Brownfield News

Photo credit: Iowa State University

Iowa State University Extension weed scientist Bob Hartzler says dicamba injury this summer is the most extensive he’s ever seen.

Hartzler says reports from
agronomists across the state indicate nearly all
non-dicamba-tolerant soybeans are showing symptoms characteristic of
dicamba.

“And it’s from fence-row to
fence-row in those fields,� Hartzler says. “So you can’t see where the source
came from as the injury dissipates as you move across the field—and that’s the
type of injury we’ve never seen before.�

Hartzler thinks several
factors contributed to the increase in dicamba damage, including confusion over
the Ninth Circuit court decision, this summer’s environmental conditions, and
increased dicamba use on corn.

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The
Missouri Director of Agriculture says Governor Parson’s statewide 50-million-dollar
broadband initiative, announced earlier this month, will help bring broadband
to rural communities.

Chris
Chinn tells Brownfield COVID-19 has highlighted the already existing need for
rural broadband in the state.

“It
brought a lot of new people to the table to talk about the challenges that are
out there in rural Missouri, and rural America as a whole,� she said.

Chinn
said expanding and improving broadband allows more rural residents to work from
home during and after the pandemic.

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The government’s dietary guidelines draft is due in the next month or so and a spokesman with the North American Meat Institute says they are confident meat will keep its place as an important part of the American diet. Eric Mittenthal, who is also president of the Hot Dog and Sausage Council, tells Brownfield they have been actively monitoring the process and commenting on the value of meat.

“We actually did a white paper on meat processing that we
submitted to the committee because I think there’s a lot of misinformation
about how meat is processed and the ingredients that are used and how nutrition
is impacted with that.�

Mittenthal says the federal dietary guidelines, renewed
every five years, have long recognized the value of meat in the diet and he’s
confident they will continue to do so.

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At the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange, cattle futures ended the day higher on follow-through
buying and the week’s improved direct cash business.  August live cattle closed $.75 higher at
$100.00 and October live cattle closed $.65 higher at $104.57.  August feeder cattle closed $1.22 higher at
$135.75 and September feeder cattle closed $1.15. 

Direct cash cattle trade ended the week quietly.  There was a lone bid hanging round on Friday at $155 dressed.  The week saw light to moderate business just about every day with dressed deals ranging mostly from $155 to $157 and live deals in the South around $95 most of the week. 

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There were no big surprises in today’s supply and demand report from USDA and the trade quickly turned its attention to what appeared to be a moderating weather outlook for the Corn Belt over the next few days.

Market analyst Arlan Suderman says weather is the key to whether corn
market can move higher.

“You’ve got to take a billion bushels off this before the market
really gets interested—and, so far, the market simply hasn’t seen a weather
risk to justify that,� Suderman says.

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Despite a couple of temporary plant shutdowns, Wisconsin’s Ag Secretary Nominee says most of the state’s agriculture and food processing never stopped during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.  Randy Romanski says the Division of Food and Recreational Safety reports robust renewals for food processing and food service licenses, and he says several have been appreciative of the state extending the deadline and waiving late fees. “We’ve tried to work with the industry. We know and we understand that there are a lot of challenges right now so we tried to give them some time, and they’ve appreciated that.â€�

Romanski says most businesses filing as out-of-business are temporary food stand operators that have lost their markets because of COVID-19.

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A recent report by CoBank says consumer behavior changes
caused by the coronavirus pandemic could last for at least an additional 12 to
18 months.

“Consumer dollars available to spend on food are going to be down and so that is going to be impacting sales and how consumers are going to be consuming their dairy products.�

Knowledge Exchange Division Manager Tanner Emhke tells Brownfield the dairy supply chain has taken a major hit as consumers shifted buying patterns from food service to retail.

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Jul. corn closed at $3.40 and 1/2, down 10 and 3/4 cents
Jul. soybeans closed at $8.91 and 1/2, down 6 and 3/4 cents
Jul. soybean meal closed at $290.80, down $4.30
Jul. soybean oil closed at 28.11, down 8 points
Jul. wheat closed at $5.35 and 3/4, up 9 and 1/2 cents
Aug. live cattle closed at $100.00, up 75 cents
Jul. lean hogs closed at $45.97, up 12 cents
Aug.

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The Alliance for Trade Enforcement is calling on the U.S.
Trade Rep to fully enforce the intellectual property commitments under USMCA
now that the agreement is in place.

In a letter to Robert Lighthizer, the group says the lack of approvals for imported ag-biotech products in Mexico threatens trade between the two countries and American farmers’ access to the technology.

The group also raises concerns that Canada won’t meet commitments to eliminate its Class 7 dairy pricing program, saying Canada’s efforts to manipulate dairy tariff rate quotas are unacceptable.

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