Brownfield

Yellow Top

Driving across Illinois on I-70 last week, I spotted field after field with what I thought I recognized as Wild Mustard weeds growing among last fall's corn stalks.  As I drove further east into Bond County and then on through Effingham County, I almost had myself convinced I was seeing blooming canola fields.  From the Interstate, the thick growth of yellow-flowered plants appeared to be planted in rows. 

But alas, I called a farmer friend from the area and he assured me the yellow "fields" were indeed what many refer to as Yellow Top, or Wild Mustard.

The weeds appeared to be growing in rows because they had come up from seed in no-till corn fields and had grown tall enough that you could not see the buckled corn stalks.  Wet conditions had kept farmers out of the fields so burn down had not yet begun.

I asked my farmer friend about burn down and he said, "Well, we're going to have to look at them for a while because they are a big plant and it takes a while to go down."

I pulled off at the Vandalia, Illinois exit to photograph a field of wild mustard that will - hopefully - be a soybean field later this year.

County Loan Rates

I know you'll find this information in other places on the Brownfield website, but it is important info and just released today from USDA.  Here's a copy of the complete release:

USDA Announces 2009 County Loan Rates for Wheat, Feed Grains and Oilseeds
 
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 24, 2009 - The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced county loan rates for 2009 crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans and other oilseeds (sunflower seed, flaxseed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, crambe and sesame seed). The rates are posted on the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Web site.

The 2008 Farm Bill authorizes the national loan rates for the 2009 crops of wheat, feed grains and oilseeds at these levels:

Wheat $2.75 per bushel
Corn $1.95 per bushel
Grain Sorghum $1.95 per bushel
Barley $1.85 per bushel
Oats $1.33 per bushel
Soybeans $5.00 per bushel
Other Oilseeds $9.30 per hundredweight for each "other oilseed"

As required by the 2008 Farm Bill, these 2009 national loan rates are established at the same levels as those established for the 2008 crop.

Other Rates

Peanut loan rates by type will be announced separately. Other commodity loan rates were announced previously are: cotton loan rate premiums and discounts, April 15, 2009; pulse regional loan rates, April 8, 2009; rice loan rates by class, March 10, 2009; and wool and mohair loan rates, December 2, 2008.

Note: In a change to the FSA release dated April 10, 2009, regarding Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) repayment rates for pulse MALs, the loan repayment rate will be based on U.S. Grade Number 2 or better instead of the originally indicated U.S. Grade Number 1. Also, in a change to the FSA release dated April 8, 2009, in regards to MAL loan rates by region for pulse MALs, the base loan rate to determine discounts will be U.S. Grade Number 2 or better instead of the originally indicated U.S. Grade Number 1. With respect to dry peas, the MAL loan and repayment rates are based on U.S. Grade Number 2 or better food grade.
 

-Cyndi Young

Onions in the sand

Using an article on the AgriMarketing website as a resource, Brownfield's Ken Anderson wrote this story this morning: 

Saudi Arabia has abandoned its own domestic wheat production program and is investing heavily in foreign agricultural production projects—many in Africa.  The country’s goal is to ensure its food security and help stabilize domestic food prices.

Citing The Brock Report as its source, the article says the Saudis are urging companies to invest in farm projects abroad after dropping their own 30-year old domestic wheat program to reduce water usage.  One private Saudi firm is reportedly planning to spend 400 million dollars by 2011 to produce wheat and corn in Egypt and Sudan.

Brownfield's Jerry Passer added some personal comments after reading Ken's piece:

Interesting, I visited one of the Bedouin farms where wheat was being grown in Saudi Arabia.  As I remember, the U.S. Foreign Ag Service was heavily involved in this project. The program was in its infancy and they were optimistic at that time (about 25 years ago) they could become self- sufficient in wheat production. Seemed strange to see wheat growing out of the sand.

The Bedouin farmer had hired a U.S. farmer to come in and run the operation. I believe he was from Ohio.

It doesn’t surprise me that the Saudis are investing in crop production in Egypt.   We also visited there on the same trip with Agriculture Secretary Block. The Egyptians had several areas where they were growing onions and edible beans. I have a slide of the biggest onions I have ever seen growing out of the sand.

No apologies for stand on ethanol

Brownfield's Rural Issues program today focuses on a divisive topic in agriculture today.  Ken Anderson produced and anchors the program.

It's no secret that ethanol has created tension between the livestock and corn industries in the U.S. It can be a sticky issue for general farm organizations like Farm Bureau and Farmers Union, but the leaders of those two groups don't apologize for their support of increased ethanol production and usage.

-Ken Andreson

Ken is in Des Moines, Iowa covering the annual distillers grains symposium for Brownfield Ag News and sister network Waitt Agribusiness today.

Modern day Space Cowboy

This is way cool.  The Missouri Farmers Union "policy guy" Richard Oswald blogs about being a Space Cowboy.

With GPS technology, today's farmers are monitoring yields better, spreading fertilizer more efficiently, and eating lunch on the job.

