3 Big Things Today, February 8

1. Soybeans, Grains Slightly Lower Overnight as Rain Aids Crops in Argentina

Soybeans and grains were modestly lower in overnight trading amid favorable growing weather in much of Argentina.
Showers in parts of northeastern Cordoba, central and southeastern Santa Fe, and eastern Buenos Aires will favor crop development, Commodity Weather Group said in a report. Rain is expected in most growing areas of Argentina, the third-biggest producer of soybeans.

“Most limited rain totals are possible in central Argentina (in the) next two weeks, easing any spotty wetness,” CWG said. “Rains aid yields elsewhere.”
Soybean futures for March delivery fell 1¾¢ to $10.35½ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soy meal futures lost 70¢ to $333.10 a short ton, and soy oil declined 0.06¢ to 34.53¢ a pound.
Wheat for March delivery fell 2¾¢ to $4.31¾ a bushel in Chicago, while Kansas City futures lost 1¼¢ to $4.42¼ a bushel.
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2. Export Sales of Beans Rise Week to Week, Corn and Wheat Mixed

Export sales of soybeans rose, while corn was mixed in the week that ended on January 26.
Sales of soybeans rose 16% from the prior week to 623,900 metric tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report yesterday. That’s up 28% from the prior four-week average.
China was the biggest buyer, taking 579,900 metric tons, followed by the Netherlands, which bought 219,000 tons. Mexico took 78,800 tons, Japan purchased 57,500 tons, and Bangladesh was in for 57,100 tons, the USDA said.
Corn exports were mixed, as exporters sold 1.14 million metric tons last week, down 17% from the prior seven days but up 21% from the previous four-week average.
Unknown buyers took 235,600 tons, Colombia bought 212,900 tons, and Japan purchased 178,000 tons, according to the USDA. Taiwan was in for 133,900 tons and Morocco bought 80,800 tons for delivery in the marketing year that ends on August 31.
Wheat sales totaled 451,200 tons, down 47% from the prior week but up 8% from the average, the government said. Unknown buyers bought 189,700 tons, Mexico took 78,000 tons, the Philippines purchased 50,000 tons, Taiwan was in for 43,900, and Morocco bought 30,000 tons, the USDA said.
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3. Light Snow, Cold Temperatures Expected in Wisconsin, Southern Plains Warm

Weather maps are mostly quiet this morning with some light snow showers and extremely cold weather in northern Wisconsin, not terribly unusual for early February.
Wind chills are expected to drop as low as -20˚F. this morning, as winds of up to 10 mph cool the air. Staying outdoors is not recommended with such low temperatures, the National Weather Service said in a report on Friday morning.
In the Southern Plains where hard red winter wheat is overwintering, temperatures are expected to top out in the high 60s and low 70s, according to the NWS. Skies are expected to be mostly clear, and a strong breeze with sustained winds of up to 20 mph are forecast for the weekend.

source: successful farming

#FACTSFEED

Pigs have a limited tolerance to high temperatures and heat stress can lead to death

Assessing the Realities of Global Warming For Improved Agricultural Practices in Africa

As average global temperature begins to rise due to human activity, scientists say the drastic effects of climate change continue to take effect all over the world.  One of the intensely affected sectors is the field of Agriculture.

Africa is expected to pay a significant cost of the damage caused by climate change. Pervasive destruction of farms in recent flooding in some parts of Africa and the prolonged drought in Ethiopia, further demonstrates the extent of the threat posed by Africa’s changing climate.

According to an expert on global food security and sustainability, Professor Navin Ramakutty of the University of British Columbia “the food system is already stressed in many ways”.

Ramankutty in his new study featured in the journal Nature, examined the link between weather related disasters and food production.  He along with a team of researchers from UBC and McGill University discovered that extreme heat waves and droughts have reduced global cereal harvests such as maize, wheat and rice by 10 per cent in a span of 50 years.

Although concerns about climate change are global and real, its consequences on African Agriculture are quite enormous. In his paper titled “Impact of climate change on agriculture in Africa by 2030” Joseph Khaoma, a researcher at the School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Maseno University Kenya notes that warmer climate will disrupt and interfere with the natural ecosystem stability and adaptation such that grassland and desert ecosystems will expand in area while the rich forest ecosystems will reduce in area.

Marginal agriculture as practiced in the Arid and Semi-arid lands (ASAL) regions will probably suffer most because the ASAL will be hotter and the natural ecosystems may not easily adapt to new harsh conditions.  These may lead to extinction of ASAL ecosystems mainly the drought resistant crops.

