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You are paying $4 for 1,000 kernels of seed corn, and with great precision, bury them, kernel by kernel, bag after bag after bag. The late Paul Harvey would define that as optimism. But if you are burying that seed in dry soil, should you plant at a higher or lower population than usual? And what about maturity; should it be earlier or later than normal? Your seed corn bill will have at least five digits, and six digits for many larger farms, and by spending that much money, your decision has to reflect more science than optimism....More

On Feb. 8, the USDA released new projections for marketing year consumption of U.S. corn and soybeans. Prices will now be at least partially influenced by how closely the rate of consumption tracks these projections....More

The National Corn Growers Association is pleased to announce that the enhanced Compliance Assurance Program (CAP), which includes on-farm refuge assessments, an online survey and IRM education and awareness, is seeing strong success and an increase in the number of growers planting their corn refuge....More

Your planting decision may already have been made and the seed ordered. Whether that is the case or not, will you be planting more corn? Corn is more profitable per acre than soybeans, and more profitable than most cropping rotations would average. However, agronomic problems with continuous corn have pushed many farmers to consider some spice in their life with a periodic change of crop. While such considerations will have an impact on farm budgets, what happens with the value of crops nationally when more corn is planted or when alternative cropping patterns arise? Your personal decision is part of a national trend whether you know it or not....More

What started as a high-tech machine for thinning lettuce could easily be transformed into an effective alternative for herbicide-free weed control in Midwest row crops. The Lettuce Bot, developed by Stanford-trained Engineers Jorge Heraud and Lee Redden, is expected to hit the market in 2013 and provide an economical substitute for human laborers who now have to thin the billion-dollar California crop by hand....More

If the latter half of the 20th century was about an herbicide revolution in agriculture, the early 21st century will be about nitrogen (N). Public and private researchers are focusing on its role in boosting corn yields above the current average high-yield mark of 164 bu. Seed companies feel they can eventually push this to 300 bu. to meet growing global demand....More

Farmers can take steps to reduce the impact of drought, should we face another shortage of rainfall in 2013, says Rob Myers, a University of Missouri (MU) plant scientist. Strategies to mitigate drought include diversifying crops and varieties, he says....More

A return to more normal U.S. corn yields in 2013 could send new-crop prices spiraling downward, but persistent drought in some of the nation's top corn-producing states could have the opposite effect, says Purdue Extension Agricultural Economist Chris Hurt. The USDA predicts the midpoint of U.S. farm prices on 2012 corn will be $7.60/bu. If yields are more normal in 2013, Hurt says prices could fall by $2.10 down to $5.50/bu. – the largest ever year-to-year drop....More