AgFax Blog: March 2007

Saturday, March 31, 2007

How much more corn? How much did it rain?

The big question in much of the South on Monday (the day after April Fool's Day) will be: How much did it rain?

The Midsouth and much of the Southeast have been been unseasonably dry. In the last week of March, parts of Mississippi were running nearly 7 inches behind on rainfall compared to the historic year-to-date average.

Rain moved across much of Arkansas and Louisiana on Saturday morning, then into Mississippi in the afternoon. A few showers were popping up late in the afternoon in west Alabama.

Showers are in the forecast across much of the region going into the new week. How much it rains will, in part, determine how much more corn is planted in both the Delta and the Southeast.

Dewey Long, Extension grain specialist in Georgia, told me late last week that a combination of dry conditions and increasing fertilizer costs could reduce the projected corn crop in his state from 500,000 acres to something closer to 400,000. Corn planting had virtually stopped in Georgia due to dry conditions.

In the Delta states, corn irrigation started up at least a week ago. Growers were either watering up fields, sustaining young plants on light ground or pre-irrigating so that they could plant corn. Also, some pumps have been running to activate surface-applied nitrogen.

Dan Poston, associate professor at Mississippi State's Delta REC in Stoneville, said late this week that if growers cannot finish corn planting soon or if they have concerns about nitrogen’s cost or availability, they may opt for soybeans.

Tom Barber, Mississippi Extension cotton specialist, said if the weather stays dry until the middle of April, some growers may switch from corn and soybeans back to cotton. Mississippi farmers planted 1.23 million acres of cotton in 2006, but they are expected to plant only 740,000 acres this year.

Dry conditions are causing some Mississippi corn producers to begin irrigating early. This tractor cultivates rows in a Sharkey County corn field near Anguilla, Miss., to make way for furrow irrigation while a center pivot irrigation system runs in a field behind the tractor. (Photo by Robert H. Wells/MSU Delta Research and Extension Center)

The Rural Internet - A Primmer

Vicki Garrick, an assistant dean at the University of Georgia's Tifton campus, writes about shared broadband internet usage in this month's issue of Rice Farming magazine. The article - The Rural Internet - is a brief primmer on the subject of wirelessly connecting scattered locations.

It includes a table comparing different forms of connecting to the web and the fit each might have in rural areas. Choices include dialup, digital subscriber lines (DSL), satellite connections and fixed wireless service.

One of the real disservices done to rural Americans has been the lack of a federal effort to bring more broadband service to rural areas. The same sort of campaign that pushed electrification into the countryside in the first half of the 20th Century has been needed to bring broadband to farmers who are too far from town for DSL service.

Where federal money has gone into wireless broadband, it has tended to be to places like Indian reservations. I've got no problem with funding that, but the bulk of the countryside - where farmers grow crops and need ready connections to the internet - are largely bypassed.

Low-interest loans for building out wireless service have been unavailable to small businesses that operate wireless services. It's a great technology that has gone to waste.

About a third of Texas rice crop now planted

About 32% of the Texas rice crop has been planted, based on the Friday estimate posted on the state's Rice Crop Survey web site.

Friday's USDA planting intentions report indicates that Texas growers could increase plantings this year by 6.67%, moving it from 150,000 acres in 2006 to 160,000 acres in 2007. That's still significantly below the 202,000 acres planted in 2005.

Custom Rate Survey Provides Farmers Baseline Costs

Greg Halich, farm management specialist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, has compiled a baseline guide for custom machinery rates in Kentucky. Halich gathered information from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas. The rates he has calculated are averages for these combined states and are adjusted for differences in fuel price, machinery costs and wages at the time of the reported surveys.

Adjusted data is available on 64 grain crop operation tasks, 44 hay operations, 34 miscellaneous operations and 72 unadjusted rates for miscellaneous operations.

"The stimuli for doing this came both from county extension agents and from farmers who where looking for custom rates for Kentucky,” he said. “So the need was there, but there was no time to do it (a state survey) before spring planting. There were a lot of other surveys that were applicable to Kentucky conditions, so why not utilize them in some fashion? So, I came up with the idea of averaging the other surveys and modifying them for differences.”

Click here for more info on the project.

