Corn

Planting is underway or quickly approaching for many farmers—namely those away from floodwaters in the eastern Corn Belt.

Farm Journal Agronomist Ken Ferrie says don’t let your inputs delay planting.

Yes, things look a little different today at AgWeb: cleaner, better organized with more of the news, markets and weather you are looking for right on the front page.

USDA’s June acreage report showed lower acres across the board, but a surprise increase in corn acres from June Crop Production. While USDA will re-survey acres, analysts say there are some takeaways from the report.

In challenging years, every bushel counts. To give your crop a fighting chance at profitability, you’ll want to keep an eye out for yield-robbing corn seedling diseases.

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.

Overlapping germplasm can hit your pocketbook and reduce crop diversity

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The constant rains this spring are forcing some Ohio farmers to give up hopes of planting any corn this spring and won