Agroinsurance

USA - New role needed for extension services

University researchers and extension agents are reinventing their role within agriculture with limited resources.When the first crop of university extension agents took to the fields a century ago, U.S. agriculture was relatively primitive. Farm power was still mostly generated by horses and mules in 1914, and fertilizer came in the form of manure and crushed livestock bones. The human landscape was also much different — roughly 1 in 3 Americans were employed in agriculture back then, compared to fewer than one in 60 today.The population shift away from farming is one of the reasons university research and extension is struggling to remain relevant to modern Americans, said Ben West, regional extension director at the University of Tennessee, who has studied the issue.As university researchers and extension agents look to the future, they are contemplating how to deploy limited resources to stay useful to farmers as well as the trade-offs such decisions involve.Within agriculture, the role of extension has changed in the past hundred years.Not only do extension agents have fewer farmers to educate, but also those growers are now more likely to have college degrees themselves, West said.At the same time, suppliers of seed, fertilizer and other inputs have hired cadres of agronomists who are sometimes seen as supplanting the role of extension, he said.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com

USA - Colorado Honeydew threatened by hailstorms

The Colorado Honeydew season does not begin until mid or late July. The melons were planted two weeks ago, and transplanted last week; however hailstorms have threatened their growth. “We had three hailstorms last week,” explains Michael Hirakata, owner of Hirakata Farms. “We’re in recovery mode right now and waiting to see how much damage there is to the plants.”Demand great in ColoradoHirakata Farms is a grower, packer, and shipper which sells a variety of melons domestically throughout Colorado. Although melons are still a niche market, the Denver market has grown rapidly with 95% of all Hirakata Farms’ melon sales occurring within the state. “Honeydew demand has increased each year,” states Hirakata, “Demand is up by 100% with all retail outfits asking for more melons.”Acre expansion planned to compete with demandsTo compete with increased demands, Hirakata Farms is expanding their Honeydew acreage with hopes of providing more melons regionally throughout Colorado. “We only had a few acres when we started. Now we’re close to 80 acres which is a lot for Honeydew,” adds Hirakata.Pre-cut melons planned for next seasonIn addition to acre expansion, Hirakata Farms also plans to invest in selling precut melons. “We’ll only have whole fruit this year,” states Hirakata, “However; we want to spend time researching the flavor of our melons this year so next year we know when they’re the sweetest and when to cut.”Colorado has a freight advantageOn the market, Colorado melon growers compete with California and Arizona. Colorado’s Honeydew prices last year were above average, they also hold a freight advantage. “We can get 18% on Honeydew, while other states can only get 12%,” declares Hirakata, “Our Honeydews are allowed to ripen longer which gives them a sweeter flavor. Customers have one bite and it’s so flavorful that they buy from us again and again.”Low labor a threatWhile competition and weather pose a threat, labor also threatens the Hirakata Farms’ Honeydews. “We have a very limited labor source,” explains Hirakata, “Most of our labor runs through the H2A program, and it continues to be a struggle to get laborers.”Source - http://www.freshplaza.com