Click here to download the full survey report.

Will early wheat translate into more doublecropping?

Warm spring weather has consistently pushed the wheat crop across much of the lower South, and that might influence the final planted acreage in soybeans, cotton and even rice.

Some wheat could come out of the field in the south Delta in the first 7 to 10 days of May, based on several conversations we had this week while gathering info for AgFax: Southern Grain.

A couple of fields were harvested in south Arkansas last year as early as May 18. There's some speculation that a few fields could be ready this year before then - cases where growers planted early maturing varieties on an early schedule last fall. Early-planted fields in Louisiana also could be ready in early May.

In past seasons, it's been questionalble whether doublecrop soybeans pay in the lower Midsouth, even with irrigation. But with higher bean prices, it's likely that more growers may push for a second crop, especially if they can irrigate. Every year, a few people plant rice behind wheat in Arkansas. And the concept of doublecrop cotton is a bit more sound these days with something like DPL 444, which is commonly grown behind wheat in south Georgia.

Not every acre of Midsouth wheat will be a sure candidate for doublecropping this year because a large portion of the crop was planted late and/or later-maturing varieties were used. Rain moved into the region last year on October 15-16 and shut down most planting until a week or so before Thanksgiving.

Book recounts history of California rice

A group of Richvale, California, residents - the Richvale Writing Group - has compiled a history of California rice and the role Richvale played in the emergence of a western rice industry.

Richvale is often called the birthplace of California rice because early settlers pioneered the beginnings of the state's rice industry, which now generates a half-billion dollars a year in commerce.

Ching Lee, a reporter for California Farm Bureau's Ag Alert newsletter, filed a report on the book this week.

The title: Richvale: A Legacy of Courage, Dedication, and Perseverance.

Several members of the writing group are farmers or descendants of local rice farmers.

"Most of us who had done the writing for the book grew up with the farmers," said Denny Lindberg, a Richvale native and rice farmer who chaired the writing group. "We thought this should be captured now while we're here to be able to express it or they're going to be memories lost forever."

The 294-page book is suppose to be for sale at Amazon.Com, although when we checked today it was not yet available.

California growers coming up short on needed snow pack

California cotton growers are going into the new season with the smallest snow pack since 1990. Statewide, the snow pack is 46% of average, but the amount of available snow - which becomes water for irrigation and other uses - varies from one portion of the mountain range to the next. However, farmers in some water districts in the San Joaquin Valley are now finding out how much less water they'll likely have for this year's crops and to sustain permanent crops.

Some smaller irrigation districts may get little, if any, of their normal allotment. Some districts are delaying the release of water for irrigation until May 1.

State officials who monitor the snow pack say that there already is at least a good supply of water in reservoirs. But the supply situation in one part of the valley has been complicated by a ruling that 100,000 acre feet of water must be released in a program to restore wild salmon to that river.

"The tight water supply was a point that some farmers took into account when they finally decided not to raise cotton this year," says Vern Crawford, a PCA with Wilbur-Ellis Co. in Shafter in the southern SJV. "In the 40 years I've been working with some growers, this is the first year they won't have cotton. Some smaller districts in the next county might not get any water, we're being told, and my growers are in an area that may only receive 30% of what they ordered."

Warmer weather also is pushing against water availability. The snow pack was reduced by about half between the sampling period in early March and the sampling period in late March. Normally, the snow supply would not have diminished that much during the month. If the spring remains warm, more snow will melt, causing reservoirs in some locations to top off, which would lead to downstream discharges before the water is needed for irrigation.

This is turning into an odd start for the California crop on several fronts. Planting is off to an early start due to the warm weather, but the state's cotton acreage continues to decline. Friday's USDA planting intentions report indicated that California producers intend to plant 210,000 acres, the lowest since upland estimates began in 1941. They also intend to plant 250,000 acres of Pima, surpassing the upland acreage for the first time in history.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Sens. Harkin, Chambliss Request Review of Biotechnology Protocols

From the U.S. Rice Producers Association today in a special edition of Rice Advocate:

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) authored a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting a review of the 1986 Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology.
As evidenced by the adventitious presence of LLRICE601 and LLRICE604 in the U.S. rice supply, the framework used to evaluate the safety and containment of genetic material may have serious shortcomings.
USRPA sees this review as potentially a positive step forward in dealing with the problem of adventitious presence by reviewing these procedures and hopefully establishing a comprehensive, effective set of safeguards and control mechanisms based on sound science that will prevent future industry mishaps, both for the rice industry and U.S. agriculture as a whole.

