More on hybrid seed shortfall

As we noted a couple of days ago, certain corn hybrid seed are in short supply. Jason Kelley, Arkansas Extension Corn Specialist, said today that one seed corn rep said that there were 7 times as many orders for one of its hybrids as the actual inventory of that seed.

“One producer said that he ordered 1,600 acres of one Roundup Ready hybrid, but 6 weeks later he was told that none of his order could be filled,” said Kelley. “Other producers who placed their orders a week or two earlier were told that maybe half of their orders would be filled for certain hybrids.”

Erick Larson, Mississippi Extension Corn Specialist, said the shortfall is understandable in terms of Southern hybrids, since corn acreage has been declining over the years in both Mississippi and other states in the region. Higher costs for fuel, nitrogen and other nutrients put corn at a disadvantage compared to other crops.

“Now, with strong corn prices, there’s far more demand for seed than anyone might have anticipated a year ago,” he noted. “Our record year for corn acreage was 1996 when Mississippi had 630,000 acres. For 2007, we could have a crop that size or perhaps larger.”

Availability is also somewhat uneven across different areas because distributors might allocate seed supplies to their better locations and limit inventories at other locations. Adding to the higher demand in the Deep South is the fact that some hybrid seed production areas in the Midwest were hit by drought and prolonged, above-average heat that reduced seed yields.

Greenpeace founder on "Frankenfood" tactics

Patrick Moore - a founder of Greenpeace and now a critic of the group's rabid opposition to scientific advancements - continues to be an outspoke proponent of genetically enhanced crops.

Greenpeace has been one of the most active critics of GE rice worldwide, and particularly in the European Union. In a recent interview with The Miami Herald, Dr. Moore stated the following in regards to genetic enhancement:

"Activists persist in their zero-tolerance campaign against genetically enhanced varieties of food crops where there is zero evidence of harm to human health or the environment, and the benefits are measurable and significant. GE food crops result in reduced chemical pesticides, higher yield, and reduced soil erosion.

"Golden Rice, for example, could prevent blindness in 500,000 children per year in Asia and Africa if activists would stop blocking its introduction. Other varieties of food crops will contain iron, vitamin E, enhanced protein and better oils. No other technology can match the potential of GE to address the nutritional deficiencies of billions of people.

"The anti-GE campaign seeks to deny these environmental and nutritional advances by using Frankenfood scare tactics and misinformation campaigns. Regardless of whether individual U.S. rice farmers may choose to support or oppose the planting of GE rice, they can all agree that it is time for the critics of GE rice to provide their sound science on such an important issue, a technology that by all accounts is safe and can help the world's population."

- Source: U.S. Rice Producers Association press release, November 30

USA Rice Issues GE Rice Action Plan

The USA Rice Federation issued a recommended plan of action to remove genetically engineered rice from the U.S. supply to re-establish a fully marketable inventory. The announcement was made in a press release Tuesday.

The following is from the release:

Following U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns’ August 18, 2006, announcement of the trace presence of genetically engineered (GE) rice in the commercial supply, the USA Rice Federation has worked with industry and government officials to identify the Bayer CropScience Liberty Link traits and to mitigate their market effects.

“The action plan released today proposes urgent, concrete steps to be taken to restore market confidence,” declared Al Montna, a California rice producer and chairman of the USA Rice Federation. “We are requesting that state authorities take specific actions to ensure that commercial seed supplies for the 2007 crop have tested negative for the presence of Liberty Link (LL) genetically engineered traits. The plan also makes recommendations to all segments of the rice industry to further ensure that Liberty Link traits do not appear in the rice supply from 2007 forward,” Montna said.

“A specially appointed USA Rice Federation committee headed by Brian King, chairman of the USA Rice Merchants Association developed the plan,” Montna said. “The committee included individuals from all segments of the rice industry over the last month, and we encourage in the strongest terms that the industry — and appropriate state authorities — take action so we may achieve the goal of removing all genetically engineered traits from the 2007 crop,” Montna said.

These actions are recommended despite statements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the food safety organizations in foreign markets that the GE rice at issue is safe for human consumption.

The closure of Europe and other markets to U.S. long-grain rice, and the imminent threat of closure or onerous testing in other markets, makes the promulgation of this action plan an immediate and necessary act of leadership, Montna said. “This is a plan for rice only, and it is ambitious so that our industry can get back to doing what it does best — growing and marketing rice — rather than engaging us and our customers in endless testing.”

“The economic viability of all segments of the rice industry are in jeopardy,” said USA Rice Producers Group Chairman Paul T. Combs. “We must show leadership and act decisively to solve this problem and restore stability in the marketplace,”

“Producers continue to be burdened as a result of the genetically engineered rice discovery, and it is imperative that we do everything in our power to stop GE rice production until such time as there is widespread regulatory approval and consumer acceptance in markets,” Combs continued. “But let’s clearly understand that all industry segments continue to share a financial burden resulting from the LL presence in long-grain rice.”

The Task Group recommendations call for:

• A standard seed-testing protocol for the detection of the presence of Liberty Link (LL) traits for all head row / breeder and foundation seed with test samples pulled by state certifying agencies using state-approved methods
• Each seed processor to agree to submit samples with a state seed-certifying agency number to one of the Bayer-approved and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) proficiency-tested labs.
• No Cheniere rice seed to be sold for rice production in 2007 and no 2007 crop-year Cheniere to be accepted at the first point of delivery; the allowance that buyers may accept 2006 crop-year Cheniere until July 31, 2007
• An allowance for an increase of Cheniere rice seed production in 2007 for 2008 and 2009 seed stocks provided that all such seed stocks are certified negative for LL traits
• State agencies to notify all seed processors, growers and dealers of these requirements and the need for certification
• Growers to provide, and first points of delivery to receive, documentation certifying GMO-negative results, with the Association of Official Seed Certification Agents to provide all LL-negative certification for commercial seed and USDA-GIPSA to certify that the process was completed under accepted protocols.

