USDA Feed Outllok

Jul 14, 2015

U.S. corn planted acres for 2015/16 are forecast at 88.9 million acres, a 2-percent decrease from the 2014/15 estimate of 90.6 million and 0.3 million lower than March producer intentions. Corn area harvested for grain is down 0.6 million acres this month, and production is cut 100 million bushels. Beginning stocks are forecast 97 million bushels lower at 1.88 billion, with increased 2014/15 feed and residual, ethanol use, and exports.

Feed and residual and exports in the new marketing year are each lowered 25 million bushels, while corn for ethanol is projected 25 million higher. Lowered supplies and recently rising prices provide support for a 25-cent increase in the midpoint corn price, which, in turn, lifts all feed grain prices.

Foreign coarse grain supplies projected for 2015/16 are reduced and use is increased, mirroring U.S. changes and contributing to a 5.3-million-ton drop in projected global ending stocks to 222.1 million.

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Source: USDA

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.