DTN Grains: Opening | Midday | Closing

Sunbelt Ag News:

DOANE: Cotton Commentary

Closing Livestock: Feeder Cattle Score Triple-Digit Gains on Close 1/5

DTN Fertilizer Outlook 1/5

Outlook 2009: Focus on Ag Markets 1/5

Outlook 2009: The Confidence Game 1/5

Closing Rice: Futures Sharply Lower Despite Slight Recovery at Midday 1/5

Closing Cotton: Cotton Futures Pare Sharp Setback 1/5

Alaron Energy Comment: New Optimistic Mood Greets New Year 1/5

Closing Grain: Late Fund Buying Leads to Mixed Day 1/5

U.S. Stock Market News 1/5

U.S. Economic News 1/5

Midday Grain: Mixed Start for Corn, Soybeans; Beans Up at Midday 1/5

Midday Livestock: Lean Hog Futures Break at Midday in Face of Discounted Cash 1/5

USDA National Weekly Rice Summary 1/5

Linn Corn Comment: Demand for Corn Still Very Light 1/5

Opening Cotton: Overbought Cotton Futures Skid Sharply 1/5

Opening Grain: Mostly Lower Overnight 1/5

Opening Livestock: Uneven Opening Expected in Lean Hog, Belly Futures 1/5

USDA National Weekly Cotton Review 1/2

USDA National Weekly Grain Review 1/2

Canadian Railways Fined $68 Million 1/2

Loophole in USDA Payment Rule 12/31

Soybean Database Will Help Breeders Engineer Better-Performing Plants 12/31

Texas: High Plains Grain Elevator Workshop Scheduled for February 5 12/31

Georgia: DuPont Acquires Ag Data Management Business to Enhance Information Solutions for Growers

U.S. Diesel Fuel Cost Survey 12/28

Grain news from STAT

Fruit and Vegetables from STAT

More Ag News | Grain Futures Newswire

Sugar, U.S. Nut Markets

Upcoming Events:

(FD: field day; SS: scout schools)

Texas AgriLife Extension Profitability Conference, 1/5/09, 1 p.m., Ochiltree Co. Expo Center, Perryton.

Texas AgriLife Extension Profitability Conference, 1/5/09, 7 p.m., Lipscomb Clubhouse, Lipscomb.

National Cotton Council Cotton Consultant Conference, 1/5, San Antonio, Texas, just before the 2009 Beltwide Cotton Conference.

Beltwide Cotton Conference, 1/5-8, 2009. Marriott Rivercenter/Riverwalk Hotel, San Antonio, Texas; Register.

Texas AgriLife Extension Profitability Conference, 1/6/09, noon, O’Laughlin Center, Spearman.

Southwest Louisiana Rice Forum, 1/6, 8 am, Welsh Community Center, Welsh, Agenda.

Southwest Louisiana Soybean Clinic, 1/6, 12:45 pm, Welsh Community Center, Welsh, Agenda.

Louisiana Evangeline/St. Landry Rice and Soybean Meeting, 1/7, Ville Platte Civic Center, Ville Platte.

Texas Feed Grains Marketing Workshop, 1/7-8, 9 am, Texas AgriLife REC, Amarillo.

Louisiana Acadia Rice Grower Meeting, 1/8, Crowley.

Louisiana 53rd Annual Tri-State Soybean Forum, 1/9, 7:30 am, lunch provide, Thomas Jason Lingo Center, Oak Grove.

Louisiana Vermilion Rice Grower Meeting, 1/9, 7:30 am, American Legion Hall, Kaplan.

2009 UK Winter Wheat Meeting, 1/13, Bowling Green, Ky, Transpark Center.

Texas High Plains Irrigation Conference and Trade Show, 1/14, 8 am, Amarillo Civic Center.

North Carolina County Meetings, 1/15 - 2/23, Various locations and dates.

Mississippi Peanut Growers Association Annual Meeting, 1/16, Forrest County Extension Complex, Hattiesburg.

