New BioFuel Rules, USDA Progress Update, Fertilizer made from Air, Diesel Prognosis, Hurricane Destroys Cotton | Daily Farm Brief

Good morning, Farm Nation, and Hello Truck City. This is FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Tuesday, October 20th. Brought to you by World TradeX, empowering farmers. I'm Rick Portanova. Today, a major biofuel proposal could help protect demand for corn and soybeans. Then cotton growers count devastating storm losses, and we'll check whether the Russia talks could bring relief from high diesel prices. We'll visit an Alaska farm where the harvest starts with combing a musk ox and a New Jersey grower finding new crops for visitors to pick. Plus the USDA Harvest Report, fertilizer from air and electricity, and an underground animal that stores its food alive. And if you enjoy the show, would you give us a follow, a like, or a share? That would be fantastic. So grab your coffee, fire up whatever you're driving, and let's find out what was happening while you were busy actually working. We begin with a proposal that matters to anyone growing corn or soybeans. The EPA wants to protect biofuel demand after giving small refineries more exemptions than it had expected. Those exemptions let qualifying refineries out of some renewable fuel requirements. Now, the agency proposes adding the extra waived obligations to the requirements for other fuel suppliers. The amount is substantial. 770 million additional renewable fuel credits. The plan was announced last week and published Friday. One option divides those extra requirements between this year and next. Another puts them all into the next year. The EPA says this move would help keep its existing biofuel targets from being weakened by those exemptions. It is still a proposal. Public comments run through December 4th. So this doesn't put a higher bid on the elevator sign today, but it could help protect a major domestic market for the crops coming off that combine. That's the situation growers are describing after Hurricane Isaiah hit parts of Florida and Alabama. In an October 16th report from EggWeb, Florida farmer Mickey Diamond described cotton stripped from its stocks around Santa Rosa County. He estimated losses near 95% in his area. That is a local farmer's estimate rather than a statewide tally. Over in Alabama's Geneva County, grower William Birdsong estimated cotton losses around 30%. He also described stocks twisted together, making the remaining crop harder to harvest without losing more. And the damage goes beyond the fields. Diamond reported damaged barns and equipment and the destruction of the facility where he delivers peanuts. Think about that timing. The seed, fertilizer, labor, and months of work are already in the crop. Then the storm takes the harvest and damages the places needed to handle what survives. Those families are now facing both a cleanup bill and a smaller crop to pay for it. For Farm Nation and Truck City, the diesel bill is still taking a serious bite. The latest published federal average for October 12th was $6.18 a gallon for highway diesel. That was down just two cents in a week. President Trump's October 9th call with Vladimir Putin led to a deal-easing restrictions on Russian diesel. Reuters reports that export loadings have resumed. That adds supply, but the initial promise shipment amounts to less than one day of U.S. transportation diesel use. A possible meeting involving Trump, Putin, and China's president is also discussed as of Monday. It had not been agreed. Meanwhile, the Iran war disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hermuz, and tight fuel inventories continued to strain the global market. There is some hope for relief. The federal government's October forecast puts highway diesel prices around $4.50 next year. That forecast was prepared before the Russia deal, and it assumes supplies recover. My takeaway: lower prices look possible, but there's no dependable date for a big drop at the pump. Lasting relief depends on fuel reaching buyers and inventories rebuilding. For farmers and truckers, the deliveries matter as much as the announcements. At the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska, one of the most important harvest tools is a comb. The crop is Kiviot, the soft undercoat that helps musk oxen survive Arctic winters. These are big, shaggy animals with curved horns. Underneath that rough outer coat is fiber that can be spun into remarkably soft yarn. The harvest comes in spring when the animals naturally shed. Staff bring the accustomed animals into the barn, offer treats, and gently comb out the loose fiber. A session might last five minutes or an hour, depending on the animal's comfort. Over the season, one musk ox can provide anywhere from two to nine pounds. And the animals that aren't comfortable being handled, the farm lets them shed in the pasture, then somebody goes out and gathers the fiber from the grass. After cleaning and processing, that undercoat becomes yarn. An animal built for Arctic survival ends up supplying somebody's winter knitting. Now to a farm finding a way to keep its fall season going. At Johnson's Corner Farm in Medford, New Jersey, there weren't enough apples for the usual picking season after damaging spring frosts. Owner Gil Johnson and his team responded with sunflowers, sweet potatoes, and popcorn for visitors to harvest. And the sweet potatoes have been a hit. Kids get to dig through the soil and discover