Click here to download the full report.

Ladybugs may be cute, but don't let them get near the wine vat

Ladybugs may look pretty but they also have a dark side. In some places, the polka-dotted insects have become a nuisance by invading homes and crops, including some vineyards.

To make matters worse, the bugs produce a foul-smelling liquid that, besides irritating homeowners, can be inadvertently processed along with grapes and taint the aroma and flavor of wine.

Now, chemists at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, say they have identified several compounds that are responsible for the ladybug’s noxious odor, a finding that could lead to new strategies to detect and eliminate the offensive compounds. Their study, which could lead to better tasting wine, was presented today at the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Their study was summarized over the weekend in a press release issued by the American Chemical Society.

New metal crystals, formed on a cotton assembly line

Appropriating cellulose fibers from cotton and crystallizing them, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., have grown never-before-seen configurations of metal crystals that show promise as components in biosensors, biological imaging, drug delivery and catalytic converters.

Deriving the desired chemical and physical properties necessary for those applications hinges on the uniform size of the metal crystals. Depending on the metal, they must be between 2 and 200 nanometers, Yongsoon Shin, a staff scientist at the Department of Energy laboratory in Richland, Wash., reported today at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. PNNL laboratory fellow Gregory Exarhos led the research.

The research was summarized in a Department of Energy/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release.

Exarhos called Shin’s experimental work "the first report of the efficacy of nanocrystalline cellulose templates in driving the formation of ordered metal and metal oxide nanoparticles at surfaces." Exarhos has dubbed these cellulose nanocrystals "molecular factories."

Using acid-treated cellulose fibers from cotton as a natural template, the PNNL team has been able to grow gold, silver, palladium, platinum, copper, nickel and other metal and metal-oxide nanocrystals quickly and of uniform size, Shin said. The metals display catalytic, electrical and optical that would not be present in larger or odd-sized crystals.

The acid converts the cellulose to a large, stable crystallized molecule rich in oxygen-hydrogen, or hydroxyl, groups, predictably spaced along the long chemical chains, or polymers, that comprise the cellulose molecule’s backbone. When most metal salts dissolved in solution are added in a pressurized oven and heated 70 to 200 degrees centigrade or warmer for four to 16 hours, uniform metal crystals form at the hydroxyl sites.

The researchers called this method a "green process," requiring only heat, the crystalline cellulose and the metal salts. Other attempts to get uniform nanometals have resulted in crystals of widely variable sizes that require strong, caustic chemicals as reducing and stabilizing agents.

Terral sells 2 Louisiana grain elevators to Lansing Trade Group

Lansing Trade Group, LLC has completed its purchase of Terral Farm Service, Inc.'s grain elevator operations in Delhi and Wisner, Louisiana.

Terral Farm Service has sold its grain elevator operations in Delhi and Wisner, Louisiana, to Lansing Trade Group, LLC, of Overland Park, Kansas.

The announcement was made today in a press release.

According to the release, the acquired operations provide a "good fit" to Lansing's core trading business, allowing the company to increase its originations and further leverage its Mexican export business.

The grain facility in Delhi is a 2.1 million bushel Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) rail loading facility, and Wisner is a 1.6 million bushel facility. In addition, Lansing assumed a multi-year lease of additional capacity in place at Columbia, Louisiana, along with an origination base from a large pool of on-farm storage throughout North Louisiana and into the Mississippi Delta.

Click here to read the full release.

Corn being irrigated up in the Delta

One of our readers reported this morning that he saw 2 fields of corn being irrigated up in the south Delta while driving from the Jackson, Miss., area to Greenwood over the weekend. The corn had been planted but had not emerged.

That's a pretty good indication about how dry it already is in places. One field was being furrow irrigated, while a pivot was running over the other field.

For more on dry conditions, see our weekend Southern Grain report.

