Oyo, Finland To Partner On Agriculture, Others

Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Thursday expressed the willingness of his administration to partner with Finland in the areas of agriculture, education and human capital development.

Ajimobi spoke in Ibadan when he received Finland’s ambassador to Nigeria, Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury.

He described education as the largest industry in the state, assuring that his administration would invest more in the sector.

The governor called on Finland to support the state in transforming the educational system.

Earlier, Suomela- Chowdhury had said health and educational development were top priorities of Finland, adding that this informed why it facilitated a pilot education project in Ibadan

Forest Depletion Threatens Bee-Keeping In Nigeria – Association

The Association of Beekeepers of Nigeria, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State chapter, on Thursday said the demand for housing and depletion of forest areas had become serious challenges to sustainable bee-keeping in the country.

Mr Tunde Oremeyi, Chairman of the association, told the Food Farm News (FFN) in Lagos that if unchecked, the trend might negatively impact on bee population, agriculture, and household livelihood.
FFN reports that honeybees are one of the most important pollinators for wild plants and crops as they are closely linked to both agriculture and biodiversity.
According to him, the Federal Government’s master plan reveals that Nigeria’s housing deficit is estimated to be around 17 million units.

“It’s a major challenge here, you know there is no concrete housing policy, people just build anyhow.
“For instance, on many occasions I have been sent parking from my apiary because the owners decided to sell the place to property developers,” Oremeyi told
The Association of Beekeepers of Nigeria, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State chapter, on Thursday said the demand for housing and depletion of forest areas had become serious challenges to sustainable bee-keeping in the country.

Mr Tunde Oremeyi, Chairman of the association, told the Food Farm News (FFN) in Lagos that if unchecked, the trend might negatively impact on bee population, agriculture, and household livelihood.
NAN reports that honeybees are one of the most important pollinators for wild plants and crops as they are closely linked to both agriculture and biodiversity.
According to him, the Federal Government’s master plan reveals that Nigeria’s housing deficit is estimated to be around 17 million units.
“It’s a major challenge here, you know there is no concrete housing policy, people just build anyhow.
“For instance, on many occasions I have been sent parking from my apiary because the owners decided to sell the place to property developers,” Oremeyi told
The Association of Beekeepers of Nigeria, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State chapter, on Thursday said the demand for housing and depletion of forest areas had become serious challenges to sustainable bee-keeping in the country.
Mr Tunde Oremeyi, Chairman of the association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that if unchecked, the trend might negatively impact on bee population, agriculture, and household livelihood.
NAN reports that honeybees are one of the most important pollinators for wild plants and crops as they are closely linked to both agriculture and biodiversity.
According to him, the Federal Government’s master plan reveals that Nigeria’s housing deficit is estimated to be around 17 million units.

“It’s a major challenge here, you know there is no concrete housing policy, people just build anyhow.
“For instance, on many occasions I have been sent parking from my apiary because the owners decided to sell the place to property developers,” Oremeyi told
The Association of Beekeepers of Nigeria, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State chapter, on Thursday said the demand for housing and depletion of forest areas had become serious challenges to sustainable bee-keeping in the country.

Mr Tunde Oremeyi, Chairman of the association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (FFN) in Lagos that if unchecked, the trend might negatively impact on bee population, agriculture, and household livelihood.
NAN reports that honeybees are one of the most important pollinators for wild plants and crops as they are closely linked to both agriculture and biodiversity.
According to him, the Federal Government’s master plan reveals that Nigeria’s housing deficit is estimated to be around 17 million units.

“It’s a major challenge here, you know there is no concrete housing policy, people just build anyhow.
“For instance, on many occasions I have been sent parking from my apiary because the owners decided to sell the place to property developers,” Oremeyi told FFN.

The apiculturist added that many bee-keepers were now faced with either having to cough out huge sums for an outright purchase of the land or quit such property.
“The moment you start seeing two, three buildings around that means you must park your things and live,” he added.

The bee-keeper, therefore, urged the Federal Government to formulate a bee-keeping policy and designate bee-keeping settlements to promote agriculture in the country.

“If you go to other countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, they have bee-keeping policies, but in Nigeria we don’t have.