“The action plan we are proposing here is a living document,” Montna explained. “As a the industry learns more from the USDA investigation, scientists, customers and other industry experts, we will amend the recommendations as necessary and communicate those adjustments to the industry.”

To read the document detailing the recommendations summarized above, see: http://www.usarice.com/industry/communication/SeedRecs.pdf.

Research aims at baiting tarnished plant bugs

Airborne volatile compounds that attract plant-feeding insects to alfalfa could help growers control cotton pests with fewer pesticides, according to research announced today by USDA-ARS. Researchers have been investigating the influence of volatiles—or chemical scents—on the western tarnished plant bug (WTPB). The scientists' studies show that female WTPB are drawn to alfalfa volatiles and chemically manufactured synthetics that have most of the characteristics of natural chemical scents.

This information could be used to develop more effective field traps baited with volatiles.

Another study combined the chemical cues with a green-light-emitting diode (LED), which imitated a visual cue that attracts plant-feeding insects. Alone, the LED drew several females, but when combined with volatile or synthetic cues, it attracted both males and females at all stages of maturity. In some tests, the LED-synthetic compound combination drew positive responses of 80 percent or higher.

Click here for the full press release.

GPS examples from LSU

From an LSU press release we received today:

Inaccurate acreage estimates could be leading some farmers to spend too much or too little on producing their crops, according to an LSU AgCenter watershed agent, who says the cost of more accurate surveys may be worth the investment.

"Precision agriculture is putting the right stuff in the right place at the right time, and the first step is to find out how large your field really is," said Tom Hymel, an LSU AgCenter agent working in the Teche-Vermilion, Atchafalaya and lower Red River watershed basins in southwestern Louisiana.

Overestimating acreage could be an expensive mistake for a very simple reason, he said. "All inputs are acreage-based." And input recommendations usually are based on research results obtained from work conducted on accurately measured plots, Hymel said.

Many producers rely on acreage estimates made by government agencies, which use detailed aerial photographs taken from several thousand feet overhead. But such factors as the shadow caused by a tree line can result in significant inaccuracies, he notes.

Although they can cost several thousand dollars, Hymel says estimates made using ATV-mounted global position system (GPS) equipment can be much more precise, and experts say the more accurate measurements can make major differences for farmers. Using that system, ditches, odd-shaped fence lines and irregular shapes can be accurately measured.

Agricultural consultant Blaine Viator said almost half of his clients are going to GPS surveys.

"More and more growers are seeing the need for it – once they see the errors," Viator said. "What we’ve found on average, a farm ends up with 7 percent less acreage."

That means a farmer is paying an additional 7 percent in expenses to grow a crop, Viator said.

For example, aerial applicators charge for their services on a per-acre basis, he said. Even more, estimates by federal agencies don’t include levees or ditches as non-productive areas, Viator said. A farmer would be more pleased with the production and associated profit margin of 100 tons of cane on 950 acres than the same tonnage on 1,000 acres, he said.

Handheld GPS units lack the precision to get an accurate measurement, Hymel added, but many agricultural consultants have the proper equipment.

The LSU AgCenter agent said he has seen several examples of surprising results.

• Crawfish acreage in St. Martin Parish had been reported at 28,000, but a GPS survey conducted by Hymel showed the actual figure at 20,000 acres.
• Hymel said a farmer told him after getting a GPS survey he applied herbicides and was literally able to estimate so closely that the last jug of chemical was just enough to finish the last field.
• On one sugarcane farm, Hymel found that almost half of the farm’s fields were inaccurate by at least 5 percent, and the overall discrepancy was 7 percent. "More of them were overestimated than underestimated," he said, adding that the average underestimate was off by 5.8 percent and the average overestimate was off by 7.2 percent. Some were off as much as 30 percent.

Farmer Rene Simon of Iberia Parish already recognizes the benefits of GPS on the farm.

Simon started using the system almost six years ago, and he’s convinced the improvement is significant. A GPS survey on his 1,200-acre farm concluded the estimate was off by 100 acres. The Iberia Parish farmer said the more accurate surveys allow for more accurate calibration of spray and fertilizer rigs.

Since cane harvesters lack yield monitors, Simon said, determining acreage with some degree of accuracy also can provide basic yield information. Harvests on some fields may seem too high or too low because of erroneous acreage estimates, he said, but the GPS work reveals the discrepancies. Simon said farmers also are using GPS to make straighter rows, which can improve spraying efficiency.

"You might think you’re in the right spot and might have a marker, but with GPS you’re dead on the money," he said.

Giant soybeans offer possible ethanol material

USDA-ARS researchers are working with a line of super-strong soybean plants that stand up straight throughout the season due to high concentrations of cellulose. A couple of potential applications could spin off of this early research. First, the plants - which can grow as tall as 7 feet - might be a raw material for making such building products as fiber board. Second, they could provide a cellulose source for producing ethanol, provided enzymes are developed that can inexpensively break down the wood-like fiber. (That's the big challenge right now in converting cellulose to ethanol.) Soybeans would be important in that regards because they don't require nitrogen applications.

Here a link to the USDA press release.

Miss. State getting out of the cafeteria business

Although not an alumnus of Mississippi State, I note with some sadness that the university plans to contract its cafeteria services to an outside company. I always enjoyed eating there and never could figure out why the colleges I did attend couldn't serve food as good as what students were served at State.

The cafeteria was long regarded as a great place to eat. Laurie Courtney, our circulation manager, told me that, even though she lived off campus, she still always tried to eat at the cafeteria for Sunday lunch "because it was like having a home-cooked meal."

Reading between the lines of the official announcement, this is a move to reduce costs at a time when tuition and fees have been increasing at all of the state's universities.

Will Cuban trade debate make a fast start in '07?

Expect a big push on easing trade restrictions with Cuba as Democrats - presumably more open to the idea - take the reigns of Congressional ag committees. A memo circulated to members of the U.S.A. Rice Federation indicates that several House ag committee members were interested in taking a fact-finding trip to Cuba "as early as possible in 2007." The group includes Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), incoming chairman of the House ag committee.

