Corn

A drought threat posed across southern and western Minnesota is the most serious in over a decade, according to University of Minnesota Extension Climatologist Mark Seeley. Climate outlooks currently favor more rain than normal this spring across much of the state, but it might not be enough, Seeley says: “Many areas are so deficient in stored soil moisture they will need 150-200% of normal rainfall during March and April to make up the difference.”...More

There was considerable flooding along the Missouri River in summer 2011, leaving many fields scarred and bare, without a crop. Producers should make field repairs as needed and seed a cover crop to help protect the soil and start rebuilding soil life before the 2012 cropping season. Cover crops benefit flood-damage soils in several ways....More

The 2011-2012 corn marketing year is approaching the halfway point. "At this time of year prospects for marketing-year consumption and ending stocks are often fairly clear and the market begins to focus more on new crop prospects. This year, consumption, stocks and price prospects are far from clear," says University of Illinois Agricultural Economist Darrel Good. "There is considerable uncertainty about the pace of consumption for the rest of year in each of the major categories. If anything, the uncertainty outlined two weeks ago has intensified."...More