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Ag equipment woes: Have we seen the bottom?

January 29, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

KFGO AM radio reported Case-New Holland will lay off another 70 full-time workers at the Fargo, North Dakota, plant during the ag market downturn. Layoffs will begin in February. The report stated, “More than 260 workers at the plant have been laid off in five rounds of cutbacks since November 2014.”

Getting a handle on ditch hay quality

January 27, 2016

Carl Dahlen and Miranda Meehan

Hay from road ditches is commonly harvested and used as feed for beef cattle and other livestock. In some cases, the forages being harvested from ditches are of very high quality, while in others the hay is harvested well after dedicated hayfields and optimizing quality may not be a top priority.

Beck’s purchases former Syngenta facility

January 26, 2016

Beck’s has announced the purchase of the former Syngenta production facility in Paris, Illinois, for the use of corn production and processing.

Monsanto takes on California law with Roundup carcinogen question

January 22, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

Reuters reports that Monsanto has filed a lawsuit in California to prevent the listing of glyphosate on the state’s list of known carcinogens. The case is Monsanto Company v. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, et al, case number 16-CECG-00183 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Fresno.

Addressing China’s GMO alfalfa status

January 22, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

Oregon and Washington senators – Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley (Oregon), and Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell (Washington) – urged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to address China’s restrictions on imports of GMO-free alfalfa hay, reports KTVZ.com news.

Working in dormant alfalfa fields

January 12, 2016

Glenn Shewmaker

For convenience or necessity, we sometimes want to work in or make applications in our alfalfa fields during the late fall, winter and early spring. Alfalfa is most dormant then, and it is a good time to apply fertilizer, compost or manure. Sometimes we need to use herbicides that are supposed to be applied while alfalfa is dormant.

Fertilizer prices drop in 2016

January 11, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

George Silva, Michigan State University extension specialist, said current fertilizer prices are noticeably lower compared with prices one year ago.

Cargill sells crop insurance division

January 8, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) reports farm policy opponents “love to tell tall tales of crop insurance providers banking huge returns. In a quest to eliminate farmers’ primary risk management tool, they repeatedly attempt to mislead lawmakers into believing that crop insurance profits are guaranteed and will remain rosy for perpetuity.

Lawsuit seeks to require registration of neonic-coated seeds

January 8, 2016

Center for Food Safety, on behalf of several beekeepers, farmers and sustainable agriculture and conservation groups, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 6 (PDF, 147KB) challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) inadequate regulation of the neonicotinoid insecticide seed coatings used on dozens of crops.

Wide swings in hay prices – January 2016

January 1, 2016

Lynn Jaynes

Dairy outlook

Lower milk prices may be in store for the first quarter of 2016, according to Bob Cropp, University of Wisconsin – Madison, in his monthly report (PDF, 238KB).