Weekly News Highlights
Reporting Agriculture’s Business For the Red River Farm Network, the week of the Big Iron Farm Show is always a highlight. We hosted daily seminars in our building. Those programs can be found online with links in this edition of FarmNetNews. There was a great turnout. Our RRFN team wants to thank everyone who attended one of our sessions at the show. This week, RRFN will be in Fargo at the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association annual meeting. Meeting season is officially underway. Connect with RRFN for updates on farm news, markets and weather on Facebook and Twitter. The RRFN team: Carah, Megan, Mike, Randy, Jay and Don are also on Twitter. Listen each day on your local RRFN affiliate.
USDA Increases Yield Estimates USDA has surprised the grain trade for two months now by increasing its yield estimates for corn and soybeans. Rich Morrison, senior risk advisor, Diversified Services Marketing Group, says there are still more opportunities for USDA to adjust those numbers. Thats true. We have three more reports. Well get crop production reports in October, November and January. They still have opportunities to make some changes. Historically, those changes dont become as large as we move forward. They may make small tweaks. Then, well focus on the demand side of the picture. Morrison says farmers should be aware there are always opportunities in the grain markets. Morrison was part of Wednesday’s market panel at the Big Iron Farm Show. Listen to the session.
La Nina Watch The U.S. Climate Prediction Center has increased the possibility of a La Nina this fall. The odds are placed at 55-to-60 percent for a La Nina to form. The grain market is watching this possibility because a La Nina could hurt the crops in southern Brazil and Argentina.
Yields Vary Proseed district sales manager Jason Lovejoy covers northwest Minnesota and is seeing early soybean yields range from the low 30 bushels per acre to over 50 bushels per acre. “It will all depend on the rains. There are pockets that did decent, but others are struggling.” Frost has already been seen in parts of Lovejoy’s territory. “It cleaned up some of the corn and we hope it didn’t hurt yields.”
White Mold Evident in the Southern Red River Valley Combines are beginning to move in portions of northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota. Travis Buccholz, distrct sales manager, Thunder Seeds, is hearing fairly decent yields. “As we get into the next couple weeks, we’ll see a lot come off. In the southern part of the Red River Valley, there is a lot of white mold in the beans.” Buccholz says there are isolated areas that will experience 30-to-40 percent yeild loss, due to white mold.
Good Protein Content U.S. Wheat Associates reports the final overall protein content of this years hard red winter wheat crop is 11.4 percent, slightly above last years 11.2 percent. With nearly 70 percent of the hard red spring wheat samples analyzed, the average protein content is 14.8 percent, down from 15 percent the previous week, but well above last years average protein of 14.2 percent. Average test weight is 60.8 pounds per bushel, down from last years final average of 61.3 pounds. The spring wheat crop has a very low level of defects.
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Source: Red River Farm Network