Podcast

Operational Diversity Drives Success for a Colorado Ranch Family

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 20:26:00 GMT

As a kid, Dave Gottenborg loved to read Western novels. He dreamed of running a ranch. As a teenager, while working a summer job on horseback in Estes Park, Colorado, he met his wife, Jean, who shared his dream of ranching. In 2012, more than thirty years later, their dream finally came true when they purchased Eagle Rock Ranch, located 9,000 feet above sea level near the town of Jefferson, Colorado.

“We got here a little bit late, but we’re making the most of it,” Gottenborg tells Davis Michaelsen on the latest episode of Grow Getters , a Farm Journal podcast showcasing how ag producers are creating new businesses to help support their operations.
Having built a very successful career in law and in the energy sector, Gottenborg had no intention of playing cowboy on a hobby ranch. He approached stewardship of the 2,800-acre property — which dates back more than 150 years as a cattle and hay operation — with a strong commitment to making it a successful business. His daughter, Erin Michalski, her husband, Matt, and their three children, joined Dave and Jean in the enterprise.

He quickly learned that financial success required diversification. “It became apparent to me early on that farmers and ranchers need other sources of income to survive,” he explains on the podcast. “We need to look at our attributes and how we can monetize them to stay on the land.” They opened a store in nearby Fairplay, through which they sell their beef and other merchandise. They also set up an online direct-to-consumer business, which has found customers in all 50 states. Erin now offers classes to other cattle producers on setting up their own e-commerce businesses.

When customers started asking about ranch visits, the Gottenborgs added an agritourism business to their operation. Ranch tours, wildlife viewing, hunting and fishing now play important roles at Eagle Rock Ranch.

Their main focus, however, remains on growing their timothy-grass hay, which was voted Best in Show at this year’s Colorado State Fair, and on tending their herd of roughly 100 cow-calf pairs of pure-breed Black Angus cattle. In 2023, Dave was named Commercial Producer of the Year by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.

As for how to start a new business, Gottenborg offers this advice: “Don’t be intimidated. We’ve learned there are a thousand ways of doing anything and none of them are the correct way. People say, ‘you think outside the box,’ but I don’t even know where the box is. We just try to figure out what’s best for us in this location with the resources we have.”

Watch the full interview on Grow Getters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E45Hbl_dqk

Visit the Eagle Rock Ranch website: https://www.eaglerockbeef.com/

Influenza Expert Gets Real About the H5N1 Risk to Your Swine Herd

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 22:11:28 GMT

Is influenza a greater concern to pigs and people in light of the Oct. 30 USDA announcement that H5N1 was detected for the first time ever in a pig from a backyard Oregon farm? If so, how?

Andrew Bowman, DVM, one of the country’s top swine influenza experts, joined The PORK Podcast to answer that question and more during a special report on H5N1. A professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University, he is well known for his expertise in swine production medicine, veterinary public health and epidemiology.

“Across the swine industry, we routinely deal with influenza, so we’re pretty well versed in flu,” Bowman says. “But this adds a whole other character to the scene that we really don’t want and reassorting with the flu viruses we already have.”

This isn’t just something that will go away, he adds. This is a topic that’s becoming a bigger issue across the ‘entire proverbial barnyard.”

“Poultry has been dealing with this problem for a while. Dairy, this year, has joined the influenza game. Pigs have had our own endemic strain. The idea that high-path might be affecting pigs as well, and even if not, is a good warning sign the threat is there,” he says.

It’s an important topic for the pork industry to think about, Bowman points out. Oregon might be miles from your farm, but the threat isn’t going away. So, how are you trying to keep diseases such as influenza out of your herd with biosecurity protocols?

“We need to work together. I don’t think there’s much finger pointing left in the flu world. We’re all on the same bus, and we need to figure out how we manage this,” Bowman says. “Granted, it will be different in different species, but this is a problem everyone’s having to deal with.”

Listen to the podcast here as Bowman tackles some of host Jennifer Shike’s questions after hearing USDA’s announcement.

Your Next Read: USDA Reports First H5N1 Detection in Swine

Why this advocate says it's time to speak up about your farm

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:21:01 GMT

For those who think farmer advocacy doesn’t work, fourth-generation farmer Chris Pawelski says that in 2011 farmers in New York’s Hudson Valley were eligible for disaster relief directly because Sen. Chuck Schumer surveyed Hurricane Irene’s aftermath on the area’s onion farms in the area.

“He said the reason why he fought so hard to get Irene [crop damage] included is because of what he saw on our farm,” Pawelski said.

In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast , Pawelski shared the importance of advocacy for farmers.

Although going to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers or their staff members requires added effort, Pawelski said the investment of time is more than worth it.

“I can give example after example where you know that situations [like when Schumer toured Hurricane Irene damage] where it meant actual tangible changes and results that have helped a lot of people,” he said.

Pawelski said that as fewer legislators are involved in farming, it becomes increasingly important for farmers to speak up on issues that could impact their farms. He said during his time as an advocate, he’s become a reliable and trusted resource for legislators who come to him for advice or to understand the implications of agriculture on a particular issue.

“You are the expert,” he said. “You most likely know more than they do on this issue. They’re listening to you as being someone who knows the situation.”

Pawelski said another key thing he’s learned as an advocate is to come to meetings armed with solutions. While it’s important to address issues and problems, legislators want help coming up with solutions.

“You have to have an idea of a way in which to fix the problem,” he said. “You’re the expert. Quite often you’re talking to a staffer who’s relatively new and young. You’re going to be older than them, and they’re they’re looking to you as being the expert.”

And farmers need to look at it as time well spent and an important investment in the future of farming, according to Pawelski.

“It seems like we as a society are moving more and more toward more citizen involvement in trying to effect change or trying to advocate or work on issues,” he said. “It seems like more and more elected officials are looking toward citizens for their involvement.”

Corn and Soybeans See Little Change for the Week — Focus Now On June Acreage Report

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 22:37:02 GMT

For the week, July corn was 1¼ cents higher, December corn gained 2¾ cents, July soybeans were up ¼ cent, November soybeans fell 8 cents, July soybean meal was up $7.40 per short ton and July soybean oil was down .02. July Chicago wheat lost 14¾ cents, July Kansas City wheat fell 38¼ cents and July Minneapolis wheat dropped 39 ¾. Canola plunged $24.00.

The corn and soybean markets saw very little movement for the week. Jerry Gulke, president of the Gulke Group, says it reflected the lack of change in the June WASDE.

“There wasn’t a lot of surprises. Normally that June Report doesn’t have many surprises because we’re so close to the big reports at the end of the month and USDA doesn’t like to do much until they have more information,” he says.

USDA left new crop ending stocks on corn at 2.102 billion bushels and old crop remained at 2.022 billion. The agency raised old crop soybean carryover 10 million bushels to 350 million, which was carried over to the new crop balance sheet raising it to 455 million. The only change in South American production was a 1 million metric ton cut in Brazil soybean production.

Gulke says the market is now focused on USDA’s June Acreage Report.

Farmer surveys were taken the first 10 days of June. Even though it was extremely wet in areas of the Corn Belt, the rain fell after the crop was planted, which caused some replant.

Gulke thinks most farmers surveyed likely said they intended to plant the last of their corn and soybean crop, and if they couldn’t get it replanted, it will be reported as unharvested acres.

“So, it doesn’t look to me like there is going to be a lot of change in the acreage in that report,” he says.

Gulke admits a million-acre swing either way could be important, but he thinks the market is acting like there will be fewer corn and more soybean acres.

“One million acres of corn is about 180 million bushels. If we didn’t get the crop all planted, suddenly we’re under a 2-billion-bushel carryout and we haven’t addressed weather yet going forward. Of course, if we have another million acres of beans that’s 50 million more bushels, which makes carryout even bigger,” he says.

The one exception is in the Dakotas and Minnesota where Gulke says there will be some prevent plant. However, the amount is in question. Gulke says USDA probably doesn’t want to speculate on prevent plant until they get more insurance data.

Wheat saw considerable pressure again in all three exchanges this week.

USDA did lower Russian wheat production in the WASDE by 5 million metric tons to 83 mmt, but Gulke says the lower Black Sea and Russian crop has already been priced into the market.

“Chicago wheat was up $1.40 in anticipation of the lower Russian crop, but bull moves are only good for about six weeks,” he says.

Technically, Gulke says the weather rally in Chicago wheat completed the third of three moves higher and retested that chart area five or six times. When it could not take that area out it fell apart.

“As a result, wheat broke trendlines on the charts and has retraced almost $1.00. The job of the market is price discovery,” he explains.

This week, July Chicago wheat also took out the 50-day moving average just as harvest starts in Illinois.

Plus, he says the hard red spring wheat and hard red winter wheat crops look much better than a year ago.

For more information contact Jerry at info@gulkegroup.com.

Grain Markets Continue to Rally: Why Haven’t All the Bearish Predictions Come True?

Sat, 25 May 2024 02:39:07 GMT

For the week July corn was 12 ½ cents higher, December corn was up 11 ¾, July soybeans rallied 20 cents, November soybeans gained 16 ¼, July soybean meal surged $17.70 per short ton, July bean oil lost 32 points. July Kansas City wheat was 59 ½ cents higher, July Chicago wheat gained 46 cents and July Minneapolis wheat tacked on 41 ¾.

