I couldn’t find a clip or story on the
occurrence, so I’m not sure if this fan is accurate with his statement. However, one thing is for certain – if any
NFL offensive back could have been flagged for “roughing the defense”, it would
have been Earl Campbell. Earl’s career
was fairly short (eight years), but he left a very impactful presence on the
game with his run-you-over, punishing, and in-your-face style of rushing the
football. Many students of the game
agree that Mr. Campbell was one of the all-time greats despite the fact the
history record books are not full of his accomplishments (due to the shortness
of his career). Regardless, Earl
Campbell rightfully earned his place in the NFL Hall of Fame, as well as in the
hearts of many football fanatics!
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CampEa00.htm
Many of our farm employees are seasonal
workers and/or have short time spans on the farm as they move on in their own
individual careers. Despite this lack of
longevity on the farm, these employees are immensely valuable year-in and
year-out in driving efficiency within the business. If you had a Hall of Fame wall in your
headquarters for all the key employees over the years, I’m sure a few of the
honorees probably had short careers.
A big thank
you goes out to all farm managers that provide employment opportunities to
folks that are looking for new challenges, and/or looking to expand their
passion around agriculture production. I
would also like to wish everyone good
luck in continuing to source quality individuals to be a part of your
employee team in 2021.
Regional Weather
Well,
the weather continues to trend above average just like it has for most
of the autumn and early winter. Usually
by mid-January, we’ll have a significant stretch of days with below zero daily
minimums, but so far this winter, we have had only a small handful of such occurrences.
It’ll be nice to have some above
freezing temperatures to enjoy this week.
I’ll count on your weather app
for the best guidance through the 7-8 day forecast, but looking beyond that,
I’ve found this site from National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to be
fairly reliable for a general 8-14 day outlook (next week). https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/index.php
For the third full week of
January, the forecast is to have greater chances of above average temperatures
to the west and equal chances on the temps to the east. The precipitation chances are split with
greater chances of above normal precipitation for the western part of our
region and equal chances to the east.
The NOAA
organization also provides three month outlooks. If we would like to get a general forecast
for the upcoming late winter and early spring season (Feb-Mar-Apr), it can be
seen here:
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range...
This forecast
currently predicts slightly greater chances of below average temperatures, and
slightly greater chances on above average precipitation potential. Most folks are looking for an early planting
window, but I think we would all agree that an early planting window may not do
much good unless we get some moisture to help replenish dry soils and provide
some good conditions for field work and planting/sowing.
Interesting to
note, most of the Midwest and east for this late winter/early spring forecast is
predicted for greater chances of above average precipitation and above average
temperatures. It could set the stage for
some delayed planting in the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt. As usual, it’ll be interesting to see how it
plays out.
More Dicamba
Legal Concerns
In
late December, dicamba became a legal target once again as a new lawsuit was
filed in the 9th Circuit Court (San Francisco) for the next attempt
at preventing dicamba applications in soybeans.
If
you remember back to June 2020, this same 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals vacated the dicamba label (Engenia™, Xtendimax™, and Fexepan™), and the
EPA had to step-in and state they are the legal ruling body on such pesticide
decisions and gave reprieve until the end of July. The plaintiffs in the suit that led to the June
2020 ruling were environmental farm groups (National Farm Coalition, Center for
Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, and Pesticide Action Network), and
are the same plaintiffs in this new lawsuit which challenges the EPA’s recent
re-approval of the herbicide.
The
EPA is the defendant in the lawsuit, but Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta have obvious
interests with their targeted branded products of Xtendimax™, Engenia™, and
Tavium™ respectively. It’s difficult to
predict how long it will take for this new lawsuit to build momentum in the appellate
court, but I would think it would need to move unprecedently fast in order to
affect soybean producer’s weed management decisions in the 2021 growing season. For reference, the 9th Circuit’s
dicamba ruling in June 2020 came from the lawsuit that was originally filed in
2017.
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag...sue-epa-new-dicamba
https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/...petition-for-review-final_94254.pdf
https://www.dtnpf.com/2018/11/27/new-dicamba-registration-complicates
Product Spotlight: Pioneer Product Advancements
The Pioneer sales team is just now getting our first looks (on
paper) of our new hybrids and varieties that will be hitting the market for our
region this coming growing season. Many
of these new products for corn, sunflowers, and canola will have very limited
volumes for 2021 planting, but we should be able to garner more than a few bags
for side-by-side comparisons (if you have interest). Also, our Sales Rep team will have all these
new hybrid products in our local strip trials for comparisons against other
Pioneer products as well as key competitive products in the area.
