A week ago corn planting was running behind schedule but thanks to the very latest precision technology corn farmers are now 17% ahead of the five year average with 55% of the crop in the ground, according to the latest crop progress report. “We saw more than one-third of the nation’s corn acres planted in a single week,” said USDA …
2015 Corn Crop on Facebook
The 2015 corn crop has barely begun to be planted but it already has its own Facebook page. The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) launched the new Facebook page - Growing the 2015 U.S. Corn Crop - as a direct channel for communication between farmers and overseas customers about the condition and quality of the 2015 U.S. corn crop, according to …
#Classic15 Memorable Moments
Ribbon Cutting by Pocket Knife The Commodity Classic trade show ribbon cutters were having a hard time with some dull scissors so it came down to a pocketknife to start the show. Good reason to pack it in your suitcase or drive to an event - you never know when that pocketknife can come in handy! Record Crowd Once again, …
Ag Unites for Trade with Cuba
Agricultural companies and organizations united this week to launch the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC) to work toward liberalized trade and re-establishing Cuba as a market for U.S. food and agriculture exports. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack says the conversation to normalize relations with Cuba is long overdue and important for US agriculture. “Cuba imports about 80 percent of its …
Big Export Year for Corn
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released its final total for fiscal year 2014 agricultural exports and they are indeed a new record. “It’s a big record, too,” said USDA chief economist Joe Glauber. The final tally was a big $152.5 billion, an increase of $11.5 billion or eight percent from last year’s record $141 billion. Soybean exports topped the …
Corn Acres are Lower but Weather is Key
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is now estimating corn acreage planted is at 91.6 million acres, down 4 percent from last year, which represents the lowest planted acreage in the United States since 2010, but still the fifth-largest acreage planted since 1944. USDA chief economist Joe Glauber says with the numbers in, the attention shifts from acres to weather …
Starting the Conversation on T-TIP
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Europe last week meeting with agricultural and trade officials and about the importance of agriculture’s role in the U.S.-European Union (EU) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). He started the week in Brussels by meeting with 28 agricultural ministers and representatives from the EU. “I wanted to emphasize the opportunity and the necessity that …
Planting Zooms Ahead on Potential Record Crop
USDA is calling for record corn and soybean crops in the first outlook report for the 2014-2015 season. Chief economist Joe Glauber says corn production is forecast at just a little bit more than last year’s record crop with higher expected yields more than offsetting a reduction in planted area. “What would be a record yield at 165.3 bushels per …
Corn Planting Slow and Steady
So corn planting is running behind the five year average right now - but it’s ahead of last year’s progress at this time and we had a record crop in 2013. Remember how the tortoise beat the hare in the old fable - slow and steady wins the race! Illinois, Indiana and Iowa have barely begun to plant, according to …
Secretary Vilsack at Commodity Classic
As long as he has been Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack has made it a priority to address the annual Commodity Classic, so for the fifth time he took the stage last week at the event in front of a record crowd of more than 7,000. “It is awfully nice to come here today to talk about the PASSAGE of …