During the winter months the outlook for the grain markets was about as bearish as it could get, especially for wheat and corn. Jerry Gulke, president of the Gulke Group, says many in the trade pointed to sluggish U.S. demand, a more than 2 billion bushel ending stocks figure for old crop corn and projections for bigger supplies for 2024-25.

Gulke said there was also much discussion about the terrible demand for corn and the fact that China was not buying from the U.S. Yet, the weekly USDA export report shows total export sales have picked up on corn and are running 30% ahead of a year ago.

Despite all the bearish sentiment, corn futures put in a contract low at the end of February and heading into the last week of May have rallied well off those levels. Plus, Gulke says, “The basis has narrowed in corn and the carry from December to July of around 40 cents, that spread has narrowed.”

Wheat has probably been the biggest surprise of the grain complex according to Gulke. “You look at wheat, it was the dog of the bunch, with continued talk that the world had too much wheat and the U.S. would never be competitive, and wheat is up $1.50 from the lows in early March,” he says.

One of few bright spots was the soybean oil market pinned to the hopes of expanding markets for renewable diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Gulke says, “The whole idea was where are we going to get enough soybean acres to meet all the demand for soybean oil as a feedstock for biofuels demand and what are we going to do with all the excess meal. In the meantime, soybean oil has crashed and burned, and soybean meal has not.”

In fact, Gulke says the U.S. has been exporting meal and the technical systems he uses are indicating a buy signal on a monthly basis. “Which is odd considering this is the time Argentina is harvesting and normally ramps up their soybean crushing and that isn’t happening,” he says.

So far, Gulke says, all of the winter predictions for the grain and oilseed market haven’t come true. “So suddenly we’ve kind of turned upside down to where conventional wisdom was almost 98% wrong. It just didn’t turn out that way,” he says.

The weather has also done a 180. It’s turned from the talk of early planting to planting delays, replanting and even prevent plant in some areas where there has been excessive rain and flooding.

Yet, Gulke thinks most of the acres will still get planted. “It’s probably worse than it has been in years past, but I think they’ll plant well into June even though it’s past the last plant date. You lose 1% of insurance coverage per day pay the cutoff date

Gulke says the weather and crop concerns in the U.S. and globally have helped to spur the rally in the grains and that has pushed the funds to cover much of the short position they held all winter.

“I think that’s making a lot of traders nervous and we as farmers are benefiting from that because the price of grain has come up some,” he says.

For more information contact Jerry at info@gulkegroup.com.

From Wild Pigs to Property Rights, Journalist Chris Bennett Goes Unscripted

Mon, 20 May 2024 13:37:30 GMT

Few writers covering the ag industry and rural America today can tell a story quite like Chris Bennett, a senior writer for AgWeb and Farm Journal magazine. From Ponzi schemes to “antler madness,” pig motels to suing the feds, Bennett has a nose for news you won’t find anywhere else in the media world that most of us tap into every day.

On the second episode of Unscripted , a new podcast hosted by AgDay’s Clinton Griffiths and U.S. Farm Report’s Tyne Morgan, Bennett provides a behind-the-scenes look at how he finds such amazing stories and how he tells them so well.

“Crazy draws crazy, I guess,” he says, then adds that some of his stories take years to complete. “It’s a blessing to work on all of these farm stories at one time.” With an office full of fat folders, he remains patient during his investigations, allowing stories to develop at their own pace.

Case in point: Bennett recently drew plenty of readers to his story about new research that revealed more human beings are killed every year by wild pigs than by sharks . On Unscripted, he says that researcher John J. Mayer “hollered at me a long while back” about a study he was doing on the subject. Bennett asked Mayer to let him know when the study was released to the public. He then combined a report about the study with the story of a Texas woman who was mauled to death by wild pigs in 2019.

But for a story to catch his interest, it doesn’t have to pit Hogzilla against Jaws. It’s more a matter of deciding what will interest his readers and how best to investigate — and ultimately tell — the tale. “I have to approach these stories with the mindset of a 10-year-old,” he says. “You have to approach a story with wonder and with humility.” He also says listening deeply to the people he interviews is critical to the process.

As accomplished storytellers themselves, Morgan and Griffiths share their own beliefs about the art and craft. “You can find something interesting when talking to almost anybody,” Griffiths says. “But you can’t go in with a preconceived notion. You have to be willing to hear what they say.” Morgan agrees, adding, “It’s about allowing them to tell the story and not getting in the way of it.”

Telling powerful stories about farm country is a highly specialized skill, and hearing how it’s done from three of the industry’s best is time well spent. Click here to watch the full episode .

For more articles from Chris Bennett ( cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Gulke: Is Weather Really Driving the Grain Rally?

Sat, 04 May 2024 16:10:15 GMT

For the week, July corn was up 10¼ cents, December corn was 9¼ higher, July soybeans gained 37¾ cents, November soybeans were up 26¼ cents and July soybean meal soared $27.50 per short ton, with July soybean oil down 246 points. July Kansas City wheat fell 4 cents, July Chicago wheat was ¼ cent higher and July Minneapolis wheat was up 9 ¾ cents. July cotton dropped 128 points.

Corn, soybean and soybean meal futures posted higher weekly closes begging the question: Was the market adding a weather premium, or was it all technical buying?

Jerry Gulke, president of the Gulke Group, says, “The technicals in many of the grain markets started turning a few weeks ago and were signaling not to be short anymore,” he explains.

So, were the markets forecasting the weather problems that have come to light this week in the U.S. and South America?

Gulke says weather is the main factor that’s changed.

“Until this week, I didn’t hear any weather experts talking about how much rain they were getting in Argentina and southern Brazil. All of the sudden yesterday we were talking to friends in those areas who said the soybeans were sitting in about a foot of water, and there’s more coming. It’s serious,” he explains.

Some of the soybean crop is not retrievable, according to Gulke, and they still have quite a few soybeans left to harvest.

Meanwhile, it’s going to be hot and dry in Brazil for the second crop, or safrinha, corn areas as the dry season has started.

This weather event is coinciding with the United States planting season and as farmers face delays due to recent rains and more in the extended forecast.

“We’ve talked about this the past few weeks — that there was very little, if any, weather premium in the markets. However, we added some risk premium this week,” he says.

It is early yet, and U.S. farmers can get a great deal of the crop planted in a short amount of time.

“However, if we get another one of these rains in a week to 10 days then you’ve got a serious delay because of the water already setting in fields and that means later planting,” Gulke says.

There are even some farmers in the far northwestern Corn Belt who are talking about prevent plant already, he adds.

With July and November soybeans closing above $12 and July soybean meal rallying nearly $28 for the week, these contracts are now above key moving averages watched by technical traders. The same is true for July and December corn.

“If you’re a speculator, you are pretty nervous,” he says.

Speculators have been setting with big short positions heading into the growing season and are now being forced to cover those trades. The key to whether or not the rally can be sustained depends on weather but also how much of that short position the funds are willing to exit.

Where do the markets go from here?

“Now it becomes difficult. When markets start to explode, how much will they retrace? Even though it’s a technical analysis, I always ask myself what was it a few weeks ago or a month ago that caused the market trend to change? This week, we have completely different fundamentals than we thought we had a week or 10 days ago.”

Gulke says it’s hard to predict how far the grain markets could rally.

“There isn’t a technical system, or whatever, that’s going to catch the top. Now it becomes more of an art than a science,” he says.

While you can, pick targets based on past technical indicators, like 50% retracement levels, he says, “Sometimes you just need to find a place to start making some profitable sales and hope prices continue to go higher.”

For more information contact Jerry at info@gulkegroup.com.

Why Did Jerry Gulke Make Some Last-Minute Planting Changes on His Farm?

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 22:23:07 GMT

For the week July corn was 7 cents higher, December corn rallied 7 ¼ cents, July soybeans gained 11 ½ cents, November soybeans were 13 ¾ cents stronger, July soybean meal gained $1.50 per short ton, July soybean oil was up 60 points. Wheat led gains for the week with July Kansas City climbing 71 ¼ cents, July Chicago wheat tacked on 55 ½ cents, July Minneapolis was 50 cents higher.

With planters rolling in parts of the Corn Belt this week Jerry Gulke made some last-minute planting decisions on his own Illinois farm. The president of The Gulke Group, who watches the daily market prices and signals, said “no” to paying high prices for inputs without the reward of profitable corn and soybean prices.

“With rising prices of N32 and Urea for corn. I made the decision to switch 200 acres of corn to soybeans,” he says. According to Gulke’s calculations, corn cost him about $325 to $350 more to plant/harvest per acre than soybeans. That takes into account the extra expense for trucking, seed, fertilizer, drying and harvesting labor for corn.

He also recalled the analysis of the ag economist for the Kansas City Federal Reserve where he recently estimated a mere breakeven (if lucky) for corn and soybeans in 2024. (See insert below)

“Why would I spend $350 more to just breakeven? I can keep the money in the bank at 5.3% interest and gain another $7.50 per acre for the 6 months the money will be used, or about the cost of one application of commercial spraying,” he says.

