• By Ryan McGeeney • Despite a year dominated by major weather systems run amuck and a global pandemic, most of Arkansas’ major crops came out ahead in 2020, according to a Jan. 12 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Overall, Arkansas growers harvested about 6.74 million acres of commodity crops in 2020, not including fruits and other specialty ... Read More »
Agricultural producers and private landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program can sign up for the program through Feb. 12. The competitive program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, provides annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes. “This signup for the Conservation Reserve Program gives producers and landowners an opportunity to enroll for the first ... Read More »
Researchers at four higher education institutions have begun work on a federally funded project that will focus on determining better management techniques for burning crop residues. The project director is Dr. Aaron M. Shew, assistant professor and R.E.L. Wilson Chair of Agricultural Economics in Arkansas State University’s College of Agriculture. He is working with researchers from the University of Arkansas, ... Read More »
Even with a projected acreage increase, the market appears better than 2017 as long as demand doesn’t wane. • By Kurt Guidry • The current rice market continues to show strength despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the prospects for larger acreage and larger production levels in 2020. In Louisiana, current cash offers for old crop rice have been able to ... Read More »
U.S. rice imports continue to increase, setting a third consecutive record and now accounting for 20% of the domestic market. In a recent Rice Yearbook, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service projects imports of 32.5 million hundredweight (rough basis) for 2019/20, up 9% from a year earlier. Driving the increase is demand for Asian aromatic varieties, primarily jasmine ... Read More »
U.S. rice producers say they plan to plant 2.84 million acres this season, up 12% from the previous year’s planting intentions of 2.54 million acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service’s recently released planting intentions report. That compares to 2.946 million acres planted in 2018. The bulk of the acres — 2.1 million — will ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to issue the third and final round of 2019 Market Facilitation Program payments aimed at assisting farmers suffering from damage due to trade retaliation by foreign nations. The payments will begin to show up in farmers’ bank accounts by the end of this week. “It’s been a great start to 2020 for American agriculture with ... Read More »
Due to the prolonged and extensive impacts of weather this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended the deadline to Dec. 20 for producers to enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage program for the 2020 calendar year. The deadline had been Dec. 13. USDA announced is also continuing to accept applications for the Market Facilitation Program through Dec. 20. ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to begin making the second round of 2019 Market Facilitation Program payments the week before Thanksgiving to help farmers suffering from trade retaliations by foreign nations. Producers of MFP-eligible commodities will be eligible to receive 25% of the total payment expected in addition to the 50% they already have received from the 2019 ... Read More »
The “store and hold” strategy employed by many rice growers in 2018 has finally paid off, as rice prices rallied in 2019, hinging largely on record prevented planting acreage and general uncertainty about the year’s crop size. According to a rice stocks report released late August by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, rough rice stocks for ... Read More »
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