February 9, 2007
Commentary
Headiness of corn/ethanol boom may need a smidgen of caution
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, Hembree Brandon
Farmers who heretofore have had to look at energy prices as a cost of doing business are now evaluating them in relation to crop plans and potential investment....
Issues
Bush proposing better deal for cotton farmers? Probably not
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, Forrest Laws
If Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns was the devious sort, you might wonder about the administration's proposal to increase direct payments for cotton...
Articles
Johanns: $200,000 income limit, end three-entity rule in farm bill
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff flaws@farmpress.com
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns wasn't exactly stepping into the lions' den, but it was close. A few hours after he announced that USDA was proposing...
Ethanol gobbling corn crop
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff flaws@farmpress.com
Will President Bush's goal of increased energy independence for the United States set off a new kind of gold rush for U.S. farmers? Even before the president...
Louisiana soybean farmers plan to maximize production
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By David Bennett Farm Press Editorial Staff dbennett@farmpress.com
In 2006, soybeans were Louisiana's most popular commodity with acreage ranging between 800,000 and 1 million. And despite drought and ample disease, the...
Rep. Peterson says: Johanns' thinking misguided
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff flaws@farmpress.com
Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., says the same farmers must not have attended the 2007 farm bill listening sessions and hearings conducted by USDA and the...
Growers plan to cut cotton 13.6 percent
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Elton Robinson Farm Press Editorial Staff erobinson@farmpress.com
U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 13.21 million acres of cotton this spring, down 13.6 percent from 2006, according to the National Cotton Council's...
LibertyLink trait discovered in lab tests of Clearfield 131
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By David Bennett Farm Press Editorial Staff dbennett@farmpress.com
As planting season rapidly approaches, the U.S. rice industry has another issue to deal with in its attempts to flush unwanted GM traits from the rice...
Mississippi peanuts increase following program changes
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Bonnie Coblentz MSU Ag Communications
Mississippi producers are showing that working for peanuts is not a bad thing. The state produced the second-highest per acre peanut yield in the country...
In Arkansas Program to restore forests, wetlands
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
USDA has announced a $9.4 million conservation partnership with Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to restore more than 6,000 acres of hardwood tree forests...
Heading into 2007 season: Arkansas rice farmers optimistic
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Ford L. Baldwin Practical Weed Consultants, LLC. ford@weedconsultants.com
It has been fun attending some of the meetings this winter. The crop outlook (as best I am capable of understanding the talks on this subject) seems to...
Can farmers cut costs without boll buggies, module builders?
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By D. W. Parvin Mississippi State University
How do costs of a four-cotton picker system based on the standard six-row cotton picker supported by boll buggies and module builders compare with a competing...
Thorough burn-down program best start for controlling weeds
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Bob Scott Arkansas Extension Specialist bscott@uaex.edu
In today's crop production systems, starting off with a good burn-down program is a must. In many systems and areas it is the most important decision...
Feral hogs problem for landowners
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Lamar James Arkansas Extension Specialist
Football fans are wild about the nationally ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, but wild hogs of a different kind are grabbing national headlines, suspected of...
Roy Cantrell resigns from Cotton Incorporated
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
After implementing innovative research and developmental programs over the last five and a half years, Cotton Incorporated's Roy Cantrell is resigning...
Budget, WTO part of farm bill debates
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Ron Smith Farm Press Editorial Staff rsmith@farmpress.com
Even on life support, barely breathing and not expected to survive, the Doha Round of trade talks continues to affect U.S. farm bill debates. The specter...
Cool weather helps Arkansas wheat
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Cooler weather is helping the Arkansas winter wheat crop by slowing fast growth prompted by warmer-than-normal temperatures in the fall and early winter,...
Dwight Roberts: Rice industry works to keep markets
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By David Bennett Farm Press Editorial Staff dbennett@farmpress.com
Last Aug. 18, USDA head Mike Johanns held a press conference to say a LibertyLink trait had been found in the U.S. rice supply. Besides sending markets...
Farm bill proposal falls short, rice industry says
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
The farm bill proposal presented Jan. 31 by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns falls considerably short of maintaining the viable safety net now in place...
Contamination affects rice planting decisions in 2007
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Robert H. Wells Delta Research and Extension Center
Rice producers will need to consider other variety options this year after losing the popular variety Cheniere to contamination. The discovery last August...
Fruit, vegetable workshops set
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
A three-part series of workshops for potential and current fruit and vegetable growers about growing for and selling farmers' markets will be held Feb....
Memphis, March 2-3 Gin Show focus on farm challenges
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Farmers are facing a unique set of challenges as they go into the new cropping season, and the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show will offer seminars and information...
Budget could be biggest hurdle during 2007 farm bill debate
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Ron Smith Farm Press Editorial Staff rsmith@farmpress.com
American Farm Bureau president Bob Stallman says U.S. farmers could have a new farm program by September of this year, but Congress must confront several...
