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“Specialists Recommend Selling Grain This Fall”

Due to extreme drought – farmers are preparing to harvest corn and soybean crops in poorer conditions than expected – and Ag Economist Corinne Alexander says farmers have to decide whether to store their grain or sell it directly from the field – hoping for higher prices. In most cases – shesays farmers should take their grain straight to the elevator. The market is giving a strong signal to farmers to deliver early and at harvest – according to Alexander – because storage will not be profitable for corn or soybeans. USDA estimates along with declining crop conditions have increased prices for both crops – but prices are likely to come down during the first quarter of 2013 when South American farmers harvest their crops.

Alexander says there are only two reasons farmers should store grain in a short crop year – if they are livestock producers supplying their own feed or if they have contracts with food or ethanol processors specifying a later delivery date. This fall – unless farmers work fast to get grain dried down to appropriate levels – Grain Quality Specialist Richard Stroshine says their crop could spoil in the bin. For more grain storage tips – go to www dot grain quality dot org (www.grainquality.org).

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“Biofuels Industry Outlines RFS Importance to President”

Growth Energy – along with seven other biofuel organizations – sent a letter to President Obama Monday highlighting the importance of the Renewable Fuel Standard. While the Environmental Protection Agency has the fiduciary duty to review petitions filed by state governors – Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis says it’s critical for the biofuels industry to communicate the Standard’s importance – and how a waiver won’t accomplish the goal of bringing down grain prices. Buis says ethanol isn’t to blame – Mother Nature is. Ethanol uses only 16-percent of the total net corn acreage – and in the process – only the starch is removed – leaving distillers grains that can replace corn for livestock feed along with soybean meal. Buis says ethanol production is down 15-percent and obligated parties have the option to use an excess of 2.5-billion RFS credits – so the market already is responding. He says the industry has created and supported nearly 500-thousand jobs during difficult economic times – and an isolated event surrounded by hysteria and misinformation shouldn’t dictate policy decisions.

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“Farmers to Test Monsanto’s FieldScripts During 2013 Ground Breakers Trials”

During the coming planting season – farmers in four Midwestern states will participate in Monsanto’s Ground Breakers testing program for FieldScripts. FieldScripts is Monsanto’s first product from the Integrated Farming Systems platform and is designed to give farmers a new approach to boosting on-farm productivity while supporting more sustainable ag systems for the growing world. Monsanto’s IFS Commercial Lead John Raines says FieldScripts has been tested during the past two years – and Monsanto has seen consistent yield increases when farmers use the product. During the 2013 Ground Breakers trials – twice as many farmers will test the product. Monsanto anticipates launching the product in 2014 in the DEKALB corn brand in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota.

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“EPA Registration Approval Announced for Two New Herbicides by Syngenta”

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved registration of Syngenta’s Lexar EZ and Lumax EZ herbicides. Syngenta Technical Asset Lead says these two herbicides demonstrate the same performance, residual control, application flexibility and crop safety as market-leading Lexar and Lumax herbicides with the added benefit of improved handling. Both contain three active ingredients to provide multiple modes of action for more effective residual control on tough grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds – along with weeds resistant to glyphosate, ALS-inhibiting, PPO and triazine herbicdes. Vail says Syngenta is committed to providing enhanced technology solutions to meet the needs of growers. Lexar EZ and Lumax EZ are registered to use in field corn, seed corn, sweet corn, yellow popcorn and grain sorghum.SOURCE: NAFB News Service