Gulke also based his decision on what he gleaned from his local retail supplier that there was a late rush to buy inputs like fertilizer, seed and herbicide which hinted that other farmers made the last-minute decision was made to plant corn. “Maybe it was the acreage estimate in March that showed less corn than had been anticipated. If that scenario is true, bean acreage might be less than anticipated,” he says.

That may be why November soybeans have gained over corn the last six weeks and are up 37 cents, while December corn is up just 15 cents during that time. “So, there’s been a little bit more concern about the new crop beans perhaps and that may have come as a result of the acreage report at the end of March where we showed a lot less corn but hardly anyone believed it and soybeans may have put in a little bit of weather premium with the thought, we were going to plant less beans,” he says.

Meanwhile, old crop corn and soybean prices have been sideways for the last several weeks. Gulke says, “Corn is up about 12 cents, from February 16 when they decided to take profits and sell calls instead of being short and July soybeans are up four cents in six weeks.”

However, Gulke says the markets can change at any time, most notably due to weather. Take for instance the rally in the wheat market this week. The move came as a surprise to Gulke.

“That is the one market that has shocked me and continues to shock me and other people because it’s the one I called the dog of the market. We were overpriced compared to the rest of the world; the war hasn’t caused much problem in wheat but yet here we are up 60 cents. There is something going on in the wheat market. I know there’s problems right now in Russian and European wheat.”

He says the global wheat stocks are relatively tight so there are some fundamental reasons for the rally especially if one of the large wheat suppliers has a problem. So, Gulke says the wheat market is putting in risk premium as a result of weather or war concerns.

With the higher week in corn and soybeans, those markets were followed wheat but can a sustained rally pull corn and soybeans out of their sideways trading ranges? Gulke says with the 50 to 70 cent rally in wheat that could be expected but its not a given and corn and soybeans may also need a weather story.

Rain forced Gulke out of the field on Friday and he says if it stays wet as the calendar flips to May, corn and soybeans may need to put in more risk premium.

For more information contact Jerry at info@gulkegroup.com .

Where Do Corn and Soybean Prices Go Now After USDA’s Yield Shock?

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 23:04:32 GMT

Grains all closed lower for the week. March corn fell 13¾ cents, March soybeans were down 32 cents, March soybean meal lost $7.30 per short ton and March soybean oil gained 62 points. March Chicago wheat fell 20 cents, March Kansas City wheat was down 12¾ cents and March Minneapolis wheat slid 13 cents.

Just when farmers thought the corn and soybean markets couldn’t get any more bearish, USDA provides another shock to prices with the January reports. USDA raised corn yield 2.4 bu. to a record 177.3 bu. per acre. The increase was partially offset by a nearly 600,000 acre drop in harvested acres, but production was still raised by 108 million bushels to a new record of 15.342 billion bushels.

John Heinberg with Total Farm Marketing says he wasn’t totally surprised considering the harvest results from his clients.

“You did hear that from the countryside with guys talking about the amount of corn they got or how things finished out with a surprising corn crop. Deep down inside, I guess I wasn’t surprised we saw that yield jump, but it was a big number,” he says. “Obviously, that just trickles through the entire balance sheet.”

Jim McCormick, AgMarket.Net, says USDA also raised demand, though it wasn’t as bearish as it appeared, as USDA only raised ending stocks by 31 million bushels. However, it still caught the market off guard.

“I think the trade was leaning toward a slightly unchanged yield number or even a slight adjustment down versus the upward revision they did,” McCormick says. “I haven’t seen it historically, but I’m guessing it’s one of the bigger upward revisions we’ve ever had in January, and there’s no doubt about it, the trade got caught flat footed. It’s not what we needed to see — we already had a burdensome supply.”

March corn hit a new contract low of $4.41 on Friday. Will corn see a lot more downside pressure trying to price in the extra bushels?

“We broke $4.60 on March and closed well under that Friday. That was a bigger multiyear trendline coming through that we needed to stay above, at least from the seller’s standpoint on the technical side,” Heinberg says. “However, the December contract before expiration went down to $4.47 and March gravitated back to that level toward the end of the day. Maybe that’s a key number that can hold.”

Market experts are hopeful with the holiday weekend some of the bearish sentiment will subside and Friday’s break in prices will create some sort of seasonal bounce. However, Heinberg says the charts look defensive and it might be difficult for the corn market to find traction as any large rally will be met with farmer selling.

On the soybean side, USDA also bumped up yield by 0.7 bu. to 50.6 bu., but with a nearly 435,000 acre drop in harvest acres, production was up just 36 million bushels. That raised endings stocks to 280 million bushels. Again, Heinberg says that was higher than the trade estimated.

“I think the higher soybean yield definitely came into play. We kept talking about carryout and that 280 million bushels isn’t a big supply, but it’s more than the market was anticipating,” he explains.

South American estimates were also disappointing to the trade, as Heinberg says the revisions were minor compared to the private estimates. USDA cut Brazil’s corn crop 2 million metric tons, which is still well above private and Conab estimates, and left Argentina unchanged. Brazil’s soybean production was lowered 4 million metric tons to 157 million, offset by a 2 million metric ton increase in Argentina. The revisions were minor compared to private estimates.

Heinberg says: “I really think the soybean market is probably pricing in a 150 million metric ton Brazilian crop.”

He thinks it will take even lower production in Brazil to get positive price reaction.

“Your production between those two countries is easily over 200 million. Their previous record production was 185 a few years back, so the fact is their crop is not down enough to offset our increased production,” McCormick adds.

March soybeans hit a low of $12.06 and bounced on Friday. Will $12.00 technical support be able to hold longer term without a big decrease in Brazil production? Heinberg says it might be a tough lift without much lower Brazil production or a pick up in demand from the lower prices.

Wheat had the most constructive numbers with winter wheat seedings down 2.27 million acres from last year at 34.4 million. Hard red winter wheat acres accounted for 24 million, soft red winter for 6.86 million and white for 3.54 million. Plus, U.S. ending stocks were lowered 11 million bushels to 648 million. While that was constructive, Heinberg says the market disregarded it and instead followed corn and soybeans lower.

Ferrie: Dry Conditions Make Fall Anhydrous Applications ‘Nearly Impossible’ to Seal

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 21:24:54 GMT

While dry field conditions are helping central Illinois farmers with harvest, they are also concerning, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

He says the most immediate challenge is for those farmers who want to make fall anhydrous ammonia applications.

“When the soil temperature drops, without moisture available, fall applications of anhydrous are going to be about impossible to get sealed,” he explains.

Soil moisture is needed to temporarily hold the ammonia so it can become attached to clay or organic matter in the soil, according to Iowa State University Extension. If dry soils are cloddy and do not seal properly, the ammonia can be lost at injection, or seep through the large pores between clods after application.

Ferrie has three additional concerns about the current dry conditions.

1. If they persist, corn crops still in the field can be at risk from fire.

2. Soils in production fields need their water reserves replenished before freeze up so the moisture will be available for corn and soybean seed next spring.

3. Tough broadleaf weeds, such as waterhemp, are in the process of adding to the seed bank in fields.

“These fields will take three years of staying on top of that waterhemp to get them back to where they were before this year,” Ferrie says. “So scouts keep pictures and scouting reports of these fields to remind everybody this is going to be a three-year project.”

Silver Linings For Fieldwork

On the plus side, Ferrie says dry conditions in central Illinois are allowing strip-till farmers to build good strips. He reiterates, though, that growers building strips now for next spring will need to potentially bypass some anhydrous applications.

“Give it a thought on some acres, though, so you don’t miss the window to get good strips on all your acres,” he says.

Farmers using vertical tillage are also benefiting from the dry conditions. “One of the big pluses is we get good shatter from fall tillage,” Ferrie says. “For the vertical tillage guys, this means you won’t have to go as deep to achieve full shatter. But be sure to check behind equipment to confirm you’re getting full shatter.”

Frost Impact Is Showing Up
Ferrie says the frost that hit fields in his area on the night/morning of September 28-29 had more impact than he initially thought, especially north of Highway 36.

“In double-crop soybeans it’s going to ding the yields a little, and with some of the corn that was still green and not quite finished putting in black layer, especially in those hybrids that gain a lot of their yield in kernel depth,” he says.

“I am surprised to how much damage we have for no colder than it got for such a short amount of time and assume it had to do with low humidity, low dewpoint, wind speed or all of the above,” he adds.

For Ferrie’s complete report on harvest and agronomic conditions, check out the Boots In The Field podcast filed on Monday:

AgriTalk: Its February 26th, Are You Ready to Start Planting?

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 02:14:32 GMT

It may seem early but planting season is already here for some farmers. Missy Bauer with B&M Crop Consulting talks with AgriTalk host Chip Flory about what farmers should be doing to get their equipment ready. Also Greg Peterson with Machinery Pete gives us a look into whats going on at auction.

Ferrie: Add Weight to Planters, Break Out Rotary Hoes, Tend to Strip-Till Seedbeds

Fri, 06 May 2022 13:28:26 GMT

It looks like Mother Nature is finally going to cooperate in central Illinois next week.