2007 Commodity Classic highlights latest in farming
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Hundreds of exhibitors representing leading agribusiness decision-makers and representatives will showcase state-of-the-art products and technology at...
With 2007 plots: Soybean checkoff helps track ASR
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Soybean rust was not a major problem for U.S. soybean farmers in 2006. Last year, however, the potentially devastating plant disease made its way farther...
Mississippi's top farm products suffer value declines in 2006
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Linda Breazeale MSU Ag Communications
Flooded markets and dry fields were leading causes of an estimated 11 percent decline in Mississippi's farm value of production for 2006. John Anderson,...
Timber harvest value down in 2006
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Hurricane-damaged trees that flooded the market and drove prices down are the primary cause for an expected 9.6 percent decline in Mississippi's timber...
Thea Wilkins wins 2006 award for cotton biotechnology work
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Thea A. Wilkins, Bayer Crop Science Regents Professor at Texas Tech University, is the recipient of the 2006 Cotton Biotechnology Award. The announcement...
Worth upfront higher cost Be proactive against resistant weeds
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Jason L. Jenkins University of Missouri JenkinsJL@missouri.edu
When it comes to the development of glyphosate-resistant weeds, producers have two choices: Pay more now or pay much more later. It might be more expensive...
ASU Agribusiness Conference focuses on biofuels, outlook
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
The 13th annual Arkansas State University Agribusiness Conference will be held Feb. 14 in the ASU Fowler and Convocation Centers in Jonesboro, Ark. On-site...
Soy checkoff funds prostate cancer study
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Just as a tiny seed grows into a tall soybean plant, the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff have planted seed money that has generated large-scale...
USDA announces plan to invest $1.6 billion in renewable fuels
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
USDA plans to propose $1.6 billion in new funding for renewable energy, with a focus on cellulosic energy research and production, as part of the Bush...
In Arlington, Va. USDA Outlook Forum set March 1-2
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed plenary speakers for USDA's 83rd annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, Agriculture at the Crossroads: Energy,...
Store farm chemicals safely from one season to next
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Lamar James Arkansas Extension Specialist ljames@uaex.edu
At the end of a production year, farmers may find themselves with leftover pesticides they use to control weeds, insects and diseases, and fertilizers...
Rain, low temps slow strawberry production
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Johnny Morgan LSU AgCenter jmorgan@agcenter.lsu.edu
Before recent rains and low temperatures, many of Louisiana's strawberry growers were looking forward to an above-average crop. The cold, wet weather...
DU appeals to Rep. Peterson as one hunter to another
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
When Ducks Unlimited invited Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, to its Memphis office to discuss its priorities...
How will current ethanol boom impact 2007 cotton acreage?
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Elton Robinson Farm Press Editorial Staff eltonrobinson@farmpress.com
Like a mysterious stranger in a Hollywood movie, the ethanol effect is riding into rural towns all across the Mid-South. He promises change for the better,...
Louisiana rice farmers approve checkoff in vote
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Louisiana rice producers have approved a five-year renewal of checkoff fees on their crops to fund research and promotion. Both measures passed with 85...
USDA gives $1 million grant for genome database at MSU
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Linda Breazeale MSU Ag Communications
A multidisciplinary effort at Mississippi State University to create an agricultural genomic database has resulted in a million dollar grant from the...
Careful plan can smooth tax filing
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mark Claesgens LSU AgCenter mclaesgens@agcenter.lsu.edu
Brace yourself tax season is upon us. When it comes to getting ready to file your income tax return, remember the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. That's...
Abundant, affordable crawfish expected in '07
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Tobie Blanchard LSU AgCenter tblanchard@agcenter.lsu.edu
The 2007 Louisiana crawfish season is shaping to be a good one, as harvest gets under way in the state. Some ponds are already producing really well for...
Cattle producers anticipate higher feed prices in '07
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Bruce Schultz LSU AgCenter bschultz@agcenter.lsu.edu
Cattle producers are nervous about the upcoming year because the possibility of corn prices exceeding $5 a bushel could mean higher prices for livestock...
Hay shortage squeezes horse owners
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Mary Hightower Arkansas Extension Specialist
For horse owner Deborah Tootle of Little Rock, the winter of 2007 has presented an additional challenge: where to find enough hay for her big, gray quarter...
Cold weather can be problem for calves
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Jeremy Powell Assistant Extension Veterinarian University of Arkansas
Recent cold, wet weather is hard on cattle, especially calves. Such weather can promote bovine respiratory disease (pneumonia) in calves. A USDA report...
Baldwin named Riceland's Friend of the Farmer
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM
Ford Baldwin, an Arkansas weed scientist for more than three decades, has been named the 2006 Friend of the Farmer by Riceland Foods. Danny Kennedy, president...
Too much gun creates story for rifle, deer
Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM, By Richard Price Freelance Writer mrcattle@bayou.com
The rain pattered on the Toyota's windshield, and I felt lucky that I had before leaving the camp. At least I wouldn't have to dress in the rain or, worse,...
