This is scary…basically telling everyone that their retirement accounts are at risk to twitter posts.
The AP’s erroneous...
Really great interactive map. Hover your mouse over nearly any country to view stats on ag production and needs. There’s...
BP admits to 11 counts of manslaughter for 2010 oil spill disaster
November 15, 2012
Oil giant BP will fork over the...
Before we get fully into election mode. Take a look at some of these stunning shots from the
Farms.com Corn Report: Planting Tips For Producing High Corn Yields. Tim Welbanks, Agronomy Lead with Maizex Seeds provides some tips farmers should consider when planting the corn crop to achieve maximum yields. Tim shares some of thoughts on planting depth, fertility programs, tillage and pest control programs and uses a practical example followed by Maizex Seeds customers George and Doug Skinner who farm near Mt Brydges, Ontario.
For other Farms.com Corn Report videos visithttp://www.farms.com/cornreport
For more information on Maizex Seeds products, services and their team, visit http://www.maizex.com
New corn hybrids take up more nitrogen than older plant varieties after the crucial flowering stage. Amount of available N affects take up of phosphorus, potassium, sulfur.
A historical analysis of corn research shows that new hybrids are taking up more nitrogen than older plant varieties after the crucial flowering stage – a clue as to how plant scientists will need to adapt plants to increase yields.
Tony Vyn, a professor of agronomy, and Ignacio Ciampitti, a postdoctoral research associate, are studying the timing of nutrient uptake in corn and how that process affects yield. They found that modern hybrids (post-1990) took up 27% more total N from the soil after flowering than pre-1990 corn plants. In fact, N uptake after flowering in post-1990 hybrids averaged 56% of the total grain N at the end of the season.
Read more at Corn and Soybean Digest
India - Drought lays waste to Kerala’s lush farms. Southern India is eagerly awaiting monsoon rains which are due in the next few weeks.
For many suffering through a drought, they can’t come soon enough.
Kerala’s lush and green nature is suffering its worst drought in nearly twenty years - and its affecting crops.
Al Jazeera’s Sohail Rahman reports from Kerala, India.
Louisiana US - An unexpected dip in temperature is throwing many rice farmers for a loop. LSU AgCenter Correspondent Tobie Blanchard tells us how colder temperatures are affecting this year’s crop.
A two-week healthy-cocoa campaign by YARA Ghana has been launched at Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Upper Denkyira East Municipality of the Central Region.
The annual training course includes workshops, farmer forums, radio talk-shows, and will focus on educating over 2,400 cocoa farmers in 16 districts on best farm-practices including proper fertilizer application for improved cocoa yield in the country. Unveiling the training programme, YARA Ghana Retail Sales Manager Mr. Henry Otoo-Mensah said the increased use of fertilizer combined with proper farm management practices will push Ghana’s cocoa production upward.
He stressed that YARA Ghana understands the needs of farmers with the introduction of the Nitrabor and Asaasewura fertilizers to help improve cocoa yields, translating into more income for them. “The Asaasewura and Nitrabor fertilizers have the potential to significantly reduce the risk of cocoa plants to the black pod disease and any other stress that threatens cocoa growth and production.
Read more at GhanaWeb
Britain will be forced to become a net importer of wheat for the first time in a decade this year, after the recent bitter weather devastated crops.
A disastrous 12-month cycle of poor weather has ruined harvests across the UK, costing farmers an estimated £500m, the chief economist of the National Farmers Union (NFU) warned.
The conditions mean Britain – traditionally a significant net exporter of wheat – will have to boost imports by more than a million tonnes.
While the effect on the price of a loaf of bread is expected to be minimal, the dismal harvests will increase the country’s reliance on the secretive trading firms which dominate the international grain market.
The crop damage deals a further blow to Britain’s beleaguered farming industry, which is already reeling from a spate of recent livestock deaths due to the cold weather. To make matters worse, the weather has made planting new crops more difficult and damaged many of the seeds that have been sown in recent weeks.
Read more at The Independent
John Gibbons on global agribusiness & the supply-demand imbalance at Future Farm Americas John Gibbons, President of Olam Americas, gave a talk at last year’s Future Farm Americas titled “Keynote address: From ABCD to NOW: leading the way in global agribusiness & combating the supply-demand imbalance”.
Future Farm Americas is the leading technology and innovation event for agribusiness and suppliers. Farming companies, agribusiness, investors and technology providers will come together to see the latest products and new advances in ‘Smart’ farming.
For more information, go to www.terrapinn.com/farmamericas. Or, check out our blog at blogs.terrapinn.com/total-asset for up to date information on the agribusiness sector.
Interviews with agriculture and farming experts at the Agriculture Investment Summit Americas
MOGA: Punjab deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has accused the UPA government’s proposed move to cut fertilizer subsidy by 15 percent from next fiscal year.
Sukhbir said SAD would not allow further cut in fertilizer subsidy till minimum support price of agricultural produce was not linked with the price index as per the recommendations of Swaminathan commission.
He also questioned the silence of Punjab Congress on this crucial issue.
Addressing gatherings in the favour of SAD-BJP candidate Joginder Pal Jain at villages Darapur, Chotian Kalan, Chotian Khurd and Budh Singh Wala, the SAD president said the agriculture sector the world over was highly subsidized but here in India the UPA government was bent upon squeezing even the last drop of blood of peasantry with series of anti-farmer measures.