The federation, according to the memo, also has called for an early '07 meeting of the Agriculture Commodity Roundtable, an ad hoc task force that represents grain, oilseeds, livestock and other ag-related industries. The focus of the meeting would be "strategies for increasing trade and tourism with Cuba," the memo specified. A meeting is expected in late January or early February.

The big obstacle, of course, remains the Bush administration. One unknown right now is the medical outlook for Fidel Castro. Reports range from him being on death's door to making a robust recovery. Some Washington insiders say that the Bush administration will be more open to trade with the communist state if Castro is out of the picture.

Also complicating the Cuban picture - and U.S. trade throughout Latin America - is a shift among several nations there to elect left-leaning and anti-American leaders. Equador is the latest. Polls show a strong chance that the country's next president will be a socialist.

No big rush to doublecrop behind Miss. wheat

Based on what farmers have said this month, much of the additional wheat acreage planted this fall in Mississippi will not be doublecropped with soybeans or anything else. "We've had our hearts broken too many times by doublecrop soybeans," one Delta farm manager said recently.

Several factors are at play:

• In most seasons, late-planted soybeans perform poorly compared to what growers have come to expect with early planted soybeans, particularly in dryland situations. Although the 2006 early beans performed poorly due to prolonged drought and heat, farmers have found better yields over the long haul when they can seed soybeans in April or even in March.
• Even with irrigation, yields likely won't be strong enough to justify the extra trouble and expense. With wheat prices as strong as they've been, growers will either summer fallow after wheat or use the break to level or re-level ground.
• This season, growers in parts of the state have run into more problems with green stems in maturing soybeans, which has delayed harvest and/or driven up harvest costs for desiccants. Growers in some areas also have had trouble getting beans dry enough this fall for elevators to accept them, which means excessive drying costs.

Midsouth growers having trouble getting corn hybrids they want for 2007

Midsouth farmers and consultants continue to tell us that certain corn hybrids won't be available in sufficient quantities to fill orders. Growers in some cases placed orders months ago, only to be told later that only about 50% of the seed they wanted would be supplied to them.

"One dealer rep told me that the situation is almost laughable," one farmer said recently. "His company was told that some seed in a particular hybrid had been freed up. The quantity was about a dozen bags. That was for his entire company, which has multiple locations. It was hardly enough seed to fool with for one rep, and there was no way to divide it up among all the customers who requested it."

The push to plant more corn acres in the region accounts for the shortages. Shortages either didn't exist or weren't as dire in areas like Kentucky and Virginia where more corn is produced.

Better known hybrids placing well in production trials tended to be the first to go, several people noted.

Tenn. plant turns corn syrup into industrial compound

DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, LLC - an equally owned joint venture of DuPont and Tate & Lyle - today announced the first commercial shipments of Bio-PDO, an industrial ingredient manufactured from corn sugar. The company's $100 million plant in Loudon, Tenn., is the first facility in the world to manufacture this new bio-based product. The material can be used in the making of a wide range of goods -- certain plastic polymers, cosmetics, liquid detergents and anti-freeze.

Click here for the company's press release.

USDA deregulates LLR601, cites only Cheniere '03

USDA announced last week that it will deregulate genetically engineered LLRICE601, based on the fact that it is as safe as its traditionally bred counterparts. The final environmental assessment will be available December 1 and published in the Federal Register. The ruling only affects the status of the rice in the U.S. and apparently will have no direct effect on decisions made by the European Union or Canada regarding rice that shows trace levels of genetically engineered LLRICE601. (Click here to see release.)

Still, deregulation is a necessary step in ensuring the stability and viability for U.S. rice in all markets, USA Rice Federation Chairman Al Montna said today in a press release.

“But we realize there is still a great deal more work to do," he added. "The APHIS decision won’t automatically re-open markets currently closed to U.S. rice, but U.S.U.S. government believes LLRICE601 to be safe for consumption and the environment." regulatory approval should help reassure customers that the On Friday, USDA also announced that tests have identified 2003 Cheniere variety as the only foundation seed testing positive for LLRICE601. (Click here to see release.)

Food from cotton seed now seems more likely

Texas A&M announced this week that it has developed cotton seed low in gossypol, which is a very toxic compound. The breakthrough makes it possible to use cotton seed as a food or ingredient, since it is high in quality protein. This isn't a new idea, but past attempts removed gossypol from all parts of the plant, making it more susceptible to insects and diseases. In this case, gossypol levels were reduced only in the seed.

The work was announced this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For more info, click here.

CCI Sourcing Summit Draws Global Buyers

As we closed out our reports on Friday night, the following press release arrived from the National Cotton Council:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - One of the largest ever contingents of global cotton purchasing power convened here this week to attend the 2006 Sourcing USA Summit.

The event is coordinated by Cotton Council International (CCI), the National Cotton Council’s export promotion arm. Held Nov. 16-19 under a theme of “Strengthening Enduring Partnerships,” the event was organized to provide textile mill executives with management/trend information and networking opportunities that can drive their cotton businesses forward.

The Summit attracted some 190 international cotton buyers from 28 countries. Data collected by the NCC on 72 percent of those buyers revealed that group’s total cotton consumption to be about 18.4 million bales.

“To put that into perspective, the cotton consumption of less than three-fourths of the expected Summit participants represents 6.2 million bales more than were represented by all participants at CCI’s 2004 Summit,” said NCC Chairman Allen Helms. “This same group also consumes about 8.8 million bales of U.S. cotton - and are customers of some 55 percent of expected 2006 U.S. cotton exports.”

The data also shows that 28 percent (of the 72 percent of participants data were available on) are vertically integrated organizations -- they spin, knit and/or weave and participate in apparel production and/or retail activities. Those 29 percent account for 92 percent of all the U.S. cotton consumption represented at the Summit.

“This group of global cotton buyers represents a huge opportunity,” said CCI President David Burns, a Laurel Hill, N.C., cotton producer. “The Summit provides a forum where we can detail U.S. cotton’s unique attributes and its superior technical services to these important international customers. U.S. cotton needs this exposure because our industry is exporting significantly more raw fiber than it did at the turn of the century.”

