Latest News From Rhonda Brooks

Moisture availability is one of the biggies to check out, says Ken Ferrie. He also details some upcoming agronomic events, like his Beyond The Basics five-part webinar series and the virtual Corn & Soybean College.

A handful of soybeans scattered on the ground doesn't look like much, but small numbers can quickly add up to large losses. Evaluating the situation and making adjustments can help you take more beans to the bin.

Farmers applying NH3 can maximize their dollars and use of the product by not applying it until soil temperatures are no more than 50 degrees and trending lower, according to Iowa State University Extension.

With odds stacked against him, Kevin Engel, 2023 Top Producer of the Year finalist, has prevailed.

Ken Ferrie offers five practical agronomic tips you can use during harvest this fall. These practices can help you improve corn performance and yield outcomes across your farm.

If your combine monitor is showing a wide range of yields in the field, Ken Ferrie says to investigate. Evaluate soybean stand, pod set and bean size while there’s agronomic evidence.

Weather woes took a huge bite out of corn yield potential this season, especially in northeast Iowa and parts of western Illinois. Where farmers got timely rains, the yield reports coming in are not as wide-ranging.

The online tool from the SCN Coalition is free and easy to use. It’s backed by research done on more than 25,000 university soybean research plots across the U.S.

Work by the House or Senate Agriculture Committee on a new farm bill is essentially stalled, Randy Russell tells AgriTalk's Chip Flory. Russell says that could be the case until government funding issues are resolved.

From the roots up, Beck’s Hybrids and AgriGold promise new ways to talk about how to grow corn.

USDA's latest insights show the two companies dominated U.S. retail seed sales for the three crops from 2018 through 2020. That is the most recent period for which market estimates are available.

A calibrated monitor usually does a good job of telling you where yield is changing in a field within a hybrid, but it may not tell you exactly how one hybrid is yielding against another.

Less than 5% of new grads choose rural food animal practice. That needs to change to protect the U.S. food supply and public health. Contacting legislators is one way farmers and ranchers can weigh in and help.

If Congress doesn't pass stopgap funding, crop production and progress reports will probably stall. That won't bode well for markets. "Usually it means that we've got some selling pressure ahead,” says one analyst.

Yields can take a 5-bu.-per-acre hit as a result of the sickle running so high on stems it cuts off branches and allows them to fall below the deck. Losses can be reduced to 1 bu. per acre with header adjustments.

Ken Ferrie expects yields to climb as Illinois farmers start harvesting more of their May-planted corn. Looking ahead, he says farmers will see some challenges from herbicide carryover in 2024.

Some farmers in central Illinois are making yield estimates of 250 to 270 bushels per acre. Ken Ferrie says in many of those cases a more realistic estimate, though disappointing, would be in the 170 to 220 range.

Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska have previously confirmed populations of dicamba-resistant waterhemp. Extension stresses the importance of not allowing any seed-bearing waterhemp to remain in the field at harvest.

Out East, Ken Ferrie saw good corn crops with delayed maturity. Black layer will be pushed out to October. In the West, one Iowa field had the highest corn yield check of the season, while other fields were burned up.

The oilseed crop offers farmers the opportunity to grow three crops in two years. It can be used for sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and animal feed production.

Corteva Agriscience introduces Viatude and LumiTreo to address tough disease issues and protect soybean yield potential. Both will be available for use in 2024. There are limited supplies of Viatude this season, as well.

Farm Rescue's mission is to help farmers and ranchers who have had a major illness, injury or natural disaster by providing equipment and volunteer labor – free of charge – to perform time-sensitive services.

The past four days of high heat and no moisture have taken a toll in the state with some farmers predicting corn yield lows of 140 bu. per acre. Some still anticipate 200-bu. plus yields. All they need is some rain.

Conditions are right for the disease to break loose in parts of the Midwest. If it does, agronomists recommend three steps farmers can take to prioritize affected cornfields for harvest to minimize yield loss.

A fast-moving storm flattened crops on June 29, but the rain gave much needed relief to area crops and hope to farmers struggling to stay optimistic. Pro Farmer Crop Tour provides insights on how those crops look now.

Understanding soybean growth and development can help determine the best stages to maximize untapped yield potential. Consider these six key times and manage soybeans accordingly.