Joseph further observes that the current ecological hazards of droughts desertification and soil erosion may worsen making the areas where they occur unsuitable for living in future.

Global warming would also have major adverse effects on water use and availability in the tropics making large reservoirs and other irrigation projects dry up and become useless long before their normal 50 years lifetime has elapsed. Africa has some of the major irrigation projects such as the Gezira for cotton.

A warmer climate will adversely affect food security in Africa, for example, 96 per cent of Egypt is desert and 97 per cent of the population is concentrated only on four per cent of the Irrigated land (Jackson, 1989). If the Nile Waters used for Irrigation dries up, then there will be no food and the people of Egypt will migrate to other habitable regions in the temperate lands.

Climate change could also reduce the human population. People currently living along the coast, in arid and semi arid lands will be forced to migrate to the climatically habitable continents. The Arabs in North Africa may move to Europe. There will be a halt on industrialization since cash crop cultivation, which is the basis of industrialization in Africa, will be drastically reduced.  Giant irrigation projects such as the Gezira in Sudan may disappear due to drying up of the Nile River.

Are there benefits of global warming?


In a report published on October 12 2016, a former delegate of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr Indur Goklany says global warming is not totally catastrophic as projected and that carbon emissions for instance are actually good for agriculture. In the paper, Gloklany called for a reexamination of carbon dioxide, which according to him has numerous positive effects on nature and humanity.

One of the points raised by Goklany is the ability of carbon to fertilize plants, which has already resulted in increased fossil fuel emissions – a great contributor to the health of crops. Carbon fertilization according to Techtimes.com is said to be accountable for increasing yields by 10-15 at the minimum.

He further says “estimated worth of global fertilization impacts coming in from carbon dioxide is $140 billion a year, and this extra production has provided assistance to hunger reduction and human health improvement”.

Glokany notes that the nature may benefit from lands not utilized by crops. According to him “the wild places on the planet have become greener in the past decades due to increased carbon dioxide.  Another thing is carbon dioxide has been found to boost the water use quality of plants, compelling them to become stronger in the face of drought – double benefits in dry regions”.

Coping with the tide
Crop breeding for development of new climate tolerant crop varieties is a key tool for adapting agriculture to a changing climate. History and current breeding experience indicate that natural biodiversity within crops has allowed for plant adaptation to different  conditions, providing clear evidence that plant breeding has great potential for aide in the adaptation of crops to climate change.

Cropping system is another tool that can help agriculture adapt. For example the use of crop mixtures that have several crops growing at o ne time can help systems exhibit greater durability during periods of high water or heat stress.

According to the American Association of Advance Science (AAAS), researchers would have to develop drought resistant crops that have been tested for strong yields when subjected to periods of extended water shortage. Improvements in plant nitrogen and water use efficiency and development of cost efficient nitrogen uptake delivery systems and low cost irrigation technique.

There should also be development of global testing sites and data collection and dissemination efforts using standard data protocols to assess the performance of existing and new genetic material and management system in today’s range of agro climatic conditions.

Continuous field testing to track climate change, breeding for resistance to new diseases and pests and to address changes in pollinator distribution should also serve as avenues to confront adaptation of crops in the face of climate change.

PHOTO TELL – Mike Omotosho Annual Lecture 2017

  

Anambra has no cattle market, functional abattoirs – Butchers

Butchers Association in Anambra State has expressed worry over absence of cattle market and functional abattoirs in the state.

It said lack of the facilities has negatively affected the prices of cow meat as people could not bring in cows to the state in large quantities.

The president of the association, Chief Felix Ononenyi-Ikenga, who disclosed this in Awka in a chat with newsmen, described the situation as unhealthy for a state that has about 35 registered slaughter facilities.

He accused the state government of not assisting his members in keeping their operational environment across the state healthy in spite of the taxes and levies they pay, saying the cattle market will enable them expand their scope to guarantee affordability of the commodity for consumers.

“It is unfortunate that we do not have a cattle market in Anambra. We want the state government to establish one for us so that we can operate at an advantage like our members in other states.

“Again, various governments have promised to establish abattoir in the state but it has remained at the promise level. As I am talking to you now, there is no single standard abattoir anywhere in Anambra.

“We expect them to help us clean our slaughters, what we have and how they are maintained are all our efforts, the government do not contribute to it,” he said.