and add more than 550 jobs over the next five years. Full story. Vilsack: USDA to Increase Ag Exports
USDA will work to strengthen the U.S. agriculture economy by increasing ag exports, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told Commodity Classic attendees last week. Full story. Commodity Exchange Act Implementation
A hearing was held last week by the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management to review the implementation of changes to the Commodity Exchange Act. Full story. RFS Would Increase Net Farm Income
New renewable fuel standards would be a boon for farmers, but would increase consumer costs for food, according to Texas AgriLife Research economist. Full story.
 BIG PICTURE
By Doane Economist
The Senate is working on a Jobs and Tax Cut bill that would restore the $1 a gallon biodiesel tax credit. A vote on the bill is possible later this week. The biodiesel credit expired at the end of 2009. About 12 percent of U.S. soyoil is used to make biodiesel. The American Soybean Association says production has virtually ceased since expiration of the credit. Besides renewing the $1 biodiesel credit through 2010, the bill extends the small agri-biodiesel producer credit of 10 cents per gallon. It also extends through 2010 the $1.00 per gallon tax credit for diesel fuel created from biomass. Altogether, the biodiesel incentives are estimated to cost $1 billion over 10 years.
Baseball is a simple game, not easy, but simple if you just understand the basics.
OK, you're wondering what could baseball possibly have to do with recognizing employees and getting high performance in the workplace? Here's a story that will bring this home:
Mike was born with a baseball glove on his hand. Looking back, he can't remember a day he didn't think about playing ball or watching his heroes on TV. Full story.
Oklahoma's cold winter weather has had wheat plants growing in slow motion, resulting in many being behind "normal" for this time of year in terms of reaching first hollow stem stage. First hollow stem is a critical stage for dual-purpose agricultural producers. Full story.
Nitrogen fertilizer costs remain volatile but continue to be one of the most expensive variable costs for corn. Applying "more than enough N" is no longer cheap "insurance" as it once was many years ago. Applying "more than enough N" is also not environmentally friendly. High N fertilizer costs should encourage growers to critically evaluate their N fertility program, including application rate, fertilizer material, and timing. Full story.
Glyphosate-resistant Kochia has recently been documented in Kansas. Kochia is also found in our area and is a tough, highly adaptable weed. We need to be good stewards to minimize glyphosate resistance. Full story.
For more Crop Talk articles, click here.
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Do the Math:
Providing the Right Answers for 2010 Inoculant Users
First-time Users in 2009 Find Results Favorable
Here's some interesting math to consider for retailers and seed treaters whose customers grow soybeans — An extremely wet fall + heavy snowpack across much of the Corn Belt + early long-range forecasts for a wetter-than-normal planting season = more soybean growers than ever should be considering the use of soybean seed treatments containing an inoculant this spring.
Many of those growers may never have used an inoculant before and will look to retailers, seed dealers and treaters for answers about inoculant use. The information retailers provide can be crucial to achieving a positive experience from the use of soybean inoculants.
Jim Beuerlein, retired Ohio State University extension agronomist and now technical adviser to Becker Underwood, says that, while inoculant use is a good input recommendation in any year, the return on investment can be even higher in years with cool and very wet spring planting conditions.
"Rhizobia in the soil are living organisms," Beuerlein says. "Flooding or waterlogged conditions, even for a short time, can reduce the native populations significantly. Without rhizobia, the soybean plant won't be able to produce adequate numbers of nitrogen-fixing nodules to maximize the plant's yield potential. So, using a seed inoculant with high rhizobia counts is critical to avoid potential yield reductions."
Beuerlein offers the following tips for soybean growers considering the use of a soybean inoculant, or enhanced soybean treatments containing a rhizobial component, in 2010.
"Give the product a try in a side-by-side comparison and be sure to keep the evaluation honest," he says. "Have a professional apply the product so the beans are uniformly treated at the correct rate. It's very easy to either over-apply or under-apply which can create planting problems or failure to achieve the expected response."
Several Corn Belt growers used a soybean inoculant for the first time in 2009 through their participation in an inoculant yield challenge program sponsored by Becker Underwood. Scott McKee, a soybean grower from Hawarden, Iowa, says the experiment proved very worthwhile.
"We like to try different things to see how they impact yield. We always need to be experimenting and I think the Vault® soybean inoculant we used did make a difference."
McKee planted four trials covering a variety of soil types and topography. The Vault soybean inoculant-treated plots yielded an average 4 bushels-per-acre more than the untreated. Each field had been in corn in 2008.
"The treated beans were greener, looked healthier and seemed to have more vigor at emergence," McKee says. "I'd never used an inoculant before, but it seems like more people now are. It was definitely worthwhile to do and I know we'll use an inoculant again this year."
Ken Koenig, Sandborn, Indiana, also participated in the Vault Yield Challenge program in 2009 and reported a 6 bushel-per-acre advantage for the inoculant-treated plot compared to the untreated. "We had an awfully wet spring," Koenig says. "We planted the untreated beans first, then got delayed by rain and didn't plant the inoculant-treated beans until a week later."
Koenig says his seed dealer treated the beans and ran the harvest check through a weigh wagon. He calls the yield boost impressive as the trial location was "certainly not our prime ground. And, with soybeans at $10 a bushel, that extra yield really makes a difference."
The side-by-side comparison for brothers Justin and Tanner Rowe, Dallas Center, Iowa, yielded a 3 bushel-per-acre advantage for Vault® LVL soybean inoculant versus the untreated.
"We're always looking to try something new to boost soybean yields," Justin says. "I typically like to see a 5 bushel-per-acre response before committing totally to a new product, but the 3 bushels-per-acre difference is certainly enough to take another look. I'd like to try it again and get a couple of year’s data before making a final decision."
"Return on investment for inoculation is excellent," Beuerlein says. "At current soybean prices, it only takes about a third of a bushel to break even. That's another math equation that growers should consider."
"Our evaluations show that, over time, inoculants deliver a 300 percent to 500 percent return on investment, and they do this over a wide range of soil types and production systems," Beuerlein says. "To me, soybean inoculants, or enhanced soybean treatments that contain a rhizobial component, like the new Vault® HP system from Becker Underwood, are one of the most consistently profitable inputs growers can use in their operations." |
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