INDUSTRY NEWS

La Crosse Seed has acquired the inventory and brands of Heritage Seed Co. and has also agreed to take over the service and support of Heritage customers.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers' (AEM) November U.S. Ag Tractor and Combine Report shows overall sales remained positive year-to-date.

Competition is dialing into the export hay market, said U.S. Forage Export Council (USFEC) Director John Szczepanski at the California Alfalfa and Forage Association Symposium in Reno, Nevada.

“The good news is that prices were up on Supreme and Premium quality alfalfa [in early 2018],” said Seth Hoyt as he reported on the state of the Western alfalfa and hay markets at the annual California Forage and Alfalfa Symposium in Reno, Nevada. “The bad news is that prices flipped from May to October.” Hoyt noted the decline in hay prices due to depressed milk prices and struggling dairies, as well as the tariff impact from the trade wars with China as affecting overall prices.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement regarding the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to extend the registration of dicamba for two years. The extension is for “over-the-top” use to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba.

Not surprisingly, several of the top 20 articles posted online at the Progressive Forage website in the last 12 months (November 2017 to November 2018) belong to the hay market reports, written by Editor Dave Natzke.