something they couldn't see from above. There's a good farm business story tucked into that dirt. The farm already brings families out for hay rides and fall activities. Giving those visitors another crop to pick helps keep the trip worthwhile when the apple trees can't deliver. It doesn't replace every lost apple or guarantee the same income, but it gives the farm another way to bring customers through the gate. This fall, some families who expected to reach into a tree are reaching into the ground instead. Now let's check what matters behind the grain prices. Monday's USD crop progress update is a key checkpoint for the grain market. It tracked corn and soybean harvest progress along with winter wheat planting. The comparisons that matter are last week, last year, and the normal pace for this point in the season. ProFarmers' Monday morning outlook pointed to favorable harvest weather in the week ahead. More days in the field can mean more grain arriving at elevators at once. That can put pressure on local bids, even when the future screen doesn't move very much. The difference between the local cash price and the futures price is called basis. Around harvest, that difference can matter a great deal. There's also a fresh longer range forecast. NOAA's Winter Outlook, issued October 15th, favors wetter conditions across much of the southern United States and along the East Coast. Warmer conditions are favored across much of the north. For dry areas, that raises hopes for rebuilding soil moisture. But a seasonal outlook describes the odds over several months. It doesn't tell you which day rain will reach your field. So we're watching how quickly harvest advances, whether demand keeps pace, and what local buyers are offering. Those are the pieces that give the Daily Futures number some meaning. And here's the USDA update released Monday afternoon at 4 Eastern, 1 Pacific. Corn harvest is 44% complete, eight points behind the five-year average. Soybeans are 64% harvested, nearly on schedule. Winter wheat planting is 63% complete, six points behind average. What if part of your nitrogen fertilizer could be made from the air around your farm? At the University of Minnesota, researcher George Anner and his colleagues are exploring a process called cold plasma. Electricity energizes the gas. That process can turn nitrogen from the air into compounds that dissolve in water and that can feed plants. Picture a piece of equipment producing nitrogen-rich water near the place it will be used. That is the attraction, a possible way to make some fertilizer closer to the crop. The Minnesota team is also studying how plasma treatment affects seeds. In laboratory work, it has helped seed surfaces take up more water readily, encouraging germination. The Minnesota team is also studying how plasma treatment affects seeds. In laboratory work, it has helped seed surfaces take up water more readily, encouraging germination. There's still a practical test ahead. Equipment costs money, so does electricity, and the results have to hold up under farm conditions. This is developing research. Field performance will determine how much of a farm's fertilizer needs it might eventually supply. But making plant nutrients from air, water, and electrical power is an idea worth watching. Now to our almanac corner and a creature that stores its food alive. Under a lawn or field's edge, a mole can keep a pantry full of living earthworms. The old farmer's almanac explains that moles hunt worms, grubs, and other small creatures in the soil. But the University of Florida describes a habit that sounds like something out of a Halloween story. A mole can bite an earthworm in a way that leaves it alive but unable to move. Then it stores the worm in an underground chamber for later. Those storage chambers are called larders. They give a mole a food supply when conditions make hunting difficult, and it has the equipment to build its own pantry. Those broad feet work like digging paddles. In loose soil, a mole can tunnel as much as 18 feet an hour. The tunnels are part of its hunting system. It's searching through the soil for its next meal. Moles can be especially active near the surface in spring and fall when the soil is moist. And a yard covered in ridges doesn't necessarily mean a crowd of animals. Moles tend to be solitary. So the little mound beside the fence may connect to more than a travel route. There may be a food storage chamber down there, and the food is still alive. Today, we looked at a biofuel proposal with real stakes for corn and soybean demand, cotton growers facing severe storm losses, and the outlook for diesel prices as Russia talks continue. We visited Alaska's musk ox harvest and a New Jersey farm keeping its picking season going. We also covered the USDA harvest checkpoint and winter outlook, explored fertilizer made with electricity, and found a Mole's underground pantry. And if you'd like more information about any of the topics we covered, there's a matching blog for every episode we release. You'll find it on our website, farmtailsunplugged.com. To Farm Nation, have a safe and productive day. To Truck City, keep the shiny side up. The future of food starts with the people who grow it and depends on the people who move it. And there you have it. That's your FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Tuesday, October 20th. Brought to you by World TradeX, empowering farmers. I'm Rick Portanova, and I'll see you Wednesday morning.