“They should also set aside some agricultural land where bee-keepers can practice without any fear of eviction.
“It would go a long way to help bee-keeping in Nigeria,’’ he said. .
The apiculturist added that many bee-keepers were now faced with either having to cough out huge sums for an outright purchase of the land or quit such property.
“The moment you start seeing two, three buildings around that means you must park your things and live,” he added.
The bee-keeper, therefore, urged the Federal Government to formulate a bee-keeping policy and designate bee-keeping settlements to promote apiculture in the country.
“If you go to other countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, they have bee-keeping policies, but in Nigeria we don’t have.
“They should also set aside some agricultural land where bee-keepers can practice without any fear of eviction.
“It would go a long way to help bee-keeping in Nigeria,’’ he said. .
The apiculturist added that many bee-keepers were now faced with either having to cough out huge sums for an outright purchase of the land or quit such property.
“The moment you start seeing two, three buildings around that means you must park your things and live,” he added.

The bee-keeper, therefore, urged the Federal Government to formulate a bee-keeping policy and designate bee-keeping settlements to promote apiculture in the country.
“If you go to other countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, they have bee-keeping policies, but in Nigeria we don’t have.
“They should also set aside some agricultural land where bee-keepers can practice without any fear of eviction.
“It would go a long way to help bee-keeping in Nigeria,’’ he said. .
The apiculturist added that many bee-keepers were now faced with either having to cough out huge sums for an outright purchase of the land or quit such property.
“The moment you start seeing two, three buildings around that means you must park your things and live,” he added.
The bee-keeper, therefore, urged the Federal Government to formulate a bee-keeping policy and designate bee-keeping settlements to promote apiculture in the country.
“If you go to other countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, they have bee-keeping policies, but in Nigeria we don’t have.
“They should also set aside some agricultural land where bee-keepers can practice without any fear of eviction.
“It would go a long way to help bee-keeping in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Farming Activities Yet To Begin In Katsina

A survey on the situations of farming activities in some local government areas of Katsina State has revealed that most farmers have yet to begin planting.
The development validates the 2015 prediction of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) that rainfall will be delayed in some parts of the country.
The survey, conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (FFN), indicates that there is a drastic decline in farming activities in some local governments of the state presently when compared with the 2014 farming season.

According to the survey, between 15 and 30 per cent of the farmland in Funtua, Ajiwa and Dutsin-Ma areas, has been cultivated for planting due to late rainfall.
The survey shows further that in the eastern part of the state such as Mashi, Mani, Daura, Sandamu, Zango, Ingawa, Dutsi, Baure and Mai’Ádua, farmers have yet to plant their crops.
FFN recalls that NiMet predicted in its 2015 Seasonal Rainfall Predication (SRP) that there would be late onset and early cessation of rainfall in Katsina and other states in the North-West and North-East regions of the country.

Some farmers, who spoke with FFN, therefore, appealed to the federal and state governments to provide them with drought resistant seedlings to avoid economic loss and food shortage.
Malam Lawal Ibrahim, a farmer in Funtua, said that the state government should provide them with appropriate seed varieties that would take shorter period to yield to avert food shortage in the state.
“The length of the growing season is expected to be shorter this year, so we are appealing to relevant government agencies to provide us with cuttings and seedlings for all crops,’’ he said.

Sharing similar opinion, Malam Yusuf Mohammed, a farmer in Dutsin-Ma, appealed to the government to subsidise farm inputs such as fertilisers and agro-chemicals for them to increase their yields.
He also appealed to financial institutions to provide credit facilities for them to expand farming activities.
According to him, if they receive support from the government to get tractors, they will be able to go into commercial farming and even export.
In the same vein, Malam Nasiru Bello, a farmer in Ajiwa, appealed to the government to support them with irrigation and other relevant facilities to reduce losses.

Agricultural experts, nonetheless, have advised the state government to seek early maturing and drought-tolerant seed varieties from the research institutes as a matter of urgency.
Malam Lawal Adamu, an agriculturist, said that federal and Katsina State governments should seek those seed varieties from research institutes such International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Agricultural Research Institute, Zaria.

He said that they could also get the varieties from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT).
“Also, the research institute in a neighbouring Niger, INRAN (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione) has good drought- tolerant varieties of millet..