That’s reflected in the data. NCC economists said the 2005-06 marketing year was the fifth consecutive of record high U.S. raw cotton exports. In fact, 2005-06 exports increased by almost 25 percent over the 2004-05 volume.

The Summit was successful in offering the attendees help with textile market sourcing challenges. Presentations ranged from economics, innovation and consumer marketing to the challenges and opportunities facing the global cotton complex.
The overseas mill executives also visited U.S. cotton farms, gins and other facilities en route to or after attending the Summit.

“These tours reinforce what the participants hear at the Summit and solidify relationships between U.S. industry members and the key customers they supply,” Burns noted.

Impact of eliminating acreage protection for specialty growers

Earlier this month, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report titled: “Eliminating Fruit And Vegetable Planting Restrictions: How Would Markets Be Affected?”

Essentially, growers are penalized if they produce any of a wide range of fruit and vegetable crops (including wild rice) on what are considered program acres. At one time, the penalties for violating this rule were severe, although a few years ago the government reduced them substantially.

The research turned up some numbers that even surprised its authors, according to an interview conducted by Keith Good, an economist, attorney and policy analyst (see his web site, farmpolicy.com). Good spoke with Edwin Young, one of the report's authors, and you can find a link to the audio file of the interview by clicking here.

Among other things, Young said that there is a significant “overlap” between growers who produce fruit and vegetable crops and those with program acreage. About 50% of the farmers raising fruits and vegetables also are enrolled in conventional row-crop programs. They account, in fact, for about 80% of all fruit and vegetable production in this country. Shifting program acreage to fruit and vegetable production means that a grower must forfeit program payments for that year on the land he shifts. About 5% of fruit and vegetable production during one period analyzed in the report was, in fact, on program acreage that fell into this category..

Restrictions on planting fruits and vegetables on program acreage has been seen as a kind of hidden subsidy for these producers. They don't receive direct government payments, but planting restrictions have ostensibly kept farmers in the program from shifting land into specialty crops. Critics have likened it to granting specialty crop growers a smaller group of competitors, which in theory would maintain stronger pricing for they produce.One challenge before the World Trade Organization has sought to eliminate this restriction, Cook noted in his report.

The USDA-ERS study examines the overall impact that eliminating the restriction might have.

The report can be downloaded as a PDF file by clicking here.

Low cotton prices will nudge Alabama cotton growers into some much-needed rotation

High corn, soybean and wheat prices will at least some Alabama acreage out of cotton this year, but that's not a bad thing altogether, say Extension workers. That may be especially true where land goes into corn or wheat.

"Rotation has got to help us with managing reniform nematodes," Charlie Burmester, Extension Agronomist in north Alabama, said this afternoon. "They really have an effect in a year like we've just had with an extended drought. There were cases where a grower averaged maybe 400 lbs/acre in fields that haven't been in rotation, while a neighbor just across the road picked 600 lbs/acre in fields that have been rotated with a non-host crop."

"We've been preaching rotation for years to deal with nematodes, weeds and other problems," added Dennis Delaney, the state's conservation tillage specialist. "Low cotton prices and stronger markets for grain are going to encourage a good bit of rotation this year. People pencil in the current cotton prices and see that they can't make money, while corn and soybean prices offer the chance to make a profit. It probably will be January or February before we a good idea about how much acreage will shift out of cotton. But unless something changes, that will probably be the trend."

A quarter of Virginia's cotton harvest delayed by rain

Rain continues to delay cotton harvest in Virginia, according to Joel Faircloth, the state's cotton specialist.

"We still have about 25% of our cotton still out there. but it won't quit raining long enough to wrap up harvest," Faircloth told us this afternoon. "It's rained 1.5 to 2 inches here at the station today (Tidewater REC at Suffolk). Last Sunday, it rained about 3 inches, and there were a couple of cases prior to that where areas received 4 to 5 inches. In October, an area 20 miles north of here received up to 18 inches in 12 hours, and the water literally washed some peanuts out of the field."

Yields, so far, have been "variable," Faircloth added. "Some folks have had exceptional yields, while others have had poor yields, at least compared to averages over the last 2 years," he said.

Rains delay N. Mississippi peanut harvest

Rains have delayed the last part of north Mississippi's peanut harvest, according to Mike Howell, south Mississippi Extension Area Agronomist, who also works statewide with peanuts.

"A little over 6 weeks ago, we were averaging 2 tons/acre, but rains have really slowed progress," he told us this morning. "People are hunting and pecking for fields dry enough to dig. Harvest in north Mississippi is the furthest behind. About 95% of the crop in south Mississippi has been harvseted. But in the Delta, probably 50% of the crop is still in the ground. The growers who were able to combine last week were still making good yields, and grades were hanging in there. I'm still optimistic, but I'm not sure how much longer some of these can hold out, especially now that they've gotten some cold weather."

Areas in northeast Mississippi were hit hardest by this summer's drought, Howell added, and yields suffered. "But growers in that part of the state will want to try peanuts again next year," he added. "We had two meetings last week in that part of the state, and attendance was good. At one stop, 17 people attended, and 35 showed up for the other meeting."

In January, the state holds its first peanut growers association meeting and production shortcourse. The event is in Hattiestburg on January 8-9, which somewhat dovetails with the Beltwide Cotton Conference in New Orleans, which starts on January 9.

For more info on the peanut conference: Flier and agenda.

South Mississippi cotton crop turning out quite well

Mike Howell, Extension Area Agronomist in south Mississippi, says that the crop in that part of the state is turning out "surprisingly well," considering that part of it was written off halfway through the summer due to severe drought.

"We've picked some tremendous dryland yields in places, with some fields actually pushing a 4-bale/acre average," Powell said today. "We started catching up on rain in July and for the rest of the season got rain when we needed it. We lost the early crop, but then the plants more than compensated for that."

