Farm and Food File

AM1 – Optimum® AcreMax® 1 insect protection system with an integrated corn rootworm refuge solution includes HXX,LL,RR2. Optimum AcreMax 1 products contain the LibertyLink® gene and can be sprayed with Liberty® herbicide. The required corn borer refuge can be planted up to a half-mile away. AM – Optimum® AcreMax® insect protection system with YGCB,HX1,LL,RR2. Contains a single-bag integrated refuge solution for above-ground insects. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Optimum AcreMax products. AMT – Optimum® AcreMax® TRIsect® insect protection system with RW,YGCB,HX1,LL,RR2. Contains a single-bag refuge solution for above- and below-ground insects. The major component contains the Agrisure® RW trait, the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene and the Herculex® I gene. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Optimum AcreMax TRIsect products. AMX – Optimum® AcreMax® Xtra insect protection system with YGCB,HXX,LL,RR2. Contains a single-bag integrated refuge solution for above- and below-ground insects. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Optimum AcreMax Xtra products. AMXT (Optimum® AcreMax® XTreme) – Contains a single-bag integrated refuge solution for above- and below-ground insects. The major component contains the Agrisure® RW trait, the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene and the Herculex® XTRA gene. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Optimum AcreMax XTreme products. Q (Qrome®) – Contains a single-bag integrated refuge solution for above- and below-ground insects. The major component contains the Agrisure® RW trait, the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene and the Herculex® XTRA gene. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Qrome® products. Qrome products are approved for cultivation in the U.S. and Canada. For additional information about the status of regulatory authorizations, visit http://www.biotradestatus.com/. YGCB,HX1,LL,RR2 (Optimum® Intrasect®) – Contains the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene and Herculex® I gene for resistance to corn borer. YGCB,HXX,LL,RR2 (Optimum® Intrasect® Xtra) – Contains the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene and the Herculex XTRA gene for resistance to corn borer and corn rootworm. RW,HX1,LL,RR2 (Optimum® TRIsect®) – Contains the Herculex I gene for above-ground pests and the Agrisure® RW trait for resistance to corn rootworm. AML – Optimum® AcreMax® Leptra® products with AVBL,YGCB,HX1,LL,RR2. Contains a single-bag integrated refuge solution for above-ground insects. In EPA-designated cotton-growing counties, a 20% separate corn borer refuge must be planted with Optimum AcreMax Leptra products. AVBL,YGCB,HX1,LL,RR2 (Optimum® Leptra®) – Contains the Agrisure Viptera® trait, the YieldGard® Corn Borer gene, the Herculex® I gene, the LibertyLink® gene and the Roundup Ready® Corn 2 trait. HX1 – Contains the Herculex® I insect protection gene which provides protection against European corn borer, southwestern corn borer, black cutworm, fall armyworm, lesser cornstalk borer, southern cornstalk borer and sugarcane borer; and suppresses corn earworm. HXRW – The Herculex® RW rootworm protection trait contains proteins that provide enhanced resistance against western corn rootworm, northern corn rootworm and Mexican corn rootworm. HXX – Herculex® XTRA insect protection contains the Herculex I and Herculex RW genes. YGCB – The YieldGard® Corn Borer gene offers a high level of resistance to European corn borer, southwestern corn borer and southern cornstalk borer; moderate resistance to corn earworm and common stalk borer; and above-average resistance to fall armyworm. LL – Contains the LibertyLink® gene for resistance to Liberty® herbicide. RR2 – Contains the Roundup Ready® Corn 2 trait that provides crop safety for over-the-top applications of labeled glyphosate herbicides when applied according to label directions. AQ – Optimum® AQUAmax® product. Product performance in water-limited environments is

variable and depends on many factors, such as the severity and timing of moisture deficiency, heat stress, soil type, management practices and environmental stress, as well as disease and pest pressures. All products may exhibit reduced yield under water and heat stress. Individual results may vary.

Herculex® insect protection technology by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred. ® Trademark of Dow AgroSciences, DuPont or Pioneer, and their affiliated companies or their respective owners. YieldGard®, the YieldGard Corn Borer Design and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks used under license from Monsanto Company. Liberty®, LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are registered trademarks of BASF. Agrisure® and Agrisure Viptera® are registered trademarks of, and used under license from, a Syngenta Group Company. Agrisure® technology incorporated into these seeds is commercialized under a license from Syngenta Crop Protection AG.

Pioneer® brand products are provided subject to the terms and conditions of purchase which are part of the labeling and purchase documents. TM ® SM Trademarks and service marks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. © 2020 Corteva. PION0LOCL055

What exactly is China buying on its U.S. shopping spree?

As political winners joust over election buying — is a bilateral “folly” that “disspoils, many Americans are tickled pink criminates” against our democratic allies (or purple) to leave the costliest, most bit- like Japan and Canada. As such, he ter campaign season behind and return argues, Phase One undermines U.S. leadto their lives of family, work and dreams. ership for any future multilateral effort For U.S. farmers and ranchers, that means a return to three pre-election realto contain China’s more sinister international ambitions. ities: a strong, export-led rise in grain Echoes of Ikenson’s argument can be prices; another winter of choppy livestock heard in a Nov. 3 Bloomberg News story markets; and China’s growing impact on FARM & FOOD FILE that wondered if President Trump’s “shift all U.S. ag markets. By Alan Guebert away from Republican free trade orthoIn fact, China’s swift recovery from the viral pandemic it spawned is now the key driver in world ag markets. The International Monetary Fund pegs China’s OPINION doxy” hasn’t just “… been a very loud civics lesson in the misguided economics of protectionism and the costs of tariffs and economic nationalism.” 2020 economic growth at 2 percent — tiny compared Yes, it has; but good luck trying to convince to its decades of ferocious growth, but far ahead of American farmers and ranchers who have received the U.S. economy that is forecast to shrink 4 per- billions in tariff mitigation money under the Trump cent. policy and now, mostly due to China, are enjoying

