What started out as a protest advertised as standing up for the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGTA) in its court case against Monsanto turned into an anti-biotechnology rally Jan. 10, in Washington, D.C.
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Palmer amaranth in Iowa, but not officially
It is stranger than strange that there is no official confirmation that Palmer amaranth is present in Iowa, especially since at least one Extension weed management specialist admits to identifying the weed in Southwest Iowa 15 years ago.
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Syngenta licenses Plant Sensory Systems’ technology
Plant Sensory Systems LLC announced that Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. has signed an exclusive license agreement to evaluate Plant Sensory Systems’ proprietary Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Stress Tolerance technology in sugarcane and rice.
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Nufarm acquires Cleary Chemical Corporation
Nufarm Americas announced that it acquired Cleary Chemical Corp., a marketer of fungicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators to the turf and ornamental horticulture industries.
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Study shows global biofertilizers market worth by 2017
MarketsandMarkets released a new report that forecasts the global biofertilizers market to be worth $10.2 billion by 2017.
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Drought disaster counties continue to be added
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday designated 597 counties in 14 states as primary natural disaster areas due to drought and heat, making all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans.
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Arysta LifeSciences licenses soil biostimulant
Arysta LifeScience Corp. has signed a global licensing agreement with French-based Delbon for Delsol, a soil biostimulant containing the microorganism Pseudomonas putida “fluorescent.”
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Twitter chat tackles weed resistance issues
Syngenta hosted an hour-long Twitter chat Thursday with Stephen Powles, Ph.D., on the multiple issues surrounding herbicide-resistant weeds in agricultural crops.
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USDA declares drought disaster in much of Wheat Belt
The government declared much of the central and southern U.S. Wheat Belt a natural disaster area this week due to persistent drought that imperils this year's winter wheat harvest.
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Level of disease should determine corn fungicide use
Most university plant pathologists continue to contend that foliar fungicide applications to corn should be driven by disease present on the corn leaves and risk factors for the disease pressure increasing after the tasseling (VT) stage.
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BIG PICTURE
By Doane EconomistNOPA released its December 2012 monthly crush report today. Doane economists view the report as consistent with USDA’s upward revisions to its forecasts for the soybean crush in 2012/13 and stronger demand than its previous forecasts for meal and soyoil consumption. The monthly numbers themselves were largely in line with expectations. NOPA reported its members crushed 159.899 million bushels in December. That estimate was not significantly different from pre-report forecasts for the crush to total about 161 million bushels. The crush is up from November at 157.3 million bushels and from December 2011 at 145.4 million. Doane estimates the Census Bureau equivalent crush for December at 166 million bushels. The NOPA soybean meal yield per bushel crushed was 47.47 pounds. That is a significant decline from 47.64 pounds reported for November 2012.
