Frequent rains have soaked Iowa and surrounding areas this year, leaving many corn and soybean fields with areas where little or no production will be realized. The past 24 hours in Iowa have been a shining example of this summer’s weather:  pounding rain, sweltering heat, and another dose of rain. As a result, many producers are chatting online about what options they have with crop insurance policies due to the extreme conditions the weather is causing in fields.

William Edwards, Iowa State University Extension economist, provided Wallaces Farmer readers with the following insight. For crops already planted, excess moisture is an insured event. The size of insurance payment received will depend on the final quantity and quality of the grain harvested. Indemnity prices for revenue insurance policies this year are $3.99 per bushel for corn and $9.23 per bushel for soybeans.

Contact your insurance agent with any questions because sometimes an option may reveal itself that wasn’t originally considered. Some fields weren’t able to be planted at all due to weather this year; Those fields may be eligible for a prevented planting payment equal to 60% of the original insurance guarantee.

Click here for the full article.

Enter the Tall Corn Contest to Win!

Also, this week marks the last week to plug your guess in for the Tall Corn Contest! Visit www.facebook.com/LathamSeeds and type your guess to the answer, “How tall is the corn in this picture?” in the comment field. The person with the closest guess will win, and be entered to win a grand prize. Click here for more information.

The Latham Country Fair will take place in Alexander, Iowa, on Friday, July 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  While growers watch key industry leader presentations and product demonstrations, there will be a variety of activities available for women and children.  From crafts and games to a petting zoo and T-ball, here’s a quick glimpse of activities kids will enjoy at the Latham Country Fair:

• Bounce House;
• Giant Slide;
• Petting zoo;
• Skee Ball;
• T-ball;
• Basketball Hoop Challenge; and
• Caterpillar Craze, a wacky 50-foot obstacle course.

Silly Sally the Clown

Silly Sally the Clown will also be available for balloon animals and face painting between 11 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  Here’s a video of Silly Sally’s performance for children at the 2009 Iowa State Fair!

Click the below link to hear more about the Latham Country Fair. We hope to see your whole family July 30 in Alexander, Iowa!

Family Day at the Latham Country Fair

For more information about demonstrations and activities at the Latham Country Fair, visit www.lathamseeds.com, News and Events, Latham Country Fair.

Latham® dealers and customers are invited to the Latham Country Fair July 30 in Alexander, Iowa. Those attending will have a unique opportunity to view and learn about some of the latest technologies available to growers in the Midwest.

Here are just a few of the many demonstrations and presentations taking place at the Latham Country Fair:

• Dr. Seth Naeve, Associate Professor and Extension Agronomist and Research; Soybean Management, from the University of Minnesota – “How to Make 80-Bushel Soybeans”
• Daren Mueller, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Program Specialist – “Stopping Nematodes in Both Corn and Soybeans”
• Dr. Roger Elmore, Extension Corn Specialist and Professor of Agronomy at ISU – “How to Make 300-Bushel Corn”

Corn Field Demos will highlight:

1. VOTiVO^TM biological seed treatment for nematode control (Bayer CropScience)
2. Agrisure^® 3000GT (Syngenta)
3. Genuity^TM SmartStax^TM (Monsanto)
4. Genuity^TM VT Triple Pro^TM (Monsanto)
5. A corn population study featuring four Latham^® Hi‑Tech Hybrids planted at 24,000; 30,000; 35,000; 41,000; 44,000; and 49,000 seeds per acre
6. Using the new Agrisure 3111GT (Viptera) trait from Syngenta to control a broad spectrum of Lepidoptera insect pests in corn
7. The complete lineup of Latham corn genetics for 2011

Soybean Field Demos include:

1. VOTiVO^TM biological seed treatment for nematode control (Bayer CropScience)
2. Genuity^TM Roundup Ready 2 Yield^TM Soybeans (Monsanto)
3. LibertyLink^® (Bayer CropScience)
4. Vistive^® (Monsanto)
5. CystX^® + RR2Y soybean lines
6. Seed treatments
7. The complete lineup of Latham soybeans genetics for 2011

Click the link below to hear about the many presentations and demonstrations you can view July 30 at the Latham Country Fair.

The Latham Country Fair Lineup

Bring the whole family!

There will be fun-filled activities for the whole family to enjoy! Visit www.lathamseeds.com, News and Events, Latham Country Fair to learn more. (We’ll also include a blog post on Tuesday that will highlight the many children’s activities that will be available).

One of my favorite events of the year happens this week:  the Franklin County Fair, Iowa’s second largest county fair. Ever since I joined 4-H in the third grade, I’ve loved going to the fair.  Fair- time brings together a few of my favorite things:  family, friends, fun and food.  (Not to mention the annual corn dogs, mini donuts and funnel cake!)

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds will have a booth at the Franklin County Fair and would love to have you stop by for a visit! We’ll share information about our exciting new product lineups for the 2011 season and invite you to join us on this year’s Latham Freedom of Independence Ride. We’ll also have giveaways available for those who take a minute to sign up for our Facebook page or register for the Freedom Ride.

The Franklin County’s 151^st fair runs July 14-18 in Hampton.  It includes a lineup of great artists including Luke Bryan and David Nail Friday evening at 8 p.m. and activities for all ages to enjoy. Visit http://www.franklincountyfair.com/ for a schedule of events and more details on the Franklin County Fair.

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s “Tall Corn Contest” on Facebook. Congratulations to Keesia Wirt! Winner of the first official “Tall Corn Contest” with a guess of 3’9” — just two inches off from the actual corn height in Uncle Jim’s field at 3’7”. We’ll send a prize your way by mail and you will be entered for the grand prize drawing in September.

Enter today!