“The governments may wish to assist the farmers who form 80 per cent of the population and buy these varieties for distribution to them at little cost.
“ They may also buy them for the farmers at free cost to avert food shortage which is a potential threat to food security..
“These varieties usually take about 70- 85 days to mature and ready for harvest,’’ he said.
In addition, Mrs Felicia Nnaji, a crop production expert, urged the governments to support farmers with farm inputs to ensure adequate and sufficient yields in 2015.

Developing Youth-friendly Agriculture To Boost Food Production

A major contributor to the dearth of agriculture in Nigeria is the drudgery and the massive migration of young people from rural areas which has left farming to an ageing population. Ruth Tene Natsa writes on the need to get the attention of the youths in developing the sector. 
24 year-old Dogara is a secondary school drop out who has no handiwork or entrepreneurial skills to help him earn a living in Abuja, yet he said, “I cannot be a farmer because it is a very hard work.”
Asked what he will like to do, Dogara who hawks phone chargers said, “I want to be a soldier or work with government,” adding that “farming is for old people.”
Sadly, this is the attitude of many in a nation where a good number of youths are unemployed and live a little below poverty level.

It is also ironical that the youth who have the strength required to take on agriculture shy away from the hard work, leaving it to an ageing and dying population of farmers. Should that continue, one is forced to wonder what the fate of agriculture will be in Nigeria. The education, enthusiasm and strength necessary for modern agriculture is with the youths, hence, there is an urgent need to gear the sector towards a youth-friendly system.

Fortunately, Nkiru Nnameago is a youth who has passionately taken to agriculture with through the development of the Youth Farm (YFarm) Project. The Y-Farm aims to establish and promote at least 10,000 youth-led farms and agribusinesses across Nigeria and Africa by 2020. In an exclusive interview with Food Farm News , the young farmer said, “Agriculture is not only profitable but a solution to problems of unemployment, insecurity, poverty, corruption, among several others.
“While youths in agriculture are challenged by poor access to land, finance, market, mentoring, farm inputs and equipment, there are still quite a lot of benefits for youths in agriculture.”

She said that the benefits to young people include a platform for agricultural education, viable careers and businesses, improved livelihoods through jobs creation, entrepreneurial opportunities, among several others. To develop the agriculture sector, the young farmer has called on the Buhari-led government to adopt and replicate youth-led projects, especially the YFarm Project and create platforms to showcase African and national youth agriculture festivals and marketplace, schools bootcamp on sustainable agriculture, e-platforms, community outreaches on agribusiness and climate smart agriculture as a means to capturing the attention of the youths to get involved agriculture.

A compelling need to restructure the thinking of the Nigerian youth will not only solve the problem of drudgery but will create millions of jobs, generate employment and wealth and also ensure the eradication of hunger through improved food production. The fact that quite a percentage of Nigeria’s perishable foods goes to wastes as a result of lack of processing and storage facilities shows that millions of jobs can be provided through harnessing the strengths of the youths in areas were such commodities are in high yield. The mechanization of agriculture is another way to get the attention of the Nigerian youths in agriculture. There is the need to ensure that the subsidized mechanization of farm inputs is made available to youths in rural areas, therefore the need to further invest in agricultural mechanization.

The past government saw the need for this and introduced the Agricultural Mechanisation Scheme which was aimed at providing subsidised mechanised service to farmers in the rural areas. While it is not in doubt that mechanisation tends to reduce the demand for human labour, it also enhances the beauty of agriculture and will attracts youths into the sector.Mechanisation will cut down the labour expended in agriculture by almost 70 per cent while improving yield. Reintroducing young farmers clubs in schools, in addition to the teaching of agriculture, will further create more green fingers across the nation’s fertile lands.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2013 set up the Gender and Youth Desk with a view to harnessing the potential of young people towards reducing unemployment, improving food security, creating wealth and eradicating poverty.

Kano Cancels Distribution Of fertilizer Through Mobile Phone Alerts – official

The Kano State Government has cancelled its earlier plan to distribute fertilizer to farmers for the 2015 cropping season through mobile phone alerts.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malam Garba Yunusa, made available to Food Farm News (FFN) in Kano on Monday.

According to the statement, the government has now directed the ministry to distribute the commodity directly to farmers at various wards across the state.
It stated that the government took the decision in view of the fact that the rainy season had already commenced.

‘’The fertilizer will be distributed directly to farmers at various wards in the state considering the urgent need to distribute the commodity as the rainy season has already set in,” the statement said.
It expressed the commitment of the state government towards supporting farmers for enhanced agricultural production in the state and the country at large.
The statement advised farmers to go to their respective wards in the state in order to purchase the commodity.

