Indiana AgriNews_091319

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WITH BECK’S ROUNDUP READY 2 XTEND ® SOYBEANS, YOU JUST GET MORE. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® is the number one trait platform planted by farmers*. With the weed control provided by a low volatility dicamba formulation and a best-in-class disease package, there’s no doubt in this soybean’s ability to yield.

September 13, 2019

www.agrinews-pubs.com

*Traited acres based on Bayer internal estimates. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW, IRM, WHERE APPLICABLE, GRAIN MARKETING, STEWARDSHIP PRACTICES AND PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS Glyphosate herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Dicamba herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® is a trademark of Bayer Group. Performance may vary.

Farmers less optimistic AGRINEWS PHOTO/ERICA QUINLAN

Drones have many applications on the farm, ranging from crop scouting to livestock tracking.

UAV pros and cons Drones help producers see the big picture

Ag Economy Barometer falls By Erica Quinlan

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After two months of increased optimism, farmer sentiment about the ag economy declined in August, according to the Ag Economy Barometer. The barometer, based on a survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers, weakened to a reading of 124 — down 29 points

compared to July. Weaker sentiment was fueled in part by both crop and livestock price declines that took place in late July and early August. Prices for corn and soybeans fell sharply as crop conditions improved and U.S. Department of Agriculture released larger than expected crop production estimates on the August Crop Production report. “That was one of the largest single-month declines we’ve had since we started collecting data for the Ag Economy Barometer,” said Jim Mintert, director of the Center for Commercial

Ag Economy Barometer May 2019

101

June 2019

126

July 2019

153

Aug. 2019

124

Source: Purdue/CME Group

Agriculture at Purdue University. “The Index of Future Expectations was the biggest driver of the decline. It fell to a reading of 125 compared to 159 a month earlier. The Index of Current Conditions also fell from a reading of 141 to 122.”

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

MUNCIE, Ind. — Drones are helping farmers scout crops, analyze data and detect problems faster. For example, by looking at different light spectrums with sensors on a drone, producers can identify plant health issues, nutrient deficiencies and other problems that can lower yields. But, as with all technology, there are pros and cons. Mark Carter, Purdue Extension specialist in Delaware County, shared a few during a webinar about unmanned aerial vehicles.

Low-interest FSA emergency loans By Ashley Langreck

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that Indiana farmers in all 92 counties are eligible for assistance through a secretarial natural disaster designation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said this help was in response to a letter that Holcomb sent U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in July, requesting assistance for 88 counties due to the excessive rain and flooding farmers experienced during planting season, which led to significant delays in planting. Kettler said 74 counties received the designation of primary natural disaster areas, and even though the USDA deferred a decision on the remaining 18 counties, since they border one or more of the primary disaster area, they are considered contiguous disaster counties.

PROS: n Image collection can be done more frequently. n Imagery is more precise. n Imagery is cheaper than satellite or plane. n The operator has more control of the data. CONS: n Unmanned aerial systems require more time and effort. n Time to charge batteries, fly fields, process images and analyze data. n May be required to keep flight logs. n There is always the possibility of crashing your investment. Carter shared advice for farmers who are interested in using drones. “If you have an interest in this, No. 1 — make sure you check out the licensing process,” he said. “The second thing you need to do is make sure your drone fits your application. There’s no sense in spending $25,000 on something you can do with a $1,800 to $2,000 drone.

See DISASTER, Page A4

See UAV, Page A4

AGRINEWS PHOTO/TOM C. DORAN

Allendale’s annual nationwide producer survey projects corn to average 167.71 bushels per acre and soybeans at 46.13 bushels per acre, both below USDA’s August estimate. Due to the late planting, maturity concerns were noted across the Corn Belt.

INSIDE

USMEF promotes beef and pork in Japan A3 Jet technology to power personal automobiles B2 Veggie burgers catch lightning in a bun C6 AgriTrucker B2

From The Fields A8

Auction Calendar B1

Lifestyle C8

Business C7

Livestock B4

Calendar B8 Classifieds C2 Farms For Sale C1

Opinion C6 Rosie Lerner C8 Weather A6

Vol. 41 No. 50

CONTACT AGRINEWS: 800-426-9438

See ECONOMY, Page A2

Disaster aid in 92 counties

ALLENDALE SURVEY

By Erica Quinlan

SEE SECTION B

Over two-thirds of U.S. farmers said they expected USDA’s 2019 Market Facilitation Program payments to either completely or at least somewhat relieve their concerns regarding tariffs impact on farm income. Looking ahead to the next crop year, 58% of farmers expect to receive an MFP payment for their 2020 crop. According to the survey, producers were much less inclined to think now is a good time to make capital investments on their farms.

Producers report slightly lower corn, soybean yields By Tom C. Doran

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

CHICAGO — Yield surveys in 29 states didn’t find the bushels that last month’s U.S. Department of Agriculture report estimated and there’s across-the-board concern if the late-planted crops can finish out. Allendale Inc., a agricultural commodity brokerage and analysis firm, conducted its 30th annual nationwide producer yield survey Aug. 19-30 and estimated the U.S. average corn yield at 167.71 bushels per acre and soybeans at 46.13 bushels per acre. The USDA projected yields at 169.46 for corn and 48.51 for soybeans in its August report. The surveys were conducted direct by Allendale brokers (56%), as well as from farmers via the Allendale website and social media platforms (44%). The top 12 crop-producing states were included in the sur-

Survey Results 2018 actual bushels per acre, USDA Aug. 2019 yield projections, and Allendale (ALDL) survey yield estimates.

CORN YIELD Iowa Illinois Indiana

2018 196 210 189

USDA ALDL 191 192 181 178 166 163

SOYBEAN YIELD Iowa Illinois Indiana

2018 USDA ALDL 57 55 53 65 55 49 58.5 50 46

vey, covering 86% of the U.S. corn production and 83% of the nation’s soybean production. No adjustment for maturity concerns were made in this survey. “Our corn yields suggested to expect a minor decline in the

Put mental health first

Dealing with stress, adverse conditions By Erica Quinlan

AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS

USDA yield numbers on the September report and the corn production decline is 146 million bushels,” said Rich Nelson, Allendale chief strategist. “The soybean production of 3.499 billion bushels is down from 3.68 billion the previous month from USDA. So, we have a 181 million bushel decline on soybean production. “That’s really interesting because in a lot of our surveys producers did say on corn, at least as far as anecdotal discussions, is the corn looks good and their question is with maturity. “With soybeans, we did hear maybe just a few more questions regarding the crop itself. Perhaps not just a maturity issue, which is a valid one, but also with the idea of just yield in general, as well. So, people maybe had a little bit more hesitation with the soybean yield discussion.”

PEOSTA, Iowa — Being a farmer means dealing with stress and adverse conditions, but mental health can easily be put on the backburner. “We believe mental health is so critical,” said Natalie Roy, executive director of AgriSafe, during a webinar about mental health in rural areas. “We can’t strive for total farmer health if we don’t think about someone’s well-being in their mind, as well as their body.” Rural Americans often lack access to mental health providers, making it more difficult to address depression, anxiety and other problems. “Seventy-four percent of Americans who seek help for symptoms of depression will go to a primary care provider,” Roy said. “Unfortunately, the diagnosis of depression is missed about 50% of the time in a primary care setting — that’s what we want to see change.” Diane Hall, senior scientist for policy and strategy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, defined mental health during the webinar.

See YIELDS, Page A2

See MENTAL, Page A4


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