USA - Typhoon winds destroy banana farmers' crops

Guam's farmers are working to recover from damage wrought by Typhoon Dolphin, which hit the island with high winds, especially in the north.Among the most affected are the island's banana farmers, like Bernard Watson, of Yigo. Typhoon Dolphin took out eight acres of his banana crop, a little over 4,000 trees, he said."We saw maybe a hair over 100-mph winds and that doesn't do well for bananas," he said.The storm flattened his trees, he said, meaning it'll probably be another eight months or so before he sees another banana on his farm. And because of recent weather, he said, his crops haven't had much of a chance to grow."We had a storm in July last year; we had one July the year before that," he said.However, he said, he just chalks it up to the weather cycles and does his best to recover."These things kinda happen," he said. "We had a period there for five years where there were no storms and now we're getting the other end of the cycle. There's not much you can do about it. In the case of bananas, there's absolutely nothing you can do to prevent the damage when it's that kind of wind."As for preparation in advance, he said, there's not much a farmer can do except harvest what's ready and start preparing for the next crop.Watson still has bittermelon in the ground, he said, as well as tomatoes."But it'll be several months before we get any income going," he said.Even under the best conditions, he said, it'll take about three months to get a crop of eggplant, bittermelon or tomatoes to market and turn a profit.Watson said that while there is federal crop insurance, "it's slow."Even if there was compensation, he said, because bananas are an annual crop, it wouldn't happen until the end of the year.Go to USDAErnie Wusstig, county committee chairman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, said he's encouraging all farmers to pay the agency a visit."If we have another storm, the USDA's right there to help them," he said.Guam farmers can qualify as disadvantaged farmers, meaning any fees can be waived.He said some USDA workers came out to his farm earlier this week. Wusstig said his crops didn't suffer much damage at all.He said he was able to pick up about 2,000 pounds of corn, which he sold. The rest of his corn hadn't been pollinated, meaning there wasn't any damage that could be done "other than the inconvenience.""I told (the USDA), 'I'm all right, go and see the farmers that are damaged,'" he said.He added that he's expecting representatives from the local Department of Agriculture to make their rounds sometime soon.Source - http://www.guampdn.com

USA - Wet weather slows down planting for South Plains cotton farmers

Rain is usually good news, but this wet, cool weather has created headaches for some South Plains farmers.Typically, cotton planting is in full swing by now, but some farmers haven't even started yet.One farmer, Steven Brosch, said he hopes to get out there soon to start planting his cotton.Brosch said he and his family have about 6,000 acres to farm and it will take them about two weeks to plant all the cotton.However, the weather has slowed that plan down."Right now, we don't have a seed put in the ground yet," Brosch said. "We aren't concerned, yet. It has been too wet for us to plant."He tells us that typically, he would already be planting.He said with crop insurance he still has some time before he'll start stressing out."Putting us a little bit behind, but we aren't concerned yet," Brosch said. "We still have until June 10th, so we're still welcoming the moisture."Now, with several thousand acres to cover, his land goes into three counties. Lubbock County has until June 5th for crops to be planted."About five percent of our land is in Lubbock County, so that's the first place we're going to be focusing on for planting," Brosch said. "After that, Lynn and Garza County, where the majority of our land is June 10th, so we'll do that second."Right now, Brosch says he is trying to be patient, but if this weather continues the way it's going, he could soon face a problem."Just take it a day at a time," Brosch said. "All we can do is, we have everything ready to go. If it dries up enough, we'll start our planting. It's just one day at a time right now."Now, if the weather does not let up, Brosch does say he has alternate plans in place.Chip Gilmour, senior vice president of Lubbock National Bank, said crops do affect Lubbock's economy."There's no question that Lubbock economy, one of the major sectors of our economy has to be agriculture, cotton," Gilmour said.Source - http://www.kcbd.com

EU wheat crop developing well, seen below 2014 record

Wheat crop growth in Europe has been helped by rainfall in the last few weeks, with a good harvest just below last year's record expected, observers said on Thursday."Recent rain has improved crop condition in many countries and hopes are that with normal weather we will have a large crop although not a record-breaker," one European trader said.French consultancy Strategie Grains has increased its monthly forecast of this year's EU soft wheat harvest by 1.2 million tonnes to 142.6 million tonnes, 4 percent below the record of 149.3 million tonnes in 2014.France, the EU's largest wheat producer and exporter, is facing a near-record crop after French farmers planted the largest wheat area in nearly 80 years with concerns over drought damage receding following heavy showers."In France, wheat crops are generally in very good shape," said Paul Gaffet of consultancy ODA.ODA forecasts France's 2015 soft wheat crop at 38.1 million tonnes, up from 37.5 million tonnes forecast in April. France harvested 37.5 million tonnes last year, France's record was 38.2 million tonnes in 1998.But yellow rust spotted in parts of France, could cause some crop damage."There is a bit more disease pressure this year," Gaffet said. "I think it has been well managed by farmers but it tempers the fact that crops are very good shape."In the second largest producer Germany, the winter wheat crop may fall 3.1 percent on the year to 26.57 million tonnes, German cooperatives said.Rain has helped too and a large German harvest, though down on last year's bumper crop is expected, the association said.The third largest producer Britain appears on track for a smaller but possibly higher quality crop than last season."Crop conditions so far have been generally good, arguably in some parts better than it was a year ago as we haven't had the wet winter that brought a lot of disease," Home-Grown Cereals Authority analyst Jack Watts said."The crop is still full of potential but there is a long way to go," he added.In fourth largest producer Poland, rain has also helped crop development, said Wojtek Sabaranski of analysts Sparks Polska."There is potential for further wheat yield and crop growth," Sabaranski said.Sparks Polska forecasts average wheat yields of about 4.65 tonnes a hectare, down 11 percent from last year's record, and a crop of about 11.1 million tonnes, down 9 percent from 2014.Source - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Future - fruit and vegetables from grower to customer by drone?

