Ag News: Rain Delays Corn Planting
**Farmers have done their best since April to get the 2019 corn crop in the ground. Unfortunately, Mother Nature continues to knock them down.
Last week’s USDA Crop Progress report showed just 49% of the corn crop has been planted. Massive delays in most of the corn belt have pushed progress 31-percentage-points behind the five-year average of 80% planted for the week of May 19.
This is the slowest corn planting in recorded history, beating the 1995 record of 50%.
**President Trump’s removal of steel and aluminum tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico could lead to ratification of the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement.
But in the meantime, the potential lifting of retaliatory tariffs could be great news for the U.S. dairy industry, including cheese exports to Mexico.
Commodity Risk Management president Mike North says if we can get past the tariffs and reopen the border again for U.S. cheese, that hasn’t been moving for the last 12 months, that’s a big plus for dairy men around the country.
**Customs and Border Protection officials found $18.5 million worth of methamphetamine in a commercial load of carrots crossing into Pharr, Texas.
A secondary inspection of the tractor-trailer using imaging equipment and a canine team revealed 384 packages of meth in the trailer, weighing almost 930 pounds.
The vehicle and drugs were seized and the case is under investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.