WEEKLY AG UPDATE

BY NED BIRKEY, MSU EXTENSION EDUCATOR EMERITUS SPARTAN AG

 The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center outlook through Jan. 21, updated Jan. 13, is calling for “likely below” normal outlook for temperature and “likely above” outlook for precipitation. The March-April- May seasonal outlook for the upper Midwest is leaning above normal outlook for both temperature and precipitation.

The 2024 Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Summary has been released by USDA and reports that more than 99 percent of the fruits and vegetables tested had pesticide residues below benchmark levels established by the U.S. EPA. Testing in 2024 was conducted on 9,872 samples of 19 different commodities of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, nuts and fish. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service partners with cooperating state agencies, such as the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to collect and analyze pesticide residue levels on the selected food commodities.

According to the study, conducted on an annual basis by USDA and EPA, 42.3 percent of the samples tested had no detectable pesticide residue. Commodities that did not have any samples exceeding the established tolerances included almonds, apples, canned pumpkin, frozen blackberries, fresh/frozen pineapples, frozen sweet corn, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, onion, orange, potatoes and salmon.

USDA tests a wide variety of domestic and imported foods, with a strong focus on foods that are consumed by infants and children. EPA relies on PDP data to conduct dietary risk assessments and to ensure that any pesticide residues in foods remain at or below levels that EPA has set. The data also provides regulators, farmers, processors, manufacturers, consumers and scientists with important insights into the actual levels of pesticide residues found on widely consumed foods.

The annual pesticide residue results are reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EPA in monthly reports as testing takes place throughout the year. FDA and EPA are immediately notified if a PDP test discovers residue levels that could pose a public safety concern. Out of those 76 samples, 12 were domestically produced, while 64 were imported produce including avocados, fresh blackberries, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh sweet corn, and tomatillos (Mexican husk tomato), which accounted for nearly 50 percent of all samples exceeding thresholds.

The 2024 data and summary can be found on the Pesticide Data Program page at the AMS website. Inquiries may be addressed to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Science and Technology Program, Monitoring Programs Division by email at www.amsmpo.data@usda.gov.

Corn contest yields bring up a question: do farmers want the highest yield or a profitable yield?

An Ohio farmer recorded 347 bushels of corn in the 2025 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) yield contest. Don Stall, of Charlotte, Mich., won the national contest in 2018 with 476.91 bushels per acre and also recorded 122 bushels of soybeans in the Michigan soybean contest.

Both contests only measure yields on a very small acreage. Pouring inputs for a contest isn’t the same as managing thousands of acres. Former corn yield record holder Frances Childs, at a meeting at Cabela’s in Dundee, Mich., said he wants corn plants looking like “soldiers in a row” so that even a rabbit would have to run to the end of the row to get to the next row. Kip Cullers, former soybean world record holder, at a different meeting at Cabela’s said he wants soybeans to emerge within 18 hours for a uniform stand. “Runt” plants, like runt pigs, never catch up and take nutrients and water away from viable plants. Several years of variable nitrogen rate studies have never shown that the highest rate of N resulted in the highest corn yield. The same was true of soybean seeding rate studies, as soybeans will compensate for a lower, but uniform stand with more branching and pods. There are definitely things farmers can learn from either entering a contest or listening to what top yielders do and don’t do. Reading about David Hula, the 2025 NCGA national champion, at 572.2589, he mentions several agronomic practices that he may adapt to his regular production practices.