Unfortunately, rain over the last month has delayed some harvest progress. Also, growers who also raise peanuts have been pushing to dig and combine that crop before turning much to cotton picking. Howell said he knew of a couple of growers who had not started cotton harvest yet.

"Overall, there's still a lot of cotton in southern Mississippi fields," he said. "It's stringing but somehow hanging on."

Christmas tree farmers donate to the troops in a big way

Christmas tree farmers from across America are donating 12,000 trees this holiday season to U.S. military personnel and their families. The trees will be distributed both here and overseas. This is the second year for the Trees For Troops program.

Message to Pennsylvania's kudzu hunters: Lots of luck!

From a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture press release today:

"Allegheny County residents are asked by the Department of Agriculture to report any locations where Kudzu is growing under a pilot program to eradicate the invasive weed. Introduced from Asia, Kudzu is a climbing vine identified by alternating leaves, purple flowers and fuzzy brown seed pods which appear in the fall. Kudzu was added to the state's noxious weed list in 1989."

I'm inclined to believe that if it's been in the state for 17 years, it's too late to eradicate kudzu there.

As Deputy Barney Fife always admonished, "You've got nip it in the bud!" He was referring, of course, to juvenile delinquency, but the same goes for kudzu.

Genetic marker selection led to variety that broke world soybean yield record

As you may have read this week, Missouri farmer Kip Cullers achieved a 139-bu/acre soybean average in a contest field in 2006, setting a new world yield record. Any company whose products were associated with that field will reap a nice bonanza in publicity.

The biggest winner will likely be Pioneer, since Cullers broke the record with Pioneer 94M80.

After all, when someone reports an astounding soybean yield, the first question usually asked is: what variety? It's the same for any other row crop, kind of like people wanting to know what lure a fisherman was using when he reeled in a trophy catch. Never mind how deep he ran it or how fast he spooled it back to the boat. The name of the lure is all that matters.

The significant thing about 94M80 - as far as this record goes - may be that it was developed with genetic marker screening, a technology and breeding approach that seemed like science fiction 15 years ago. Molecular markers allow plant breeders to screen millions of plants for genes that already exist within the plant and contribute to increased yield potential and stability. Only plants that carry the key traits are used to develop new products. The company was an early adopter of the system. Marker screening cuts years off breeding programs by culling out less-promising lines right away.

According to a Pioneer press release today, the company's varieties developed with marker technology have posted yield gains significantly higher than the national average. According to the release, varieties developed with molecular markers averaged yield increases of 1.4 bu/acre per year during the past seven years, beginning with the first year of introduction.

How does that compare? Pioneer varieties developed without marker-assisted selection improved yields over a 10-year period at a rate of 0.5 bu/acre per year, while USDA soybean yield figures show yields grow at a rate of 0.4 bu/acre per year. In other words, about a three-fold gain in yield enhancement.

Almonds could claim another 200K acres in California by 2010

As noted in a post earlier this week, pistachio acreage continues to increase in California, which is bad news for cotton in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV). Permanent plantings limit the available acreage for annual crops. A press release today from Blue Diamond Growers illustrates just how much almond acreage is expanding, too.

Almond-bearing acreage is expected to increase by 25,000 acres to 605,000 acres in 2007 and an additional 50,000 acres per year to 2010, according to the release. Not all of that increase will be in the SJV, but it's a majority of those new trees will likely take root in the six counties that constitute California's main cotton belt.

About 10 years ago, I asked someone well connected with SJV agriculture - Vern Crawford, a Wilbur-Ellis PCA in Kern County - to estimate at what point the valley would possess too many almond trees.

"I don't know," said Vern. "I asked that same question 15 years ago, and they just keep planting more." Demand for almonds, in fact, has trended upward for the last 25 years. Several reasons have fostered market growth. The almond industry has rolled out new products. One of the latest is an almond-based milk substitute beverage. It also has allied the nut with more cereal and candy brands and has done a superlative job of cracking new markets overseas. The almond industry also has funded research projects that point to possible health benefits derived from eating more almonds.

The market hit record high prices in 2005 - $4 per pound. That works out to a penny per almond, figuring 400 almonds per pound. Price fell to $2 a pound later that year but then rebounded $1 a pound.

A cotton and alfalfa farmer who lives near Bakersfield joked recently that from now on he intends to rotate his cotton with almonds.

Questions about sustainability nix Great Britain power plant fired by palm oil

UK's RWE npower has shelved plans to set up a palm oil-fired power plant due to supply concerns, according to a report filed this morning by Benjamin Low, based in the Kuala Lumpur bureau.

This is an early sign that palm oil's ability to break into European energy market is not as easy as expected, Low reported, based on what traders are saying. RWE dropped plans due to lack of sufficient volumes of "environmentally sustainable" palm oil at reasonable prices to make the project viable.

"People have been talking about big volumes of palm oil going to Europe for energy, but this again highlights that palm oil's low price alone is no guarantee of demand. Other issues such as sustainability are also important to consumers in Europe," said a trader in Malaysia who was quoted in the report.

Palm oil articles appear on our content site, agfax2.com.

Please, somebody, take this guy to a cotton patch

"Turnips should never be pulled; it injures them. It is much better to send a boy up and let him shake the tree."
- From How I Edited An Agricultural Paper, by Mark Twain.

I couldn't help but think about the aforementioned Mark Twain short story when a friend sent me a copy of 100% Rotten, an article by G. Pascal Zachary that ran in the December 2005 issue of Business 2.0.

Twain's story tells of a down-on-his-luck journalist who takes a job as editor of an agricultural publication while the editor goes on vacation.

Throughout the story, the substitute editor shows a complete lack of understanding about how anything grows or even what it is. He thinks guano is a species of bird and that the pumpkin is a berry. As he tells it, ganders spawn and farmers set out their corn stalks. His readers begin to think he's deranged.

Now, Business 2.0 should be about as far from that kind of humor as possible. It's one of those "new economy" business publications that tends to labor on about this or that person reinventing the future. And it tries to have a social conscience.

Enter G. Pascal Zachary, a man brimming with social conscience. More on him in a moment.