Cor Molenaar of the Erasmus University Rotterdam presented a confronting analysis on the current and soon to change purchasing behaviour of customers during the European Vegetable Strategies congress. He emphasised and repeated during his speech that companies have to be prepared or they won't have a future. "Due to the newest technical innovations and media, people spend a lot of time and money on their phone, laptop or tablet. "People always want to be connected," he told those present. "This results in consumer behaviour that is very different than just a few years ago."Wrong decisions"There is also no longer a 'supply driven economy'. It is now a 'demand driven economy'. Without direct contact with the customer you no longer have a future as a company!" Take Morrisons, who are performing badly, as an example. They have completely lost contact with the customer. Of course they can say Aldi and Lidl are the cause, but they'd be better off looking at themselves. The wrong strategy and proposition. Tesco has also suffered their biggest loss ever due to the wrong strategic decisions. They have no answer for the customers' behaviour." He believes consumers always want something new. "That's why they go to shops like Primark. There's always a new collection."But it's not just that companies don't understand their customers any more. "Customers don't understand themselves either. You never ask consumers what they want. If we had asked them that question 200 years ago, they would have said faster horses. No one was thinking of cars, because they didn't exist yet."Future is hard to predictHe admits this makes it very difficult to look into the future when you look at how fast technological developments are. Can you keep up? Generation gaps are also more visible now. The people who didn't grow up with this, hardly know what's happening." It will only get faster. "The capacity of computers doubles every year. What will the influence on the economy, the supermarkets and the supply chains be?" He believes the future will be a platform, not a web shop. He uses Alibaba, the largest online internet trading platform in the world as an example. "How can people compete with these prices?"Business models have to change"People are very busy nowadays. They don't have time to shop. So they do it online, on their laptop, phone or tablet or some other way. It depends on what's easy and available for the consumer at that moment. You have to be there as a company at that time. Are you prepared? All business models have to change. Take the taxi service Uber for example. They don't sell cars, they sell the use of a car. I don't think people will own their own car in the future. That will have a huge impact on the car industries, on the parking garages and the roads."Fruit and vegetables from grower to customer by droneNowadays you can have your order delivered within an hour. "This is done by Amazon with drones. Will drones change the world? Can fruit and vegetables be delivered from the grower by drone? Fresh from the field, with the customer within an hour?"Online fights with China and growersWhat will happen over the next few years? You have no idea. It's almost scary. The impact will be far bigger than we expect. And influence every part of our lives. With a lot of internet suppliers people only have to pay if they're satisfied with the products. Can you say that about your customers? We really have to connect with our consumers. The future will consist of partnerships and platforms. No more competition between Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons. That's all old economics. The new economy is an online battle between China and growers who supply directly. We have to do what the customer wants. Are we prepared for their changing behaviour?"Source - www.freshplaza.com

USA - Rains could cause onion losses

Much of the state experienced rainfall from trace amounts to upwards of 10 inches for the week ending May 17, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Texas Field Office, May 18.Areas of the Blacklands, the North East, the Coastal Bend, and South Texas reached upwards of 10 inches while the Trans-Pecos and the Southern High Plains received only trace amounts. Strong winds and hail storms caused damage to crops throughout many areas of the state again last week.Onions yet to be harvested may be lost due to wet fields in areas of South Texas. In areas of the Trans-Pecos pecan trees were in good condition and at full bloom stage, while in South Texas producers prepared to plant peanuts.Source - www.freshplaza.com