If that’s the case, look for a lot of corn and soybeans to get planted as a result, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

In this week’s Boots In The Field podcast, issued Wednesday, May 4, Ferrie offers a range of recommendations on what you might need to consider now.

Add Weight To The Planter. With all the rain events, even though they’ve been light in nature, Ferrie says the ground is getting hard and presents a challenge for field work.

“Growers are struggling with the wings on both their tillage equipment and planters wanting to float out. Some guys have been asking about adding weight-transfer systems to soybean planters to try to keep the wings from floating up,” notes Ferrie.

He says it’s a good idea – if you’re running a center-fill planter and you have the weight to transfer. If you’re running a box planter, most likely you don’t have sufficient weight to transfer. In this case you’re going to need to add weight to the wings.

“Some guys will use front-end tractor weights out there in the wings; others will use a starter tank on the wings and just fill them with water,” he says.

Another option is to hit the cornstalks with vertical tillage, to allow for better planting. Given recent wind events in central Illinois, Ferrie says to be aware of the wind potential to prevent blowing soil and stalks.

Consider Breaking Out The Rotary Hoe. As crops try to emerge they may need some help if the surface crust is hard, meaning you might need to run a rotary hoe.

“We always say ‘hoe before you know,’” Ferrie says. “When you know you’re already in trouble with the crust, and it’s usually getting too late to get the full benefit out of a rotary hoe.

“Just remember, with $8 corn and $15 soybeans you need to play every card you’ve got,” he adds.

Click here to see more than 250 rotary hoes listed for sale on MachineryPete.com

Strip-Till Seedbeds Need Attention. Ferrie is getting reports from farmers that their strip-till seed beds are not in good condition. If that is your situation, he says to consider using your planter as a row freshener.

“Set the planting depth in the shallowest setting, use a light amount of down pressure, and then use your row cleaners to prepare that strip,” Ferrie explains. “After the surface dries, reset the planter, come back and plant into that strip.”

Spring strip till preparation is getting a little risky at this point, he says. Running a knife this late in the season is going to set you up for clods and/or too dry of soil to plant into.

“I recommend removing the knife and using your strip tiller as a row freshener,” Ferrie advises.

Beware Of Salt Burn. Another concern he has is where farmers want to do spring strip till, use dry fertilizer in the process, and then plant into the strips in a matter of days to a week later.

“Let’s not forget about the salt in this fertilizer and its location with relation to where the seed is going to be,” Ferrie says.

“This is especially true for spring strip tillers applying dry urea in the center of the strip, a couple inches below the surface,” he adds. “When this urea goes through hydrolysis, the first product produced is ammonia, which will burn seed – especially with the rate and the concentration in the band right where we’re about to place the seed.”

Farmers sometimes then add more injury potential to the crop by using in-furrow fertilizer, increasing the risk of salt burn even more.

“Now. the problem with salt burn is you’re looking at two to three weeks before we can know what’s really going on in the stand. If you have to replant you’re looking at June,” he says.

Either Switch Crops Or Plant Both. Ferrie says given the forecast for warmer soil temperatures in central Illinois and the calendar date, anyone who can’t plant corn and beans at the same time needs to switch to corn.

“The cost of delayed corn planting will be higher than any gain on the soybeans at this date,” he says.

Monitor Early-Season Pests. Soybeans that were planted in test plots on April 12 have emerged and show some bean leaf beetle feeding.

“As slowly as these beans are coming up, we’re getting some stem damage right where the beans are trying to push through, and we’re losing some of the cotyledons,” Ferrie says. “Crop scouts be on the lookout for bean leaf beetle feeding, especially if it’s the only field in the neighborhood where the beans are coming up.”

Register For Farm Journal Corn And Soybean College. Registration is now open for the live event, set for July 26-27 in Heyworth. A one-day virtual event will be held on January 5, 2023. Learn more at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

“Anyone who signs up for the live event will automatically be enrolled in our virtual event as well. For those who can’t make it to the live event, registration for the virtual event will open later,” Ferrie says. “With the border back open, it’d be nice to see our Canadian friends in person again.”

You can listen to this week’s podcast here:

Ferrie: Which Crop to Plant First? Corn or Soybeans?

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 18:09:58 GMT

The first week of April 2021 was warm enough many farmers in central Illinois fired up their tractors, put seed in their planters and went to the field.

That’s not the case this spring, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, near Heyworth, Ill.

He believes it’s too wet to get into most fields, and he expects conditions could stay that way for another week or so. Ferrie is concerned the opportunity to plant soybeans early is slipping away. Some of his customers are, too.

When The Ground Is Fit
The question local growers are asking him is, “When do we (switch) from full-season soybeans to shorter season soybeans?”

His response is to consider what crop needs to be planted when. Weather conditions may tell you to plant corn.

“The first thing to remember is we plant corn when the ground is fit and not by the calendar,” he says. “While we don’t mud corn in, when this weather pattern turns and soil warms up to allow for good corn planting conditions, we plant corn.”

If you have the ability to plant corn and soybeans at the same time, that’s great. But, if you can’t plant corn and soybeans at the same time, “don’t waste good corn planting conditions” trying to get beans planted.

Night Length Plays An Important Role
“With soybeans we do plant by the calendar,” Ferrie says. “They have an internal clock that keeps flowering on track for the natural environment they are planted into.”

The “clock” monitors night length to know what calendar day it is. Based on night length, or photoperiod, the clock triggers flowering.

Learn more about soybean maturities and flowering in this brief 2-minute video by Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting agronomist:

Ferrie says a soybean plant will kick the reproductive process into high gear if it feels it’s necessary to get the plant through all its reproductive stages before the growing season ends.

“Because night length varies from north to south, each maturity group, from Group 0 in the north to Group 7 in the south, has a different clock setting,” he says.

To mitigate potential negative impacts from weather, Ferrie recommends that farmers plant 30% early soybean varieties, 50% mid-season and 20% late-season.

“It also gets harvest started sooner and prevents all your soybeans from ripening at the same time,” he says.

In the following Boots In The Field podcast, Ferrie along with Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech agronomist, provide more details on planting corn and soybeans. Ferrie also provides his outlook for early season pest problems:

Ferrie: Your Seed Company Called and Wants Its Corn Back. Say Thank You

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 19:21:09 GMT

Some batches of seed corn go out of condition every year. Many times it’s due to agronomic factors encountered during harvest the previous year and that affected the grain during winter.

Lately, Illinois farmers have told Ken Ferrie they have had calls from seed companies wanting to come out and retrieve their seed corn because saturated cold tests reveal poor germination scores.

The question he gets from farmers is, should you be concerned about other seed you got from that company?

“My answer is no. If they take back a seed lot, that’s an indication you’re working with a good seed company,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

Reputable companies monitor samples of every lot of seed they send out to farmers. When a company representative calls to say they want to take back delivered seed, that’s a sign you’re dealing with a well-run organization.

“My advice: Instead of being concerned about a recall, thank them for caring so much about your business,” Ferrie advises.

Get Bait Stations Ready
It’s time to be considering how you’re going to deal with the insects that will be headed to fields this season.

Wireworms continue to see an uptick in populations through parts of Illinois.

“If it damaged your field the last time it was in corn and you’re not sure you’re going to use an insecticide, now’s the time to put out a bait station,” Ferrie advises. “Wireworms take seven years to run through a complete life cycle, so if you had them two years ago, they will be back.”

He says to use yield maps and aerial images from previous corn crops to identify problem areas. Pay particular attention to sides of hills and small rises within fields, which tend to warm up first.

In those areas, Ferrie says to dig a few small holes in the soil and throw in handfuls of wheat and corn. Then, cover the holes with some black plastic to concentrate the heat units and speed up grain decomposition, which will attract the pest.

“Before planting, dig up that area and see if there is any wireworm present,” Ferrie says. “If you find one wireworm per bait station, you’d better implement a plan to protect your crop.”

While you’re at it, now is a good time to plan on putting out cutworm and armyworm lures, he adds.

Rodents Are Emerging From Hibernation
Pests such as the thirteen-lined ground squirrel and common vole will be emerging shortly and starting to repopulate.

They are especially a nuisance in no-till fields and wherever cover crops are grown, because the coverage provides protection from predators.

While both pests are prolific, voles are extremely so. Female voles mature in 35 to 40 days and have five to 10 litters per year, each one with three to six young.

“You can get 30 to 60 colonies in a 40-acre field,” Ferrie notes. “It’s too hard to come back from that type of population, so we have to reset – remove the ground cover and do some tillage, so they are exposed to predation.”

Implementing some control measures now can help you address problem rodent populations before they get out of hand in the field, Ferrie says.

Listen to this week’s Boots In The Field podcast discussion here:

Ferrie: Expect a Rocky Start with Corn in 2022 from Fall Anhydrous Only Use

Ferrie: Let Weather, Soil Conditions Guide Planting Decisions

Ferrie: Rushing To Plant Early Soybeans Could Cost You 30 Bu/A Of Corn Yield Next Year

Ferrie: 5 Reasons To Not Apply All Your Nitrogen Upfront

Ferrie: Changing Your Rotation? Be Sure to Evaluate Herbicide Carryover

Ferrie Answers ‘Can a Soil Test Help Determine the Need for Fungicides?’