There also are reports today of conditions being dry enough in parts of West Tennessee that some people are having a difficult time getting no-till coulters to go into the ground.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Kentucky on watch for new corn pest

Kentucky entomologists are on the lookout for the western bean cutworm, a pest that has been moving east over the last several years and could make it into the state in 2007. Despite its name, the worm's main potential target in Kentucky will be corn.

This year, the Extension service will begin monitoring traps for the worm in western Kentucky.

Click here for more information and a photo.

Why do farmers lose in the market?

STAT News Service carried an article this week that examines why farmers make marketing decisions that sometimes confound logic, like rushing to plant more acres of a particular crop when the countryside already appears to be saturated with it.

The short explanation is that passion tends to outweigh an objective examination of, say, the numbers.

It's worth a quick read. Click here to go to the STAT page.

Clearfield 131 carrying commonly approved LL protein

While it won't solve any problems this year for rice growers who've lost Clearfield 131 from their planting choices, USDA announced yesterday that analysis indicates that the regulated genetic material found at minute levels in CL 131 is LLRICE604.

The positive point is that the protein contained in LLRICE604 has a long history of safe use and is present in many deregulated products.

LLRICE604 was developed by Bayer Cropscience for herbicide tolerance as part of the LLRICE600 series.

We've posted the USDA press release. Click here to download it.

Peanut butter recall causes shortages of other brands

Last month's recall of Peter Pan and Wal-Mart's Great Value peanut butter has had a ripple effect throughout the peanut butter supply chain. There's been a run on brands not affected by the recall - to the point that some of those aren't available in at least certain areas.

I know this because I go through a 28-ounce jar of Jif Extra Crunchy about every 3 weeks. Peanut butter is one of my lunchtime staples. And if I don't have it at lunch, then peanut butter and crackers are an afternoon snack. I started PeanutFax partly because I enjoy peanut butter so much and figured it would be fun to write about the crop.

There was no Jif on the shelf of the local Brookshire's supermarket the other day. The manager - one of those rare individuals who still feels badly if he can't supply what the customer wants - apologized for the blank shelf space.

Loyal Peter Pan buyers shifted to Jif and other brands after the recall, which stemmed from salmonella being found in Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter processed in a Georgia plant

"I don't know when I'll be able to get more Jif crunchy," he said. "The company is doing everything it can, and the last time I called about it, I was told not to ask. As soon as they could get more, they would ship it, but there was no prediction about when that might be."

Drought forces Australian farmers to consider a northern exposure

Australian farmers are enduring the worst drought in a century in key farming areas in Queensland and New South Wales, and many of them are now at least considering a move to the more tropical areas in the northern part of the country.

Two-thirds of the nation's fresh water flows through the rivers of northern Australia, compared to less than 5% in the drought-exhausted rivers in the farming valleys to the south.

As a result of climate change, scientists predict a 15% decline in rainfall in the south over the coming decades. The same projections show the north actually getting wetter due to increase monsoon activity.

A couple of our Australian readers have mentioned this potential migration recently, and we just ran across a report on the subject, "Farmers look to Australia's wild, wet north," which appeared in the March 14 issue of The Christian Science Monitor (CSM). The article, written by correspondent Nick Squires, notes some of the drawbacks to agricultural expansion in the north.

The region's soils tend to be poorer than those in the south. And while it rains more in the north, rainfall patterns are highly seasonal - way too much or way too little.

There also are potential pest problems in the north that farmers in other parts of Australia rarely, if ever, run up against. A large government-supported program to produce rice in one tropical area in the 1950s was unsuccessful because, in part, wild magpie geese flocked to the seed and feral water buffaloes destroyed levees.

All manner of legal and political questions also must be addressed since aboriginal tribal lands encompass a good deal of the potential farmland.

But, as Squires notes, the northern lands lie relatively close to expanding markets in Asia, and that could influence expansion potential in northern Australia.

Hal Lewis, defoliation innovator, named to Arkansas Ag Hall of Fame

Hal Lewis, developer of what's commonly called the "Hal Lewis Method" for defoliation timing, was recently inducted in the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. Lewis, a native of Manila, Ark., also conducted research that led to the development of the cotton module builder and bollweevil eradication systems. In his role as a plant breeder, he is credited with introducing 3 cotton varieties, 4 commercial soybean varieties and 2 grain sorghum hybrids.

