Crops | Field 2 Field

February 21, 2020February 21, 2020

Water quality awards given out to two Minnesota farmers

Water quality is a hot topic of conversation in Minnesota right now, with the state’s farmers at the forefront of the discussion in award-winning fashion.

Two Minnesota farmers are being recognized for their commitment to agriculture, water quality, and wildlife. Randy Schmiesing of Stevens County, as well as Tom Cotter of Mower County, were recently given the new Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) wildlife endorsement at the Pheasants Forever National Pheasant Fest in Minneapolis. Schmiesing and Cotter are the first farmers in the state to receive the endorsement.

“Conserving our natural resources for future generations to enjoy has been a lifelong goal and commitment,” said Randy Schmiesing. “We are proud to be one of the first farms to be certified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for the wildlife endorsement through the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program and encourage other farmers to pursue this wildlife endorsement and reap the many benefits it achieves.”

Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen presents Tom Cotter of Mower County with his Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program wildlife endorsement. (Contributed photo)

Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen presents Randy Schmiesing of Stevens County with his Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program wildlife endorsement (Contributed photo)

MAWQCP launched the wildlife, soil health, and integrated pest-management endorsements in December as additions to the 10-year certification a farmer or landowner receives in the program. The certification program partnered with various non-profit organizations like Pheasants Forever and the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, as well as state agencies, to develop the endorsements.

“Many conservation practices targeting water quality also have benefits for other conservation goals, such as wildlife,” said Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “With the help of organizations like Pheasants Forever, we want to recognize farmers who are making efforts to protect our numerous natural resources in Minnesota.”

“Pheasants Forever appreciates the opportunity to work alongside the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and other partners in highlighting the new wildlife endorsement through the MAWQCP at Pheasant Fest,” said Tanner Bruse, Agriculture and Conservation Programs Manager, Pheasants Forever. “It’s our honor to be a part of the recognition of those implementing conservation practices that represent a win-win scenario for their operation, soil, water and wildlife. We congratulate them and thank them for their stewardship.”

Certified producers who achieve an endorsement will receive an additional sign for their farm and recognition for their conservation excellence.

Certified farmers and landowners interested in an endorsement, or those interested in in earning a certification in water quality, can contact their local Soil and Water Conservation District. They can also visit MyLandMyLegacy.com.

About the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program

The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program is a voluntary opportunity for farmers and agricultural landowners to take the lead in implementing conservation practices that protect our water. Those who implement and maintain approved farm management practices will be certified and in turn obtain regulatory certainty for a period of ten years. The program is available to farmers and landowners statewide. To date, the program has certified 832 farms totaling 566,862 acres.

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020

Coronavirus and Possible Effects on Commodity Markets

Coronavirus. As it continues to make headlines, commodity experts are wondering what kind of effect the spread of the virus will have on markets. Joe Vaclavik, President of Standard Grains in Chicago, says the outbreak will have some effect, but it’s hard to tell what kind or for how long.

“It’s not a positive. I don’t know that it’s the biggest negative in the world. It could be, and that’s why you’re seeing liquidation in some of these markets, like the stock market, and that’s why you’re seeing the grain markets soften up. Nobody wants to be long in this stuff. The Coronavirus probably goes the way of SARS, or some of these other similar types of outbreaks that we’ve last a month, maybe two months, maybe the better part of a year. Then, it probably makes its way out of the headline.”

He says the possibility of a significant impact on markets has likely grown over the past couple of weeks.

“There’s always that risk that it turns into something much bigger. It could eventually disrupt the flow of trade. Maybe there’s a country out there that decides to throw up trade barriers and says ‘hey, we don’t want corn from the U.S. because they’ve got too much of that virus going around. There’s always that sort of risk on the table.”

Mike Zuzolo, President of Global Commodity Analytics in Kansas, says the virus will likely have a significant impact on China’s poultry flocks. Separate reports have millions of chickens “on the edge of death.” But they aren’t necessarily sick with Coronavirus.