The Food Farm News reports that local farmers in the state are anxious to know the price to be fixed by government.
For now the state government is yet to peg the price of the commodity as it usually does during every rainy season.

UI Holds Stakeholders’ Workshop On Seed Yam Production

Stakeholders in the production of seed yam will on July 14, converge on University of Ibadan for a workshop on seed yam using low-cost bioreactors.

Notice of the workshop is contained in a statement issued by the Principal Investigator, Dr Morufat Balogun, in Ibadan on Sunday.

The statement quoted Balogun as saying that the stakeholders’ workshop would consider year-round production and availability of seed yam using plant tissue culture technology.

She stated that “this forms part of the objectives of the project `Improving Yam (Dioscorea spp)’ seed systems through production of dormancy-controlled seed tubers in Temporary Immersion Bioreactors.’’

She explained that the project was funded through the National Science Foundation-Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) science programme under Prime Agreement.

The Agreement, she said, was between the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which has http://www.nas.edu/peerscience as its website.

The principal investigator said that the project was a collaboration between University of Ibadan and the Pennsylvania State University.

Balogun, a Geneticist and Tissue Culture Specialist in the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, UI, said the project had been researching into growing yams in Temporary Immersion Bioreactors.

She explained that bioreactors was a system whereby yam plants were fed with liquid nutrients intermittently in sterile containers to produce small tubers and investigate control of their dormancy.

“Simply put, bioreactors is about bringing advanced technology to farmers at reduced costs,’’ she said.

According to her, the workshop will be attended by farmers and extension agents from Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states working with the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADP), who will undergo training and review the technology.

She said other national and international partner institutions and agencies expected at the workshop include National Root Crops Research Institute, National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the National Biotechnology Development Agency.

“We are looking at creating a yam seed production network of scientists, seed producers and farmers for seed sector development. These activities can easily spread to other states of Nigeria through ADP offices.

“The underground tuber of the yam plant is a major source of carbohydrate and income in West Africa. Nigeria alone produces 70 per cent of global yam production, equivalent to 50 million tonnes per year — FAO, 2013.

“Thus, there are quite a large number of farmers that make their livelihood from yam.

“In spite of its importance, yam seed is seasonal, causing surplus of yam at a time but limited and high cost of consumer-preferred varieties at other times of the year,’’ Balogun said.

She said that the seed problem was due in part to tuber dormancy, the inability of tubers to sprout for two to three months in spite of favourable environmental conditions, which prevented year-round production.

Also, uncontrolled sprouting after dormancy break causes storage losses and reduces profits.

“This contrasts with maize, whose seeds can be grown anytime of the year with irrigation. With the changing climate of extreme floods and drought, manipulating production cycles is a coping strategy for yam production,’’ the investigator said.

She added that using the new technology could make yam production more profitable, with Nigeria becoming the major exporter of yam to other parts of the world.

She said “it is obvious that yam is a crop that should enjoy attention in the effort to alleviate poverty among farming communities, especially if constraints of seed systems are addressed.

“ The immediate application of this technology is in production of disease-free seedlings and conservation of yam genetic resources without losses associated with field collections, in addition to out-of-season production and manipulation of storage cycle,’’ she added.

Bird flu: 1.4 Million Birds Destroyed – NVRI boss

More than 1.4 million birds were destroyed to stamp out bird influenza that hit poultry farms early this year, according to Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, the Executive Director, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom.

Ahmed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Vom on Sunday, that 18 states were affected by the flu whose last case was reported on May 28.

He said that 800 suspicions were diagnosed in the institute’s laboratory out of which 500 tested positive to the disease.

The NVRI boss said that compensations for the destroyed birds were already being paid by the Federal Government.

“Payment of compensation for the destroyed birds is already in progress; it started and stopped at a point, but it has resumed,” he said.

He observed that the compensation was being handled by the Federal Government and appealed to the states to help by initiating steps to assist farmers.

IFAD Supports Farmers With N50m Worth Of Inputs -Coordinator

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Niger said it assisted 150 rice farmers in the state to procure N50 million worth of inputs to increase their yields.

