Corn & Soybean Cam -- June 6th

Posted on June 7th . . . . here are some CORN and SOYBEAN CAM photos taken on Monday evening, June 6th in Garfield Township, Sioux County, Iowa:

This corn is lookin' good!  And, we're having a couple of days of good corn-growing weather.  It was hot & humid yesterday -- 103 degrees on my vehicle sensor.  It's supposed to be about the same today.  And take a look at how the soybeans are coming along:

However -- Just this morning about 2 miles from this location, I saw someone planting beans.  Well, it's not too late, as long as we don't have an early frost.  See "How Late Can Soybeans be Planted?" on the ISU Extension website -- just click HERE.
Some local cash bids today (June 7th) . . . .
Corn --
Farmers Elevator (Rock Valley) (June 2011) -- $7.09
Farmers Cooperative Society (Sioux Center) (June 30 delivery) -- $7.21
Soybeans --
Farmers Elevator (Rock Valley) (June 2011) -- $13.49
Farmers Cooperative Society (Sioux Center) (June 30 delivery) -- $13.58

Oxfam Predicts Food Prices Will Double, Places Blame on US Energy Policy

Oxfam, an international aid organization with roots to 1942 Britain, has issued a report ("Growing a Better Future") that discusses the symptoms of today’s broken food system.  The report warns that the world has "entered a new age of crisis where depletion of the earth’s natural resources and increasingly severe climate change impacts will create millions more hungry people."  The Oxfam report cites research predicting that the price of staple foods (like corn) will more than double in the next 20 years.  While the report blames half of the increase on climate change, US energy policy is also cited as a factor: "US policy ensures 15 percent of the world’s maize [corn] is diverted to engines, even at times of severe food crisis. The grain required to fill the petrol tank of an SUV with biofuels is sufficient to feed one person for a year."  India is also cited for economic development policies that have doubled the size of its economy between 1990 and 2005 -- yet one in four of the world's hungry people live in India.  Oxfam Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs warns that "Millions more men, women and children will go hungry unless we transform our broken food system."  Oxfam states that it is calling on powerful governments to "lead the transformation to a fairer more sustainable food system by investing in agriculture, valuing the world’s natural resources, managing the food system better and delivering equality for women who produce much of the world's food."  Read the entire report by clicking on the link above.

Corn Cam AND Soybean Cam -- Photos from May 31st

 Corn and Soybean Cam photos . . . . Garfield Township, Sioux County, Iowa:

It's June 2nd and I'm just uploading these photos from the evening of May 31st (about 36 hours ago).  There was fairly significant HAIL at 4:30am that day -- about 3/4" size hailstones -- so, nice to see the corn looking good that day.  Today will be a warm day -- high of 85 -- good growing weather.  We haven't had much of that . . . although it's always good to be thankful for rain when we can get it.

And guess what -- the soybeans are up in the neighboring field -- almost overnight!  So now you'll be able to watch the soybeans grow, too . . . . although that's not quite as much fun as watching the corn grow.  In our area, we still have some corn that is just emerging -- and still have a few folks planting soybeans.  Should be just about finished up by the end of the week.

Some local cash bids today (June 2nd) . . . .
Corn --
Farmers Elevator (Rock Valley) (June 2011) -- $7.39
Farmers Cooperative Society (Sioux Center) (June 30 delivery) -- $7.50
Soybeans --
Farmers Elevator (Rock Valley) (June 2011) -- $13.75
Farmers Cooperative Society (Sioux Center) (June 30 delivery) -- $13.79