“Animal feed suppliers cannot get their shipments through, raw materials can’t get through, and this also corresponds with another article from the South China Morning Post that said hedging is not being done, soy meal is not being hedged, so soybeans are not being bought. I think what you’re looking at is probably pent-up demand for the livestock industry and that 300-million chickens die because of not being fed because of Coronavirus. That number of pounds of protein, you’re going to have to replace, eventually.”

There is a long-term buying potential for commodities, but only if the virus outbreak doesn’t last longer than reports are suggesting.

“If China and the scientists are correct and we see a peak in the maximum pressure of this virus, outbreaks of this virus, and, in the next 7-10 days, the price action we’re seeing right now will not last. It will set up a long-term buying potential for commodities.”

Again, that’s Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics, as well as Joe Vaclavik of Standard Grains.

January 4, 2020January 4, 2020

Grain Markets put 2019 in the rearview mirror

Here’s the full conversation with Joe Vaclavik of Standard Grain in Chicago. You can download it on your computer by clicking on the three dots on the right side of the player. Play it here on your mobile device.

Grain Markets officially bid 2019 a not-so-fond adieu. Like most other segments of American agriculture, grain farmers are more than happy to put 2019 in the past. Joe Vaclavik, founder and president of Standard Grains in Chicago, says last year didn’t start off well in the grain markets and it just kept going for the next 12 months.

“We had a pretty comfortable, if not burdensome supply situation entering the calendar year, so, the calendar year kind of began similar to what we’ve seen the last two, three, four years, a comfortable supply-demand situation, not anything terribly tight. Low prices, farmers not making a ton of money, you got the trade war going on, a lot of overall negative factors I would say to start the year.”

He says the spring is when things began to get “interesting.”

“Both in the markets and the weather. We basically sold the markets off until about that May time frame, that I think traders started to realize that we had some serious weather problems. Wet weather, cold weather, planting delays continued, and typically we are always told the crop’s always going to be planted, and planting delays are not a cause for concern.”

However, as the spring continued, things turned more serious in the markets.

“Planting delays turned into a major concern. There was a point in time in late May into maybe the mid part of June where we just had no clue what type of production was possible, and out of that, we had a very significant crop scare rally in the corn market and in the soybean market, to a lesser extent.”

Farmers continued to plant corn long past what would be a normal planting date. Vaclavik says the market was rallying as farmers continued to plant, even into early July in a few locations. He says the market peaked in June because it bought a “whole bunch of corn acres” that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.

Vaclavik says farmers faced challenges from a weather standpoint, logistics, and from a demand standpoint with trade challenges in 2019. With all that stacked against them, the question is how much grain U.S. farmers produced last year. Vaclavik says the answer depends on who you ask.

“A lot of people think that the numbers USDA has put out are just not achievable given the late planting, the wet spring, the late harvest, so there’s still some debate out there. I’m not one to tell you with any degree of certainty that we know for sure what the crop is, and we’ve got this big report on January 10, which is the final crop production report, and I suppose if USDA is going to make any sort of sweeping adjustment, it probably comes on that date.”

Again, Joe Vaclavik is the president of Standard Grains in Chicago.

October 30, 2019October 30, 2019

Hemp Production Rules in Place for U.S. farming

The U.S. Department of Agriculture hosted a press conference to announce the rollout of the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program. As long as farmers aren’t working in states that prohibit hemp farming by law, officials will work with farmers to help them establish an approved plan to produce industrial hemp on their operations.

Here’s the complete press conference audio from this week:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture officially announced the establishment of the Domestic Hemp Production Program. The program is designed to create a consistent regulatory framework involving hemp farming across the country. USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach says the agency will work with states and tribes to help producers establish federally approved hemp production plans, as long as hemp production isn’t outlawed by their states.

The interim rule also calls for a public comment period so USDA can take input on the final rule before it’s enacted. Ibach says the 2020 growing season will be a “test drive” so USDA can make any needed corrections before publishing the final rule. He talks about some of the key provisions in the interim final rule.