On the other hand, Pioneer soybean variety advancements do
have some significant supplies available for this spring’s planting. Most of these new soybean products will be with
the Enlist-3® herbicide system and range in relative maturity from 009 to 09 (and
longer) for our area. As the calendar
moves through the winter and into the spring, myself and your Pioneer sales
agent may inquire about placing a few of these units on your farm for some additional
observations and performance feedback.
Thank you in advance for any potential cooperation.
The Pioneer team continues to provide many resources into
our IMPACT testing protocol for advancement of new seed products for the
company. The IMPACT acronym stands for Intensively
Managed Product Advancement Characterization Testing. Our in-house Pioneer team contracts with farm
managers throughout the region to secure a few acres for this research within a
corn, soybean, and/or sunflower field (Pioneer’s canola IMPACT is exclusively
conducted in the Canadian providences).
The same Pioneer team also conducts the planting and harvesting of these
plots as well as any additional fertilizer and herbicide additions above what
the farm producer would apply through the season.
At the end of the day and after our products have been IMPACT
tested for two consecutive seasons, we have the confidence in these new
products to at least bring them to our customers for broad-acre testing to see
if we can achieve the next level of yield enhancement. If you are a current IMPACT co-operator or
have had IMPACT testing on your farm in the past, thank you for your willingness
to be a significant part of our trial advancement system. If you have interest in such research being
conducted on your farm, please reach-out to myself and/or your local Pioneer
sales agent.
Dicamba
We’ve all seen or heard
the news on the new dicamba regulations requiring Volatility Reducing Agents
(or VRA’s) in 2021 regarding application in RR2Xtend® soybeans. The VRA’s are now REQUIRED to be used when
applying dicamba to RR2X soybeans. For
your winter planning needs, the following two products are approved: VaporGripXtra – 20
oz/ac and Sentris – 4-16 oz/acre
https://www.roundupreadyxtend.com/Documents....pdf https://agriculture.basf.us...TechBulletin_Sentris_2020_highres....pdf
Agricultural
Apps
Now that we’re long past the romance period of new apps on
the mobile pocket device, it probably is a good time to review some of the
better IT tools available to help provide key insight on our businesses. Crop Life magazine felt it was worry of a
full article in their publication, and portrayed their list of best
agricultural apps for 2021.
As you can see below, the “Pioneer Seeds” app made the list. We continue to revise and re-tool the app to
ensure that it hits the mark for more and more farm operations. Please reach-out to me, or your local Pioneer
sales agent for additional insight into planning and monitoring your operation’s
fields for the coming growing season.
https://www.croplife.com/editorial...best-agriculture-apps/#Tinsel/85301/1
Crop Protection Programs
The AgView Pitch with Shay Foulk (and
Chris Barron) recently had a very informative podcast with a focus on the ag-chemical
programs for the upcoming growing season.
Discussion occurred on the marketing programs outlined by FMC, BASF,
Bayer, and Corteva.
If you would like more insight on
Corteva’s crop protection offerings for 2021, please contact me and we can
arrange a discussion with our local Corteva Crop Protection Territory Manager
to put an efficient, and cost-effective plan of attack across the farm. Most of these programs could be simpler, but
if we take the time to work through them, they do provide some good incentives
and quality products.
I’ll provide a link for the webcast
and the .pdf summary document for quick reference. Ben Blair from MaxAg provides the insight and
the information.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cutting-through-the-fluff...
https://57c0df7d-a347-4796-a8bf-f83c67efa9c9....pdf
Minnesota Dicamba Decision
The Minnesota Department of
Agriculture (MDA) has decided that it will follow the federal guidance of a
June 30th end date for dicamba application in RR2Xtend® soybeans. If the crop growth stage of R2 (full flower)
is obtained before June 30th, then the crop growth stage would be
the more restrictive application parameter.
The memorandum also states that applicator training will be provided by
the dicamba manufacturers – however I read nothing on it being required for
product purchase or application. This
move by the MDA gives soybean producers an additional 10 days for dicamba
application in the season versus prior years.
