The Deltapine New Product Evaluator (NPE) program kicks off its sixth year this season with producers evaluating seven different variety candidates for the Class of 2014, including three new lines bred for root-knot nematode resistance.
In 2013, a limited number of NPE farmers located in nematode-affected areas will evaluate variety candidates bred to be resistant to root-knot nematodes. More than 639,000 bales were lost during the 2012 U.S. cotton crop due to damage from root-knot nematodes, according to the Cotton Disease Loss Committee Report delivered at the 2013 Beltwide Cotton Conference – a yield loss for farmers of 2.5 percent.
The Deltapine NPE program has become the cotton industry’s premiere field evaluation program, continuing its work with 200-plus farmers evaluating pre-commercial variety lines. Each farmer is given enough seed to grow at least a module-worth of cotton per variety candidate. These farmers manage the plots as they would manage the rest of their farm, offering both the farmer and the Deltapine cotton development and commercialization teams a true picture of a variety candidate’s performance potential. Only the variety candidates that are proven by NPE farmers to have better yield, quality and performance than current commercial offerings will be named for the Class of 2014.
To learn more about Deltapine cotton varieties, go to www.deltapine.com.
Monsanto Wins Supreme Court Ruling
The Supreme Court says that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto’s patents on soybean seed resistant to its weed-killer by growing the beans without buying new seeds from the company. The justices unanimously rejected the farmer’s argument that soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company’s Roundup herbicide.
While Monsanto won the case, the court refused to make a sweeping decision that would cover other self-replicating technologies like DNA molecules and nanotechnologies, leaving that for another day.
Businesses and researchers had been closely watching this case in hopes of getting guidance on patents, but Justice Elena Kagan says the court’s holding only “addresses the situation before us.”
Case IH, AFBF Announce Incentive Program
Thanks to a membership value program partnership between Case IH, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and American Farm Bureau, Inc. (AFBI), Farm Bureau members can now take advantage of farm equipment discounts. Eligible Farm Bureau members will receive an incentive discount – from $300 to $500 – when purchasing qualifying Case IH products and equipment from participating dealerships.
Farm Bureau members from participating states can receive the manufacturer’s incentive discount when an eligible tractor or implement is acquired. A current Farm Bureau membership verification certificate must be presented to the Case IH dealer in advance of product delivery to receive the incentive discount. For more information, visit www.caseih.com.
Weather Will Impact Fertilizer Demand
Cool, wet conditions in much of the Midwest and concerns regarding future weather will delay the normal cycle of fertilizer restocking, bringing significant uncertainty to the 2013 Q2 fertilizer markets, according to a new report released by researchers at the Rabobank International Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group. The report finds that, overall, the pace of fertilizer demand is now increasing seasonally and fueling a pickup in global trading activity.
The report goes on to show the fast-approaching Northern Hemisphere planting season will be pivotal in driving short-term agri-commodity prices. Across South America, all eyes are on the weather as planting of winter crops continues. For more information, visit Rabobank’s website at www.raboAg.com.
Dicamba-Tolerant Products Face Delay
Farmers across the country expressed disappointment with the announcement from USDA-APHIS that it will conduct a full environmental impact statement on soybean, corn and cotton crops designed to tolerate the 2,4-D and dicamba herbicides. The move could delay the introduction of new products containing these herbicide-tolerant traits to the market for an additional two to four years.
Danny Murphy, a soybean farmer and president of the American Soybean Association, says USDA’s decision “will serve only to place another barrier between soybean farmers and the tools and technologies farmers need to sustainably grow more food, fiber and fuel for our nation.”