El Niño expected again

According to American scientists El Niño has begun, but the effect is still weak. Australian researchers consider that this weather phenomenon will have a 'substantial' impact this year. During the first few months of last year there was also a threat of El Niño, but it did not come to full force. It is difficult to predict if the current situation will further develop into a 'real' El Niño, but the consequences could be significant. A new warning is in place."According to forecasters, the long anticipated El Niño has finally arrived," wrote the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) on their website in March. According to the report, the El Niño was still weak, so the effects have been somewhat limited. "Certain weather aspects, that are associated with El Niño, may occur this spring in parts of the northern hemisphere, such as increased rainfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast."El Niño is a regular weather change that occurs once every two to seven years, and is associated with warmer water in the Pacific Ocean. Normally during El Niño a trade wind blowing from South America towards Oceania and Southeast Asia occurs. Because of this, cold ocean water arrives on South American coasts. During an El Niño, the wind changes and warm ocean water from Asia spreads across the Pacific Ocean. There are various weather changes that occur worldwide when this phenomenon is in effect.During a presentation in Germany Fred G. Harmsen van der Vliet from Harmsen & Partners summed up the expected effect of El Niño: "Drought and weather changes due to El Niño can cause hunger in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and water shortages in Java." Furthermore we could see drought in Northeast Brazil, Southeast Africa, the Western Pacific, Pakistan and Northwest India. Changes in ocean currents and warmer ocean water, the beginnings of El Niño, have already disrupted fish migrations. El Niño also means lower yields for the agricultural sector.In addition, there is a higher chance of strong tornado's around Japan and South Korea. In South America El Niño means more rain, in North America there is less chance of hurricanes and Europe can face colder winters. The exact impact of an El Niño is difficult to predict. The fruit and vegetable sector in Latin America declared that last year they had unusual El Niño weather conditions.Source - www.freshplaza.com

USA - Freeze-damaged winter wheat in Nebraska panhandle

Freeze-damaged winter wheat in Nebraska panhandleMost of the winter wheat growing regions from the southern Panhandle into South Dakota received 6 to 18 inches of snow May 9-10. Wheat weighed down by snow. Research plots at Scottsbluff look similar and snow was mostly melted by late Monday.From the road on Tuesday afternoon the wheat appeared to have recovered. On closer inspection, when plots were sampled, many of the stems were broken or crimped. Damage ranged from 10% to 40% stem breakage/crimping. Therefore, careful field inspection and sampling are necessary to estimate the degree of, damage. The broken and crimped stems will affect both grain yield and quality.Although wheat can compensate since remaining tillers with viable heads (if not damaged by cold temperatures) will produce somewhat more grain, wheat will not compensate for lost stems if loss is above 25%-30%. Growers are encouraged to scout fields to assess damage. Having some idea about damage now and in a week or 10 days when damaged stems are brown and more noticeable will give producers an idea of yield and grain quality loss and reduce the surprise at harvest. If growers already had sub-par stands caused by winter kill, they definitely need to evaluate yield potential to see if taking the wheat to harvest is their best choice.Our concern is the amount of acreage that could have potential damage. In the Panhandle Crop Reporting District there are over 695,000 acres of wheat this year. Since all of this area had heavy, wet snow, the impact could be significant.Options after Determining DamageWheat producers with significant damage have several choices. The first and least expensive is to leave the growing crop and take it to harvest. Depending on your crop insurance coverage, this may not make money but it may keep you from losing money. The grain yield will probably be low with poor quality. The projected price on crop insurance for wheat is $6.41 per bushel, so producers with revenue coverage may have an attractive revenue guarantee, relative to expected actual revenue from both lower yields and lower prices.A second option is to take the crop for forage — either as harvested hay or for grazing. Growers would need to review their herbicide program for harvest or grazing restrictions and check crop insurance provisions for fallow eligibility. If grazing, bloat prevention blocks or similar supplements containing magnesium and calcium should be placed in the field for the livestock.A third option is to terminate the wheat then plant back to proso millet, corn, or sunflower. Current corn price versus production costs may be a deterrent. Sorghum is an option, however, yield results in past research plots at Sidney have shown variable yields because of maturity and iron chlorosis problems. For more information see the UNL Crop Production Budgets. Tillage is not recommended to terminate the crop due to soil moisture loss. Roundup is probably the best option. Because spring precipitation has been above normal over most of the Panhandle, stored soil moisture in growing wheat is excellent. Growers need to review their herbicide program to make sure there would be no plant-back restrictions and they should check crop insurance provisions for fallow eligibility.Source - http://www.agprofessional.com

