Corn
A handful of rain-free days were a perfect recipe for spring planting — and farmers took full advantage of the opportunity. This week’s USDA crop progress report puts corn and soybean acres just ahead of last year’s pace.
Farmers can make a poor planting scenario better by teaching their planter how to dance across fields. The practice is particularly helpful in wet soils.
Vince Boddicker, Farmers Trading Company, says grain and cattle markets saw selling Monday in tandem with the collapse in outside markets.
Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says grains lose early strength running into chart resistance. While cattle also started higher with the sharply higher cash trade Thursday but faded.
Iowa farmers say a foliar fungicide application can add more bushels per acre by preventing losses to disease pressure and minimizing the impact of environmental factors, such as heat stress and drought.
Scott Varilek, Kooima Kooima Varilek, says live and feeder cattle futures closed strong on Thursday and for the week, pushed by cash. While new crop corn and soybeans gained as the market transitions from focusing on demand, to focusing on supply.
David Cogen partnered with John Deere during the 2024 growing season to till, plant, spray and harvest a small field at Deere’s Boundurant, Iowa, test farm. In the process, he says he learned a lot about farming and how difficult it truly is.
Randy Martinson, Martinson Ag, says the grains markets started the day session higher with weekly exports strong except for old crop wheat. However, the market turned mixed with positioning ahead of a three day holiday and watching weather.
Mark Schultz, Northstar Commodity, says several factors combined to cause the commodity wide buying on Wednesday.
Could 2025 set a new record for planting pace in Iowa? Ogden, Iowa farmers Ward and Bryant Hunter say they’ll finish planting corn on Thursday – marking the earliest finish ever on their farm.