Farm Bill Progress

 With the government shutdown officially over, real talks on the farm bill can begin. The House has appointed 29 members to the conferees following the Senates lead who appointed 12 members as conferees. While there are vast differences to the proposals brought by the two chambers of Congress, hopefully this is the step needed to bring compromise and finally give us our new farm bill. We are in desperate need of a solution so that American farmers can finally have some piece of mind and plan accordingly.

Stay tuned to this blog and our Twitter for more information on this developing story.

 To learn more on the differences of the two proposals visit FAPRI at the following link. http://www.fapri.missouri.edu/outreach/publications/2013/FAPRI_MU_Report_06_13.pdf

#GEHarvest Photo Contest

As the calendar turns to October, we are excited to welcome fall weather and all that comes along with it. We trade out berry flavors for apple and pumpkin, we trade humidity and boating for crisp air and hayrack rides, and we trade green leaves for trees bursting with yellows, oranges, and reds. It's harvest time!

To celebrate, the team here at Growers Edge wants to run a fun, friendly competition. Every farmer works the entire year to get to this point: harvesting their fields. Well, it's time to show off your yield!

During this harvest season, take a picture of your operation, your yields, your fields, or all three! Then, share those pictures on our Facebook wall or tweet those pictures using the hashtag #GEHarvest (follow us on Twitter here). You could even send pictures to growersedge@gmail.com if that's easier for you.

Along with the picture, please include what state you are located in. Also, rate your yield this year compared to your average yield (10 being your best year ever; 1 being far below your expectations). If you want to include your bushels per acre, feel free!

Below is an example of someone who tweeted a picture and included the #GEHarvest hashtag:

#GEHarvest... 45-47 b/ac. Newton ia pic.twitter.com/G53ZBS0L0w

— alan guy (@amguypom) October 1, 2013

Then at the end of harvest season, the team here will create a map of all the participating states with the average yield rating from you, the farmers! You will be able to compare harvest years across states and see how you and your state stack up!

Good luck this harvest season, and remember to check this blog and our Facebook page for updates on the harvest map!

Crop Insurance Claims May Not Be Paid During Government Shutdown

How will the government shutdown affect your claim payments?

With the shutdown, the crop insurance companies are no longer able to clear policies and claim information through the FCIC clearing house for accuracy. Insurance companies may elect to either pay the claim prior to clearing the information through the FCIC or they will delay the payment until the information has been deemed to be accurate. This could mean waiting until the government is fully restored to get paid on your claim.

If the crop insurance companies elect to pay the claim prior to clearing the information through the FCIC, there is a chance that the claim will later need to be revised. This revision could either require you to pay back a portion of the claim or could result in another payment being made.

Get more updates on crop insurance and free resources for farmers at http://www.growers-edge.com

4 Drought-Intensified Crop Diseases To Look For During Harvest

Crisp air, falling leaves, and fun trips to pumpkin patches. Harvest season is upon us! Unfortunately, in many parts of the Midwest, we have seen very dry conditions as July moved to August and August turned to September. With that in mind, we want all farmers to be aware of crop diseases that can be intensified by drought-like conditions.

1. Aflatoxin

Aflatoxin is produced by the Aspergillus family of molds. Fungus growth can continue in storage under certain environmental conditions. (High moisture stored grain) Aflatoxin can be caused by several factors, but is most commonly related to drought-stressed corn followed by periods of high humidity. If you discover Aflatoxin in your field, contact your insurance agent to set up a claim as the samples must be taken by your crop adjuster from the field.

2. Fusarium

Symptoms of Fusarium ear rot are a white to pink- or salmon-colored mold, which occurs anywhere on the ear or on scattered kernels. The mold may be associated with hail or insect-damaged kernels. Infected kernels are often tan or brown, or have white streaks. 

3. Sudden Death Syndrome

Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) affects soybean plants by the development of root decay and leaf spots. It is often confused with Brown Stem Rot due to the similar discoloration of the leaf. SDS can make normal-looking fields turn yellow and die quickly. SDS can be combated by purchasing SDS resistant seed, planting date, tillage and crop rotation.

4. Brown Stem Rot

Brown Stem Rot is caused by a fungus and characterized by a marked yellowing followed by browning and withering of the leaves that is due to a brownish internal rot of the stem. Both SDS and Brown Stem Rot have similar characteristics. To better determine if SDS or Brown Stem Rot has infected your soybeans farmers must pull a plant and split the stem in order to view the rot which is not present in SDS. Brown Stem Rot can be combated by buying resistance seed, crop rotation, tillage and Soybean Cyst Nematode management.

