The collaborative work of an international team of scientists at 17 institutions has resulted in the most comprehensive analysis to date of the corn genome. That’s according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service. USDA says the achievement is expected to boost international efforts to increase yields, expand areas where the crop can be cultivated and speed the development of improved varieties that are better equipped to resist pests and disease. ARS Administrator Edward Knipling says the work represents a major step forward and an important tool in the arsenal available to scientists and breeders for improving a vital source of nutrition and fuel in the face of changing climates, growing populations and a diminishing supply of arable land.

Two separate reports have been published that shed light on the genetic diversity of corn, reveal its evolution and outline how it continues to diversify as it adapts to changing climates and habitats. One of the reports examines the genetic structure and the relationships and sequential ordering of individual genes in more than 100 varieties of wild and domesticated corn. The research expands on a study published in 2009 that provided a genetic blueprint of the corn genome and identified roughly one-million genetic markers. This time – with a sophisticated, population-genetics scoring model – the lead author and his colleagues identified 55-million markers.

The second report provides a glimpse at the evolution of corn. The lead author and his colleagues compared wild varieties with traditional varieties from across the Americas and with modern improved breeding lines. Hundreds of genes were identified that played a role in the crop’s transformation to a cultivated crop. The researchers also show how that transition was largely achieved by ancient farmers who first domesticated the crop thousands of years ago.

DeVonna Zeug – National Corn Growers Association Research and Business Development Action Team Chair – says the information has exciting implications for corn farmers. As the information is applied to the development of new corn hybrids – she says farmers will see a wider selection of improved traits at a faster pace. She says the developments in the lab will yield real-world results in the field.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says the Senate Agriculture Committee’s proposed 2012 farm bill could move toward the organization’s core principles for rational, acceptable farm policy with a few improvements. He sent a letter to the Senate Monday to outline Farm Bureau’s priorities in – and concerns about – the farm bill expected to come to the floor this week. According to Stallman – Farm Bureau places a priority on several of the committee’s decisions – including using the 23-billion dollars in savings suggested to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction last fall; protecting and strengthening the federal crop insurance program; developing a commodity title that attempts to encourage producers to follow market signals and refraining from basing any program on cost of production. But Farm Bureau believes some areas – including the Agriculture Risk Coverage Eligible Acres provisions and payment limits – could benefit from additional policy work.

Farm Bureau would like to address the net effect of the Agriculture Risk Coverage Eligible Acres provisions to ensure a true “planted acres” approach and avoid recreating “base acres” issues that have raised equity and planting distortion concerns. The group would also like current payment limits and Adjusted Gross Income provisions in current law re-instituted.

Stallman says Farm Bureau supports a single program option for the commodity title that extends to all crops – and believes the safety net should be comprised of a strong crop insurance program, with continuation of the marketing loan program and a catastrophic revenue loss program based on county level losses for each crop. Farm Bureau says this approach can easily be tailored to provide a safety net that meets regional and commodity differences while meeting the established savings target. After analyzing number from the Congressional Budget Office – Farm Bureau now believes it’s possible to provide support at the 80-percent revenue level of coverage for all program crops and five fruits and vegetables rather than a more limited group of crops at a lower revenue level – which they originally proposed.

University of Illinois Ag Economist Darrel Good says the wide soybean price swings reflect ever-changing supply and demand expectations. He says much of the strength in soybean prices during the first three months of this year reflected deteriorating production prospects in South America. USDA is currently projecting production in five South American countries at 4.237-billion bushels. Good notes that’s 15.5-percent smaller than the 2011 harvest and 16.4-percent smaller than the December 2011 forecast. Good says some believe the crop is even smaller. An updated estimate will be released next week. Much of the price weakness in recent weeks – according to Good – reflects growing concerns about the U.S. and world economic and financial conditions and the negative implications for commodity demand. Over the next three months – Good says prospects for the 2012 U.S. crop will be a factor that influences prices.

Good says the Prospective Plantings report released in March revealed producer intentions to plant 1.074-million fewer acres than planted last year. USDA will estimate planted and harvested acreage later this month. According to Good – the strong soybean price rally into planting time suggests acreage may exceed intentions. Unless there’s a big difference from intentions – he says the production focus will be primarily on yield prospects.

As for demand – Good says the pace of exports and export sales will be one of the most important price factors as the world adjusts to the small South American crop and troubling economic conditions. He says export commitments for the current year ending August 31 exceed USDA’s projection of 1.315-billion bushels for the year. Good says sales for delivery during the 2012-13 marketing year had reached 393-million bushels as of May 24 – the most ever for this early in the year. With the small South American harvest and the strong pace of export sales – Good says soybean prices will likely be sensitive to U.S. production prospects. He believes substantial price swings are likely to continue – providing producers with opportunities for additional sales of the 2012 crop.