Blogs

  • Market Matters Blog

    Eric Moberg, Mohall, North Dakota, told DTN on May 31 that in his Prairie Pothole region of western Bottineau and Renville County, prevented planting on the poorly drained fields is running from 15%-25%. He said, for his farm, he should have every field planted within a week, depending on rain, which has been falling daily. You can see the puddles out in his field, reflecting the light. (Photo courtesy of Eric Moberg)

    Late snow in April in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota left many farmers concerned about late planting of spring wheat and corn.

  • Technically Speaking

    Thursday's U.S. Drought Monitor for May 30 showed broad expansion of abnormally dry areas across the Midwest, along with increased drought concerns in the Western Corn Belt. December corn prices responded by closing at a new one-month high Friday, while November soybeans showed a minor rally (DTN ProphetX chart).
    Posted by Todd Hultman , DTN Lead Analyst

    A technical look at December corn and November soybeans as conditions in the Midwest turn drier.

  • MachineryLink

    The University of Nebraska's autonomous Flex-Ro planter first entered fields in 2019 to measure crop traits. Today it can be controlled remotely and operated autonomously and has been designed to be modular and reconfigurable, with different modes of steering ability available on the fly. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University of Nebraska Communication and Marketing)

    In this Equipment Roundup, DTN/Progressive Farmer looks at the University of Nebraska testing its Flex-Ro autonomous planter in April field trials; Deere offering a new 1725C CCS 12-row, 30-inch stack-fold planter; and CNH hiring a new tech chief.

  • Ag Weather Forum

    Rainfall during the last two weeks has been heavy in parts of northwest Alberta and across Saskatchewan into western Manitoba. Not all areas have been hit equally, and others have missed out. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada graphic)

    An active pattern during the last two weeks has led to some good rainfall for large areas of the Prairies, though some have missed out. The upper-level pattern may be changing, but showers and thunderstorms will continue in the region through next week.

  • Canada Markets

    This chart shows the current trend in weekly commercial canola stocks reported by the CGC (blue line), with the 2021-22 trend (grey line) and the three-year average (brown line).
    Posted by Cliff Jamieson , Canadian Grains Analyst

    Commercial stocks of canola fell for a third week in week 43, while are the lowest stocks reported for this week in six years. The three-year average shows commercial stocks trending lower through the end of the crop year.

  • Ag Policy Blog

    A poor stand of winter wheat in Texas due to drought conditions in 2022. Crop insurance indemnities were a record in 2022, topping the drought year of 2012. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., set a hearing on June 7 in the Senate Budget Committee to look at the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the potential costs to taxpayers.
    Posted by Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor

    Rather than the Senate aggies, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, announced a hearing next week looking at agriculture and climate change. Whitehouse is known for giving nearly 300 floor speeches in the Senate chamber on climate...

  • An Urban's Rural View

    North Korea has nuclear weapons and long-range missiles and 71% of South Koreans want their country to have them, too. (Wikimedia Commons map)
    Posted by Urban C Lehner , Editor Emeritus

    The Biden administration tries to dissuade South Korean advocates of developing nuclear weapons with a promise to consult.

  • Production Blog

    In an effort to conserve water, corn plants will roll up their leaves and do their best impression of a pineapple. (DTN photo by Pamela Smith)
    Posted by Jason Jenkins , DTN Crops Editor

    Many areas of abnormally dry and droughty conditions have appeared across the Corn Belt in recent weeks, leading to concerns for young corn and soybeans. Here are five signs that your crop is stressed.

  • Ethanol Blog

    Nebraska ranked 45th in ethanol-blending rates in 2021, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (Graphic courtesy Renewable Fuels Association)

    The state of Nebraska is enacting a law to require E15 sales at new gasoline stations by Jan. 1, 2024, and at existing stations in January 2028.

  • Minding Ag's Business

    Grain elevators are forecast to pay record carrying costs this year, with corn costing 21% more than last year, while soybean costs climb 42% and wheat, 50%. (Chart courtesy of CoBank)

    The record cost of storing grain will force elevators to lower cash grain bids and widen basis levels, a new report from CoBank's Knowledge Exchange division argues.

  • Fundamentally Speaking

    Chart by Joel Karlin, DTN Contributing Analyst
    Posted by Joel Karlin , DTN Contributing Analyst

    First oat crop rating of each year from 1996 to 2023 along with the rating seen the last week of July vs. the percent that the final oat yield of each season deviated from the 25-year trend.

  • Sort & Cull

    The paths of August cattle and hog prices couldn't have been more different in early 2023. Both prices were negatively affected by worries about U.S. bank failures in March. But cattle quickly recovered and are pushing new highs, while hog prices are spiraling lower after the Supreme Court made pork production much more difficult. (DTN ProphetX chart)
    Posted by Todd Hultman , DTN Lead Analyst

    A technical look at two different price trends in the August contracts of live cattle and lean hogs.

  • Editors' Notebook

    Join our next Ag Summit Series event on May 23. (DTN illustration)

    Join host Katie Dehlinger, DTN's farm business editor, for a discussion of crop conditions and agronomic concerns for the 2023 growing season. You'll hear observation reports from farmers around the country. In addition, agronomy, weather and grain markets experts will talk...

  • South America Calling

    Near complete dryness is forecast for most of Brazil for the next week. (DTN graphic)
    Posted by John Baranick , DTN Meteorologist

    The wet season is officially over and safrinha corn in central Brazil is facing dryness for the next week and likely beyond. However, this is typical for this time of year.