Planted acres vary little despite wide swings in prices
For as long as we can remember, we have made the point that farmers plant all their acres all the time. Recently, someone challenged us on that assertion using our favorite line, “Show me the data.”
To test our assertion, we chose a period that included low prices, high prices, declining prices, increasing prices, stable demand and rapidly increasing demand. The time period we settled on was the era from 1998 through 2018.
The activist-funded Organization for Competitive Markets has again resorted to half-truths and smear tactics to pit beef producers against one another. It’s clear that their allies at the Humane Society of the United States have taught the staff some new tricks to help tear the beef industry apart from the inside. It should come as no surprise that they’ve chosen a time when the industry is struggling with market-related challenges and producer unrest to fire their latest shot.
Corn test weight tends to be a topic of hot debate. A common misconception is the assumption that higher test weight corn yields more. High-yielding fields won’t necessarily have a higher test weight, just as lower-yielding fields won’t necessarily have a lower test weight. To understand the concept, we need to think of corn yield in terms of pounds harvested per acre, not necessarily bushels per acre. If we sold grain by the true volumetric measurement that is a bushel, hauling grain would be nothing short of a nightmare.
Sponsored Content: Slow planting puts the brakes on Indiana soybean crop
A very late planting season in parts of Indiana has put the brakes on the crop and could mean a delayed harvest season. “Soybean harvest has been kind of slow to get going,” said Matt Parmer, DEKALB Asgrow technical agronomist for southwest Indiana. “Very few soybean fields had the opportunity to be planted in April and May this year. The very few April planted Asgrow AG36X6 products that did get planted were outstanding with yields nearing or topping triple digits.”