India - Rain damages cucumber fruits

The summer showers, though widely welcomed by farmers, have come as a bane for farmers who had raised cucumber at Iniyanur on the outskirts of the city.A large number of farmers traditionally go for the summer crop every year as it brings them a supplementary income.According to local farmers, the crop starts bearing fruit from 30 days and normally the fruits are harvested till about 90 days.But this year, the entire crop in a large area in the village has been damaged due to the rain that lasted for five consecutive days. The fruits at the harvest stage have rotted on the field.“The rain was most untimely. The fruits have all rotted and we do not know whether we can even recover the seeds, which are sold at a good rate. Never before we have sustained such a loss,” said Neelavathi, a farmer.Farmers have invested Rs.10,000 to Rs.25,000 depending on the area cultivated. A good harvest would get returns up to Rs.50,000 an acre, they said. Some have raised the crop on leased land. They normally sell fruits to traders visiting the village and some of them even carry the fruits to the city to sell them by themselves. In view of the rain, buyers are not visiting the village.“Normally, this part of the region does not receive heavy summer rain. But this time, it has come at a wrong time for us. We have sustained heavy losses,” said Arumugam, another farmer.The fruits are normally in big demand during the summer as they are considered to help reduce body heat. A large number of women sell fruits directly in the city, especially along Pudukottai Road overbridge and the Gandhi Market areas in the city.Source - http://www.thehindu.com

USA - Weather causes problems for peanut farmers

South Georgia peanut farmers got a late start planting this year because of a wet early spring.Now dry weather is the problem.WALB News Ten's Shannon Wiggins spoke to a Lee County farmer.How is the weather affecting him?It's threatening to put him behind. So far, about half of this year's peanut crop is in the ground. That's about average for this time of year, but farmers need some rain.Workers at Georgia Farm Services are putting in overtime at this 700 acre field to catch up on a delayed start to the planting season caused by wet weather." A lot of heavy rainfall early in the season made it hard for producers to get into the field,” said Jesse Luke- Farm Manager.Now farmers are wishing they had more rain."Easily we could use an inch of rain right now no problem," said Jesse Luke.Much of South Georgia has gotten less than an inch of rain all month. Dry conditions have put a stop to nearly all planting in fields that aren't irrigated." Fortunately some of our farms have irrigations on them, but the dry land fields and the dry land crops that we do have are struggling to be able to germinate and to be able to sprout,” said Jesse Luke, Farm Manager.Fifty percent of the crop is now planted in the state. That's up from just 28 percent last week. Luke said his planters had to put in longer hours of work this month to get back on track.“That comes from the effect of the early rainfall earlier in the season. It's pushed us now to have to work twice as hard to get the crop in the same amount of time."Luke said it's ideal to have 100 percent of the crop planted by the middle of May, but with time constantly running he's now hoping to be finished planting by the end of this month.Source - http://www.wtoc.com