Mr. Zachary's article was the kind of piece that pops up all too commonly. Cotton catches more of this than most crops. I guess people finally grew tired of lambasting tobacco.

I'll boil it down to a few points.

• Cotton subsidies are evil.
• Farmers are getting rich.
• The United States is competing unfairly against Brazil, Africa and the world.

Like I said, you've read it all before, folks.

There certainly were errors, misinformation and misinterpretation. At one point, he says that cotton isn't "a food staple." The definition of food staple might be debated. But the point is that he sees cotton only as a fiber crop, dismissing the fact that cotton seed oil is marketed for human consumption and that cotton seed and meal are livestock feed. If you can make biodegradable plastic from corn - which you can - does that now disqualify it as a food crop?

All that can be glossed over, I suppose. Piddling points, at best.

What really separates the article from all the others like it I've read - and they are legion - is Mr. Zachary's near total lack of understanding about how cotton grows. Here's a quote (with emphasis added), and I promise that I'm not making this up:

"The environment, too, would catch a break from reduced production; growing cotton can be tough on the planet, especially now that genetically modified seeds encourage U.S. growers to soak their fields in a defoliant that kills everything from bugs to the cotton bush itself and knocks the unharmed bolls to the ground, where they can be scooped up by mechanical harvesters."

Scooping the bolls off the ground? Really? If that were the case, I guess it would be called "picking up cotton."

For anyone reading this who is not familiar with cotton, the lint is pulled from the bolls - either by hand (mostly in Developing and Third World countries) or by a harversting machine. If the bolls hit the ground, the cotton is lost. It would be too dirty to use for anything except maybe stuffing cheap mattresses. Period.

So, you can see why I thought about Mark Twain's rather obscure short story. Twain couldn't have done better. If he had written anything that funny on purpose, he probably would have scooted his chair back and decided to take the rest of the day off, knowing he wouldn't be able to top it. Mr. Zachary is one faltering step away from sending the boy up the tree to shake a few bolls loose. And, for that matter, farmers don't "soak" fields with anything unless it's with irrigation water. Chemicals are too expensive, and most of what is being sprayed is water, anyway.

I'd like to give Mr. Zachary the benefit of the doubt. Believe me, I've had bad days when the pressure of deadline caused me to cut some corners or make assumptions. Maybe that's what happened. Based on his web site, he is one busy guy. He has written at least three books on weighty, historic and technical subjects, plus he lectures widely on topics relating to Africa and technology. In fact, his name rang a faint bell when I first read the cotton piece.

When I went to his web site, I discovered that he had been a writer for The Wall Street Journal, which is why his name stood out. While at the Journal, he wrote more than 80 front page pieces, which in itself is an significant statistic for anyone who makes a living putting one word behind another. According to his web bio, The Boston Globe called him “the single most interesting journalist of all the [Journal’s] 700-plus highly-talented reporters.”

No rookie, for certain.

He's also listed as a guest lecturer at Stanford University. His bio there says: "Reviewing his work in 2000, the Atlantic monthly wrote, 'Zachary is making a bid to become a serious public intellectual who can combine familiarity with scholarly literature with first-hand reporting.'"

And, yet, he writes this extremely intense piece without really understanding the core subject. Has he ever seen a cotton field up close? Up to a point, I don't mind people being shrill. But when they're shrill and so faulty, it tends to make me question everything else they've ever written, the Atlantic's opinion and all those front-page stories in the Journal not withstanding.

Anyway, 100% Rotten now becomes my benchmark for defective articles on the subject of agriculture. If you've got any that even approach being this uttlerly off the cliff, please forward them to me. I may start an annual contest.

In the meantime, here are three links:

• 100% Rotton by G. Pascal Zachary, Bsuiness 2.0, December 2005.
  
• How I Edited An Agricultural Paper Once, by Mark Twain, from the July 1870 edition of The Galazy.
• An audio version of How I Edited An Agricultural Paper Once, by Mark Twain, from the July 1870 edition of The Galaxy.
  

How to energize a cell signal

Popular Science magazine recently ran an article on how to boost cell phone signals. I touched on this a few months ago in an article about how a south Mississippi ag consultant, Trey Bulloch, uses an amplifying kit to boost his hand-held digital phone to a fully-allowed 3-watt signal. (See: Weak cell signal? Here's your answer.)

The PopSci article covers the options for boosting signals from both vehicles and buildings. If you're thinking about trying a wireless internet card for internet connectivity, the booster package for a building might be helpful, since you could - in theory - use one of those cards to run a small home or office network. There are a couple of wireless routers available that connect to the internet through these cards, which can provide speeds approaching the low end of DSL performance, provided signal strength is good.

• Click here for the main article.
• Click here for a quick diagram of mobile and structural equipment.

U.S., Chinese Cotton Industries Pledge Cooperation

From an NCC press release today:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The National Cotton Council of America and the China Cotton Association signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” today promising cooperation between the countries’ cotton industries.

The document was signed by NCC Chairman Allen Helms and CCA Secretary General Madam Gao Fang in a ceremony at the Memphis Cotton Museum.

“This memorandum signals a spirit of cooperation and good will,” Helms said. “We look forward to a successful future of mutually beneficial trade and increased cooperation among the U.S. and Chinese cotton industries.”

China is the world’s largest cotton importer, largest raw cotton consumer (mill level) and the largest cotton producer. After recently being admitted to the World Trade Organization, China is rapidly merging into the world economy.

“Cotton trade with China is very healthy today as the United States exported 8.6 million bales or about 36 percent of its crop to China in the past 12 months,” said Helms, a Clarkedale, Ark., cotton producer. “This MOU is significant for the U.S. cotton industry as it seeks to build not only on that current momentum but on its long-time relationship with China.”

Helms said working through the NCC, the U.S. cotton industry has made substantial strides in fortifying its infrastructure to accommodate the current extraordinary volume of U.S. raw cotton export trade. “The industry also has renewed its commitment to protect and enhance U.S. cotton’s reputation for producing high quality cotton, delivering it in a timely manner and honoring contracts,” he said.