Equally impressive is how the newly revved-up the first major rise to farm prices in years. China is spending its profits. Its consumers are It’s hard to argue with them before or after Nov. 3 doing what the rest of the world used to do: eating when red rural America again voted for this better, traveling more, and buying more consumer Administration’s “tariffs and economic nationalism” goods. policy with, as the Trump White House often notes, S:9.666" T:10.166" B:10.166" And all this after China’s economy shrank 6.8 percent in the first quarter, its first fallback in almost 50 years, according to the New York Times, because “red” China. Still, warns another trade analyst during an Election Day telephone call, “Never forget that of the coronavirus and its sledgehammer reaction to China is, by far, the shrewdest player in the export it. game. You never see its whole hand until the game

But that Red sledgehammer, comrade, also made is over.” way for China’s current purchases of U.S. farm and Wise words — China might be your best customer food exports. According to Bloomberg News, China now, but it will never be your best friend. already has purchased “more than 10 million metric tons of U.S. corn in the 2020-21 marketing year, or a about 2.5 mmt more than all of last year.” The Farm and Food File is published weekly through the United States and Canada. Past columns, events and contact information are posted at

Moreover, it’s still buying. Some forecasters www.farmandfoodfile.com. v believe China will buy a record 17 mmt, or about 780 million bushels, of corn in 2020-21. If accurate, it will buy all the corn grown this year in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma combined.

The same trend can be seen in its purchases of U.S. soybeans, pork and beef. All are off to record starts this marketing year as the world’s only healthy major economy continues its grocery-shopping spree.

But is it that simple? Is China just sopping up relatively cheap, unsold global food supplies to restock its Covid-depleted pantry; or is there a deeper, less apparent reason for the buying binge?

Yes and yes, argue several long-time trade analysts.

For example, in an Oct. 30 blog post, Daniel Ikenson, a trade expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, argues that President Donald Trump’s (and U.S. farmers’) much cherished Phase One trade deal with China — the rocket fuel for some of the wants to hear from you!

Letters to the editor are always welcome.

Send your letters to: Editor, The Land P.O. Box 3287, Mankato, MN 56002 e-mail: editor@thelandonline.com All letters must be signed and accompanied by a phone number (not for publication) to verify authenticity.

MULTIPLE SOAs: THE BEST WEED CONTROL OPTION

The easiest weeds to control are those that never emerge. Cliché? Maybe. But as weeds continue to adapt, mounting resistance to herbicides builds every year. Sustainable control has become increasingly more challenging to achieve.

The over-reliance of a single site of action (SOA) continues to provide new challenges for weed control in soybeans with each growing season. XtendFlex® soybeans will help farmers focus on the basics of a sound weed management system — multiple SOAs and overlapping residuals, all without having to compromise performance and yield.

Sustainable weed control is only possible through the incorporation of a herbicide program that utilizes multiple effective SOAs. Beck’s multi-year Practical Farm Research (PFR)® data has demonstrated the impact and importance of utilizing a pre-emerge program with multiple SOAs (Figure 1).

ADVANTAGES OF THE XTENDFLEX® SYSTEM

XtendFlex soybeans feature the benefi ts of the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System with the addition of tolerance to glufosinate. This allows access to multiple effective herbicides to manage each of your fi elds’ unique weed challenges. Beck’s PFR studies on the effectiveness of combining glufosinate and glyphosate show they are a powerful tool against tough-to-control waterhemp.

POWER IN THE PRE™ : Controlling weeds early with a pre-emergence application not only reduces the likelihood of developing resistance, but it also protects soybean yields. The over-reliance on POST programs to control early-emerging weeds is unlikely to provide results and could cause yield losses of up to 2.5% for every growth stage you delay your applications. Put the Power in the Pre™ and let your pre-emergence applications do the heavy lifting. Post-emergence applications can then be used as rescue treatments for weed escapes.

POWER OF MULTIPLE SOAs: In-season, Liberty® will provide effective post-emergence control of weeds such as waterhemp, kochia, and giant ragweed. XtendFlex soybeans provide postemergence tolerance to multiple SOAs to control resistant broadleaf weeds. Now farmers can confi dently pursue higher yields by making earlyseason herbicide applications and maintain the option of spraying Liberty over-the-top once crops have emerged.

POWER OF HIGHYIELDING GERMPLASM: Backed by uncompromising yield potential and outstanding agronomic performance in all maturities, XtendFlex® soybeans are built on the same proven genetic performance of highyielding Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans, now with the power of Liberty herbicide.

While weed control continues to provide new challenges with each growing season, you will have the option to bring the power to your soybean platform in 2021 with XtendFlex soybeans.

The EPA is currently reviewing a new registration for XtendiMax® for the 2021 season and beyond. FIGURE 1: INFLUENCE OF MULTIPLE SOAs

ON WATERHEMP CONTROL

(% VISUAL CONTROL)

Number of SOAs (Pre-Emerge) Influence on Waterhemp Control from Beck’s Multi-Year Practical Farm Research (PFR)® data.

97%

89%

3 SOAs

2 SOAs 60%

1 SOA

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS FOR USE ON PESTICIDE LABELING. IT IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE LAW to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its labeling. NOT ALL formulations of dicamba or glyphosate are approved for in-crop use with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USES AND APPROVED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of dicamba herbicide products for in-crop use with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans. Products with XtendFlex® Technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba. Glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Glufosinate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glufosinate. Contact your seed brand dealer or refer to the Bayer Technology Use Guide for recommended weed control programs. XtendFlex®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® are trademarks of Bayer Group. Liberty® is a registered trademark of BASF.