Markets

How hard work and determination turn a startup into a success. By Craig Kvien The failure rate is high, competing products are tough and you put a fair amount of money on the table before you have the first issue out....

Peanuts will often do well if given the time to fully develop and then dug in a timely manner. By David Jordan, Extension Agronomist, North Carolina State University Peanuts are one of the most resilient crops grown in the United States...

VRI QuickStart Prescription Valley Irrigation introduces the addition of QuickStart (QS) prescription writing to its Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) product, allowing growers to customize water applications throughout their field. The Valley VRI Agronomy Team develops the one-time, custom QS prescription based...

No contract offers to encourage peanut planting By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor Every peanut year is different. But 2013 is mounting to be the most unusual in the history of the peanut industry. Planting has begun in most regions without...

Slow Progress On Farm Bill Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and House Ag Chairman, Frank Lucas (R-OK), have said they would like to move versions of the Farm Bill this spring. In discussions, the sticking points are the...

Not surprisingly after the huge crop of 2012 and the drop in prices, Planting Intentions as reported by producers to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service are down considerably from last year. Based on the...

Cool weather late affects early planting decisions, crop acreages By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor The U.S. peanut industry seems to be in a state of flux, waiting for markets to signal the next move. Farmers are poised to plant another peanut...

The peanut market: the good, the bad and the really big questions By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor Contracts for peanuts are normally offered by shellers before the start of the New Year, and peanut producers can start their planning for...

Less Savings From Same Farm Bills The possibility of getting a five-year Farm Bill passed just got harder. A new Congressional Budget Office estimate says the amount of savings has changed since last summer and it is much less. The Senate...

Could exports whittle carry-over down to a manageable amount? By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor Trends in the peanut world are certain to change the future. A record crop in 2012 of more than 3,400,000 tons has resulted in low prices at...

More producers are adding peanuts to their rotations as new marketing opportunities open up. By Susan Collins-Smith, Mississippi State University Ag Communications Mississippi producers expect peanuts to remain a strong commodity in the years to come with a steady demand globally...

Farm Bill Takes A Back Seat Again The Farm Bill is having a hard time getting any attention in Washington, D.C. The Obama Administration is expected to submit to Congress its FY14 budget to start this year’s budgeting and appropriations...

Who is buying peanuts as fast as they can be shelled? Unbelievable, warehouse buster, tidal wave, record breaker – these are just some of the words being used to describe the 2012 crop by economists and industry market watchers. This...

BASF Acquires Becker Underwood BASF has completed the acquisition of Becker Underwood from Norwest Equity Partners, a United States-based private equity investment company. With the acquisition, BASF is now a leading global provider of technologies for biological seed treatment as...

2013 Begins With Need For Patience As Market Develops By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor The U.S. peanut industry has been in an over-supply position before and worked out of it. Production of 3.2 million tons is more than anyone predicted, and...