100-Dollar-Ideas
Farm Journal Test Plots find rolling soybeans early gives them time to bounce back
Corn hybrids move in and out of the marketplace at a faster rate of speed than ever today. The revolving door means farmers have less time to evaluate and pick the seed best-suited for their fields.
On-farm test plots can help you identify the best hybrids for your ground
Historical data and experience divide fields based on natural variability, characteristics
Manage your time, weeds and previous stands to maximize yields
If you’re putting a pencil to your corn cost of production for 2018, consider the blog that Joe Lauer, University of Wisconsin agronomist, released this morning. Lauer reports that the “cost of production in 2018 is predicted to be $645 per acre. The breakeven price for corn at a yield level of 200 bu/A is $3.23 per bushel, at 180 bu/A is $3.58 per bushel, and at 160 bu/A is $4.03. Today, December corn on the CBOT closed at $3.85 per bushel making the 2018 growing season a challenging one economically.” Lauer references the annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to develop his snapshot on expected costs of production. The estimates exclude costs for marketing and storage. ARMS collection begins in the fall and then is completed the following spring; the 2017 survey is still underway. Lauer notes that the “cost of corn production in 2016 was $665 per acre in the Heartland region and $587 per acre in the Northern Crescent (Figure 2).”
Farmers are taking some of the trade war risk off the table by planting fewer soybeans and more corn.
Despite some Midwest harvest delays in recent weeks, farmers have made up a lot of ground in their soybean fields this past week.
The USDA Crop Progress released Monday afternoon shows farmers made some gains on last week’s harvest delays.