Author: C.J. Miller

The USDA has lowered Indiana’s corn yield estimates to 186 bushels per acre, down three bushels from last month’s anticipated yield estimates and down nine bushels from last year.

However, Indiana’s farmers continue to anticipate record soybean yields this year, according the USDA’s Sept. 1 Crop Forecast.

Indiana farmers anticipate harvesting 5.05 million acres of corn, down 220 thousand acres from last year and 5.83 million acres of soybeans, up 190 thousand acres from last year.

“A dry August reduced anticipated Indiana corn yields,” says Nathanial Warenski, State Statistician with the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Indiana Field Office. “As of August 28, Indiana corn was 2 percent mature, five points lower than the 5-year average.”

“Indiana soybean yield is forecasted at 60 bushels per acre, unchanged from last month. If realized, this will be a record yield. As of Aug. 28, ninety percent of Indiana soybeans were setting pods, one point more than the five-year average,” says Warenski.

“The 2022 U.S. soybean crop is forecast at 4.38 billion bushels, down three percent from the previous forecast and down one percent from 2021. Based on conditions as of Sept. 1, yields are expected to average 50.5 bushels per acre, down 1.4 bushels from the previous forecast and down 0.9 bushel from 2021. Total planted area, at 87.5 million acres, is down one percent from the previous estimate but up less than one percent from the previous year. Area harvested for beans in the United States is forecast at 86.6 million acres, down one percent from the previous forecast but up less than one percent from 2021,” according to Warenski.

Meanwhile, Indiana’s corn crops are rated at 54 percent good-to-excellent according to the USDA’s Weekly Crop Progress Report for the week ending Sunday, Sept. 11. The percent remains unchanged for corn from the previous week.  Ninety-seven percent of the state’s corn crop is in the dough stage and 73 percent is dented. Fifteen percent of the state’s corn crop is mature.

Indiana’s soybeans are rated at 56 percent good-to-excellent, which is also unchanged from the previous week.  The USDA says 21 percent of the state’s soybeans are dropping leaves.

Across the rest of the country, 53 percent of the nation’s corn crop is rated good-to-excellent, which is a drop of one percent from the week before. Ninety-five percent of the country’s corn crop is in the dough stage and 77 percent is dented. Twenty-five percent of the nation’s corn crop is mature.

The U.S. soybean crop is at 56 percent good-to-excellent, which is also a drop of one percent from the previous week, with 97 percent setting pods and 22 percent dropping leaves.

If you’re a farmer and starting to make decisions now for next year’s planting season, you may want to consider the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System, which offers many different benefits.

“Farmers really want what’s best for their operation, looking at two things: yield and weed control,” says Wes Hays, North America Soybean Product Manager with Bayer Crop Science.

Hays adds that the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System has developed over time with feedback from farmers.

“We spend a lot of time talking to our customers trying to understand what are the major challenges that they face,” according to Hays. “And so, we’re trying to identify tools that can manage those challenges and help them overcome them. Farmers take pride in their work, they really look for success in their operation, and because of that, we try and bring them high performing products, like XtendFlex® soybeans. What they can expect from that is high-yielding products, and when you look at the overall system from a weed control perspective, some fantastic weed control, especially tough to control and resistant weeds.”

What are farmers saying they like best about the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System?

“It’s the yield from the genetics in the XtendFlex® soybeans, as well as the outstanding weed control that they can find with the system,” according to Hays. “With those options around the Xtend® crop system, we can fight tough to control weeds and farmers can get the most out of their operations. The genetics and the crop protection system is backed by the largest research and development pipeline in the industry. We have tons of scientists spending every day waking up thinking about how to bring that type of innovation to farmers, more yield and systems to work effectively against tough to control weeds like waterhemp, palmer amaranth, marestail and more.”

Hays also says the system offers outstanding herbicide tolerance.

“The Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System, featuring XtendFlex® soybeans, offers triple tolerance to dicamba, glyphosate and glufosinate, which control more weeds than any other soybean system out there. Bayer was the first company to launch a trait with tolerance to dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate, and we’re going to continues to offer farmers more choices as we move into the future, look ahead at what’s next for our customers,” says Hays.

Bayer Crop Science is already developing the next generation of herbicide tolerant soybeans, according to Hays.

“We started out with Roundup Ready® Technology a couple of decades ago, we moves to the next generation which was Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® Technology, and now have XtendFlex® soybeans to fit into that crop system. Before the end of this decade, we’re positioned to introduce a fourth generation of herbicide tolerant soybeans. That trait system will offer the greatest weed control flexibility, while combating herbicide resistance.”

Click HERE to read more about the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System, featuring XtendFlex® soybeans.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report on the Roundup Ready Xtend® Crop System and how it offers high-yielding soybeans with weed control.

Source: NAFB News Service.