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 21:45:28 GMT

Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, hosted a series of online agronomic sessions for farmers called Beyond The Basics this past week. (Learn more at www.croptechinc.com/beyondthebasics/)

During the event, one farmer asked: “Can a soil test help determine the need for a fungicide application, and does healthy soil correlate with less need for fungicide?”

Ferrie responded in detail during his Boots in the Field podcast: “The answer to these questions is yes, maybe, sorta,” he says.

“We all know about the disease triangle: you must have the disease, a host and the right conditions to trigger disease outbreak. Soil health falls under the area of conditions, and soil test can help identify conditions.

Soil tests do not detect the presence of disease or tell you that disease is present in the field. Fields that have good soil health have as much disease present as any other unhealthy field. Healthy soils do not prevent disease from moving into a field.

What we do know is healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy plants. This was evident in our fertility plots this year as we dealt with a toxic mixture of multiple diseases on top of heavy tar spot pressure. Some of our N plots made an additional 30 pounds of N look like a fungicide application when it came to keeping corn greener longer—packing more starch in before disease shut down the plant.

Calcium and potassium play a big part in disease defense. While we don’t see many calcium deficiencies in Illinois, we do see potash deficiencies. A soil test can give us a good indication of which farms are going to come under more stress due to a lack of nutrient uptake.

Low potash-testing fields will have more trouble than those fields where the potash is adequate. Fields that are acid and need limestone will be more susceptible to disease pressure. Fields that run out of nitrogen during grain fill are more susceptible to disease pressure. In our plots as we pulled N rates back some hybrids died a month early, knocking 30 bushels to 50 bushels off of the yield outcome.

As we focus on things like soil pH and potassium levels, trying to keep them at optimum levels, many years there’s not a direct correlation between these values and yield – until you get to a year like 2021 where heavy disease pressure takes down the weak corn first.

Fields with low soil tests tend to get in trouble first, with premature death and down corn. Low potassium values in fields that receive high amounts of N – either commercial fertilizer or manure – tend to fall apart first. The better your overall fertility, the more disease pressure you can handle. The same goes for soil health – the healthier your soil the better your crop can handle disease stress.

With tar spot, as well as many other diseases, it’s a matter of trying to outrun the disease. Get the plant far enough along that you can get more grain fill before it dies.

With that said, we have good fertility. But if the conditions are right and the crop is susceptible to the diseases present, you’re going to have a disease outbreak. Fungicides and good fertility will lessen the impact of the outbreak, but they will not eliminate it.

Therefore, we want to be careful pulling back too far on our fall fertility, especially in those fields that aren’t at the optimum levels to begin with.

Several growers have reported that while a lot of their corn went down due to disease, the newer farms that we don’t have up to speed yet on fertility and pH have taken the hardest hits in yield. Balanced fertility is just one of the tools that we use in the toolbox to handle disease along with hybrid and variety selection, residue management, fungicides and of course scouting.

Hear the complete Boots in the Field podcast below, and check out these additional articles:

Farming In The Sustainable Triangle: Human, Natural and Physical Environments

Unraveling the Genetic Mysteries of Maize

Unspoken Truths About Pests: Down The Vole Hole

Go Vertical: Manage the Subsurface Environment for Maximum Yield

Ferrie: Dry Wet Beans, Make Better Strips, Stop Gas Escapes

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 20:04:39 GMT

A lot of wet soybeans went into bins last week in Illinois, says Ken Ferrie. If that was your situation, he says to be sure to knock down high moisture levels before taking those beans to the elevator.

“Don’t let those beans go out of condition. Find that right combination of when to run the fans and the heat,” encourages Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting Inc., Heyworth, Ill.

You’ll need to evaluate the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) to accomplish that. Ferrie recommends using the Clemson EMC calculator from Clemson University for that purpose.

“You can plug in your zip code, and and it’ll take your forecast and help predict the EMC basically on an hour basis for a week out,” Ferrie says. “So that’ll help you know when you can run your fans, when to shut them off or when to turn on the heat.”

Here is a link to the Clemson EMC Calculator: https://bit.ly/3wQIgMu

Preparation Underway for 2022

Ferrie says if you’re applying anhydrous now, make sure trenches are sealing and not releasing gas.

“If the bar is smoking at the knife or smoking in the slot behind it, tap the brakes,” he says. “This stuff is too expensive to let off. I know you want to check the box and get it done, but let’s not screw up next year’s crop in the process.”

Strip-till bars are running in a lot of areas, as farmers finish up harvesting soybeans. In this situation, Ferrie says to keep in mind that you’re building next year’s seedbed.

“Some of the strips that I looked at this week, I could stick my hand down the knife slot 6” to 7” deep. These will not overwinter and make a good seedbed.” Ferrie says. “You’ll end up with air pockets and false bottoms in the seed trench, causing seed to get too deep.

Consider Your Options

“We have found shallowing up the knife will help if you’re not applying anhydrous at the same time,” Ferrie adds. “But you’ve got to get that gas to seal. You can’t let it get away. In some of these fields, we may have to make the call to put on the gas and forego the strip or build the best strip possible and forego the gas or wait for better conditions.”

Even with shallowing up the knives or taking the knives off, Ferrie says strip passes are coming up chunky due to the wet harvest.

“Next spring you may need some help with something like a furrow freshener or row freshener to get the seedbed you’re looking for,” he says. “It may be time to come up with Plan B. I always recommend that our strip-till growers have a plan B for years just like this, when good strips are hard to come by.”

Even for growers who decide to go no-till next spring, Ferrie says be aware that you’re likely to have combine and grain-cart tracks in fields that will make for poor seedbed conditions.

“You may need some spring fresheners run on fields before planting or some sort of vertical tillage to get a uniform stand,” he says. “This is not an issue for you guys using horizontal tillage out of the planter, you’ll build your seedbed then. But for the large percentage of you guys that are farming vertical, a uniform seedbed starts this fall.”

Ferrie: Don’t Screw Up The 2021 Crop Just To Mark Anhydrous Applications Off Your To-Do List

Ferrie: Your Fields May Need A Leveling Pass Now To Prepare For Spring Planting

Ken Ferrie Answers Your Questions About Starter Fertilizer

Leasing new Ground? Great, but Beware of Bad Fertility

Mon, 08 Nov 2021 20:05:00 GMT

Every year, a certain amount of farm ground changes hands. Usually, that’s an exciting opportunity for the grower who picks up the additional acreage. But this year, leaser beware, advises Ken Ferrie.

“I have to say some of these fields coming in that we’re testing are rather trashed when it comes to soil pH and fertility levels,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

With today’s fertilizer prices, Ferrie is concerned about what you’ll have to invest to get those acres into productive condition for the 2022 season.

“I know if you let that farm go by somebody else is going to cash rent it and you’re probably going to miss your opportunity,” he says. “But when you can’t get a current soil test on a parcel that you’re after, there’s probably a pretty good reason for that. So, I would say enter those leases with caution.”

Better yet, put some conditions into your lease as far as what fertility parameters must be present before you are willing to part with your hard-earned dollars.

“That way you won’t end up with something like the test we looked at the other day, where the ground was 7 tons to 10 tons behind on lime and had single-digit phosphates. There’s no cheap way to fix something like that,” Ferrie says. “And we don’t have enough horsepower in the ground to make it back in yield.”

Bottom line: while there is opportunity available to rent new ground this fall, don’t get caught blind in the process.

“You don’t want to pick up ground thinking that you gained something and then end up with a money losing ordeal,” Ferrie cautions.

Wet Beans? Here’s What To Do.

As harvest finishes up, farmers are still dealing with wet soybeans and need to look at their equilibrium moisture if you put them in the bin.

Whenever the humidity level is below 70%, you can address the moisture with air.

“Just turn the air on and you’ll pull that moisture level down into that 13% range,” says Ferrie. “You only need to add heat – and a low amount of heat at that – when humidity is above 70%.

“So, in most cases that is going to be in the evenings through the night, that you’re going to need to add some heat to it and then you’ll be shutting it back off in the morning as humidity comes down,” he adds.

Stay on Top of Field Harvest Order.

Ferrie encourages scouts to keep a close eye on soybean quality. In many cases, pods are splitting open, exposing beans to weather conditions and pests. If that’s your situation, move those at-risk fields higher on your pecking list to harvest.

“We have to cut beans when they’ll cut, and when we can’t do that, then go back to corn,” Ferrie says. “Try not to lose any time at this point, so we can get harvest completed and dragged across the finish line.”

Ferrie’s complete recommendations are available in his Boots In The Field podcast here:

Drying Beans? Know the Temp, Humidity and Equilibrium Moisture

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 16:46:01 GMT

Fields are wet in central Illinois, harvest is delayed and soybean quality is suffering. The combination means farmers will need to start pushing to get the crop out of the field, even though conditions are unfavorable.

Find out now what the dockage is at your point of delivery, Ken Ferrie advises.

“Early in the harvest, elevators weren’t taking wet beans,” says Ferrie. “The word now is that some are taking up to 18% moisture beans. Know what that dockage is and prepare your landowners and farm managers for it.”

Farmers have been calling Ferrie to ask about putting soybeans in the bin and adding air and/or heat to them. He says if you have open bins with good air capacity, this is a good option.