Among others inducted were:

Former governor and U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers.

Bob McGinnis of West Memphis. A native of Marianna and a former state representative, McGinnis introduced legislation that authorized the state's boll weevil erad program. McGinnis is a retired cotton farmer.

Betty T. Sloan of Jonesboro. She took over operations of the family farming operation after her husband’s death, becoming president and manager of one of northeast Arkansas’ largest farming operations.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Arkansas Plant Board reaffirms ban on Cheniere through 2008

The following is a report in today's USA Rice Federation Daily:

LITTLE ROCK, AR — The Arkansas State Plant Board met yesterday for a public hearing on the emergency action the board took on December 28 to ban the sale and planting of the Cheniere rice variety for 2007 and 2008.

Letters read during the meeting from the USA Rice Federation and Riceland Foods, Inc. encouraged the board to make its ban permanent.

“USA Rice considers the Plant Board’s actions as critically important to re-establishing the supply and marketability of U.S. rice,” USA Rice Federation Chairman Al Montna said in his letter. He also thanked the Arkansas Plant Board for its actions.

Similar testimony was also given by Brandy Carroll, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Bill Reed, Riceland
Foods, Inc., and Keith Glover, Producers Rice Mill.

After hearing the testimony the board voted unanimously to make the ban permanent for 2007-08.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

BBC looks at the Asian rice industry

If you can't take a tour of Asia's rice industry, here's an alternative...

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is airing a series, The Rice Bowl Tales, which is a look at the developments going on with rice in that part of the world. Three parts -- on China, Thailand and Bangladesh - have already aired.

Click here to go to the home page for the series.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Louisiana advisory on planting farm-bin rice seed

The following advisory was sent to Extension agents in Louisiana today by Johnny Saichuk, Louisiana Extension Rice Specialist:

I have received questions about planting rice out of farm bins. The question is important in light of the situation with seed shortages and GMO regulations.

First, if the variety is either Cheniere or CL131 it CANNOT be planted at all. No exceptions.

For other varieties I recommend the grower contact one of the Louisiana Dept. of Ag and Forestry personnel on the attached list. They will come out and sample the rice or supervise the farmer while he pulls his own sample. Once the sample is obtained two tests should be performed.

A germination test should be performed to provide cheap insurance before planting.
A test for the presence of the adventitious presence of genetic modification will be necessary when the grower harvests and tries to sell the crop.

With the proper documentation it should be no problem. The one sample pulled from the bin can be divided to provide enough grain for each analysis. The LDAF personnel have been trained in the procedure and will know where the seed will go to be tested. There is a one time $50 charge for the sampling and the tests may also have fees attached. Regardless of fees both are worth it.

Normally, we do not recommend planting rice taken from on-farm storage because often it does not germinate well, contains weed seeds and foreign matter and does not flow well in planters. An exception is being made because of the extraordinary circumstances this year has presented.

Mr. Lester Cannon of the LDAF has told me there will probably be a class of seed listed as “non-certified because of low germ” available for sale. They are making special accommodations for rice growers because of the seed shortage. This seed will be labeled in such a manner that it should be clear it is not certified. Planting rates will have to be adjusted to compensate for the lower germination. In our manuals our planting rates have assumed at least 80% germination.

For example:

Planting 80% germ seed at 75 lbs per acre would provide 60 lbs per acre of viable seed. (.80 X 75 = 60).
To obtain the same amount of viable seed per acre with 60% germination would require a planting rate of 100 lbs per acre. (.6x = 60 or x = 60/.60 = 100 lbs.)

Rice cannot be sold from farm bins to other farmers because of plant variety protection act rules.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.

Johnny

John K. Saichuk, Ph.D.
Rice Specialist, LSU AgCenter
Southwest Region
1373 Caffey Rd.
Rayne, LA 70578

Office: 337-788-7547
Cell: 337-849-6253

Louisiana Rice Web Page www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/crops/rice

Weather radar, close up

We have just added a new feature to our weather pages - a magnifying window on our radar maps that allows you to take a closer look at radar images in an area of 3 to 6 counties (depending on the map and county sizes).