The corn, soybeans and wheat produced here in the U.S. are being shipped around the world in record numbers. In fact, the month of July proved to be an outstanding month for American ag exports.

“The best July on record,” says Bart Kenner, economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The total number of export sales were at $14.9 billion dollars for July, which is the latest month for which the USDA has given out complete ag export numbers.

Kenner says during the first 10 months of this fiscal year, most months have been setting export sales records for several different reasons.

“The increase in prices across the board, of course, contributes to this, and also consistent supply from U.S. producers.”

Kenner adds that weak exports coming out of Brazil and Argentina have also led to an increase in ag exports for the U.S.

So far, U.S. grains have seen a significant boost.

“Exports of wheat for October 2021 through July 2022 were up eight percent. Exports of corn were up 11 percent. Soybeans were up 21 percent,” according to Kenner.

He says some commodities here in the U.S. are seeing an even higher spike in exports.

“We’ve got a 25 percent increase in dairy exports by value. Vegetable oil exports were up 30 percent from last year. The distilled spirits exports were up 23 percent,” according to Kenner.

Ethanol exports also were also sharply higher – up by 73 percent over this time last year.

As far as total export sales for the first 10 months of this fiscal year, we’re at $167 billion up 14 percent from the same time frame a year ago and on the way to an expected record $196 billion for all of fiscal 2022, which ends Sept. 30.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.

Source: USDA

Indiana-based agriculture and energy cooperative Co-Alliance celebrated the opening of its new corporate headquarters in Indianapolis with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house event on Friday.

Co-Alliance’s corporate headquarters is now located at 770 North High School Road in Indianapolis. The new location is 10 miles east of its previous headquarters in Avon and is directly off I-465 at the 10th Street exit.

The company says its new facility will better accommodate their growing team and is more centrally located in its current footprint.

Co-Alliance provides services in agronomy, propane, fuels, grain, seed, hog production and feed. The company also services more than five-million agriculture acres across Indiana, Ohio & Michigan.

“When I think about the coop, I think about family,” said Kevin Still, President and CEO of Co-Alliance, who also spoke about the growth of the farmer-owned cooperative and the strength of agriculture in Indiana.

“This move signifies more than a change in location. It is a symbol of growth of our farmer-owned cooperative, the strength of agriculture in Indiana and the evolution of how we will do business to fit a changing industry. This location will offer us better access to technology, proximity to the center of our footprint and the ability to better serve our more than eleven thousand owner-members,” said Still.

“The cooperative spirit is alive and well at Co-Alliance,” said Bruce Kettler, Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, who spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony about the value of Co-Alliance to Indiana agriculture. “Through innovation, leadership and the continued enhancement of sustainable agricultural practices, Co-Alliance will guide Indiana’s farm families towards another century of success.”

“To us, it’s all about service,” said Tim Burke, farmer from Monticello, Indiana and Chairman of the Co-Alliance Board. He said that the significance of this move is about service to rural communities.

“How we treat our neighbors, how we find solutions in a changing landscape, how we respond to hardships and setbacks. From the youngest child to our most senior neighbor, Co-Alliance seeks to make a positive impact on every member of the communities we serve,” said Burke.

Co-Alliance Cooperative has more than 160 locations and employs over 1,000 people. The co-op is owned by more than 11,200 farmer-owners, 8,100 of which are from Indiana.

As part of its service to the community, Co-Alliance has also reinvested more than $500,000 back into the communities they serve through 4-H, FFA, food security programs and farm and energy safety training.

Click HERE to learn more about Co-Alliance Cooperative.

The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would prevent the EPA from going after farmers because of the carbon dioxide and methane given off by livestock.

The bill is called the Livestock Regulatory Protection Act. Scott VanderWal is the Vice President of the American Farm Bureau Federation. He told a Senate committee this week why the bill should become law.

“Part of the points that we made is the strides that we’ve made have been voluntary and market-based over the years and that needs to continue. We can’t have mandatory generalizations or instructions from the government handed down to us because that causes a tremendous economic and time impact,” said VanderWal.

He also said farmers are already working on improving the environment, but the possibility of EPA oversight of livestock farms would be too much of a burden on American farmers.

“We wanted to stress to the members of the committee that agriculture has been tremendously innovative over many, many years,” according to VanderWal. “With the subject of greenhouse gas emissions and everything coming up, we want them to understand the tremendous strides we’ve made and improvements, and of course agriculture is always looking to improve. We’ve become much more efficient both from an input standpoint and also from greenhouse gas emissions standpoint per unit of productivity.”

VanderWal adds that farmers are the original conservationists.

“Farmers and ranchers want to leave their land and the resources in better conditions than they found it and that’s certainly very important because we live on the land, we drink the water that’s under the ground, and we depend on those resources to make our living, and there’s no reason we would ever abuse those. And in fact, we do our best to take care of them at all times,” said VanderWal.

