Crop Management
The Arkansas-built AutoProbe typically bags one section of soil samples in a normal working day. On a really good day, AutoProbe samples two sections. But these are not random samplings with a core here and a core there. The AutoProbe pulls up to 40 cores per sample for each 2.5 acre grid square, at a […] Read more
Crop Management
New app manages farm information wirelessly
Scott Andrew was a computer savvy young farmer, but he wondered why was he still spending hours piecing together the bits and bytes of information produced on his farm. “It was three or four years ago and I started recording information on my smartphone,” said Andrew, who farms near Darlingford, Man. “It was better than […] Read more
Stop boom bouncing, banging and breaking
BRANDON — Sophisticated sonar boom height controls are great with a uniform top crop surface. However, an undulating surface will have those booms bouncing, banging and even breaking. The problem is that these systems take a sonar reading from a high spot in the crop, then a low spot, then a high spot again, followed […] Read more
Stricter soil sampling needed to satisfy U.S. regulations
Farmers and consultants have no choice but to get serious with their soil sampling programs when university soil test recommendations turn into government regulations. That is what has transpired in Iowa, prompting Frank Moore to invest nearly $50,000 in a new AutoProbe this winter. Moore farms a couple of thousand acres in northern Iowa and […] Read more
Chinese importers default on 10 U.S., Brazilian soy cargoes
SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) — Chinese importers have defaulted on at least 500,000 tonnes of U.S. and Brazilian soybean cargoes due to negative crush margins and problems in getting credit, two trade sources said on Thursday. One source in Beijing said three companies in the province of Shandong had defaulted as they were unable to open letters […] Read more
Cargill to expand Manitoba grain elevator amid crop backlog
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Cargill Ltd., Canada’s third-largest grain handler, will increase storage and rail-car capacity at Morris, Manitoba, the latest in a series of expansions by Canadian grain companies. The move, announced on Wednesday, comes as the country’s grain handlers and railways have struggled to move a record-large harvest to port, causing a massive backlog. […] Read more
Scientists make ethanol without corn or other crops
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Scientists said on Wednesday they have developed a new way to make liquid ethanol efficiently without using corn or other crops needed in the conventional method for producing the biofuel. The scientists said their process turns carbon monoxide gas into liquid ethanol with the help of an electrode made of a form […] Read more
U.S. bill seeks to block mandatory GMO food labelling
(Reuters) — A Republican congressman from Kansas introduced legislation on Wednesday that would nullify efforts in multiple states to require labelling of genetically modified foods. The bill, dubbed the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act” was drafted by U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo from Kansas, and is aimed at overriding bills in roughly two dozen states […] Read more
China still evaluating rejected gene-modified strain of corn
BEIJING (Reuters) — China has still not approved a gene-modified strain of corn known as MIR162, the government said on Friday, prolonging a ban that has seen nearly one million tonnes of the U.S. grain turned away from Chinese ports since November. Asked if its biosafety panel had made a final decision, the agriculture ministry […] Read more
U.S. wheat conditions hammered by brutal winter
CHICAGO (Reuters) — The U.S. government gave the winter wheat crop its lowest ratings in 12 years on Tuesday as crop health suffered through a cold and dry winter. The U.S. Agriculture Department said in its first conditions report of the spring that U.S. winter wheat was rated 35 percent good to excellent as of […] Read more