Click here to go to our national map, then double click on your state to bring up that map. In the case of Texas and California, double click as close as you can to your location to bring up the map covering that portion of the state.

Next, click on your county, and the magnifier appears. With some screen resolutions, the magnifying block may initially show up just above your click point. Hold down your left mouse button to drag the magnifying block to the area you want to see.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Shifting cotton acreage may be affecting sorghum seed supply

James Hinton, a Floyd County, Texas farmer, posted the following today on Barry Bean's Cotton List. Floyd County is in the southern Panhandle.

I went to my seed dealer on Friday to book my normal amount of grain sorghum seed and sorghum sudangrass seed. He told me that the popular varieties of seed are getting scarce. One variety I wanted was gone. The sorghum sudangrass that I like to plant is only available at a 70% germ.

There may be some ground that was shifting to sorghum from cotton intentions that may not be shifted after all. If there is a real shortage of sorghum seed, it could pose a problem for growers who lose acres to storms and want to plant a catch crop.

The other indication is there are a lot of acres going into sorghum.

By the way, if you're unfamiliar with Barry Bean's list, it's a list server that brings together cotton growers, brokers, Extension workers and others involved in production and marketing.

To join Barry Bean's Cotton List (known as (Cotton-L"), click here.

Agreement aims to protect thousands of rice varieties

An agreement that will fund the protection and management of the world's thousands of unique rice varieties was formally signed over the weekend in the Philippines. To read a report on the agreement, click here.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

APHIS further restricts Clearfield 131 planting

The following was distributed Saturday by the USA Rice Federation:

WASHINGTON — Testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of trace levels of genetic material not yet approved for commercialization in Clearfield 131 (CL131) rice seed.

Based on these test results, further distribution or planting of 2005, 2006, or 2007 registered or certified CL 131 seed is prohibited.

This seed is not an option for planting this crop season. These test results confirm results received from private testing that were announced on Monday, March 5. APHIS is issuing emergency action notifications (EANs) to distributors of 2005, 2006, or 2007 registered or certified CL131 rice seed — and producers who are known to have received it — to stop the further distribution and planting of this seed.

And, APHIS is working with the rice industry to inform distributors and farmers with saved CL 131 rice seed from prior crop years that they cannot further distribute or plant it. Producers who have already planted CL 131 seed this season prior to this announcement have several options, including treating with an herbicide or mechanically destroying the plants after emergence. A different variety of rice or a broadleaf crop such as soybeans can then be planted in its place.

For further information about these options, please contact Thomas Sim, Director of Regulatory Operations for APHIS' Biotechnology Regulatory Services program, at (301) 734- 7324. APHIS will provide additional information next week regarding options for any producers or distributors currently holding saved CL131 seed from previous crop years.

Click here to see the full APHIS announcement.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Bringing Fallow Fields Back into Production

From a University of Kentucky press release:

PRINCETON, Ky., (March 7, 2007) – Spurred on by higher grain prices, producers are considering bringing fallow land back into production. This can be done successfully if producers follow good management techniques, according to research conducted by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

“We aren’t getting as many questions about this from farmers in western Kentucky as from central Kentucky,” said Lloyd Murdock, UK Extension soils specialist. “There was a lot of land that was eligible to come out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program this year, but all but about 3 million acres have been re-enrolled nationwide.”

In the mid- to late 1990s, UK scientists conducted research in preparation for what was anticipated to be a move from fallowed land to production. It never materialized at that time, but demand and high prices for grain crops are moving producers to consider adding acreage this year. Some of those fields will have been left completely fallow while others may have been used for hay or pasture.

It is unclear how much fallow land and hay or pasture fields will ultimately switch to row crops, but Murdock said for farmers considering doing so, it is important to understand the challenges.

Click here to read the entire press release.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Check out TheFastPages on your cell phone

For our readers now using the AgFax mobile web site - agfax.com/m - here's another site worth adding to your mobile phone's bookmarks: thefastpages.com.

The site provides a quick grouping of all kinds of news, business and special interest sites set up for mobile access. You'll have to scroll through ads on some sites, but all the content we've viewed, so far, is free.