“You’ll have to monitor your air temperature and outside humidity to know what that soybean equilibrium moisture is,” he cautions. He provides two examples for consideration. Example 1 explains a scenario that doesn’t work, while example 2 is plausible and effective.

Example 1
On Thursday, Ferrie says the weather report showed 52 degrees °F and 90% humidity, making the soybean equilibrium moisture 19.4%.

“The only way you could have dried beans yesterday with air would have been if the beans were 20%. But if they were below 19.4%, adding air into that situation would have raised the temperature,” he says. “If you had turned the fan on and tried to pull down 17% moisture, it would have gone up instead of down and possibly could have caused structural issues to the bin once those beans expanded.”

Example 2
On Friday, Ferrie says the weather report showed 53 degrees °F and 60% humidity, putting the soybean equilibrium moisture at 11.2%.

“Today is a bean-drying day,” he says. “If you can add a low amount of heat, you could dry those wet beans on those wet days. Keeping the heat low is a necessity to keep you from burning the beans and causing splits,” he adds.

For a full explanation on assessing temperature, humidity and soybean equilibrium moisture, listen to Ferrie’s podcast, Boots In The Field. Here’s a link:

Ferrie says it’s important to set up your bin with 2 CFM of airflow per bushel of grain. You will need to use a bin with a full aeration floor. Two cubic feet per minute of airflow per bushel of grain is recommended for natural air drying. As a rule of thumb, most fans produce about 1000 CFM per 1 horsepower, but this depends on fan type – contact your fan supplier for detailed charts. If your fan is too small, increase the “effective” airflow by putting fewer bushels in the bin.

Ferrie provides this article on drying soybeans for a more detailed explanation: https://bit.ly/3jPffLP

Because soil conditions are wet, evaluate your flotation on harvest equipment. The more flotation now, the better.

“In falls like this where the more things are on tracks, the better off you are,” Ferrie says. “For no-tillers, remember these lug tracks are next year’s seedbed.”

He offers two recommendations:

1. If you have floatation on the grain cart and not the combine, keep the combine light and unload more often.

2. If you have flotation on the combine and not the grain cart, dump on the ends.

The fields you track up this fall may need some vertical tillage in the spring to get a good seed bed, Ferrie notes. Fields with ruts are going to need more aggressive tillage between now and planting.

“Let’s keep track of these fields as we finish up harvest, so we know what our plan of attack is for each of these fields going forward,” he says. “Putting in tracks or ruts combining corn going to no-till beans next year is a little more forgiving. Beans don’t usually respond to tillage, and you can go in and fix ruts and tracks without much detriment to yield.”

However, ruts in bean fields going to no-till corn next year will need to be fixed or corn yields will suffer.

“That means we’ll have to pull them out of no-till, fix this year’s damage and then go back into no-till,” Ferrie says.

Vilsack Says 98.9% of Farmers Won’t Be Impacted by Biden’s Tax Plan, Tax Experts and Economists Still Disagree

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 20:28:55 GMT

President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda continues to be put to the test this week, as the key to passing the plan sits with Congress. Not only are legislators working on a stopgap spending bill before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but House leaders are working to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which has drawn criticism from counterparts on the right.

Monday, the Senate GOP blocked a measure to raise the debt ceiling. The stopgap bill would have funded the government through Dec. 3, suspended the debt limit, as well as provided hurricane relief. the bill was backed by Democrats, saying the GOP was sabotaging the ability for the United States to pay its bills, while GOP leaders stated they would support a bill that focuses solely on government funding and hurricane relief, but raising the debt ceiling wasn’t an option.

The battled played out Monday, as Democrats have a series of bills they aimed to pass this week. The reconciliation bill includes the “human infrastructure” element as well as climate initiatives, childcare subsidies, Medicare expansion and more. Democrats are pushing for tax increases to help pay for the massive price tag but those tax changes are coming with major opposition from the GOP. Among the possible taxes measures are changes to capital gains, which are still causing a stir because many farm groups which argue the tax changes will cost family farms.

Vilsack Defends Biden Administration’s Proposed Tax Changes

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has gone on the offense, trying to set the record straight on how the possible capital gains tax changes would impact family farmers. Not only did he write an op-ed in the Wall Steet Journal earlier this month, but he made his case on AgriTalk with Chip Flory last week. Contrary to previous reports, he says nearly all family farms will see no impact from the possible changes to stepped-up basis.

“I understand and appreciate the criticism that I’ve gotten, but the reality is the criticism is based on an incomplete analysis of the proposal. It’s one thing if what’s proposed were that the only folks who qualify for the exemption, if you will, are those whose family continue to own and operate the farm. But they’ve forgotten in their calculations and in their review about the exemption levels of $1 million per person, $2 million per couple, if there’s a homestead, $2.5 million per couple. When you apply that, combined with the exemption for owner and operator, you get 98% of the farms, almost 99% of the farms, not covered by this.”

Vilsack’s statement used a statistic produced by a recent USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) study , which showed 98.9% of family farm estates would not owe capital gains taxes when the principal operator dies, based on the proposed exemption levels, or be impacted by carryover basis. Furthermore, ERS points out their analysis of the tax changes found 80.7% of estimated family farm estates have total farm and non-farm gains less than the exemption, meaning they would have no change to their capital gains tax liability under the proposal.

Contradicting Claims

The data — and Vilsack’s statement on AgriTalk — contradicts a study done by Texas A&M University’s Agricultural & Food Policy Center (AFPC) that shows the Biden Administration’s proposed tax changes could be costly for family farms . The AFPC study found only two farms out of those studied would be immune to the proposed tax changes, and those two farms rent 100% of the land they farm. The remaining family farms would possibly have to take on more debt just to finance the higher tax bill.

“There would be a significant tax liability across all the farms that we looked at, except for two, so 92 of the 94 farms,” Joe Outlaw, co-director of Agricultural Food Policy Center and a Texas A&M economist, told Farm Journal after the report was released. “The one sure thing I can tell you is even with the projection of higher prices from FAPRI that we have right now, none of those farms can absorb this tax liability without having to refinance and go into debt. Not one. That’s the take-home.”

The AFPC study was done at the directive of Senate Ag Committee GOP leaders, but Outlaw pointed out their economic analysis is done for both sides of the aisle and the findings have no political bias. Under the AFPC’s modeling system where producers provided actual accounting records, AFPC found even with higher prices, most farms don’t have the cash on hand to pay for it.

Differing Definitions of a Farm Family

So, how can one study find nearly 99% of family farms won’t be impacted by the tax changes, yet another one comes to the conclusion nearly all family farms will be hit with a higher tax bill and accrue additional debt? Farm CPA Paul Neiffer says it goes back to the database each used and what the two groups used as the definition of a family farm. Neiffer thinks if the ERS analysis would have included only those farmers who make most of their income directly from farming, then the analysis would show a different result.

“USDA needs to parse their database to only include farmers who make a living from farming. If they did that, I would expect more than 75% of those farmers would be affected by President Biden’s tax proposal,” says Paul Neiffer, CPA and partner with CLA who focuses on agriculture. “Also not including farm landlords, which again may be the majority of farmers since their land is likely in entities, would likely dramatically increase the number of farmers potentially subject to the tax. An exemption of $1 million likely only covers less than 100 acres of ground in Iowa that was purchased only 20 years ago.”

The ERS report states the data set used comprised of 1.97 million family farm households. However, an ERS spokesperson told Farm Journal of those 1.97 million family farm households, 918,209, or 46%, say their primary occupation is farming.

The Texas A&M AFPC report, which found all but two operations would be impacted by changes in the stepped-up basis, as well as inheritance tax, used a database of 94 representative farms in 30 states. The data is then combined with a farm-level policy simulation model, which has been used for decades. Despite USDA and Secretary Vilsack’s claims the tax changes won’t impact nearly 99% of family farms, economists say the findings of the Texas A&M study still hold true.

Congress In Control

Even as Vilsack pushes for farmers to trust the Biden administration when they say most family farmers will not be impacted by the proposed tax changes, ultimately, it’s up to Congress.

In September, the House Ways and Means committee put some farmers fears to rest, as the Committee’s version of the bill didn’t include the transfer tax and left the “stepped-up in basis intact.”

More recently, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) was asked by reporters if changes to stepped-up basis were still on the table. He responded by saying, “Not at the moment. No.”

As the House punts to the Senate, Senate leaders could have the final say. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t offer any details on the plan, declining to provide any details on the menu of tax options,

As the two chambers hash out details, Neiffer says without changes to stepped-up basis, including the transfer tax due at death, the House’s plan is more favorable for family farmers and ranchers, but it does include some changes that could cause dairy farmers and larger farms to pay more.

“As far as a grade, what used to be probably an ‘F’ plan is now up to a ‘B-’ or ‘C+’, at least based on the House Ways and Means Committee proposals that came out,” Neiffer says.

He says if the House adds back in the transfer tax , then his grade would go back to an ‘F.’

AgriTalk: Three Ag Leaders Reflect on Reconciliation Bill

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:31:27 GMT

The reconciliation bill has been a hot-button topic for agricultural America this week, and South Dakota Senator John Thune, Arkansas Senator John Boozman and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall dropped in on AgriTalk to share their views with Host Chip Flory.

