July 4, 2017

· A bit surprising: The USDA June Acreage report forecasts a 1.3 percent rise in U.S. alfalfa acres for 2017. All-hay acres rise by only 0.1 percent.

· USDA now estimates that corn planted for all purposes in 2017 will be 90.9 million acres, down 3 percent from last year. The area harvested for grain, at 83.5 million acres, is down 4 percent from last year.

· California may become the first state to require a warning label on products containing glyphosate that will indicate the chemical is a known cancer-causing compound. Glyphosate will appear on the state’s list of potentially cancerous chemicals. Monsanto, the producer of Roundup herbicide, has filed an appeal to block the labeling.

· Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in response to severe drought conditions.

· S&W Seed has named Mark Wong their new CEO.