I particularly like the site's weather section - Weather Underground - which gives you a long listing of information on one screen, including radar, current conditions, the 7-day forecast, sunrise/sunset and an animated radar link. The screen also includes a report on "Yesterday's Heating Degree Days," although I haven't figured out exactly the calculation basis for this, whether from 50 degrees, 60 degrees or some other point.

Click here to see the content on the main Fast Pages mobile site.

The direct link for your cell phone or mobile device is:

www.mytfp.net

While the site was initially designed for higher end mobile devices, it works quite well on my Motorola Razr using the Opera Mini browser, which you can download to your cell phone for free.

Scientists seeking help locating invasive plants in the South

If you're finding exotic, invasive plants and want to let someone know about them, there's now a way. The University of Georgia, collaborating with the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council, has set up a web-based mapping system to get a clearer picture of just how much of the regionhas been invaded. You can help them do it at www.se-eppc.org.

Anyone can view current sightings of dozens of exotic invasive plants (some hostile, some not) on maps at the Web page. The site covers the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

If you want to help, you can register and learn how to identify an invasive plant, snap its picture and submit its location. The site uses Google Map to make it easy if you don't have a Global Positioning System. About 60 scouts have registered, so far, to make reports.

Click here for a University of Georgia press release that provides a good overview about the program.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Poultry industry: release land in CRP, end ethanol import duty

The country could actually face a shortage of corn, its most abundant crop, as ethanol demand -- driven by federal subsidies and mandates -- outstrips supply, an executive with a a major poultry producer told Congress today.

The executive - Matthew Herman, manager of a Tyson Foods chicken production and processing complex in Monroe, North Carolina - said that U.S. animal agriculture has survived high feed prices in the past. But those were temporary conditions caused by bad weather or other problems, he said. The high prices facing the industry now are caused by ethanol subsidies and mandates set by law.

The statements were included in a press release issued today by the National Chicken Council (NCC). Click here to read the full release.

Herman said NCC and North Carolina Poultry Federation had 8 recommendations on the ethanol crisis. Among them are release of "non-environmentally sensitive cropland" now tied up in the conservation reserve program and an end to the export duty on imported ethanol when it expires at the end of 2008.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

APHIS statement on Clearfield 131 Hold Action

The following is the statement APHIS issued Monday when it placed the "hold" on Clearfield 131 rice:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is taking action to prevent the planting and distribution of a long-grain rice seed known as Clearfield CL131 because testing by a private company has revealed the possible presence of trace levels of genetic material not yet approved for commercialization.

APHIS began issuing emergency action notifications (EANs) yesterday, March 4, to inform distributors that this seed, scheduled for planting this spring, must be held until APHIS can verify and identify the presence of additional genetic material. APHIS directed distributors to begin notifying producers yesterday. Additional EANs are being issued to affected producers as they are identified.

APHIS is taking this action because the genetic material detected in Clearfield CL131 seed might be regulated, in which case it would not be approved for commercial use. The issuance of EANs will keep any additional CL131 seed from being planted until a determination can be made concerning the identity of this genetic material and the appropriate risk assessment can be conducted. USDA, through its own testing, is in the process of confirming the results reported by BASF Corporation.

This action is prompted by test results informally reported to APHIS by Horizon Ag last Wednesday evening, with written results being provided to APHIS by BASF Corporation and Horizon Ag on Thursday. Clearfield is a registered trademark of BASF. Clearfield CL131 was not developed as a genetically engineered product. Horizon Ag is licensed by BASF Corporation to market this seed. Both companies are fully cooperating with APHIS.

This is not the first detection of genetically engineered material in Clearfield CL131 rice seed. Last week, APHIS announced that trace levels of a previously deregulated genetically engineered trait had been identified in Clearfield CL131.

Because of the possibility that the genetic material in question is regulated, APHIS is conducting an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the release and whether any violations of USDA regulations occurred.

FMC acquires rights to new crop fungicide

FMC Corporation and Sankyo Agro Co., Ltd., announced Monday that FMC has secured exclusive access to simeconazole, a proprietary, triazole fungicide. Under an agreement with Sankyo Agro, FMC has acquired the rights to develop, register, market and sell both stand-alone and combination products containing simeconazole globally, except for several countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Subject to EPA approval and completion of the development program, first sales are expected in 2010/11 timeframe.