Thune says the effects of the bill as it currently stands will be felt across more than large corporations.

“These taxes are going to be passed on. They’ll argue we’re just taxing the rich, we’re just taxing businesses and we’re just taxing big corporations. I think the people who will get hurt by this are consumers, workers, families and business because we’re talking about $3.5 trillion, which is a huge amount of tax increase, and nobody is going to be spared,” says Thune.

Agricultural America, as Thune puts it, will experience a great deal of these negative effects.

“We’ve been fighting hard against some of the ideas that are out there that would really adversely impact agriculture. But this is just bad news and there is no good way to raise $3.5 trillion without hurting a lot of people,” says Thune.

Senator Boozman says that agriculture is not about Republicans and Democrats, rather the regions of the country and the commodities they grow. He says in the past, members from each party would generally seek input from commodity groups when working on a bill of this nature, but that was not the case this time around.

“When you look back over the last 40 years, we’ve had several reconciliation packages, several entities like this. This is the first time there has been no input from one of the parties. There has been no input at all from republicans and no input from stakeholders; no amendments to this bill,” says Boozman. “I’m very upset about it and your listeners are upset because this is strictly coming from the Biden Administration.”

As a country, he says, we expect our governmental parties to work together to agree on legislature that is for the betterment of all. Agriculture falls short in the reconciliation bill as a result of divided parties.

“My concern is the senate. We’re seeing one side of the administration can unilaterally, without any input from anyone, come back and rewrite the farm bill, which they’re doing again. Now, all that’s being thrown out the window,” says Boozman.

AFBF President Duvall seconds Senator Boozman’s notion that the House Ag Committee is working in a partisan manner.

“Normally, on the House Ag Committee or the Senate Ag Committee, you see more bipartisan working relationships and efforts going on. Unfortunately, in this day and time, everything is partisan, and we do have a serious problem with the process,” says Duvall. “The process should be dealt with on both sides of the aisle; our country depends on us to be able to sit down and come up with solutions from both sides of the isle.”

For more on the reconciliation bill, click here .

Grassley Comments on Reported RFS Cuts, Vilsack Defends Administration’s ‘Stable’ Approach to Blending Targets

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:46:59 GMT

As corn growers and the renewable fuels industry await EPA to release the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) blending requirements for 2020, 2021 and 2022, rumors continue to surface as to what those updated numbers may be.

On Wednesday, Reuters released an exclusive story citing documents that showed EPA is mulling significant cuts to biofuel blending levels. The report outlined the EPA proposal, which would reduce the mandates for 2020 and 2021 to about 17.1 billion gallons and about 18.6 billion gallons. Reuters also reported the agency would set the 2022 levels at about 20.8 gallons, calling it a win for the oil industry.

The Reuters story, on which the EPA wouldn’t comment but cautioned the numbers are subject to change, stated the updated 2020 levels would be lower than what was finalized for 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The news comes nearly a month after another Reuters report claimed the Biden administration was preparing to suggest lowering the renewable fuel volume requirements within the RFS. Citing sources, the news caused grain and oilseed prices to take a nosedive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Responds

AgriTalk host Chip Flory pressed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the subject Wednesday, asking if rumors the final EPA numbers would be released Friday, Sept. 24. Vilsack said while he didn’t know timing, EPA would release the numbers when the agency is ready.

“I don’t know what the numbers will be,” Vilsack told Flory. “What I do know is that that it’s fair to say that there were some significant disruptions during 20 and 21, as a result of the pandemic, certainly during 20 [we saw] significant disruptions. And the impact that the pandemic had on numbers, you know, the administrator would know, the EPA would know. But at the end of day, I’m going to look for ways in which we a USDA can provide help and assistance. That’s why we are prepared to provide $700 million of assistance now and additional resources above and beyond that, for infrastructure to expand the capacity to get higher blends out there to consumers. We’re going to continue to do what we can’t USDA to support this industry.”

Grassley Voices Concern

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) was also on AgriTalk Wednesday. When asked about the Reuters story, Grassley said at this point, the rumor is just a rumor. He went on to tell Flory EPA has not confirmed any of it but made clear that if the Reuters story holds true, it could be detrimental to ethanol, and possibly even biodiesel.

“When Biden was campaigning in Iowa, he supported ethanol,” Grassley said on AgriTalk. “I’ve had good conversations with the EPA director on it. And I thought they were favorable to it. And I don’t know the rationale behind it, but it could have something to do with their promoting of electric vehicles. It surely can’t have anything to do with their caving in to big oil, because they don’t like fossil fuels at all.”

Making the Case for Stability with RFS Release

While no reports have been confirmed, Vilsack pointed out that no matter what is released by the Biden Administration, he says one thing is certain: it will provide stable numbers that won’t waiver to carveouts for small refinery exemptions and other possible requests, taking a slam at the Trump Administration’s track record over four years.

“I think what people have to understand about the RFS is the most important thing to it is stability,” Vilsack told Flory. “In my view, the most important thing is to be able to count on the numbers that you’re provided. I contrast that to the previous administration that basically gave you a number and then basically through a series of waivers reduced that number. So, there was always instability, always uncertainty. I think [EPA] Administrator Regan, what his job is, he really wants to make sure that the numbers are solid, make sure that they’re set that they are, they are supported by the facts and that they are real, that there isn’t going to be a liberal use of the waiver process that will basically make those numbers not real.”

Biofuels Groups Respond

While the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) didn’t comment on the Reuters story regarding rumored changed to the RFS, the group did email reporters saying an erroneous e-mail being sent to some reporters contained fabricated information, and an email that didn’t help the rumor mill Wednesday.

“We’ve been made aware that some reporters may be receiving an email that includes fake 2020-2022 RVO numbers that were supposedly shared by RFA with its members. We want you to know that this is a complete fabrication and a shameful “spoofing” attempt. We are trying to get to the bottom of who is sending this and why. RFA never sent any such email or circulated any potential RVO numbers to our member companies.”

RFA went on to say it doesn’t have information or confirmation regarding the 2021-2022 RVO numbers and are “anxiously awaiting” the release of those RVO proposals.

The Case for Supporting Low-Carbon Biofuels

Just last week, Growth Energy urged Biden to upload his commitments to clean energy, commitments that were referenced by Grassley on AgriTalk Wednesday. During a virtual fly-in, Growth Energy sent a letter urging Biden to take clear action on climate change by upholding the RFS, which Growth Energy says supports low-carbon biofuels.

“If we are to achieve net-zero by 2050, we must use all tools in the toolbox – including biofuels,” Growth Energy stated in the letter. The group also stated fuels like ethanol reduce carbon emissions by 46% over their full lifecycle.

“It is vital that conventional biofuel blending targets meet the15-billion-gallon minimum required by law,” the letter went on to say.

Renewable Identification Number (RIN) values tanked Tuesday, possibly ahead of the Reuters news. However, corn prices seemed to shake off the Reuters report, still trading in the green mid-day.

Secy. Vilsack, ‘I think at the end of the day I should pay tax’

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:45:59 GMT

In April, the Biden Administration released the American Families Plan (AFP), which included their intention to make stepped-up basis, or accumulated gains in asset value subject to capital gains taxation when the asset owner dies, a law.

The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) recently released data to showcase those who would be affected if the stepped-up basis were approved in the AFP.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory agricultural America’s analysis of the stepped-up basis is mostly inaccurate, creating a lack of support in the stepped-up basis concept.

“In their calculations, they’ve forgotten about the exemption levels of $1 million per person, $2 million per couple, and if there’s a homestead, $2.5 million per couple,” says Vilsack. “When you apply that, combined with the exemption for owner and operator, you get 98% of farmers—almost 99% of farmers—are not covered by this.”

The 1.1% impacted by stepped-up basis, according to Vilsack, are those who own land and don’t have any heirs who are interested in farming the land. It’s those who have the land as an investment that appreciates over time.

Vilsack used his own financial situation as an example.

“When I die, is it fair for my own kids to get a huge tax break, or is it better for my kids to pay their fair share and in doing so, allow families across the United States to have access to a child credit? It makes it easier for working families, middle class families, including farm families, to be able to support their children,” says Vilsack. “Is it better to have the opportunity to have more affordable college for millions of kids? Or is it better for Tom Vilsack and his kids to have a huge tax break? At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about.”

Secretary Vilsack says the “us vs. them” political division has hindered politicians from completing items of business, which has also fueled American’s lack of trust in politicians. Enabling this stepped-up basis will help dissolve this distrust, according to Vilsack.

“I think at the end of the day I should pay tax. I don’t think a family farm or farmer who owns and operates a farm, and his kids want to own and operate the farm, I don’t think they should pay the tax,” says Vilsack. “That’s the reason we pressed hard when this was put forward to make sure there was an exemption, and there is for 98.9% of farms.”

To hear more of Flory’s interview with Vilsack, listen here.

Ferrie: Got Northern Corn Leaf Blight? Call Your Retailer

Mon, 02 Aug 2021 12:01:09 GMT

Disease pressure is building in many Illinois corn fields this week, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) is of particular concern this season. Ferrie says if you see “any hint of it” to contact your retailer to see how quickly they might be able to treat.

