Southeast Farm Press

U.S., Colombia trade agreement officially implemented

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:28:00 +0000

On Tuesday, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Colombia was officially implemented.

Unusual pests showing up in tobacco greenhouses

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:16:00 +0000

By Hannah Burrack, North Carolina Extension Entomologist

Last month, I posted about the potential for greater and more unusual insect activity in tobacco greenhouses due to our warm winter and relatively mild spring.

AFBF: Multi-legged stool best approach for farm bill

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

From the American Farm Bureau Federation

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman at a hearing today on Capitol Hill re-emphasized his organizations’ support of a single commodity option and a strong crop insurance program in the 2012 farm bill.

Kudzu bugs hitting South Carolina beans early

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:03:00 +0000

Kudzu bugs are a new pest from China and though they are spreading rapidly from south to north, heavy populations apparently have decided to stay in South Carolina.

Kudzu bug eggs found in North Carolina soybeans

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:57:00 +0000

By Dominic Reisig, North Carolina Extension Entomologist

Kudzu bug eggs have been found, with accompanying adults, on volunteer soybeans in Pamlico County.

T. Boone Picken’s energy gospel part 2: natural gas as a bridge to the future

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:37:00 +0000

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens — who comes across as a worldly-wise, aw shucks fella you’d like have a cold one with and listen to his war stories about all the fortunes he’s made and lost — is again in the role of latter day media circuit rider, spreading the gospel, to all who’ll listen, of at least partial salvation for the nation’s energy woes: natural gas.

Farm Press Blog

Horseweed causing bigger headaches for cotton, soybean growers

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:52:00 +0000

Reduced-tillage a factor in weed's emergence

By Jim Langcuster, Alabama Cooperative Extension System

In the social sciences, they call it unintended consequences, in the military, collateral damage — good intentions gone awry.

Record cotton stocks overwhelm market

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:42:00 +0000

It’s hard for the cotton market to ignore nearly 74 million bales of supply.

USDA celebrates 150 years

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today marked the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and highlighted the positive impact that USDA has on the life of Americans each day.

Kentucky burley production was down 9 percent in 2011

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:22:00 +0000

From the Kentucky & USDA Agriculture Statistics Services

Final 2011 burley tobacco production by Kentucky farmers totaled 128 million pounds, down 9 percent from the 140.4 million pounds produced in 2010.

Thrips pressure in Alabama cotton variable

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

By Ron Smith, Alabama Extension Entomologist

Thrips pressure in Alabama is quite variable based on the location and field.

Thrips waiting to pounce on North Carolina cotton?

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:37:00 +0000

By Jack Bacheler, North Carolina Extension Entomologist

With cotton planting seriously getting under way during the first couple of days in May, thrips have not yet played their hand.

Commentary: USDA celebrating 150 years of progress, innovation

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:10:00 +0000

By Roger Johnson, President, National Farmers Union

This week marks a milestone in the history of our country and a legacy of President Abraham Lincoln. While he is known for many accomplishments, a little-known fact is that he established the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 150 years ago.

Corn market direction beginning to unfold

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:43:00 +0000

By Debra Levey Larson, University of Illinois

The USDA’s projections of U.S. and world corn and feed grain supply-and-demand conditions presented in the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report set the benchmark by which the corn market will judge unfolding events.

Shading helps south Georgia peppers beat the heat

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Provides big increase in marketable fruit

By Donn H. Cooper, University of Georgia

As the seasons turn, commercial bell pepper growers in the Southeast share a common foe: the sun.

DCP, ACRE signup deadline is June 1

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:34:00 +0000

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson reminds producers that enrollment for the 2012 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) ends June 1.  

Disease control ranks at No. 4 in Keys to Peanut Profitability

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:10:00 +0000

As the countdown continues to the No. 1 Key to Peanut Profitability, disease control comes in at No. 4, including the control of soil-borne and foliar diseases and nematodes.

Cotton market takes it on the chin

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:13:00 +0000

USDA report, recent rainfall big factors

By Don Shurley, University of Georgia

Dreadful supply/demand news hammered cotton prices May 10-11.

Virginia row crops field day set for June 5

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:44:00 +0000

Growers in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina will get to see the progress of a number of row crops and hear the latest in research-driven production information at a June 5, field day at the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Suffolk, Va.

Alabama Extension launches climate website

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:55:00 +0000

By Jim Langcuster, Alabama Cooperative Extension System

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has launched a website to help people, particularly the state’s farmers, gain a stronger understanding of climate- and weather-related factors and how these factors can help them better manage their lives and livelihoods.

Senators call for limits on crop insurance premium subsidies

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:38:00 +0000

From the National Cotton Council

In a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Roberts (R-Kan.), Sens. Coburn (R-Okla.) and Durbin (D-Ill.) have called for a $40,000 payment limit to be imposed on crop insurance premium subsidies.

Water jihads and Moe Howard haircuts

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:13:00 +0000

When Noah spread out the first bits of gopher wood for his ark’s keel, he was building a monument to cataclysm.

Farm Press Blog

Commodity markets plea for more soybean acres

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:17:00 +0000

By Jennifer Stewart, Purdue University

The latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that U.S. soybean supplies could be at their lowest level relative to use since 1965 following the 2012-2013 cropping year.

U.S. soybean supply expected to dip to historic low

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:09:00 +0000

From the American Farm Bureau Federation

There are going to be more soybeans grown across the United States this year, but that increase will be dwarfed by the amount of soybeans that will be used and exported.

Downy mildew showing up early in cucumbers

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Steve Rideout, director of Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agriculture Research and Education Center, warns cucumber growers in the state to scout for cucurbit downy mildew, which has shown up earlier in the season than usual.

USDA report considered bearish for cotton

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:31:00 +0000

By Chuck Danehower, Tennessee Cooperative Extension Service

USDA’s May 10 projections for old and new crop cotton would have to be considered bearish as ending stocks are unchanged for old crop and prospects are for increased stocks for both the U.S. and the world in new crop.

USDA projects record breaking corn crop in 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:02:00 +0000

From the National Corn Growers Association

U.S. corn farmers are on course to shatter production, yield and supply records according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released May 10.

Managing corn in a dry spring

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:45:00 +0000

By Angela McClure, Tennessee Extension Corn & Soybean Specialist

Some fields that missed showers for the ‘nth’ time this spring are dry without a doubt.

DOL regulatory back-down calms family farm tempest

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:10:00 +0000

The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent decision to withdraw the proposed rule dealing with family farms and child labor calmed a months-long storm in rural America.

Anticipation builds for action in Senate, House on farm bill

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:49:00 +0000

Reauthorization before Sept. 30 looks possible

From the National Association of Wheat Growers

Anticipation is building for 2012 farm bill action in the coming weeks, with reauthorization before the current bill’s expiration on Sept. 30 looking possible.   