Rich Keller
Illinois site was an example of weed resistance
It wasn’t hard finding Palmer amaranth dotting fields in the Midwest and South last summer, and many of this pigweed species were herbicide resistant.
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Need examination of all energy tax credits
There needs to be an overall examination of all the energy tax credits and how the U.S. tax code benefits various energy businesses, but Congress should not be eliminating the wind energy production tax credit arbitrarily while allowing other tax breaks to continue, said Howard Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
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Concern about ammonia handling
Richard Gearheard, president of Crop Production Services, used anhydrous ammonia as an example of needing to invest in safety while talking to attendees of the National Agronomic Environmental Health & Safety School.
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Belief in mixing corn hybrids in a field
Does mixing corn hybrids in the same field have any advantage? Fred Below, University of Illinois professor researching how to achieve 300 bushel per acre average yields, said, “I hate 100 acres of the same hybrid in a field.”
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Cellulosic ethanol plant for North Carolina
Novozymes working with Chemtex and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are partnering on a new advanced biofuels plant in North Carolina. The plant is planned for Sampson County, and will produce 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually from “energy crops.” Construction is targeted to begin late this year.
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Report says Calif. GHG reduction nearly impossible
Heather Youngs, Ph.D., bioenergy analysis fellow at University of California, Berkley, reports on a two-year panel study of California’s energy system with a look to the year 2050 and a legislative requirement for greenhouse gas emission to be 80 percent below 1990 levels.
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Commentary: Dow responds to 2,4-D resistant waterhemp
An isolated incidence of waterhemp resistant to 2,4-D herbicide in Nebraska has been known since last year; it wasn’t a sudden discovery Aug. 14, although some media coverage seemed to make it sound like the cat had just been let out of the bag.
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Top executives of MF Global avoiding felony charges
Speculation from New York and Washington, D.C., is that no high-level officials of MF Global will be criminally prosecuted for the $1 billion in customer money, including a large amount of farmer money, used to try and stave off MF Global’s bankruptcy that occurred anyway.
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EPA to rate products for drift reduction in 2013
By next summer, ag retailers and farmers could find language on some pesticide labels that recommends verified use of drift reduction technology (DRT) equipment or products for spray applications, according to Jay Ellenberger in the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs.
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DOT waives truck regulations due to drought
Last week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced relief from hours of service (HOS) requirements and federal truck weight regulations in states where the governor has declared a drought emergency, in order to allow supplies to reach farmers and ranchers.
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Commentary: 12 half-baked ideas for improving agriculture
Since when does the U.S. have a “broken food system,” as claimed by the Worldwatch Institute? What the U.S. has is the world’s most efficient food and feed production system. What the Worldwatch Institute would prefer is inefficient worldwide agriculture similar to farming in 1952.
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- Corn and soybean prices continue to retrace 2012 drought rally
- Swine virus confirmed in Iowa, Indiana hog herds
- USDA says has detected virus in Iowa hog population
- Premium Standard Farms Founder Dies Unexpectedly
- Commentary: GMOs: How do I hate thee?
- Weather report: Rain spreads across the Corn Belt
