|
 Weather is usually the top
story for the year in agriculture. It once again repeats in my
opinion. The spring brought us many rain events in April and May,
with me recording 31 rain events for those two months at my house.
Granted, about a third of them were less than a tenth of an inch,
but the two month total precipitation was still almost 12.5 inches.
We also had a sudden hard freeze in April, which caught some of the
earliest planted crops, and affected some of our fruit tree blooms
as well.
Markets, and market access, has been another major news story for
agriculture. Prices have been up, down, and all-around as trade news
and export sales have greatly affected markets.
The COVID-19 virus has certainly had its impacts as well. The
pandemic has greatly affected economies of countries, companies, and
individuals. In many respects, the pandemic limited sales and
prices. Lately, there has been upward movement in grain markets as
countries are looking to secure supplies if another wave of the
pandemic disrupts market and transportation channels.
Transportation of commodities has always given the United States a
comparative advantage for exports in the past. Our country has an
integrated transportation system of water, rail, and highway which
makes transportation of bulk goods very efficient – when all the
pieces are working well together.
This year the Army Corps of Engineers has closed many of locks and
dams on the Illinois River for much needed repairs and updates. Some
of the repairs have been completed, but some closures are still
scheduled through the end of the month, and half-day closures at
some locations will continue into January. Much like a road
construction project, it is not fun while going on, but great when
complete.
The other transportation issue has been the availability of truck
drivers. During the pandemic, much of the interstate traffic has
been heavy trucks moving goods to market. To drive the “big rigs,”
the drivers need a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License).
Truck drivers and delivery has taken the top job in most states, as
this is a vocation which is needed, can’t be outsourced, and can’t
be automated – yet. The competition for CDL drivers remains great,
and agriculture needs its share to move commodities and finished
products.
Seed options and herbicide resistance traits have certainly been hot
topics again in 2020. The Enlist seed system finally made it into
the commercial marketplace.
The use of the dicamba system was largely halted for a period in
June by a Federal Court committee vacating the labels of the three
major products for that market. The EPA ruling on the use of
purchased stocks cleared things up, but didn’t solve all the issues.
A different Federal Court committee reviewed the Enlist system, and
did not halt its use, but requested further testing in one area.
Why are these events, and products, important to agriculture? They
are really two of the three production systems which provide weed
control for some of the weeds which are resistant to most other
herbicides.
There is confirmed resistance to both of these herbicide programs in
a relatively short time.
There is confirmed Palmer Amaranth resistance in the south to
dicamba, and waterhemp resistance to 2,4-D confirmed in several
states - including Illinois.
[to top of second column] |
Stay tuned as the EPA is
reviewing new label submissions for the dicamba system this fall. We
need to keep these tools available for use, along with the
glufosinate (Liberty) system.
Reduced costs and increased profits are the goals of any business.
Agriculture is no different, and the pandemic has certainly provided
challenges and opportunities. With decreased travel, demand for fuel
has decreased greatly. This has also affected the ethanol made from
corn. The counterpoint to this is the increased need for hand
sanitizer made from the ethanol.
The livestock market has also been very interesting. There has been
increased demand due to concern about shortages, while shortages
have been occurring in some instances particularly due to virus
outbreaks among the workers in processing plants.
Some local producers had a short time of greatly increased orders.
The local producers were able to fill orders to the extent local,
small processing plants had capacity to take additional numbers.
This quickly became an issue with some local plants booked out for
several months. This is a story of plenty of raw product, but
limited capacity to process it for consumption.
With all of the things going on, what has the fall brought us?
Yields for the most part have been good. Soybean yields are probably
exceeding averages more often than corn yields from what I have
heard. There probably won’t be any records set this year, but yields
are still good in most locations. Some fields were impacted by the
extremely wet conditions of the spring, and those yields will
definitely be lower than normal.
Prices have been working their way up with export news.
While the extremely dry fall has been bad to provide the little bit
of extra fill that would have increased yields, it has provided for
ideal harvest weather. Of course a little bit of moisture might have
helped prevent some fields with the soybean dust phenomenon.
As we look forward to finishing up harvest, fall field work and
fertilizer applications have also been going on in many locations.
This is always a plus, as it helps temper the effects of a wet
spring by keeping operations more timely. With more work to do in
the fields this fall, be aware of the equipment on the roads – and
be safe.
|