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, methane emissions from cattle account for just 2% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works heard testimony on the legislation. The committee will now need to vote on the bill before sending it to the full Senate for consideration.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report on the Livestock Regulatory Protection Act and how it would prevent the EPA from punishing livestock farmers with methane regulations.

Source: NAFB News Service.

A new purple tomato that has been genetically modified and developed by a company in the United Kingdom has been granted approval for sale in the U.S. from the USDA.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says the new tomato from Norfolk Plant Sciences, which was modified to alter its color and enhance its nutritional quality, “is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated tomatoes and is not subject to regulation. That means, from a plant pest risk perspective, this plant may be safely grown and bred in the U.S.,” according to a statement from the agency.

Norfolk Plant Sciences, which is based in Norwich, England, says its gene-edited purple tomatoes produce high levels of anthocyanins, which are antioxidant compounds with widely-recognized health benefits. They also say their purple tomatoes have a longer shelf life, which reduces food waste.

The company has a website called bigpurpletomato.com to draw more attention to their modified vegetable.

Norfolk Plant Sciences says they expect to have seeds of their purple tomatoes available for sale in the U.S. in 2023.

Sources: USDA, Norfolk Plant Sciences, NAFB News Service.

As Indiana’s farmers gear up for harvest, it may be hard to tell at this point what corn and soybean yields will ultimately look like.

“So, I’ve done this for 30 years. This is a tough one to predict what the corn yield is going to be,” says Shad Schenck, a dealer with Specialty Hybrids from Waynetown in Montgomery County.

He says the challenging weather conditions this year have added to the uncertainty of what to expect before Indiana’s corn is harvested.

“We going to have some decent corn, but we’re going to have some corn that’s hurt,” according to Schenck. “We had a lot of days of 90 degrees this summer, which everyone knows. Also, a lack of rain in certain areas so corn crops are not going to be probably what people would like it to be. It’s definitely going to be off, probably under people’s APH (Actual Production Yield) by possibly 20 bushels or more.”

On the other hand, Shad soybean crops across west central Indiana are looking really good.

“I’m pretty encouraged. We’ve had some late rains, and that has been a big deal for the soybeans, so soybeans could really carry the farm this year,” according to Schenck.

The USDA is forecasting record soybean yields for this fall. Does Schenck think that will be the case?

“We certainly could see it. I don’t anticipate seeing a record yield, but I anticipate seeing a good yield,” says Schenck. “Some people did, with input prices high, make the decision to plant more beans than corn, and I’d rather be lucky than good. I think that may work out those guys pretty well.”

So how soon can you expect to see combines and grain trailers hitting the fields?

“Most harvests will not start for a couple of weeks. Soybeans possibly could start next week, so that will tell us a lot about what’s going on.”

Schenck says a lot of farmers in his area will see a pretty good return on investment after all is said and done with the time and money spent on fertilizer and fungicide applications.

“If you can increase your yield about 10 percent, you will increase your farm revenue 50 percent,” according to Schenck. “That’s big. Once you start putting that down on paper and realizing how important each one of these steps are to get that extra ten percent, that can make or break the farm.”

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news story on the higher yield that’s expected for Indiana’s soybeans, but a lower yield for corn may be likely at harvest.

Click BELOW to hear the FULL Podcast interview with Shad Schenck, a Specialty Hybrids dealer, about crop conditions throughout west-central Indiana leading up to harvest.

At Specialty Hybrids, it’s your field, our Specialty. Find your local field sales representative and dealer online at www.specialtyhybrids.com.

A new survey from Purdue University says that farmers are still uneasy about inflation and what input costs will be for next year’s crops. The survey also says that is also affecting financial decisions for the farm.

In Purdue’s latest Ag Economy Barometer survey of 400 farmers in August, 51% said they expect their farms to be worse off financially a year from now.  That’s the most negative response received to this question since the survey first started in 2015.

Dr. Michael Langemeier is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue. He says rising input costs and uncertainty about the future continue to weigh on farmers’ minds.

“Part of what’s going on here is there’s just a wide band of possible input costs, and so I think they’re worried that the levels we saw in 2022 are not going away, but they’re also concerned that we’re going to see further increases in those input costs,” says Langemeier.

He adds not all input costs are on the rise.

“It depends on what input you’re looking at as part of the problem,” Langemeier says. “Cash rents are going up. Fertilizer costs look like they’re going to be down compared to 2022, so we’ve got some changes negative-positive going on with different inputs.”

Langemeier also says farmers are holding off on buying new equipment or making improvements to their farms, which has been an ongoing trend for quite some time.

“Some of these people haven’t made very significant purchases since 2013,” he says. “That was the last time where we really saw very large capital expenditures in U.S. agriculture. Expenditures have been down for a few years, so I would think that there’s some people out there that are really in need of replacing some machinery.”