Helms said Cotton Council International will continue to play a key role in expanding export demand for U.S. cotton in the coming year, including even greater activity in China than in 2006. Among CCI’s major endeavors in China this past year were:

• Established a CCI office in Shanghai.
• Launched, with help from U.S. exporters, the China Cotton Schools, which helped representatives from 145 Chinese cotton importing companies get a better grasp of the international cotton market’s complexities.
• Teamed up with Cotton Incorporated to conduct “Cotton – Beyond Your Imagination”, a major promotion initiative targeting consumers in China’s major urban areas.
• Hosted, along with Cotton Incorporated, the 10th annual Cotton Days, which highlighted the inherent value of cotton through COTTON USA consumer events in China and other key Asian markets.

In addition, Helms led a high level U.S. cotton industry delegation to China in October as part of the China Leadership Exchange Program established by NCC along with the CCA. The objective of that cross-country tour was to familiarize the U.S. delegation with the market demands and China’s views by experiencing that country’s development firsthand – from farm to mill.

“While we were there, the NCC and CCA agreed to have further industry leadership exchanges and dialogue on future issues,” Helms said. One issue: the global threat from synthetic fibers.

“Man-made fibers still represent the greatest challenge to cotton’s profitability worldwide,” Helms said, “and enhanced basic consumer preference for cotton products in developing economies, such as China, represents the largest opportunity for demand growth.”

If we can bring wireless internet service to Macedonia, why not to Mississippi, too?

With $3.9 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the country of Macedonia now has wireless internet coverage across about 95% of its 9,600 square miles, an area about the size of Vermont or Mississippi's Delta region.

That's a lot of territory. In Macedonia, even sheep herders up in the mountains can plug into the web.

It all strikes me as ironic and rather depressing to know that a federal agency helped bankroll this kind of internet coverage in a piece of the former Yugoslavia while large portions of rural America lack even decent dialup connections, much less any form of reliable, relatively inexpensive broadband. The argument can be made that satellite connections are available. But some satellite internet subscribers have told me that these uplink/downlink services are stopgaps for them until something better comes along.

Wireless offers such an alternative, but the federal government - despite assurances to the contrary - has done little, if anything, to bring wireless or other broadband connections to farmers. There are federal programs that allegedly exist to bring broadband to folks in the country. But they mostly don't benefit Americans who grow food and fiber and live in the country or typical rural communities.

Earlier this year, I wrote an article for Progressive Farmer about broadband service in rural areas. The research put me in contact with several wireless service providers. I asked each of them - people as farflung as the Midsouth, New England and the upper Midwest - if they had taken advantage of these funding programs. None had, and they cited various reasons:

• Programs required too much in the way of community giveaways. To gain funding under certain USDA plans, wireless internet service providers (WISPs) had to donate computers and connections to local schools, libraries or governments. When you thumbed through the listing of groups receiving grants, a lot tended to be non-profit entities like Native American tribal councils that were setting up broadband on reservations.
• Paperwork was most heinous. One WISP owner estimated that it would take one person 40 to 60 hours to complete the stack of documentation needed just to apply, with no guarantee of acceptance. Most WISPs are operated by small, mom-and-pop companies, and they can barely keep up what it takes to keep their systems running. "We're not in the grant writing business," a WISP owner said. "If this were a process like applying for a loan, we could cope with it. But it's more like finding a way to make the funding look good in a press release, like it's going to help a disadvantaged group."
  
• There's an underlying suspicion that politics enters into the equation. You've got to have "the juice," one operator told me, to gain approval. Whether true or not, WISP operators have that impression. That feeling was reinforced a couple of years ago when it was announced that a chunk of "rural" broadband internet funding was going into a somewhat suburban Texas area that happened to be in the district represented by then-Congressman and power broker Tom Delay.
  

WISPs are at an economic disadvantage to begin with because they are offering service to sparcely populated areas, well past the fringe of street lights and subdivisions. As a couple of WISP owners noted, cable and regional telephone companies once dismissed the idea of offering DSL or cable broadband service in towns and smaller cities. But once WISP operators proved there was a market, these larger companies moved into those areas with wired service and skimmed the cream off the top. In many areas, all that left WISP operators were the wide open spaces where there might be one or two homes per square mile.

The beauty of wireless is that it only takes a few thousand dollars to set up service to cover, say, 50 to 75 square miles, provided the operator can site his antenna on a sufficiently tall structure - a grain elevator, radio mast and such. Speeds are at least comparable to low-end DSL service, and newer wireless technology promises to kick up speeds even more.

What rural America needs - and what Macedonia got, thanks in large part to your tax dollars - is a concerted effort, backed by a national policy aimed at bringing broadband to the rural landscape. One or two generations ago, Americans made a similar commitment to rural electrification. A lot of the thinking grew out of Franklin Roosevelt's effort to pull America out of the Depression, and policies were continued by subsequent administrations of both parties.

It took funding, subsidized lending and other incentives. But nobody connected with agriculture would argue today that it wasn't worth it.

Let me add that wireless isn't the only option. Setting up computer networks over existing electrical lines has become a practical option, as well. Eventually, connectivity through cell phone networks will fill the void in places.

Wireless, though, happens to be a more established technology that's ready right now. I'm not against funneling broadband to reservations or, for that matter, to a country like Macedonia that's trying to recover from years of war. But I know plenty of people in places like Skene, Mississippi, and Peach Orchard, Missouri, who need it now, too.

How ethanol will change the corn industry

Cole Gustafson, North Dakota State University's (NDSU) ag economist, recently published an article detailing the potential ways that ethanol will alter the corn industry. A synopsis was posted by STAT.

Click here to read the report.

More bad news for California cotton: more pistachio acreage ahead

In another sign of the pressure on cotton to maintain acreage in California, the California Pistachio Commission says it expects an additional 40,000 acres to be in production within five years. The report appeared in today's Food And Farm News (FAFN) published by the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Once a fairly exotic nut, pistachios have become a common crop in the San Joaquin Valley, where most of California's cotton is grown. Cotton already has been pressured by other permanent crops, including grapes and almonds. In the last few years, dairy farms also have been shifting from coastal counties into the valley, taking up land for facilities and for silage production.

