Farmers dont like to price more than they think they can deliver and many farmers didnt like the forward prices they took in the spring of 2006 only to see prices climb later on. Its been said before but bears repeating, if all these acres are planted the result will be the largest corn acreage since 1944. Planted wheat acres increased 3 million acres to 60. We all know why corn acres are not only up but over what most expected. Deferred months showed promise but were limited near the end...

By Francisco Vara-Orta, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2007 Overkill click to enlarge The growing battle over genetically engineered plants is slowly taking root in California, most recently with a proposed Assembly bill that would allow farmers to sue bio-crop manufacturers for cross-contamination of organic and traditionally grown plants, which could hurt their marketability. By Francisco Vara-Orta, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2007 Overkill click to enlarge The growing battle over...

But we have noticed some recent price trends that have piqued our curiosity and led us to wonder what will happen to soybean and wheat acreage in the coming years. At the same time, we wonder if the price multiples will trigger a response on the part of farmers and induce them to shift more acreage than expected. Based on the historic multiples, we would not be surprised to see even more corn acres and fewer soybean and wheat acres than currently expected. If that were to take place, and...

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns recently announced an increase in the forecast for agricultural exports to a record $78 billion for fiscal year 2007. Johanns said several trends are driving the rise in export value, such as demand for corn due to increased ethanol production, reduced competition for wheat and only moderate growth in South American oilseed production. Livestock and poultry product exports are forecast to increase $1. Sellers and end users implementing the AASSPs are...

Asian soybean rust confirmed on soybean plant tissue submitted. Instead, growers must be ready to act appropriately and economically in 2007 should this disease again show up in Iowa and be a threat to soybean yields. Efforts are underway to identify other remnant plant residue that may show symptoms and signs of the disease in order to discern details of this event. The fungus and the spores that cause the disease cannot survive without green leaf tissue and will die during Iowa winters....

The USDA said because soybean and corn are quite often interchangeable in parts of the Midwest and South, farmers have dropped beans to go with corn because corn prices have all but doubled over the last year. The USDA estimates US demand for corn for ethanol production will rise 50 per cent to 3.2 billion bushels of the possible record total figure of over 13. Why has this happened? The doubling in the corn prices over the past year and increasing yields means farmers get more from the...