In turn, seed quality affects forage and grain yields: Producers who planted wheat as a forage crop in the past may have opted for cheaper seed, but likely decreased their forage yields. Pre-harvest sprouting can cause some marketing issues and could cause producers to second guess about saving seed, he said. WACO Though shaping up to be a great Texas wheat crop, continued rainfall is putting harvest efforts behind schedule. Extension wheat experts and agriculture agents at a Blacklands...

The federal government is allowing farmers to use land set aside under a conservation program in three southern Indiana counties because of this summer's dry conditions. Some farmers fear they'll be forced to decide between feeding livestock or selling them. Dry weather in spring and summer has stunted the growth of forage crops such as hay and alfalfa. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Dry Summer Prompts Easing of Grazing Limits. Farmers in...

Initial votes in the House in June 2007 suggest that the new bill, which will govern federal support for agriculture through 2012, will not change farm policy significantly. They also note that federal farm subsides are heavily concentrated among the largest producers of five so-called program crops, corn, cotton, soybeans, rice and wheat. The 20 percent of farmers receiving government farm payments receive almost 85 percent of total payments; two-thirds of US farmers receive no government...

Posted July 18, 2007 Community conversation: Online forum users sound off on use of food stamps to buy sweets By Robert Mentzer Wausau Daily Herald rmentzer@wdhprint.com How much can food stamps buy? Should there be greater restrictions on what types of food are eligible? Those questions have been the topic of a lively discussion this week among Web readers of the Wausau Daily Herald. Posted July 18, 2007 Community conversation: Online forum users sound off on use of food stamps to buy...

As the summer mercury rises, so, too, has the price of ice cream across the country, where a scoop of rocky road can cost 50 cents more than it did just a month ago. The price of corn feed for cattle has almost doubled in a year as demand has grown for the grain to produce ethanol. Economists say the price of milk in the United States has surged to a near-record - rising 55 percent over the past year in some states - in part because of the increasing costs of feeding a dairy herd. In fact,...