About 30% of the state's pistachio crop is sold to foreign markets. Buyers in the European Union, Canada and elsewhere import the top-quality pistachios. California farmers produce, according to the item in FAFN. The state's interior farming country has nearly ideal conditions for growing the nut.

When I was a kid, they were always dyed red, came from the Middle East and were hard to open. The red dye, if you didn't know, was applied to hide blemishes, and the nuts were hard to open because lack of irrigation prevented them from filling out properly. Today's U.S.-grown pistachios are a superior nut. I bought a 2-pound bag not long ago for $5, which indicates the supply is strong.

After the drought, how much N is left for 2007?

How much nitrogen is left in southern soils after this year's prolonged drought? Cliff Snyder, Southeast Director for the Potash and Phosphate Institute touched on that question in his Production Pointers Blog last week.

Snyder wrote:

"To get some idea of the unused inorganic N in your soils this fall after crop harvest, consider collecting soil samples in 6-in. or 12-in. increments down to a clayey layer, or at least to 24 in.. In some areas, sampling to a depth of 36 to 48 in. is recommended to detect any surplus residual inorganic N. Many soil testing labs can advise farmers and crop advisers on the proper handling and shipping of soil samples to the lab and they can provide some guidance in interpretation of soil inorganic N levels. However, one should remember that a lot can happen to the inorganic N between this fall and next spring. So, whatever is detected now may not be present next spring, depending on the potential for leaching, runoff, and denitrification losses."

Louisiana Sweet Potato Foundation Selection For '07

Louisiana's Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase has just cranked up its 2007 foundation seed distribution program. To see the upcoming selection, go to:

http://www.foundationseed.org/2007

The selection of 10 includes O-Henry, a white-flesh mutation selected from Beauregard.

The web site includes disease ratings and photos of skin and flesh.

PS: There are a lot of high-quality photos on the site, so it may take a minute or so to load, depending on your connection speed.

A real problem for the EU: fake ag chemicals

Evidently, the European Union (EU) has bigger problems – in terms of food and crop safety – than whatever traces of unapproved GMO rice happen to slip into the market from the U.S. or China.

Writing in the magazine Chemistry & Industry (C&I), Cath O'Driscoll reports that more than one in 20 pesticides sold in the EU could be fake.

“These counterfeits range from sophisticated copies of patented products to low-quality fakes with little or no resemblance to the original,” noted a press release from the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), which publishes C&I. “And it is a problem that is getting worse every year, according to the European Crop Protection Association. “Clearly there are risks when products that have not been properly studied or evaluated are being brought onto the market,” said Roger Doig, President of the ECPA.

According to the release:

• Several recent incidences highlight the extent of the problem. In February, a counterfeit herbicide used in Italy was found to contain quantities of a “potentially dangerous insecticide.” In 2004, hundreds of hectares of wheat were wiped out in France, Italy and Spain because of a fake herbicide.
• A 2002 study of supermarket produce in the UK found traces of eight "illegal and potentially dangerous compounds."

“Generally speaking, it would be wrong to blame farmers (for buying the products) as in many cases they firmly believe they are buying legitimate products. We've had cases where only after farmers have come to us with a complaint have we identified the product as counterfeit,” says Doig.

The United Kingdom’s Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is currently investigating two companies suspected of acting illegally, it was reported. Jean Train, spokesperson for the Pesticides Safety Directorate, told C&I: "We are in the process of gathering evidence with intention to prosecute." Twenty-four companies were issued warnings in October at the British Crop Protection Conference in Glasgow for illegally promoting products.

But Peter Sanguinetti, CEO of the UK Crop Protection Association (CPA) pointed out that the UK is ahead of the game. Counterfeit products account for 3% of the UK market, compared to 5-7% in the EU. “The CPA actively encourages enforcements to prevent illegal imports. We recommend that farmers buy pesticides from a reliable source. CPA members sign a code of practice,” he says.

Glyph-resistant horseweed: Syngenta announces fall application label for Envoke herbicide

Syngenta announced today that Envoke herbicide's label has been amended to include fall and early winter application in cotton, aimed at residual control of glyphosate-resistant horseweed and other winter annuals.

“Fall applications are going to be one of the more consistent ways of controlling horseweed,” said Dr. Larry Steckel, University of Tennessee extension weed scientist who was quoted in the release. “Trying to burn down large horseweed that got its start the summer of the previous year or early in the fall is going to be hard with anything. If a grower catches these populations early with a residual herbicide, he is going to be way ahead of the game.”

Applied at 0.10 ounces per acre, Envoke offers pre-emergent residual control of glyphosate-resistant horseweed and tough winter annuals including shepherd’s-purse, henbit and annual bluegrass, the release said.

Envoke at 0.10 ounces per acre may be tank mixed with Gramoxone Inteon, Touchdown HiTech, Touchdown Total, Roundup brands and other glyphosate products as well as synthetic auxin herbicides such as dicamba and 2,4-D. Always add 0.25% v/v NIS to Envoke applied alone or in tank mixes for emerged weed control, the release specified.

“We’ve looked at fall-applied products at various rates for two years,” said Steckel. “We have gotten very, very good residual control of horseweed with low rates of Envoke.”

Syngenta and university cooperator trials have confirmed that even in heavily infested fields, a fall application of Envoke provides effective knockdown and long-lasting residual activity, setting the stage for a clean start at planting and improved crop emergence, according to the release. Cotton may be planted three months following a fall/early winter application of Envoke. Consult the Envoke label and labels of all tank mix partners for rotational restrictions and application requirements.

“We have been looking for a way to thin the horseweed populations in the fall so they are manageable in the spring. Although Valor provided sufficient control through the end of January, it was breaking by mid-March. Envoke was certainly superior in level and length of control,” said Dr. Dan Poston, Mississippi State University extension weed scientist.