He says farmers have a sense of sticker shock for new farm machinery.

“It’s not necessarily a fact that they don’t have a good solvency or good liquidity cash flow available for purchasing machinery. It’s just that they think it’s very expensive,” according to Langemeier.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report on the uncertainty in rising input costs and how that is affecting farm financial decisions.

Click BELOW to watch the latest video from the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture detailing the latest results of the Purdue University CME Group Ag Economy Barometer for August 2022.

Source: Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture

Indiana’s corn crops are rated at 54 percent good-to-excellent according to the USDA’s Weekly Crop Progress Report for the week ending Sunday, Sept. 4. The percent remains unchanged for corn from the previous week.  Ninety-four percent of the state’s corn crop is in the dough stage and 55 percent is dented. Nine percent of the state’s corn crop is mature.

Indiana’s soybeans are rated at 56 percent good-to-excellent, which is up two percent from the previous week.  The USDA says 95 percent of the state’s soybeans are setting pods.

Across the rest of the country, 54 percent of the nation’s corn crop is rated good-to-excellent, which is a drop of one percent from the week before. Ninety-two percent of the country’s corn crop is in the dough stage and 63 percent is dented. Fifteen percent of the nation’s corn crop is mature.

The U.S. soybean crop is at 57 percent good-to-excellent, which is unchanged from the previous week, with 94 percent setting pods.

“Much needed rainfall replenished soil moisture last week,” according to Nathanial Warenski, State Statistician with the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Indiana Field Office. “Soil moisture levels increased from the previous week, with 60 percent of topsoil moisture reported as adequate or surplus.”

“The average temperature for the week was 72.9 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.8 degrees above normal for the state. The amount of rainfall varied from 0.06 to 6.02 inches over the week. The statewide average precipitation was 1.81 inches, 1.00 inches above normal. There were 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending September 4,” says Warenski.

“Sparse and sporadic rainfall led to the utilization of irrigation systems throughout much of the state. Many farmers hope for additional precipitation to bolster soybean pod setting progress. Corn dented progress continued behind its five-year average and some producers have begun harvesting corn for silage,” according to Warenski.

“Early and late-week rainfall aided crop development last week, especially in late planted fields. Both corn and soybean progress remained slightly behind the five-year average. Silage and seed corn harvests were underway last week. Hay harvest progressed slowly where the weather allowed, and pasture conditions improved after the increased rainfall,” says Warenski.”

Source: USDA – Indiana Crop Progress and Condition Report for Sept. 6, 2022.

If you’re in high school and considering a career in the ag industry or ag biosciences, then you may want to consider Huntington University, which is southwest of Fort Wayne in Huntington, Indiana.

“For Huntington, our basis on faith family and farming has served us extremely well,” says Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, President of Huntington University.

She says the idea to start an Agricultural Studies Program at the university in 2015 developed from one of her first visits to the campus nearly a decade ago.

“I was amazed flying into our regional airport in Fort Wayne,” says Dr. Emberton. “I grew up in a large state, Texas, but I had never seen in my life the amount of acreage under crop production that I saw in northeast Indiana. Immediately, my brain kicked over to president role, and I thought, ‘Who’s providing the talent? Who’s providing the workforce?’”

When word got out that Huntington University was starting an Agricultural Studies Program, Dr. Emberton says Indiana’s ag companies stepped up to help.

“Before I could even have graduates, we had corporate partners on our campus saying, ‘Can they come? Can they do internships? Can we add to your curriculum?’ Those were places like Beck’s Hybrids, Dow, Corteva, Advanced Agrilytics, Pioneer, Ag Plus, Strauss Veal and Midwest Poultry. People who stepped up and said, ‘What can we do to help you be successful?’”

She says the program is incorporating the latest technologies in agriculture.

“Our students have been flying drones on our campus for probably a dozen years,” says Dr. Emberton. “We did it in the film and media program. To see those students interact with our agriculture students has taken it to a whole new level.”

Dr. Emberton adds that students who earn an ag degree from Huntington University also receive a faith-based Christian education.

“Anybody that has been in agriculture through the years knows that faith has always been a part of that,” says Dr. Emberton. “Your faith to put that seed in the ground or to have that operation and expect something to come from that. Our footprint has always been in faith-based higher education, but I think, because we have 125-year history of Christ-scholarship service, it really is a sweet spot for many people.”

Since Huntington University first started its Agricultural Studies Program in 2015, they offer four different bachelor’s degrees. They also have also recently added a farm lab and an animal science education center.

Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report on Huntington University’s Agricultural Studies Program and how they combine faith, family and farming.

Click BELOW to hear the FULL Podcast interview with Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, President of Huntington University, as she discusses the creation, development and rapid growth of the university’s Agricultural Studies Program.

Click HERE to learn more about Huntington University’s Agriculture Studies Program.