Dr Mathew Ahmed, the Programme Coordinator of IFAD Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) in Niger made this known on Saturday at the inauguration of funds support programme for small holder farmers in Katcha Local Government Area.
He said “we have supported 150 rice farmers from six different cooperative groups with a grant of N25 million to match the N25 million they contributed for this programme.

“Fifty hectares of land will be cultivated by the clusters of farmers, numbering 25 in each group.’’
Ahmed explained that the programme, aimed at enhancing rice and cassava value chains for sustainable agricultural transformation, would increase wealth for farmers.

He said that the grant was for farm inputs such as faro-57-fertilizer, herbicides and for insurance cover for the farms in case of destruction from natural disaster and diseases.
He added that part of the grant would be used to prepare the land, while IFAD would provide 25 tube wells to enable farmers to grow “three cycle yield’’ per season.

He said that the grant covers provision of threshing machines for the farmers to ensure that the rice was clean.

“We are expecting 400 tonnes of rice per cycle, meaning we will get 1,200 tonnes of rice per farming season under the fund’s regime,’’ he said.

Improved rice seedlings, according to him, are also given to beneficiaries by IFAD and the Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority (NAMDA).

Alhaji Mohammadu Ibrahim, the Permanent Secretary, Niger Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, urged the farmers to utilise the support for rice production toward ensuring success of the programme.

Ibrahim, who was represented by Alhaji Bala Maidugu, said the extension staff of the state’s ministry of agriculture would be on ground to give the farmers necessary support.
He said “IFAD is also partnering with Bida and Wushishi local government areas in our state on enhancing rice and cassava value chains for sustainable agricultural transformation.’’

Also, Alhaji Jibrin Yakubu, the Chairman, All Farmers Association (AFAN) in the Katcha Local Government Area, said many farmers were faced with the challenge of getting fertilizer at affordable rates.
Yakubu, who commended IFAD for the gesture, assured that AFAN would ensure the success of the programme.

USDA Reports Summary USDA Lowers Old-Crop Corn, Soybean Stocks

USDA will release its latest Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports at 11 a.m. CDT Friday. (Logo courtesy of USDA)

WASHINGTON (DTN) -- USDA lowered old-crop corn stocks by 97 million bushels to 1.78 billion bushels and soybean stocks by 172 mb to 255 mb.On new-crop, USDA's production estimates reflected last month's Acreage report (a decrease in corn and an increase in soybeans), but USDA left yields unchanged at 166.8 bushels per acre on corn and 46 bpa on soybeans. 

USDA sees new-crop corn production at 13.53 bb, slightly higher than the average pre-report estimate. The ending stocks estimate came in at 1.6 bb, within the range of pre-report estimates. 

On soybeans, USDA estimated new-crop production at 3.89 bb, up from 3.85 bb last month and equal to the highest pre-report estimate. That puts the new-crop ending stocks estimate at 425 mb, down only 50 mb from June's estimate. 

Globally, USDA made large changes to 2014-15 and 2015-16 ending stocks for wheat to reflect a sharp decline in wheat feeding in China that started in 2013-14. Global wheat supplies for 2015-16 increased by 12.1 million metric tons and use fell 5.4 mmt, resulting in a 17.4 mmt increase in ending stocks to 219.8 mmt.

For DTN's exclusive audio comments, visit: http://listen.aghost.net/…

Crop Production: http://www.nass.usda.gov/…

World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE): http://www.usda.gov/…

 

CORN

USDA lowered old-crop corn ending stocks to 1.779 bb to reflect a lower June 1 stocks figure. USDA increased feed use by 50 mb, ethanol use by 25 mb and exports by 25 mb. 

On new crop, USDA slightly lowered production by 100 mb to 13.53 bb due to lower planted acreage. USDA cut feed use by 25 mb, increased ethanol use by 25 mb and cut exports by 25 mb, resulting in a net decline in use of 25 mb. Ending stocks fell to 1.599 billion bushels. 

Endings stock-to-use for 2014-15 came in at 13% while 2015-16 were pegged at 11.6%. The new-crop national average price increased 25 cents from last month to $3.75.

Globally, USDA trimmed corn stocks for both 2014-15 and 2015-16 to 193.95 mmt (197.01 mmt last month) and 189.95 mmt (195.19 mmt last month) respectively.

Brazilian corn production for 2015-16 increased 2 mmt to 77 mmt while Argentina's production was left unchanged at 25 mmt.

