April 27, 2024

April 30, 2024

This Week in The Tassel Tribune

  • Crop Duster Hits Power Line and Lives to Tell the Story

  • Why are Wheat Prices Going Up?

  • Interest Rate Meeting Next Week (Yawn)

  • Totally Accurate El Nino Prediction for Crop Yields

  • Do Planting Prescriptions Increase Profits?

  • The Guy From Top Gun Got a New Ram Truck and I'm Jealous

Why are Wheat Prices Going Up?

Did Oprah say it’s OK to eat bread again? No. Conditions are dry in wheat-growing areas of the US and Russia, plus there's ongoing turmoil in the Black Sea region.

On top of that, India, the second biggest consumer of wheat in the world, who usually grows all the wheat it needs, has indicated their stocks are quite low and they may need to import wheat for the first time in seven years.

Crop Price Changes for the week

  • May corn +6-4

  • Dec corn +7-2

  • May beans +9

  • Nov beans +13-6

  • May wheat +53

  • July wheat +55-4

Interest Rates

The Fed is meeting on Wednesday to discuss interest rates and also where to get the best sushi. Analysts expect them to hold rates steady with the hopes of decreasing later in the year, but some are fearful another increase may be necessary at some point to hold off inflation. Read more here.

Crop duster hits power lines in Sumner County, KS

You saw that one coming, didn’t you? Don’t worry, the plane and the pilot were fine. Read more here.

In an unrelated story, this week residents of Sumner County, KS, reported a mysterious power outage that lasted for several hours, leaving dozens of teens fretting as their phone batteries dwindled into single digits and the possibility of resorting to in-person conversation crossed their minds.

Weather News
“Experts agree that El Nino always increases corn yields except when it doesn’t.”

Big Crops and Lower Prices vs Smaller Crops and Higher Prices?

On average, what’s more profitable, big crops and lower prices or smaller crops and higher prices? Bryce Knorr of Farm Futures ran the numbers to find out. Of course, he didn’t run the numbers on what we all wish for, big crops AND high prices. Read More at Farm Futures.

Texts from the Field…
“Things are going great out here, the planter only broke down four times so far this morning. Please send more snacks.”

Research Brief - Do Planting Prescriptions Increase Profits?

Emerson Nafziger of the University of Illinois did some research a few years back comparing static rate planting vs variable rate planting. Read that here. https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/.../variable-vs-uniform...

More recently, another U of I professor studied whether making management zones based on topography or soil types could reliably predict which areas should have a higher seeding rate or nitrogen rate to increase yield. https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/347802883

Conclusion - The idea of putting more seed or nutrients in good soil and vice versa makes sense, but the actual profit from such practices may be less that what many have been led to believe.

Another factor to consider is how much you are paying per acre for planting prescriptions. If you’re making them yourself or your software is generating them, that’s a good deal, but if you’re paying someone to make them every year, I’m not sure the ROI is there if it’s more than a couple bucks an acre. Perhaps something to look into more closely.

Trucks