Thanks Richard for sharing this link with Julie Harker.

Foreign corresponding

Bayer CropScience invited seven media representatives along on the 2009 Herbicide Innovations Tour in Germany last week.  The three farm broadcasters posed for a picture with Bayer CropScience hosts at the company's Frankfurt headquarters. 

Cyndi Young, farm broadcaster;  Hans Kraehmer, Research Herbicides - Head of Profiling & Safeners; Meghan Grebner, farm broadcaster; Michelle Rook, farm broadaster; Jeff Springsteen, Marketing Manager, Corn Herbicides; Hans Santel, Global Product Development Manager, Corn Herbicides.

Valuable relationships

Tom Bauman, Extension Weed Specialist at Purdue University, was one of the 30 weed scientists and agronomists selected by Bayer CropScience to participate in the 2009 Herbicide Innovation Tour in Germany.  Like everyone else on the trip, Tom enjoyed touring Bayer CropScience facilities, hanging around with peers from across the country and having some fun while visiting Germany.

In working with farmers upon his return to Indiana, he'll share much of what he has learned here - from new innovations to what's in the pipeline.

Tom values the relationship he has with Bayer CropScience and the company's interest in his views and concerns.

Tom Bauman's interveiw (2 min., mp3)

Dr. Gordon Roskamp

Dr. Gordon Roskamp, professor of agronomy specializing in weed science at Western Illinois University was one of the 30 weed scientists and agronomists selected by Bayer CropScience to participate in the 2009 Herbicide Innovation Tour in Germany.  Dr. Roskamp has been teaching at WIU for 33 years.  Actually, he was there when I was a student, and although I did take some agronomy classes, unfortunately, none that Dr. Roskamp taught.

Gordon Roskamp, along with Mike Gordon from South Dakota State University, Mark Bernards, University of Nebraska, Daniel Stephenson from Louisiana State University and Phil Westra from Colorado State, gave presentations Thursday afternoon.  From what I could tell, the presentation topic was at the discretion of the scientist.  They each spoke of research underway at the university they represent and "where and how" Bayer CropScience products fit in and were faring. 

(Ok, I know scientists give the impression of being dry and boring, but this group - actually the entire group I've traveled with this week - is far from that!)

I sat down with Dr. Roskamp Thursday evening to get his take on the tour.  He said what he saw and learned this week will be put to good use in the classroom.

One thing I was happy to see was the relationship that Dr. Roskamp and his peers have with the key players at Bayer CropScience.  He agreed.  He said BCS is really interested in knowing the good and the bad and look for the weed scientists and agronomists at universities across the country to be honest and open with them. 

I had lunch with Dr. Roskamp at the Heidelberg Castle Wednesday and greatly enjoyed that conversation and the one you can listen to here.

Listen to Dr. Roskamp's interview (9 min., mp3)

Herbicide resistance

There was a lot of talk this week during the Bayer CropScience Innovations Tour about herbide resistance. 

During our Frankfurt Bayer CropScience facilities tour this morning, we learned that each year, about 2,000 seed samples from farmers all over the world are sent to Frankfurt, grown under glass and treated with various herbicides until it becomes clear whether the weeds have become resistant.  Obviously, because it takes so much time (the weeds seeds can only be tested after the crop has been harvested) the farmer only gets recommendations for weed and resistance management in time for the following season.

For the past few years, Bayer CropScience researchers have been able to more proactively combat resistance by providing recommendations on the resistance management for affected farmers by the end of the same season or even in the same season.  Modern molecular biology and biochemistry methods allow researchers to investigate plants in order to detect the presence of resistance. 

The advantage is that farmers can send in potentially resistant weeds while the crops are still growing, without having to wait for them to set seed at the end of the season.

It's amazing!  And there's more good news:  farmers in the north central region of the United States will have the opportunity to participate in a pilot project in 2009 in which they will be able to send in seed samples from weeds they believe could be herbicide resistant. 

Bayer CropScience Germany facilities tour

We listened to several interesting presentations this morning at Bayer CropScience headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany before heading out for a facilities tour.  We visited four "stations" on our tour.  The first stop and step one in the life of a new product is where compounds are tested on little trays of grass and camomile (at least that's the plant they were using during our visit.)  Computers are relied upon in this area. 

 
As the gentleman who hosted us said, "This could be the starting place for the next great compound."

It's very cool.  They tests thousands of compounds.  Those with potential go on to the next phase of testing, or intermediate herbicide testing.  It is in this phase where for they first time they distinguish between pre-emergence and post-emergence.  Jan Dittgen showed us examples of the plants for each of the weeks of the intermediate phase of testing. 

The last step before the field is herbicide profiling.  Deter Feucht explained that his objective is recommendations for first field trials.

Trials are done inside in the greenhouse during the cold season and outdoors in warmer months. They test both tank mix and pure compounds because they see value in testing both. 

 What weeds are used in this third phase?  A variety.  Remember, Bayer CropScience provides product for farmers in many different countries.  They bring in weeds from other countries if there are some they want to test that they do not have here in Germany.