As Eric Williams waded into a chest-high stand of wheat on a sunny, late-April day, the full heads were just taking on the first hint of an amber hue and stirred by a gentle breeze they performed a whispery rustle sound that promises—maybe just hints at—an abundant harvest. Williams suggested the field might average better than 40 bushels per acre.
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Spring is a colorful time in the Southwest. Wildflowers add splashes of color to pastures, rangeland and roadsides. Newborn calves, foals and lambs offer delightful images.
Yesterday morning as I was enjoying my second cup of coffee—or was it my third (I lose count)—I noticed a headline in the newspaper announcing that drinking as many as six cups of coffee a day can increase my life expectancy.
What a difference a year makes. Or just a few timely rains. Glen Ritchie, assistant professor of crop physiology at Texas Tech University, with joint appointment with Texas AgriLife Research, Department of Plant and Soil Science, says the Texas South Plains is in a lot better shape than at this time in 2011.
As wheat harvest begins or nears across the Southwest, farmers anticipate production will range from near-record yields to near disaster, depending on rainfall amounts and timing of rain events. Wheat observers from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas report that the 2012 crop will be earlier than normal.
It’s not just China munching down on snakes; Chinese snake farming has gone global, finding astonishing success by feeding demand from Asia, Europe and even the U.S. Dried snake, snake capsules, snake powder, and snake wine are million-dollar sellers.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson reminds producers that enrollment for the 2012 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) ends June 1.
A coalition within the U.S. specialty crop industry has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) for dicamba- and 2,4-D-tolerant crops, saying more study of the technologies is needed.
As the countdown continues to the No. 1 Key to Peanut Profitability, disease control comes in at No. 4, including the control of soil-borne and foliar diseases and nematodes.
Cotton futures prices are starting to reflect a projected record worldwide surplus in supply. December 2012 futures prices had dropped from 97 cents per pound in February to around 77 cents in early May.
“Natural gas will do everything we want it to do,” says T. Boone Pickens. “It’s 130-octane fuel, it’s 25 percent cleaner than oil — and we have an abundance of it."
As the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management prepares to hold a hearing later this week, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) today released the second in an ongoing series of educational videos on crop insurance.