The stocks-to-use ratios are 19.7% for 2014-15 and 19.2% for 2015-16.

SOYBEANS

Old-crop soybean ending stocks declined to 255 mb. USDA increased crush use by 15 mb, exports by 15 mb and residual use by 44 mb. 

USDA's production estimates and ending stocks for 2015-16 came in toward the high end of pre-report estimates. New-crop soybean ending stocks came in at 425 mb. USDA increased its crush estimate by 10 mb. 

The ending stocks-to-use for 2014-15 came in at 6.6% while 2015-16 came in at 11.4%. The new-crop national average farm gate price also increased a quarter to $9.25.

Globally, soybean ending stocks for 2014-15 came in at 81.68 mmt, down from 83.7 mmt last month. Ending stocks for 2015-16 also declined to 91.8 mmt from 93.2 mmt in June. Argentina and Brazil production were left unchanged at 57 mmt and 97 mmt respectively.

Global ending stocks-to-use ratios came in at 27.6% for 2014-15 and 30.5% for 2015-16. 

WHEAT

USDA lowered its all winter wheat production estimate 3% from its June 1 forecast to 1.46 billion bushels. Hard red winter wheat production, at 866 mb, is down 2% from last month. Soft red winter wheat production is down 5% at 393 mb. White winter wheat production came in at 196 mb, down 4% from last month, with 12.7 mb of hard white winter production and 183 mb of soft white winter production.

Farmers Lock in Propane Needs Low Propane Prices Push Farmers to Buy

Propane prices have plunged to low levels thanks to ample supplies. As a result, farmers are locking in more propane earlier this summer as they prepare for the fall crop drying season. (DTN/The Progressive Farmer photo by Dan Miller)

OMAHA (DTN) -- Brad Thykeson is pleased to see propane prices the lowest they have been in the past 20 years after record-high prices in early 2014. The Portland, North Dakota, farmer said prices, around 50 cents per gallon or lower in some areas, are good news for Northern Plains corn growers in a season where other input costs have remained high relative to lower commodity prices.

"It is good news to know that some input prices can actually go down," Thykeson told DTN. "We are getting considerably less for the raw product, and input prices never moved."

Just as several factors came together to push prices higher in the winter of 2013 and 2014, propane industry experts say there are several issues that have been pushing prices lower recently. They report farmers have locked in prices earlier and some have locked in more gallons than normal by midsummer.

SO MUCH PROPANE

Brian Milne, DTN Refined Fuels editor, said there is a huge supply of propane, and this supply keeps building. This is especially bad news for sellers during the summer "off-season" for propane use.

"We have so much propane supply we can't use it fast enough," Milne said.

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. ending stocks of propane and propylene were at 85.724 million barrels for the week ended July 4. That's up from 60.073 million barrels at the same time a year ago and is the highest level since the EIA began tracking propane ending stocks in 1993. 

Chris Hund, branch lead for Premier Coop located in Dodge, Wisconsin, said farmers are currently busy locking in some of their propane needs for fall crop drying. Most of his farmer customers order at least some of their fall needs by the end of July, but so far, he's seen more gallons locked in early in the month than any time in his 6 1/2 years in the propane business.

"I think this has to do with two factors," Hund told DTN. "One would be the high prices we saw in recent years and where prices are now, and the other factor would be us starting to write early pricing contracts for propane in recent years."

In addition to earlier pre-orders, Hund believes more gallons will be locked in. The prospect of low prices moving higher is pushing farmers to pull the trigger on more gallons, he said.

The trend should make for a less stressful fall delivery season for propane retailers, Hund said. Deliveries should be spread out more, allowing retailers more time to get the propane to farmers' tanks.

LOCKING IN

One of Hund's customers is Kyle Bushman, a grain farmer from Cochrane, Wisconsin. Bushman recently filled up his on-farm propane storage on his western Wisconsin farm ahead of the fall crop-drying season.

"We do this, of course, to help us manage the volatility in the gas market," Bushman said. "The last couple of years proves how crazy it can get at times."

Bushman locked in a portion of his needs. He's also toying with buying a bulk 30,000-gallon tank to house a year's worth of his propane needs. In addition to allowing him to stock up with cheaper fuel, being able to accept bulk loads can save a buyer another 15%-20%, he said.