In Bolivar County, where Shelby is located, farmers received a total of $200 million in crop subsidies between 2001 and 2005, while $11 million in Rural Development grants from the Agriculture Department went to replace the abandoned factories, decaying houses, and boarded-up downtowns in dozens of dirt-poor, majority-black Delta towns. In Bolivar County, where Shelby is located, farmers received a total of $200 million in crop subsidies between 2001 and 2005, while $11 million in Rural...

Insect control in cotton continues while irrigation continues. Deciduous tree fruit, nuts and grapes: Some grape bunch thinning occurred along with fungicide and some insect control applications being made. Peach varieties such as Ice Princess and Snow Blaze; nectarines Ruby Pearl and Arctic Sweet; plums Yummy Beaut and Black Beaut; and pluots Early Dapple and Tropical Plumana are being packed for both domestic and export shipments to Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, and Taiwan. Blackeyes...

THE CORPORATION Deere's Revolution On Wheels Harvesting cutting-edge technologies, an old-economy business is rolling out one of the biggest advances in farming in half a century Slide Show >> A lifetime ago, Deere & co. (DE ) was leading the revolution in American farming as its iron machines replaced man and animal in the field. THE CORPORATION Deere's Revolution On Wheels Harvesting cutting-edge technologies, an old-economy business is rolling out one of the biggest advances in farming...

When President Bush and others pushed for more ethanol made from corn, farmers planted corn in near record numbers this year. What farmers plant in the field could soon help you pay less at the fuel pump. Todd says most of the proposed ethanol plants are still a year or so from operation and farmers will have to wait to see what happens with prices. The stalks, the leaves and the rest make good compost to put back in the ground for next year's crops. Besides the great price right now,...

Harvest was progressing ahead of the normal pace in Arkansas , Illinois, and Indiana, but continued showers and thunderstorms have disrupted harvest activities in the central and southern Great Plain, where Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas trailed behind the normal pace by 17 points or more. High irrigation demands continued to be a concern in California, where rangeland and pastures remained 95 percent poor to very poor due to lack of precipitation. Emergence had begun on 92 percent of the...

This has international implications as well because keeping prices artificially low hinders the ability of developing countries to strengthen their own agriculture industries. It would provide a more effective safety net for farmers, while investing in our rural communities, improving our environment and eating habits, and reducing the deficit. FARM 21 makes farm policies trade-compliant by transitioning the current system of farm subsidies counter-cyclical, loan deficiency, income loss...