There will be a 30-day waiting period for USDA to license farmers who want to grow hemp in states or tribes that don’t submit plans for federal approval. Ibach says they’ve gotten a lot of questions during the development process surrounding hemp testing for THC.

USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey says once state and tribal plans are in place, hemp growers will be eligible for various government programs in 2020…tape

If you have any more question, contact your local Farm Service Agency office. They can point you in the right direction. You can also find more information online at farmers.gov/hemp.

October 22, 2019October 22, 2019

Renewable Fuels Debate Continues Unabated

Here’s the complete podcast with Scott Irwin of the University of Minnesota, talking about his solution to the squabble between ethanol and the oil industry over the Renewable Fuels Standard. You can download and listen to it later or play it here.

Renewable Fuels seem like such a good idea to me. After all, fossil fuels are a finite resource, right? We grow lots of corn and other biofuel feedstocks. Why can’t we use some of them to stretch our fuel supply even further into the future? That’s rhetorical, of course. Big Oil has lots of money. One University of Illinois Professor says that money has put Big Oil squarely in the driver’s seat with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The clash between the ethanol and oil industries over the Renewable Fuels Standard is continuing with no end in sight. Scott Irwin of the Agricultural and Consumer Economics Department at the University of Illinois says there may not be a “win-win” deal in a debate like this.

Irwin wrote an article on the University of Illinois’ farm doc daily website called “Clearing the Logjam on the RFS and SREs: A Simple Proposal.” His idea would divide the refiners into large and small operations, while the ethanol proponents are treated as one group.

By doing it that way, the Environmental Protection Agency won’t be waiving any future volumes of ethanol. He realizes that the large refiners won’t be happy with his proposal, which Irwin says restores what the RFS was originally designed to do.

Irwin says his solution would satisfy two-thirds of the people and groups involved in the debate, which might be the best we can do. By way of comparison, the current situation is a mess.

Again, Scott Irwin is with the University of Illinois. Follow the link here if you’d like to read his full report on the Farm Doc Daily website.

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October 22, 2019October 22, 2019

Harvest season in MN requiring extra patience

Here’s another chadsmithmedia podcast, this time with Houston and Fillmore County Extension Educator Michael Cruse, talking harvest progress in southeast Minnesota.

Harvest season. Never a dull moment in farm country. It’s never an easy season for anyone, regardless of what the growing season was like. This year’s ridiculously wet growing season is going to make things even more challenging, which is not exactly a state secret.

The harvest season is officially underway in southeast Minnesota. A few days of drier and windier weather last week allowed some crops to come out of fields across the area. Houston and Fillmore County Extension Educator Michael Cruse said timing appears to be everything when it comes to fall harvesting in 2019.

“I’m glad you called me later last week, rather than on Monday,” Cruse said. “I would have been much more down on the situation earlier last week. However, a couple of windy days helped some farmers take some corn and beans out of their fields. In spite of that, we’re still behind and we’ll still be scrambling to make sure everything gets done before the ground freezes. At least we’re starting to make some progress.”

The excess rainfall this year means the crops will come out of the fields much wetter than normal. He said the recent windy days seem to have put soybeans into pretty good shape. But, the corn is still going to require some time in the dryer, which isn’t a big surprise this harvest season.

Harvest season is underway in southeast Minnesota, all be it slowly, according to Michael Cruse of the University of Minnesota Extension Service. There’s still a long way to go in very we conditions. (Photo from UMN.Extension.Edu)

“The beans are actually drying down to the point that it looks like they’ll be okay,” Cruse said. “Just be patient with them. Obviously, the last thing you want is to get a big snowfall on top of them, but they seem to be coming along. However, the hard truth is that the majority of our corn crop will come out of the field too wet.

“No matter how long we wait this fall, we just won’t have the drying conditions to get that corn down to optimal moisture,” he added. “That’s probably why we see a lot of farmers working corn right now. They know there’s going to be a bottleneck while the corn has to sit in their dryers and it’s going to take some time. Get a head start because it’s going to take a while.”