Below is an updated picture of the corn in Uncle Jim’s field — as you can see it’s gotten so tall we can’t take pictures of him standing “in” the field anymore or guessing would prove pretty difficult. (You’d have to find Uncle Jim first!)

Simply visit www.facebook.com/LathamSeeds and enter your guess answering the question, “How tall is the corn in Uncle Jim’s field?” The person with the closest guess will win a prize and be entered to win the grand prize in September. (Winners will be selected every Thursday between now and September). For a list of contest rules, click here.

We also wanted to share recent news from Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, on crop conditions in Iowa. While some welcome sunshine helped many fields suffering from too much moisture, rain over the weekend meant many areas in Iowa are still threatened by flood water. Click here for the full June 6 Iowa Crop and Weather Report released by the USDA.

There’s an old Midwest saying that if corn is going to “make it,” or mature before the first frost, then it needs to be knee-high by the Fourth of July.  ISU Extension Corn Specialist Roger Elmore says that with progressively earlier planting dates, as well as improved genetics and management, we’re more accustomed to at least “nose high” by the Fourth of July.  Depending on planting date and growing conditions, as well as the hybrid itself, some corn is oftentimes over our heads at this time of year.  Regardless of planting date, it always depends on the farmer!

Let me further explain: No one has ever clarified whose knee was used as the measure or whether he or she was wearing boots with a heel.  (Honestly, I don’t think my knee caps would be even with my husband’s if I was wearing stilettos and standing uphill.)  No one, at least to my knowledge, has ever documented the height of the farmer doing the measuring.  That is, no one has until now …

To consistently measure corn growth weekly on one north central Iowa farm, we’ve asked Uncle Jim to serve as our “measuring stick.” Uncle Jim is undoubtedly one of Latham Hi‑Tech Hybrids biggest fans — and with good reason!  He’s been achieving bin-busting yields since he started planting Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids five years ago.

Despite threats from hail, wind and floods, Jim’s corn crop is once again standing tall.  That’s why we’ve decided to have a little fun with this by sponsoring a Tall Corn contest.  After all, there’s a reason that Iowa is nicknamed “the tall corn state”!

Enter today! See directions below. A winner will be picked each week from here to September with a grand prize winner being selected at the end of September. Our first Tall Corn Contest “winner” will be named one week from today, on Thursday, July 8.  Below are the contest details.

Tall Corn Contest Rules

1) How to Enter/Eligibility: To enter, visit www.facebook.com/LathamSeeds and type in your guess to those entries asking “How tall is the corn in Uncle Jim’s field?” Comments must be received by submitted weekly by midnight on Wednesday.

2) Eligibility Restrictions: Entrants must have their own valid Facebook account. The contest is not open to Latham® employees or their spouses.

3) Selection of Winners: A weekly winner will be selected at random from those Facebook users who commented with a guess to the question, “How tall is the corn in Uncle Jim’s field?” The winner will be notified by direct message on Facebook each Thursday. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

4) Prizes: All weekly winners will be entered to win the grand prize ? a Latham jacket. All weekly winners will also be given a Latham® corn mug valued at $5 dollars. In the winner notification message, we will ask for a mailing address where the prize can be shipped. The grand prize will be awarded in September.

5) Publicizing the Winner: The winner’s name will be posted on the Latham’s blog, www.thefieldposition.com, Facebook, www.facebook.com/LathamSeeds, and Twitter page, www.twitter.com/LathamSeeds. All entrants agree to having their name publicized on these accounts.

6) Miscellaneous: By entering, entrants agree to the above terms and conditions.

Join us for the Second Annual Latham Freedom of Independence Ride!

What: Join us Monday, August 30, for the second annual Latham Freedom of Independence Ride across central Iowa. The 100-mile route will include three stops at Latham® technology showcase plots. The ride begins in Ames, Iowa, with registration from 9:30-10:30 a.m. We will finish about 6 p.m. in Boone with a hog roast and live entertainment by Bubba Blackwell, the American Daredevil, world record-holding motorcyclist. Click here to see photos of some of his record-breaking stunts in action.

Who: Dealers, customers, and friends of Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds.

Where: The ride begins in Ames, Iowa, with registration from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and ends around 6 p.m. in Boone, Iowa. Route maps will be provided at sign-in the morning of the ride.

Entertainment: After the ride, enjoy a hog roast and live entertainment by Bubba Blackwell, the American Daredevil, world record-holding motorcyclist.

How to sign up: Pre-registration is required. Click here to register. Register by August 1, 2010, and get a FREE T-shirt or Do-Rag for you and your rider! Registration will be limited to 250 bikes and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.  Any make of cycle is welcome!

Why you should join us: Here’s a look at last year’s ride — you’re bound to have fun if you join us this year! Thanks to the 225 riders who participated in 2009. We hope to see you again this year!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC0_nozTBrE[/youtube]

Agricultural and political leaders are concerned about the potential economic impact the Gulf oil spill could have on barge traffic along the Mississippi River. Congressmen are urging President Obama and the Coast Guard to fully evaluate the impact of the BP Oil Spill on Mississippi River shipping lanes, according to an article posted Friday on the Wallaces Farmer website.

More than half of the nation’s soybeans were exported from the Mississippi Gulf region in 2009. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition headquartered at the offices of the Iowa Soybean Association near Des Moines says the United States’ ability to meet customer demand would be compromised. Farmer incomes would be reduced due to a likely widening basis.  A disruption of shipping from the Mississippi Gulf region would have a detrimental impact on agriculture, in general, and the soybean industry, in particular. Click here to read the full article.

In true agriculture fashion, an innovative idea has been brought to the table as a possible solution to the Gulf oil spill to safeguard the Midwest’s ag economy. Check out this video:

http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/.