For more, check out our free report on crop diseases right here: http://bit.ly/1aMtExt

And sign up for more fantastic farming resources for FREE right here: http://www.growers-edge.com

Good luck during this harvest season!

A Look Back At The 2013 Iowa State Fair

Boy, do we love state fair season: tractor pulls, livestock shows, great concerts, and the best comfort food you can find. We love the checking out the agricultural equipment (both old and new) and talking with farmers and their families about trends in markets and weather.

The Midwest throws some of the best state fairs around, and we were happy to attend the 2013 Iowa State Fair from August 8-18th. For those of you who don't live nearby or didn't make it out this year, we are here to give you a visual recap and tour!

It was a beautiful day on the Grand Concourse.

What's a trip to the State Fair without a root beer float?!

Some old Farmall tractors on display.

An old Oliver Tractor on display.

Some old seed corn bags. Anyone remember these?

The SUPER BULL, weighing in at over 3,000 labs!

A gorgeous night with perfect weather for all attendees.

Did you attend the Iowa State Fair? Or maybe a different state fair? We'd love to hear about it! Leave your comments below, and send any fun pictures to our Facebook Page!

Win 2 Tickets to See Alan Jackson & Gary Allan @ the Iowa State Fair!

The Iowa State Fair is one of the largest and oldest agriculture expositions in the United States, and the team here at Growers Edge loves it!  Since its first year in 1854, the Iowa State Fair has been a tradition unlike any other.  It is the single largest event held in the state of Iowa and lately the annual attendance has reached more than one million people from all over the world.   The Iowa State Fair was named one of the “top 30 things that a Midwesterner should experience,” by Midwest Living magazine.

Along with several showcases displaying the nation’s best in agriculture and food, the Iowa State Fair has grown into a popular venue for some of the biggest stars in music today.  This year’s lineup is no different, featuring several country stars as well as rock groups.  Two of the biggest names in country music will be performing Sunday, August 18th at the Fair: Alan Jackson and Gary Allan…

 And we have 2 pairs of tickets that could be yours!

That’s why we are so excited to announce our next contest exclusively to YOU, our followers:

The contest is simple: if you sign up to be a Growers Edge member (it’s 100% free and always will be) between August 2nd and August 15th and select social media as your referral source, you are automatically entered into a random draw to win one of the two pairs of tickets! Sign up takes less than 2 minutes and gives you free access to all of the valuable resources that Growers Edge offers to farmers, including weather updates, best cash bid prices, text message alerts, daily market commentary, and more.  You just have to make sure that you mention you heard about Growers Edge on social media to qualify.  When asked how you found out about Growers Edge, simply click the social media option.  That's it!

We have always been and always will be a FREE one-stop resource for farmers across the country.  Now, we want to give away some FREE tickets so you can take a break from your fields for a night of fun and music at the State Fair!

Click here to sign up:  http://growers-edge.com/

We also invite you to follow us on Facebook for a tour of the Iowa State Fair! Throughout the week we will be featuring photos from the Fair on Facebook for those of you who can't join us. If you have not yet liked our Facebook page, just click below for instant access to our Facebook page, then click “like” to become a friend of Growers Edge and get all of the latest updates and contests (like this one!).

Click here to LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyGrowersEdge

We want to thank everyone who is already a Growers Edge member and we encourage you to tell your BEST friends to sign up (a friend that would take you to the concert with them if they win)!  

Growers Edge 4th of July Photo Contest

The team here at Growers Edge really enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July, and we hope that everyone had a great 4^th of July weekend as well!  We also want to thank everyone who participated in the first annual Growers Edge 4^th of July photo contest.   The whole idea behind the photo contest was to see the patriotic spirit of American farmers.  Everyone was encouraged to submit photos showing how they celebrated the 4^th of July.  To help spice things up, the best photo won the grand prize: a box of steaks from Omaha Steaks. 

It was very tough to choose the winner of the contest!  We had several photos of food being grilled (which all looked amazing) and several others of families sitting around watching the fireworks.  We even had a photo sent to us all the way from Afghanistan!  All of these photos are displayed in the 4^th of July photo album on the Growers Edge Facebook page.  They are all unique and very well done so we encourage everybody to go look through them!  Below were our top 5 photo submissions and the person responsible for submitting each photo!  Thanks again everyone!

 

Winning photo submitted by: Kim Nichols Nielsen

 Photo submitted by: Shayne Hays          

Photo submitted by: Cameron Anderson

 

Photo submitted by: Sarah Pugh

Photo submitted by: Lincoln T.  Brock