South Dakota farmers took advantage of excellent planting conditions last week as they seeded over 1.25 million acres of corn.
According to the USDA-NASS planting progress report, during the week of April 23-29 the state’s farmers put in 23% of their corn crop, which has been projected to total 5.5 million acres this year.
Overall, as of April 29th, corn-planting progress in South Dakota was 31% complete, which is 30% ahead of last year and 22% ahead of the five-year average.
The South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service continues to be proactive in lessening the enormous backlog of wetland determinations lying in wait in South Dakota.
According to South Dakota’s acting State Conservationist, Paul Flynn, “Producers who indicate to USDA that they will ONLY be conducting maintenance activities will be informed they can proceed without delay and without any additional evaluation or investigation by NRCS.”
While the standard AD-1026 paperwork will still need to be filled out, this alteration will relieve around 1300 current wetland determinations, which represent around 25% of the total determination backlog load.
Flynn explains “This is not a change in policy; it is a clarification of policy that has been in place since 2006. This clarification means two significant things for producers,” Flynn says, “First, producers are being given the ‘go ahead’ to determine on their own when the activity they are planning is maintenance, or not. Secondly, producers have the responsibility for ensuring that the activity they are going to do is actually maintenance.”
Flynn encourages producers with wetlands to read the maintenance fact sheet to become familiar with the rules and responsibilities. “If there are folks out there who are still uncertain if their drainage maintenance activities on an existing system meet the requirements defined as maintenance, they should contact their local NRCS office.”
You can find the NRCS Wetland Conservation Compliance Maintenance Exemption Fact Sheet on our website at: http://www.sdcorn.org/documents/publications/DOC043012.pdf
There is plenty of action across the fields of South Dakota this week as good weather and field conditions continue to allow farmers to progress mightily on their corn seeding.
“The light winter, timely rainfall and good overall soil conditions should grant our growers an adequate window for planting just about all of their corn acres this year,” said SDCUC president and Mitchell farmer Chad Blindauer. “Mother Nature has given us a break so far and we hope this progress can continue to benefit us throughout the growing season.”
So how far along are we? According to the USDA-NASS as of April 22, 8% of South Dakota’s corn acres have been planted, which is 5% ahead of the five-year average and 8% ahead of last year’s progress of zero.
Corn planting progress in South Dakota can even be seen on Twitter. These are a few tweets from yesterday:
#planting12 begins on the Hefty farm! pic.twitter.com/kx5QbTXN
Keith Alverson @cornfarmerkeith
A beautiful day for #corn planting! #plant12 pic.twitter.com/jp7Yoo8J
#Corn planting in north central SD. #plant12 yfrog.com/nu487lij
As you can see, farmers are taking to the field from all corners of Eastern South Dakota. If you’re interested in following along from your computer, just search the hashtag #plant12 to view the tweets from farmers planting all around the country.
South Dakota Corn received a number of awards at this year’s National Agri-Marketing Association convention, which took place this week in Kansas City.
BEST OF SHOW – NAMA 2012:
Producer- or Company-Funded Advertising Directed to Consumers
Ag Rules: Video, Bingo, Logo, Corn Trailer
1ST PLACE AWARDS:
Producer- or Company-funded Advertising Campaign
Ag Rules/South Dakota “Amazing Corn Adventure” Trailer
Producer-funded Public Relations Program Directed to Ag Audiences
Ag Rules/South Dakota “Amazing Corn Adventure” Corn Trailer
MERIT AWARD
Exhibits Category
South Dakota “Amazing Corn Adventure” Trailer
NATIONAL FINALIST IN 3 CATEGORIES:
Producer or Company Funded PR Campaigns to Consumers
Thank A Farmer Campaign
Websites
www.TrueEnvironmentalists.com – Phase 2
Interactive Marketing Tools
“Corn on a Mission” matching game (website and corn trailer game)
“This is a tremendous honor,” said Teddi Mueller, Industry and Legislative Affairs Director with South Dakota Corn. “In my 13 years we have changed our focus and become a big-picture oriented organization. The Best of Show is the highest honor we can receive and I have to thank our team at South Dakota Corn, Paulsen Marketing and our entire organization for allowing us to grow and bust out of our shell.”
Every once and a while you see a marketing campaign that creates their own “truth” in order to sell their company’s widget at the expense of another industry. This is the case with Star Tron, an enzyme fuel treatment, whose brochure reads: “Ethanol 101 – The 4 Main Problems Caused by Ethanol Fuel.”
Citing zero sources, Star Tron’s brochure tells of the problems caused by ethanol, but most are actually simple misconceptions. Let’s clear them up with 4 Ethanol FACTS.
Fact 1 – Debris
Ethanol is a very clean burning fuel and actually has been credited for the removal of sludge and particles left behind by low-grade gasoline in your engine.
Fact 2 – Performance
Ethanol fuel actually boosts a motor’s power and performance as it has an octane rating of 113, the highest available on the market today.
Fact 3 – Small Engines
All mainstream manufacturers of power equipment, motorcycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors permit the use of ethanol blends in their products. In fact, Husqvarna, the world’s leader in outdoor power equipment, actually recommends using E10 in all of its products.
Fact 4 – Fuel Economy
Currently, ethanol is $1 less per gallon than gasoline offering consumers savings at the pump. In fact on average, an American family can expect to save $800 per year. In regards to MPG’s, some people have cited getting better fuel mileage using mid-level blends like E30. Today’s higher compression engines run much better on the higher-octane ethanol fuel.
You can find South Dakota Corn everywhere. We’re talking to you—and each other—about the future of the industry that sustains us. And we have a lot to say. Be a part of the conversation.
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