Monthly Round-up: Agriculture, Irrigation, Farming News For October 2015

As October has swung us solidly into fall and heading into winter, it’s been a busy month in agricultural circles. From predictions of bumper crops and falling wheat exports to changes in the Emerald Ash Borer quarantine and the latest on the cranberry harvest, we’ll catch you up on everything happening in agriculture and how it’s affecting the market and your bottom line.

• Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership a Win for Agriculture? – President Obama is currently trying to sell the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as a win for agriculture because it removes tariffs on many U.S. agricultural products in other countries. It may also remove those tariffs for imports from other countries as well and hasn’t been approved yet, so the jury is still out on the final outcome.
• Corn and Soybean Harvest Continues – The soybean and corn harvest is continuing in the northern states, with 59% of the corn crop and 77% of the soybean crop out of the field. Quality indicators remain the same as in previous weeks at good to excellent.
• Bumper Crops of Soybeans and Corn in Minnesota and Wisconsin – The U.S.D.A. is predicting record soybean production in both Midwestern states, with Minnesota seeing record corn production and Wisconsin’s corn production 3% above last year’s final production.
• U.S. Wheat Exports Down 50 Million Bushels – Though there has been a significant loss of exports in wheat due to lower international demand and increased international production of wheat, U.S. producers shouldn’t be concerned, as high domestic prices and reduced domestic production cushions the blow to the export market.
• Internal Quarantine of the Emerald Ash Borer Stopped in Illinois – The Illinois Department of Agriculture announced its plans to stop restrictions of in-state cut hardwood firewood movement, joining Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa in the deregulation of firewood transport. The change comes following testing that showed the pest had moved into ten additional Illinois counties. With 60% of the state now affected, the Department has determined the spread to be too wide for control measures to be effective.
• Bring on the Drones – In the tech corner, Newton County, Indiana high school students are learning how to fly agricultural drones. With a grant totaling $454,000 from the governor’s office and county council, the drones are being used to take photographs, video and infrared data to record where crops are healthy and where they need improvement, bringing precision agriculture a little closer to earth compared to past use of satellite imagery. The students have determined that a test plot will only provide 1/3 good results, compared to the 1/2 of the planting previously figured, a difference of about 17%.
• Cranberry Harvest Underway – Cranberry bogs are being flooded in Wisconsin to start the harvest. The hollow fruit, Wisconsin’s biggest fruit crop at 5 million barrels, will float to the top and are then corralled out of the bog.

What will November hold for the farming industry? Check back next month to find out!