Simeconazole was discovered and patented by Sankyo Agro and has been registered in several countries in Asia and the Middle East. Sankyo Agro actively markets the product in Japan and has secured registrations for use in rice, soybeans, pome & stone fruit, vegetables, strawberry, tea and turf.

Click here to read the full announcement.

BASF says it is cooperating with USDA on CL 131

BASF Agricultural Products announced Monday in a press release that it is cooperating with the United States Department of Agriculture to remove all Clearfield 131 rice from the marketplace following discovery that some of the seed has been contaminated by an unidentified genetically modified (GM) event. BASF said it is taking the action in conjunction with USDA's March 4 issuance of an Emergency Action Notification on CL131 variety seed. The order calls for no planting or distribution of CL131 seed.

"BASF is in discussions with Bayer CropScience regarding technical assistance to expedite the identification of LL62, LL601 or other GM traits to help determine the scope and source of the GM presence in CLEARFIELD seed," the release said.

Click here to read the full press release. click here.

Monday, March 05, 2007

LSU advisory: USDA suspends sales of CL 131 rice

The following was forwarded to me by Johnny Saichuk, Louisiana Extension Rice Specialist. It is a message sent to him by Steve Linscombe, LSU rice breeder. Also, click here for more details in today's USA Rice Federation Daily - "APHIS Orders Stop to Clearfield 131 Distribution after Arkansas Plant Board Issues Ban":

To All Working With Rice:

The message below was sent to me by Dr. Linscombe. It is brief because that is all either he or I know at this time. As developments occur I will let you know of them.

Johnny

A trace contamination of a transgenic event that is not Event 62 or Event 601 has been found in a sample of registered CL131. Based on this the USDA has suspended sales of seed of this variety. It is a 35S-Bar event. This is about all I know at this point in time.

Pharma rice receives positive USDA risk assessment

The USDA last week released a draft environmental assessment that concluded planting pharma rice in Kansas poses virtually no risk.

Click here to read a report that appeared in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Midsouth consultants may be upping estimated cotton acreage decline

Cotton consultants in the Midsouth continue to tell us that they will have less cotton to check this season compared to last year. If anything, their estimated cotton acreage seems to have declined a bit more since we posted an item about this after the Mississippi Agricultural Consultants Association meeting in February.

Just before the Gin Show last week in Memphis, DuPont hosted a seminar for consultants, and we attended the event.

One Mississippi consultant, who said in February that his acreage might be off 35% for 2007, told us in Memphis on Thursday that the number may be more like 40% and “maybe a little above that.”

Another Mississippi consultant who works in the south Delta said his cotton acreage would be off by 60%.

Two consultants said that at least one of their colleagues had projected that his cotton plantings would be off by 70%.

The decline appears to be somewhat less in the Missouri bootheel, two consultants from that area said. One estimated that his cotton acreage would decline only 10% to 15%.

Consultants said the amount of acreage reduction depends, in part, on whether farmers own a gin. If so, they are perhaps reducing acreage a bit less than their neighbors. Another factor seems to be whether growers are in areas where significant corn acreage already exists. That may be the case in areas like southeast Missouri.

Consultants are picking up much of the corn acreage that had been in cotton, several said. The per-acre fee is less. But, compared to cotton, the scouting season for corn ends sooner, and consultants don’t have to deal with defoliation decisions.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Arkansas Plant Board Nixes CL 131

Arkansas Plant Board Nixes CL 131: The only report we’ve found on Friday’s Arkansas Plant Board Meeting was in this morning’s Arkansas Gazette-Democrat. Click here to go to the newspaper’s coverage. Related info:

Late last week, several of our readers forwarded a statement regarding CL 131 that was issued by Bobby Hanks with Louisiana Rice Mill, LLC, regarding CL 131. Hanks stated: “I confirm that our position has not changed since we released our letter on January 30th. Given the recent news regarding CL131, we would recommend that growers explore alternatives to CL131. However, if the grower decides to plant CL131 and they have the required documentation we will accept the rice.”

Johnny Saichuk, Louisiana Extension Rice Specialist, distributed an advisory regarding XP 730. Click here to download Saichuk’s advisory.