“The concern is in some areas, farmers are having to wait up to two weeks for a plane to fly their fields,” he says.

As for treatment pecking order, Ferrie say to spray corn first and then soybeans.

If you’re unfamiliar with NCLB, check corn leaves for narrow, tan lesions – sometimes referred to as cigar-shaped – that form parallel to leaf margins. Depending on hybrid susceptibility, the lesions commonly range in length from 1” to 6” long.

Since the early 2000s, both the prevalence and severity of NCLB have increased in the Midwest.

“During wet weather yield losses may be as high as 30% to 50% if the disease becomes establishes before tasseling,” according to Ohio State University Extension agronomists. “However, if leaf damage is only moderate or is delayed until six weeks after silking, yield losses are minimal. Severe damage caused by NCLB also predisposes plants to stalk rot and lodging, which may further reduce yield and grain quality (read more at https://bit.ly/3ffhjuu).”

Don’t be ho-hum about corn rootworm.

“I’ve been receiving pictures from guys running ground rigs, where the hood and the windshield are just covered with corn rootworm beetle,” Ferrie says. “A lot of them are the northern CRW, the green beetle, which is a bit of a surprise because our sticky traps last year indicated we’d have few CRW this year.”

Ferrie says several factors are in play.

First, the use of sticky traps isn’t an exact science and is still in the calibration phase.

“We catch the beetle in sticky traps by accident; we aren’t luring them in with a lure,” Ferrie says.

This year, central Illinois didn’t experience any timely rains to knock the CRW population down, like it has in other years.

Third, farmers are encountering more of the northern CRW, the green beetle, which has an extended diapause. That simply means eggs the beetle lays in the ground can sit there for two years before they hatch.

Last but not least, CRW beetles can move in from a neighboring field, and fields of pumpkins are of particular concern. “Some of our pumpkin fields are having problems with disease this year, so the beetles are moving early,” Ferrie notes.

If you have large numbers of CRW beetles, now is the time to do root washes. “If you’re seeing a lot of damage on your roots, whatever you’re doing to manage the CRW event, you need to do something different next year,” he advises.

Plus, don’t forget that if you have northern CRW, the eggs beetles lay this year won’t hatch until the 2023 season.

Wind damage? Round up a reel now.

Ferrie says fields in central Illinois have had more wind problems this season than usual, and that could spell trouble at harvest.

“If you have corn growing in all different directions, it’s going to be prone to break off at the ‘goose neck,’ so round up a reel if you can,” he advises.

Still time to register for Corn and Soybean College

Ferrie and team will be hosting the 2021 Farm Journal Corn and Soybean College program next week, Aug. 3-4. You can check out the agenda and register at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

Some of the topics include:

Cover Crops, Carbon and CO2
Navigating through Nutrient Regulation
Managing Your Subsurface Environment
Maximizing the Environment for High-Yield Soybeans
It All Starts in the Furrow

“Come early and be prepared to learn and be challenged about what you thought you knew,” Ferrie says.

Farmers from all across the U.S. are registered to attend, and you’ll have plenty of time to mingle and make new friends and see some old ones, too.

Check out the agenda and register at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

Listen here for this week’s Boots In The Field podcast:

Ferrie: Downed Corn and Still Need to Apply N? Consider Your Options

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:34:59 GMT

This past week farmers in parts of the Corn Belt, including central Illinois, saw a wide range of rainfall from a light smattering to 3” hard downpours. In some places, wind and hail also struck corn and soybean fields.

“In those areas where there were high winds and 3” of rain, we did see some buildings destroyed, center pivots tipped over, down corn and soybean damage,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting near Heyworth, Ill.

Ferrie says while the corn might have looked worse, soybean crops seemed most affected by the hail, and he reminds growers to report damage to their crop insurance company.

Keep Corn Crops Fueled With N

In fields where corn was pushed over – and not snapped off – he anticipates that much of the crop will straighten itself up from its base.

“You’ll see a nook at the bottom of the plants after they straighten up, but the good news is the corn should stand up pretty decent, and it’s much better to have had this happen now than after tasseling,” he says.

If you planned to Y-drop apply nitrogen (N), Ferrie believes that will still be possible in many corn crops, though it will be slow-going through those fields.

In fields where the corn is down enough you aren’t comfortable trying to get through it with a ground application, Ferrie says to consider scheduling an aerial application of N.

As always, take into consideration your weather forecast, as some parts of Illinois are forecast to get another 3” to 8” of rain this week.

Ferrie says additional rain would be a mixed blessing. “It depends on whether you end up on the 3” side of the rain or the 8” side,” he says. “If we get rain, and it doesn’t run off too quickly, it’ll get us through pollination and the end of July. I know you’re likely frustrated, but too much water is a smaller issue than worrying about a crop that’s burning up during pollination.”

Ferrie’s agronomic team pulled tile gates last Friday. He says if their fields get only 1” to 3” of rain this week, his team will put the gates back in.

He adds if you’re concerned about N loss, and still plan to apply N, you might consider pulling some nitrate samples.

There’s been limited disease pressure in corn this year, to date, but Ferrie says if rains come this week the disease pressure will likely pick up in the next 10 days.

Consider Soybean Growth Stage Before Applying Herbicides

With the rainfall, Ferrie says you’ll likely see those soybeans that had been stalled out due to the carbon penalty and dry soils have a growth spurt this week.

“If you have soybeans that are at R2, meaning they’re at V6 or V7, they’re likely flowering in the upper part of the canopy now, so you need to be careful about post herbicide applications or rescue treatments that could knock off the flowers and affect yield,” he cautions.

He also addresses topics for the 2021 Farm Journal Corn and Soybean College in this week’s podcast.

If you know a high school or college student who is interested in participating in one of the upcoming events, check out the scholarship Ferrie is offering. More details are available at:

Corn & Soybean College

Rootless Corn Syndrome Cause and ‘Cure’

DC Signal to Noise: Big Infrastructure Plans Require a Big Budget

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:56:55 GMT

AgriTalk’s Chip Flory and Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer recap the hot topics last week and a look ahead to what to watch this week.

Watch the video above or listen to the podcast below for discussion on these topics and more: Clip and Jim take a closer look at the U.S. China trade relationship and the clock is ticking on the infrastructure bill.

Rootless Corn Syndrome Cause and 'Cure'

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:51:05 GMT

As Ken Ferrie traveled through Minnesota and into northern Iowa this past week, he saw a number of fields with rootless corn syndrome, sometimes referred to as floppy corn syndrome.

“These are fields that had been worked, but they’re so dry at the (soil) surface that as we try to make the hand off from the seed (seminal) roots to the crown roots – in that V4 to V5 window – it’s too dry, and the crown roots just come out and nub off,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting in central Illinois, near Heyworth.

A contributing factor to the problem is when you don’t or can’t firm up the soil tightly enough over the top of the seed when planting in dry conditions.

“That’s why we stay away from a spoked-like closing wheel in a conventional tillage system, because we can’t firm (the soil) enough to keep that moisture tucked in,” Ferrie notes.

The best solution to the problem of rootless or floppy corn is moisture.

“In most cases, all it’s going to take is one good rain shower, and the corn plant will re-anchor,” he says.

In the meantime, some cultivation could potentially help.

“Where we can roll some soil up around the base of the plants, that will stimulate the brace roots to take off,” Ferrie notes.

In fields where corn is leaning heavily, he recommends holding off on herbicide applications, if your specific situation permits a delay.

“I know you’ve got to keep an eye on the weeds and label restrictions, but if you could give this corn a chance to finally set those roots you would be better off,” he says.

If dry conditions persist too long, plants with rootless corn syndrome can have difficulty recovering. “If the plant tips over and the mesocotyl breaks off, that corn won’t survive,” Ferrie says.

Rootworm hatch is underway. In many areas, the hatch is nearly done and larval feeding is becoming evident. Ferrie recommends doing some rootworm floats about the end of June to evaluate the damage.

“It’s to evaluate your traits to make sure that you don’t have rootworms getting around them,” he says.

The floats are also useful for farmers growing non-GMO corn. “It’s helpful if you’re trying to decide whether you can get by without an insecticide,” Ferrie says.

He says if you are unable to do the floats, at the very least take pictures of any significant damage which you can then share with your agronomist. Bear in mind, however, that there is no rescue treatment available for rootworm-damaged corn. The work you do now to evaluate rootworm damage is to help you plan for the 2022 season.

For further insights on pest and disease issues in corn and soybeans at this point in the season, listen to Ferrie’s Boots In The Field podcast below:

Beware of Rootless Corn

Rewind Rootless Corn Syndrome

Biden Administration: Fully Vaccinated People Don’t Need Masks

Fri, 14 May 2021 21:40:57 GMT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced new protocols for fully vaccinated people. Joining us for this special AgriTalk podcast to discuss these new measures is Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, Senior Advisor to the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

They also discuss:

> Where the country is at in the fight against COVID
> Achieving Biden’s 70% vaccination goal by July 4
> Adolescents ages 12-15 are now authorized for Pfizer vaccine, and what that means
> How rural America is doing in progress to get vaccinated
> What’s next in the battle against COVID

Listen now: