The Ft. Wayne Farm Show gets underway Tuesday; and, again this year, Hoosier Ag Today will be broadcasting from the show. For the next 3 days, the Coliseum in Ft, Wayne will be filled with the latest equipment and technology in production agriculture. John Deere’s large new lineup is drawing a lot of attention, especially the new combine series. Ben Smith, Product Marketing manager, says the new line of green combines has been totally redesigned, “We have touched every functional area of the new S series combines.” He told HAT the emphasis on the new design is efficiency, allowing farmers to do more in less time, “Our combines will allow 16 and 18 row corn heads which means at the end of the day it allows farmers to get more done at less cost.” Fuel efficiency is also a part of the new design.

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House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma says lawmakers face a big challenge in crafting a farm bill this year. Lucas and the other principle leaders of the House and Senate Ag Committees had a farm bill draft ready for the super committee that would have saved 23-billion dollars in the federal deficit reduction effort. The question now is, will agriculture be asked to do more.

“Will we be able to hold our savings to that $23 billion number? Will we save less? That’s very unlikely. Potentially will leadership in the house and senate expect and demand great savings? I worry about that. But it it’s the $23 billion number then you’ve got the necessary resources to use crop insurance both on the revenue side and on the production side to I think provide a functioning safety net.”

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Farm Credit Services of Mid-America Monday held their ground breaking event for the new office in Greensburg, Indiana affirming the agricultural cooperative’s commitment to agriculture and fostering growth in rural America.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Farm Credit office in downtown Greensburg and was attended by several Farm Credit board members, advisors and staff as well as Farm Credit builders and contractors. Members of the chamber and Mayor Gary Herbert were also in attendance. The new Greensburg office will be located on the same lot as the current building at 1512 West Main Street.

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Farmland prices across Iowa have been among the nation’s fastest growing, up 261 percent since 2000. Farm land value has more than tripled in Sioux County, rising faster than most of the state. Farmers are finding that selling their farmland by auction is best. Farmers National Company, for instance, has seen record auction activity during the last six months as more properties are being sold at auction to maximize profits.

Lee Vermeer, vice president of real estate operations for FNC says – farmers make up 75 percent of the buyers in the market, despite continued strong interest from investors. He says – land continues to be a tangible investment that has performed well, thus the demand.

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In recent years, scientists have included methane and soot, also known as black carbon, as being two short-term pollutants that drive climate change. Now, an international team of scientists report that inexpensive measures would cut emissions of the two common pollutants and slow global warming, save millions of lives and boost crop production around the world.

Dr. Drew Shindell led the study and says scientists believe that just 14 interventions — such as eliminating wood-burning stoves, dampening emissions from diesel vehicles and capturing methane released from coal mines — would offer big benefits. As a result, global warming would be slowed dramatically — by almost a degree Fahrenheit — by the middle of the century.

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Low pressure and a cold front pushing in will bring a mix of wintry weather across the state today. Rain and isolated thunderstorms will be possible early, then changing to all snow as the day progresses. Snow will end early tonight over most of the state, with light snow lingering near South Bend. High pressure will build across the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. Expect partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. Rain and snow returns on Thursday and Friday. The weekend will be dry with above normal temperatures. The extended two week forecast calls for above average temperatures and precipitation across the entire state.

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