Notes on Fall Fertilization
With harvest almost complete in Illinois after another year with high to very high yields, it’s time to review some basics of fall fertilization. Neither fertilizer nor grain prices are…
Fall-Applied Herbicides: Which Weed Species Should be the Target?
While the 2018 Illinois corn and soybean crops await harvest, assessing weed control successes and failures now can help farmers plan strategies for 2019. The practice of applying herbicides after…
Remain Vigilant for Palmer Amaranth
Palmer amaranth has garnered much attention recently in both academic discussions and popular press releases, and with good reason. Among the weedy species of Amaranthus, Palmer amaranth has the fastest…
Seedling Diseases of Soybeans
Although the weather has been predominantly dry, some producers are reporting issues with seedling diseases in several areas of the state. Consequently, now is an excellent time to brush up…
Dicamba: What is Success or Failure in 2018?
It's difficult to recall the debut of a weed management technology that generated more divisiveness than the 2017 introduction of dicamba-resistant soybean varieties and the accompanying use of dicamba. Damage…
Visualizing Farm Sector Income and Financial Data
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) is one of the federal statistical agencies and produces detailed financial estimates and forecasts for the farm sector. This information…
A Big Data Revolution: Who Would Drive It?
Over the last 30 years, novel applications of information technology have caused strategic change in many sectors of the economy. This article draws on those experiences to inform our thinking…
A Big Data Revolution: What Would Drive It?
Management on the farm historically has been constrained by the fundamental reality that the cost of real-time measurement of farming operations exceeded the benefits from doing so. Sensing capabilities (from…
Big Data: Alive and Growing in the Food Sector!
Big Data already is being extensively employed at the genetics and consumer ends of the food and ag supply chain. This article will stress the potential for capabilities and knowledge…
Big Data in Farming: Why Matters!
Big Data applications generally create predictions based on analysis of what has occurred. Uncertainty in farming, based in biology and weather, means that what has happened often is not a…
Precision Agriculture: Not the Same as Big Data But…
With today's media and marketing hype, it's easy to get confused about the two terms, precision agriculture and Big Data. In addition to briefly reviewing the impact of precision agriculture,…
Big Data: More Than a Lot of Numbers!
Big Data - the current buzzword of choice. Today it's very easy to be overwhelmed by the hype promoting Big Data. Farm media, newspapers and general media, and conference speakers…
Weekly Farm Economics
2015 Crop Insurance Decision Tool and SCO
The 2015 Crop Insurance Decision Tool is now available for download from the FAST section of farmdoc. Currently, the tool provides farmer-paid premiums for wheat. Premiums are given for all…
Donating Crops Can Mean Substantial 2014 Tax Savings for Farmers
Farmers seeing a strong 2014 year are beginning to seek tax strategies to minimize 2014 taxes. One strategy to consider is making a charitable donation in the form of crops.…
Weekly Farm Economics
Projected 2014 Gross Revenues and Farmer Returns on Cash Rent Farmland
Returns to farmers are projected to be lower in 2014 as compared to 2011 through 2013 levels. Lower prices contribute to these lower return projections. Also playing a role are…
2014 Farm Bill: Making the Case for Looking at ARC-Individual Farm
The Agriculture Risk Coverage - Individual Farm Coverage (ARC-IC) option in the 2014 farm bill has, in general, received less attention than the other 2 program options: ACR-CO (ARC -…
2014 Farm Bill: The Margin Protection Program Dashboard MPP-Dairy
The 2014 Farm Bill provides the most comprehensive reform to the U.S. federal dairy farm safety net seen in decades. In place of milk price and revenue support programs the…
The Evolution of Price Expectations for Corn and Soybeans in 2013
Each crop year, market information accumulates throughout the planting and growing season that affects price levels and expectations about future price levels. Some of the important elements and events in…
Trends in Illinois Farmland Parcel Size
The recent upswing in U.S. farmland prices is well-documented, with recent posts describing the USDA's estimate of annual valuation change, and comparisons to other asset classes. The other key dimension…
Weekly Farm Economics
Late Planting and Tools in FAST
Little planting so far this spring and the continued prospects of rain bring on the potential for farmers to shift from corn to soybeans. The Planting Decision Model, a part…
Release of an Updated FAST Tool: Balance Sheet Program
The Balance Sheet program has been updated to include two new features: 1) saving multiple users and years to a database and 2) preforming trend analysis. The tool allows users…
Evaluating Your Crop Insurance Options in 2013
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has now concluded its price discovery period used to determined final prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for…
2013 Crop Insurance Projected Prices, Volatilities, and Harvest Price Impacts
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) "resets" various features of the crop insurance programs annually to reflect the market's estimate of the value of crops intended for production in the current…
Weekly Farm Economics
Crop Insurance Premiums and the 2013 Crop Insurance Decision Tool
The 2013 version of the Crop Insurance Decision Tool is now available for download from the FAST section of farmdoc. If projected prices and volatilities are the same as last…
IFES 2012: Crop Insurance – 2012 Performance and Updates for 2013
Listen to MP3 podcast Though final numbers will not be known until early 2013, crop insurance policies resulted in very large indemnity payments over a large region of the Corn…