First thing Tuesday, Pro Farmer Tour scouts saw Nebraska irrigated corn with 208 to 250 bu. yields. But a lot could change as they head into dryland corn. In the eastern Corn Belt, scouts are evaluating Indiana crops.

A heat dome will consume the Plains and Mississippi Valley into the South this week with "oppressive and dangerous conditions" expected at least through midweek, the National Weather Service reported early Monday.

Out of the gate this morning, scouts saw a high of 208 bu/A for corn and a low of 92 bu/A. In the West, the initial report is positive for South Dakota with "better than last year" the key phrase scouts are repeating.

Corn growers in 13 states have confirmed tar spot outbreaks now. Iowa leads the pack with the disease reported in at least 36 counties. Indiana is a close second. "It’s starting to explode," one agronomist says.

Some of the research now underway at the facility is focused on improving germplasm performance, launching stacked, next-generation differentiated traits and demonstrating  regenerative agriculture cropping systems.

A market analyst shared a gloomy outlook for the country on Thursday, saying the U.S. balance sheet and financial condition have been deteriorating significantly over the last decade. He expects more of the same ahead.

The increased incidence of the disease this year in the Midwest has to do with the extremely hot, dry weather followed by heavy precipitation events farmers received in June and July.

Sixty-five percent of farmers surveyed in July expect interest rates to climb in the next 12 months. On a positive note, 7 out of 10 said they expect farmland cash rental rates to remain roughly the same for 2024.

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Sherrod Brown have introduced the Farm Program Integrity Act. It would create a cap of $250,000 in commodity support for a single farm operation and, potentially, some undesirable side effects.

Using the same amount of fertilizer -- but at different times and more than one way during the season -- can help you harvest more bushels and improve your bottom line. Check out our two brief videos to learn more.

Farmers can use humidity charts for their area to assess when the disease could hit their corn crop as well as the optimum time to make a fungicide application, says Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Associate Field Agronomist.

There is now a dollar value assigned to grain carbon intensity scores below 29 in the form of tax credits to biofuel plants that buy grain as part of their decarbonization efforts.

A mid-year report from Farmers National shows land values are increasing by single digits instead of the double digits common in 2021-22. But the company says it has a strong roster of listings headed into late summer.

Platow Brief, a banking and finance publication, says new Bayer AG CEO Bill Anderson and team are working on a deal to spin off the division to improve the pharma giant's financial wellbeing and placate investors.

Thieves are ripping off yield monitors and navigation systems, many of which retail for $4,000-plus. Some authorities speculate the tools are sold on the black market abroad for use as is or pieced out for their parts.

Double-digit yield losses are not uncommon. To date, 14 Illinois counties have confirmed the disease, and it's being scouted for elsewhere by seed company and Extension pathologists and agronomists.

Flattened corn can often recover, stand and produce decent yields. Soybeans can shake off a storm and flourish, but beware spider mites in the next 10 days if temperatures stay 85-plus degrees with low humidity.

The pest is showing up in early-season soybeans. Current numbers don't necessarily warrant treatment. Because the pests can double in population in only a few days, scouting is the only way to stay on top of them.

Unhealthy levels of air pollutants are spreading across some parts of the U.S., a result of the worst-ever start to wildfire season in Canada. Sixteen million acres have burned--an area a bit larger than West Virginia.

Farmers with cornfields affected two years ago need to be ready this season, based on a corn-soybean rotation. Fields with high levels of residue are more susceptible, and beware heavy rains just prior to canopy.

Bayer Crop Science has unveiled a novel approach to the discovery and development of crop protection solutions, called CropKey. Company officials say it is helping them bring new products to the marketplace faster.

Dry weather stymied many early-season control efforts. But keep going after weeds, agronomists encourage. Why? Research shows weeds not controlled after V2 can reduce soybean yields by up to 1% per day.

Many Midwest farmers are seeing their corn crop struggle from compaction, nutrient deficiencies and herbicide carryover. Some of these issues can be addressed yet this season.

Corn yields can swing 100 bu. to the positive or negative in some hybrids today based on nitrogen use that supports kernel depth. Tune into hybrid characteristics, and avoid “gapping” nitrogen and volatilization.