The memo from the MDA can be viewed
here: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/mda-announces-june-30-cutoff-date-dicamba-herbicide-2021
US-China Phase One Tracking
Well, to no surprise, China is lagging far behind its commitment
to purchase US based products in the first year of the Phase-One agreement. Reporting at the end of December (for 11
month totals – December reporting volumes not available yet) reveals that China
has only purchased a little more than 50% of their total targeted volume, and
within the agricultural goods sector, 52.9% of the target has been obtained.
It’s unclear how the failure by China to meet these targets
will play-out in 2021 due to the undecided current US political landscape, but hopefully
the trend of increasing China buying of US corn and soybeans will continue at a
strong pace to aid our domestic commodity markets.
China currently is the world’s leader in soybean imports as the country takes-in about 60% of global soybean trade. It is forecasted that China will soon have a similar designation with corn and purchasing over 50% of the global corn exports. It is reported that Chinese ag-commodity stockpiles have been dramatically impacted by the pandemic and the US-China trade war over the past couple three years. Their national government looks to replenish these grain stocks to limit domestic price volatility and provide confidence to local animal producers. Also, the Chinese hog production sector is rebounding from African Swine Fever quicker than expected and thus creating higher demand for animal feed than first anticipated.
It is forecasted that China will incentivize corn production in its main grain producing regions for the 2021 growing season. Prior years have seen China with declining corn acres, but moving forward they look to reverse the trend. If it’s true that the Chinese are seeing more demand for agriculture products and their stockpiles have been depleted significantly over the past couple years, then the future looks bright for continued better relations between the US and China and ultimately for the US ag-producer.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-28/china-lags-u-s...
https://farmpolicynews.illinois...phase-one-ag-targets-lag-but-u-s...
Dicamba Settlement Claim Period Begins
For the most part, significant dicamba
injury onto non-RR2Xtend® soybeans in our region was fairly rare. However, I do remember a few of the discussions
and observations a few years ago were valid with concern.
With a $400 mil settlement pot from
Monsanto/Bayer available, farm producers may receive up to 100% of their
financial yield loss claims (established with standard farming records). The application period is now open and the deadline
for submitting a claims package is May 28th, 2021.
This website (https://www.dicambasoybeansettlement.com/)
is the starting point for submittal.
Please feel free to forward the weblink to any fellow soybean producers
who may have valid entitlements. Good
luck!
http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---37626.htm
Random Agricultural Facts – Christmas
Trees
We may not think of the Christmas tree as a commodity farm
product, but it’s actually a fairly large business with approximately 15,000
farms growing Christmas trees for a 26.2 million tree demand (2019 data). With the average estimated price of US$77/tree,
it equates to about a $2 bil business.
It is also estimated that 21.1 mil artificial (fake) trees were purchased in 2017 with an average price of $107 per tree. Interestingly, the fake tree market in 2017 ($2.26 bil) was actually more valuable (and my guess more profitable) then the fir/pine tree market of 2019 ($2.0 bil).
Other interesting facts about Christmas trees:
· * Franklin Pierce was the first US President with a Christmas tree in the White House (1856)
· * The first Christmas tree farm in the US started in
1901 in Mercer County, New Jersey with the planting of 25,000 Norway Spruce
seedlings
· * These Norway Spruce seedlings were ready for
harvest by late 1908 and customers came directly to the farm to purchase a tree
($1), watch the cutting, and take their tree home
· * The average time from tree planting to harvest
for Christmas trees is 7 years (range from 4-15 years depending on variety,
weather, soil type, etc.)
· * Christmas trees are grown, produced and sold in
each of the 50 states and the overall acreage is estimated at over 1 mil acres
· * The top five producing states for Christmas tree
production are: Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
· * The trend is downward for live Christmas tree
harvest numbers in the US over the years due to artificial trees. For example, in 2018, there were 27.4 mil
trees harvested compared to the 26.2 mil harvested trees in 2019). (pickyourownchristmastree.org)
· * Agricultural Economic Insights (AEI) has data a
bit different than PickYourOwnChristmasTree.org. AEI estimates in the year 2002, that nearly
21 mil Christmas trees were harvested, while in 2017 the estimated harvest
total was roughly 15 mil – a 27% decline
· *
For each Christmas tree harvested, there are
three trees planted to replenish the supply
· * It is estimated that there are currently 350 mil
Christmas trees growing at any one time during the calendar year
· * It is estimated that 80% of the worldwide
artificial Christmas trees are manufactured in China.
http://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/christmas_tree_statistics.php
http://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/traditions.php
https://aei.ag/2019/12/23/three-u-s-christmas-tree-production-facts/
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