India - Decreased cherry production for Himachal

At 250 tonnes, this year's production of luscious black and red cherries in Himachal Pradesh, whose economy largely depends on horticulture, is way below the normal yield of 400 tonnes but an improvement over last year's 202 tonnes, an official said."This season we expect less than the normal production of cherries. The overall production would be around 250 tonnes," S.S. Verma, a specialist with the state horticulture department, told IANS.He said there were reports of damage to the cherry crop in orchards located in the higher reaches due to unfavourable climatic conditions, especially the extended chilly conditions during the flowering season from March-end to the first week of April.The harvesting of cherries is currently in full swing and is expected to continue until the end of June.Traders say local varieties have been retailing at Rs.100 to Rs.150 per kg in Shimla depending upon the quality, while imported varieties like 'merchant' and 'stella' command Rs.200-250 per kg.The shelf-life of normal cherry varieties ranges from two to three days, while the top varieties last up to six days.Fruit production in Himacahl Pradesh is estimated at 653,000 tonnes in 2014-15, compared to 866,000 tonnes in 2013-14. However, in 2013-14 it increased by 55.8 percent over its previous fiscal output, the state's economic survey for 2014-15 has said.Source - www.freshplaza.com

Switzerland - Rain causes major damage in the Fricktal area

The large amounts of rain last week will cost the farmers money and has caused a lot of distress: Some cultures in Fricktal are completely flooded, and of other cultures the damage still has to be estimated.Charlotte Brogli who runs Widmatthof in Zeiningen together with her husband, has no certainty that their crop is undamaged. She says: "We cannot judge the situation accurately." Our wheat looks all right now. How the strawberries will cope is unclear. "Strawberries are very delicate, especially in the mature stage, if it is too wet, they begin to rot."10000 CHF damageBernhard Weiss, a farmer from Laufenburg has to reckon with substantial damages. All planted spinach is completely spoiled. The roots were flooded for too long and therefore suffocated. He explains: "They say that after 48 hours under water the plant can’t recover from the lack of oxygen." He has lost two hectares of spinach. "That is a loss of 10000 franc." There will be no crop at all. "At first we thought we could save about half of the crop but everything is yellow now."Otherwise Bernhard Weiss has had a lucky escape, the potato crop will lose just a few rows. The sugar beets suffer from snails "but we can’t blame the rain for that." However, it is only the beginning of the year Bernhard Weiss says: "nothing else may go wrong now."Source - www.freshplaza.com

USA - Fruit farmers dealing with extreme temperatures

Ohioans looking to buy peaches from orchards and farmers markets may find that difficult after a second consecutive abnormally cold winter. Officials from the Fruit Growers Marketing Association say that many Ohio growers lost their peaches after winter temperatures fell well below zero.They say most growers use peaches only as a supplemental crop though, and most primarily grow apples. Temperatures as of late have swung the other way and most fruit trees in the state are accelerating past their blooming stage following a week of unusually warm weather.Officials say the conditions are ideal for pollination and pushed ripening dates up, counteracting some of winter's effects. Ohio ranks 10th among the 32 states that produce apples.Source - www.freshplaza.com

USA - Fifth citrus pest quarantine zone for Kern

Eyewitness News has learned a citrus psyllid has been confirmed in northeast Bakersfield. California Food and Agriculture Department teams have started going door-to-door asking home-owners if they have citrus trees.The new quarantine zone dips as far south as College Avenue, and west to Alta Vista Drive, it veers up to about Round Mountain Road, and as far east as Fairfax Road."The initial finding triggers a quarantine," Kern County Agriculture Commissioner Ruben Arroyo said. He said the citrus psyllid from northeast Bakersfield was confirmed on about May 7.The zone is 5 miles, and at the center is a 800-meter "treatment area." State workers are now working in that treatment area, asking home-owners if they have any citrus trees.In Kern County, the first find of a citrus psyllid was in the Wasco area in September 2013. Quarantine zones have been set up there, in Pumpkin Center, Rexland Acres, the Westchester area of Bakersfield, and now the northeast. In all of them, no disease was found.Arroyo said a psyllid was also identified in Tulare County, and that quarantine takes in a section at the very north end of Kern County. And, in each of Kern's five quarantine zones, only one bug was found. That's important.However, he says with the five areas now identified, that's nearly the whole city of Bakersfield, and there are new issues with that.Source - www.freshplaza.com