Read more at The Times of India
Over 20 farmer Cooperative representatives from selected farming blocks in Samfya district are protesting against the PF government’s Fertilizer Input Support Programme (FISP).
The farmers today stormed ZANIS offices in Samfya complaining that their crops under the 2012/2013 farming season have failed to grow well due to delayed inputs and alleged inconsistent distribution mechanism used.
Patrick Kaoma a Camp Agriculture Committee Chairperson for the 18 Cooperative farming groups and clubs of Bangweulu Central Farming Block , flanked by George Mwape a trustee of 16 cooperative groups and clubs in Mano Block said a lot of farmers in their entities had experienced a delay of Urea and some D Compound fertilizer which was coming in trickles.
Another farmer representative, Boniface Chilufya, Vice Chairperson of Mwenshilungu farm Block said the situation was worsened by long distances farmers were forced to cover in order to access to the inputs.
Mr Chilufya said the fertilizer inflows’ pace was disheartening and proving to be an extremely costly venture on the part of a peasant farmer as they indefinitely had to wait or gamble to come to the boma in a bid not to be left out of the share of packs they had already paid for.
Read more at Zambia Reports
Fertilizer worthy more than Sh2 billion will arrive in the country this month for use by farmers during the planting season.The National Cereals and Produce Board says the consignment of one million bags will be available to farmers for use as they start planting next month.
“It will be arriving shortly and farmers should be assured that they will have adequate fertilizer this year,” said NCPB spokesman Evans Wasike.
However, the board already has more than 800,000 bags of fertilizer at its depots in parts of the country and farmers are purchasing the commodity ahead of the planting season. The consignment being imported include both DAP for planting and CAN for top dressing.
Read more at The Star
In a virtual clampdown on imports, the Government has stopped issuing fertiliser movement control orders on all imported di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and NPK complex nutrients from this month.
The move has been triggered by the huge unsold stocks of fertilisers lying both with companies and the distribution chain, following the recourse to large-scale imports undertaken this fiscal and poor offtake from farmers.
While the Government has freed the maximum retail prices chargeable by companies for all non-urea fertilisers, it, however, still regulates how much material is to be sold in different States. Accordingly, it also decides which company would sell how much quantity. These, in turn, are regulated under the Fertiliser (Movement Control) Order issued every month.
Without obtaining an order, a company cannot avail of the Government’s subsidy concession on the material that has been despatched by it. The order, moreover, is applicable on both fertilisers manufactured by the company and imported by it.
“For this month, orders have been issued only for the DAP and complexes being manufactured by the companies. No order is being issued for any new material that is being imported. The imported material can only be kept in the ports and since no subsidy will be paid without a movement control order, nobody will import,” an industry source told Business Line.
According to him, the Department of Fertiliser has told all companies verbally that it will not issue any movement control orders, without giving in writing though.
During April 2012 to January 2013, fertiliser makers have imported about 58 lakh tonnes (lt) of DAP and another 4 lt of complexes containing nitrogen, phosphorous, potash and sulphur in various proportions.
Indian Potash Ltd has been the single largest importer at 14.44 lt (all DAP), while the erstwhile KK Birla Group companies – Chambal Fertilisers, Zuari Industries and Paradeep Phosphates – together have brought in 15.5 lt of DAP and 1.04 lt of complexes.
Read more at The Hindu Business Line
Bert Frost, senior vice president, sales and market development for CF Industries, offers his insight on the state of the nitrogen fertilizer marketplace.
In January, CropLife conducted a short Q&A with Bert Frost, senior vice president, sales and market development for CF Industries on the state of the nitrogen (N) fertilizer marketplace. Here is what he had to say:
What were the key market dynamics for N fertilizers in 2012?
Strong global demand made 2012 an excellent year for the N fertilizer market. Acres planted were high around the world and prices for many crops reached record highs, even before the impact of droughts in areas such as the U.S. and former Soviet Union countries became clear. On the supply side, the political disruption, construction project delays and natural gas availability resulted in production issues primarily in North Africa. Natural gas supplies were tight in Trinidad, limiting production from a key North American supply region. In addition, a high volume of Chinese exports was offset by high demand into India. These resulted in a relatively tight market which supported N fertilizer prices throughout the year.
What notable trends did you see in the N market during the fall 2012 application season?
In North America, the corn and soybean harvest occurred one to three weeks early and weather was conducive to fall fertilizer application. The result was an early fertilizer season and strong fall N demand. In the U.S. N market, we saw high imports, especially for urea, in order to meet the strong demand. Chinese exports during the fall were above expectations. However, this mostly offset production issues in other places around the world such as Algeria, Egypt, Trinidad, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
What is your outlook for the North American crop nutrient supplier industry — particularly for N fertilizers — in spring 2013?
We expect strong nitrogen fertilizer demand to continue due to high corn plantings, which could exceed last year’s high level of close to 97 million acres. However, we see two significant challenges for the spring. The first issue is logistics, as record low water levels on the Mississippi River will challenge product shipments in particular for imports coming from the Gulf. The second issue is low inventories for many products — most especially ammonia. Tight supplies could limit ammonia sales in the spring and result in some demand shift towards UAN and urea.
More than 10,000 people attended the 31st Annual Ag Expo in West Monroe, LA. TWILA TV’s Kristen Oaks takes us there.
