Crop Management
CHICAGO, May 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. southern Plains wheat belt remains dry and a weekend heatwave will add stress to the maturing wheat crop as conditions continue to deteriorate, forecasters said on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to climb into the 90s Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) this weekend with the heat continuing into Wednesday for the […] Read more
Crop Management
U.S. Plains wheat belt to heat up this weekend, risking crop stress
Ontario beekeepers say bee loss compensation misses the point
The Ontario government will provide financial help to beekeepers suffering severe colony losses in 2014. Beekeepers with more than 10 hives, who lose over 40 percent of their colonies this year, are eligible for $105 in compensation per hive. “We want to keep honey bee colonies strong going into the growing season while we continue […] Read more
Southwestern Kansas wheat prospects worst in over a decade
WICHITA, Kansas (Reuters) — Yield prospects for winter wheat in drought-hit southwestern Kansas are the poorest in more than a decade, potentially tightening global supplies of high-quality milling wheat, scouts on an annual tour of the top U.S. wheat state said Wednesday. Scouts sampled 271 fields of hard red winter wheat between Colby and Wichita […] Read more
Reliance on shorter days ‘less predominant’
Soybean growers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan often say certain varieties are more sensitive to changes in day length, which hastens their development and progress toward maturity. Scientists and soybean breeders take the opposite perspective, saying varieties that mature more rapidly in northern latitudes are insensitive to shortening day lengths. Soybeans mature more quickly under hot […] Read more
High horsepower, automatic transmission unite in Genesis T8
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Marrying high horsepower to automatic transmissions is becoming more popular with tractor makers, but a non-articulated 435 h.p. CVT is pushing the boundaries. A few companies, such as Fendt with its 900 series, have been pairing high power with slicker transmission offerings, but the tendency was limited to sub-300 h.p. machines. New […] Read more
Breeder questions lack of focus on heat units in maturity rating
Heat units may not be a perfect way to rate soybean maturity, but heat is crucial when growing beans on the northern Plains, a soybean breeder says. Day length, specifically hours of darkness, determines when soybeans flower and mature in Illinois and other parts of the U.S. Midwest, said Ted Helms from North Dakota State […] Read more
U.S. regulator set to approve Dow’s Enlist herbicide
(Reuters) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday that it was planning to grant approval to a new herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences that is designed to be used with new genetically engineered corn and soybeans and combat weed resistance. The new herbicide, dubbed Enlist Duo, contains a combination of the herbicides 2,4-D […] Read more
North-central Kansas wheat prospects seen below year-ago -crop tour
BELOIT, Kansas, April 29 (Reuters) – Yield prospects for hard red winter wheat in north-central Kansas are down from a year ago, with the crop showing evidence of drought and freeze damage, scouts on an annual U.S. crop tour said on Tuesday. Scouts in one car on the annual Wheat Quality Council’s Kansas wheat tour […] Read more
Argentina increases soybean crop forecast to 55 million tonnes
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) — Argentina will produce a record 55 million tonnes of soybeans this year, Agriculture Minister Carlos Casamiquela told local radio on Tuesday, an increase from the country’s earlier estimate of 54 million tonnes. “The harvest this year will be 55 million tonnes,” Casamiquela told Radio Del Plata, citing the ministry’s latest crop […] Read more
Syngenta expects no word on China GMO corn decision until summer
CHICAGO (Reuters) — Syngenta AG, the world’s largest crop chemicals company, said on Monday it did not expect to learn before the summer whether China will approve a now-banned genetically modified strain of corn that importers have rejected by the boatload. Syngenta said it believed that China’s National Biosafety Committee, which is responsible for approving […] Read more
