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Weekend Farm Shockers: 800K Tons of Soybeans, Japan’s Corn Buy & Farm Tech | Daily Farm Brief · Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Farm Nation, and Hello Truck City.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is FarmTale's Unplugged Daily Farm Brief with a bonus edition for Saturday, October 17th.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX, empowering farmers.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portanova.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: This weekend, China bought 800,000 metric tons of American soybeans.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So why did soybean prices still fall?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And now there's another big order from China plus a corn purchase from Japan.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: We've also got farm drones reaching places a ground sprayer can't, and a lot more farmers are using them.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Then a family farm offering a$150 chance to climb into its cranberry harvest, goats with their own castle tower, and an MRI scanner that can tell what's developing inside of an egg.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, that crow on your fence may recognize your face, and other crows can learn who to watch for.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoy the show, give us a follow, a like, or a share.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: That would be fantastic.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your coffee, fire up whatever you're driving, and let's find out what was happening while you were busy actually working.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: China has come back for more American soybeans.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: On Friday, USDA announced another 558,000 metric tons sold at China.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: That follows 800,000 tons announced Wednesday and Thursday that we covered on Friday's show.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Those are sales commitments, the beans still have to ship.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the part that matters when you're watching the value of your crop.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Even with those earlier Chinese orders, November soybean futures finished Thursday down 14.25 cents.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The closing price was$12.63 a bushel, so the buying did not prevent a lower close.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Market reports pointed to two competing pressures: freshly harvested beans coming into the system and a disappointing report on domestic soybean processing.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: The September processing total came in below expectations at a 13-month low.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Export orders help create a home for the crop, but the market is also weighing how much grain is available and how quickly other buyers are using it.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: For growers, a good export headline does not automatically turn into a better bid at the elevator.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: On Friday, USDA also announced a sale of 127,000 metric tons of American corn to Japan for delivery during the current marketing year.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And there was another demand signal for corn.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: American ethanol production rose about 1% in the latest weekly report.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: The useful picture heading into the weekend is more export business, stronger weekly ethanol output, and soybean prices that were still under pressure at Thursday's close.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: A wet field can stop a sprayer.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: A drone gives a farmer another way in.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the latest figures show how quickly that option has grown.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: In an analysis published Thursday, the American Farm Bureau reported that drones treated about 16.4 million acres in the United States last year.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Three years earlier, that figure was 3.7 million.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: That is more than four times as much treated acreage.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest advantages can show up in awkward places, wet grounds, steep slopes, small fields with odd corners.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: A drone can reach those areas without driving heavy equipment through the crop.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Farm Bureau also points to opportunities for rural businesses that provide spraying, scouting, or cover crop seeding.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: The work still takes training, the right equipment, and careful application, but this is already happening on American farms.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: For a grower with a field that needs attention and ground that won't carry a rig, having another option can make a real difference.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Some farms sell you fruit.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: At Benson's Pond, you can also buy a chance to step right into the harvest.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Gilmore family runs this third-generation cranberry farm in Middleboro, Massachusetts.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Its two-hour berry bog adventure is listed at$150 per person.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Visitors put on waiters, walk into a flooded cranberry bog, and stand among the floating red berries.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: They learn how the harvest works from the people who grow the crop.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: The farm has sessions on its calendar for this Saturday and Sunday, October 17th and 18th.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Picture that scene: a sea of red berries, the fall landscape around you, and a farmer explaining how the crop gets from the bog to your table.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: The Gilmores are members of the Ocean Spray Cooperative, and growing cranberries remains part of the business.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: They've also opened the farm to tours, educational visits, and special events.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It gives people a close look at something they've probably only seen in a commercial, and it gives a working farm another way to earn from the harvest.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Most goats would be happy with a rock to climb.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Dave and Marcia Johnson gave theirs a tower.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: On their farm in central Illinois stands a brick structure 31 feet tall.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: It has a copper roof, small compartments inside, and a winding staircase around the outside.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: 276 steps.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: The Johnsons got the idea after seeing a goat tower in a magazine.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Their version used about 5,000 bricks.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Picture a narrow castle tower standing in farm country.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then picture a goat working its way around the outside and looking out from one of the openings.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: This has been a local curiosity for years.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: The goats get places to climb and explore.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The people get something they are unlikely to forget.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that is the whole charm of it.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: A farm couple saw an unusual idea, built it, and gave their animals one remarkable playground.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hi Tech Time! An MRI scanner can look inside a human body.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now that same technology is looking inside chicken eggs before they hatch.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: A company called Orbum has developed a system that combines magnetic imaging with artificial intelligence.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: The scanner gathers information from inside the egg.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: The computer uses it to identify whether the developing chick is male or female.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: The shell stays intact.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: The company says its system can make that determination by about day 12 of incubation.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Here's why hatcheries care.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Egg laying operations need hens.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Male chicks from egg laying breeds don't produce eggs, and they aren't the birds normally raised for meat.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sorting eggs before hatch offers an alternative to hatching those males and then calling them.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: This technology is already commercially available.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Cost, accuracy, and the ability to keep up with a busy hatchery all matter.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: But think about what this machine is doing.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: An egg travels through a scanner.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Software determines what's developing inside.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: The hatchery can sort it before a chick ever breaks through the shell.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's open the old farmer's almanac.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: That crow sitting on the fence may recognize you.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if it learns that a particular person means trouble, other crows can learn that too.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: For our almanac visit, let's take a closer look at a bird farmers have been trying to outsmart for generations.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: The old farmer's almanac points out how intelligent crows are.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers at the University of Washington put that intelligence to a remarkable test.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: They wore a particular mask while catching, banding, and releasing wild crows.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Later, when someone walked through the area wearing that mask, the birds sounded the alarm.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: They remembered the face associated with being caught, and the response spread.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Other crows that had never been captured learned to react to it.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Young birds learned from their parents.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: The researchers followed that spread of knowledge over several years.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot more happening in a flock of crows than a lot of noise.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're watching, remembering, and learning from one another.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the practical part for anyone putting a scarecrow in a garden.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Crows can learn that an object which never moves presents no real threat.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Wildlife specialists recommend changing frightening devices and their positions instead of relying on one permanent setup.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: October is full of straw hats, stuffed shirts, and scarecrows, but the real bird on the fence is paying attention.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: You may be watching the crow.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's a fair chance the crow is studying you too.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: This weekend, China added another soybean order, but we explained why the earlier purchases didn't prevent Thursday's price drop.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Japan ordered American corn, and farm drones are covering more American acres.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: We visited a family turning cranberry harvest into an experienced people pay to join, and an Illinois farm with a tower built for goats.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Then an MRI scanner for eggs and crows that recognize faces and learn from each other.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like more information about any of the topics we covered, there's a matching blog for every episode we release.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find it on our website, farmtailsunplugged.com.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: To farm nation, have a safe and productive weekend.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: To Truck City, keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: The future of food starts with the people who grow it and depends on the people who move it.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And there you have it.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's your FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief bonus weekend edition for Saturday, October 17th.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX empowering farmers.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portanova, and I'll see you Monday morning.