2009 Ag Expo Forestry Forum, 1/17, Hilton Garden Inn, West Monroe, Louisiana.

South Texas Irrigation Conference and Trade Show, 1/20, 8:30 am, Medina Co. Fair Hall, Hondo.

Northeast Louisiana Crop Forum, 1/21, 8:30 am, Delhi Civic Center.

Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation's Annual Winter Commodity Conference, 1/22-23, 12:30 pm, MFBF office, Jackson.

Georgia Ag Forecast Breakfast, 1/26, 7 am, Dalton.

National Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference, 1/26-27, 2009, Marksville, La.

Texas AgriLife Extension Profitability Conference, 1/27/09, 10 a.m., Deaf Smith Co. Ext. Center, 903 14th Street, Hereford.

Georgia Ag Forecast Breakfast, 1/27, 7 am, Gainesville Civic Center, Gainesville.

2009 Arkansas Crop Management Conference, 1/27-30, 2009, North Little Rock Wyndham Hotel, Little Rock Arkansas.

Georgia Cotton Conference, 1/28, 2009, 7:30 am, UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Registration.

Georgia Ag Forecast Breakfast, 1/28, 7 am, Statesboro.

Farm Day 2009 (in cooperation with Alabama, Florida and Georgia Extension Systems), 1/29, 8 am, Walnut Hill Community Center,Walnut Hill, Florida.

Georgia Ag Forecast Breakfast, 1/29, 7 am, Tifton.

Georgia Ag Forecast Breakfast, 1/30, 7 am, Macon.

Texas High Plains Grain Elevator Workshop, 2/5, 8 am, Ashmore Inn and Suites, Amarillo.

15th Annual Arkansas State University Agribusiness Conference, 2/11, 8 am, ASU Fowler and Convocation Centers, Jonesboro.

Louisiana Agricultural Technology and Management Conference, 2/11-13, SAI Conference Center, Alexandria.

8th Annual Mississippi Farm Toy Show, 2/27-28, MAFES Conference Center, Starkville.

AgFax: Midsouth Cotton Archives

To list an event, contact Owen Taylor

Louisiana:

2009 Louisiana wheat acres down by half

By Tobie Blanchard

LSU Ag Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (November 19, 2008) - Farmers are planting the 2009 wheat crop, which will be on significantly fewer acres than the 2008 wheat crop, according to LSU AgCenter wheat specialist Dr. Ed Twidwell.

In 2008, because of record high prices, farmers planted around 400,000 acres.

“This year we’re looking at about 200,000 acres,” Twidwell said. “But that number is still high when you look at the 10-year average for acreage planted in Louisiana.”

Falling prices caught many people off guard, and Twidwell said that is the main reason many growers decided not to plant wheat this fall.

“Prices looked real good all during the summer up until about a month ago, and the price declined pretty rapidly,” he said.

Planting started in mid-October in north Louisiana and the beginning of November in south Louisiana. The specialist expects the planting season to wrap up soon.

“It looks like we’ll have clear weather, so I anticipate most of the wheat getting planted in Louisiana in the next week or two,” he said.

Twidwell said wheat requires two conditions during planting – well-drained soil and proper seeding depth. Wheat does not like wet conditions, and seeds should be planted about an inch in the soil.

“Some people broadcast their wheat and disk the seed in, and that’s fine as long as we get it covered an inch or so deep,” Twidwell said.

During the growing season, wheat needs an appropriate amount of fertilizer.

“As a ballpark figure, we try to shoot for about 100 pounds of total nitrogen during the growing season – a little in the fall and a higher rate in the spring,” he said.

With the high prices last year, some wheat was grown on marginal land by novice wheat farmers, but Twidwell said the state still had a good crop.

“Overall, the statewide average was around 50 bushels per acre. That was extremely high,” he said.

Wheat contributed nearly $89 million to Louisiana’s economy in 2007, according to LSU AgCenter agricultural economists.