USDA to update status of corn plantings
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Exactly how much the soggy spring has slowed farmers' efforts to plant their corn will become a bit clearer.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday was to issue its latest update on spring plantings.
A week ago, the USDA reported that just 12 percent of the nation's cornfields have been planted. That's about a quarter of what was planted by this date over the previous five years, and it marks the slowest start in decades in some states.
In Illinois, only 7 percent of the Illinois corn crop was sown.
Yet USDA estimates that while the wet start is expected to reduce the amount each acre produces this year, farmers are planting so much corn that they're still likely to bring in a record amount.
Frozen pizza recalled by USDA and FDA
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2013 – Nestlé Pizza Company, a Little Chute, WI establishment, is recalling an undetermined amount of frozen pizzas that may be contaminated with extraneous materials and are the subject of a recall administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FSIS announced today.
The following products are subject to USDA recall:
• California Pizza Kitchen® Limited Edition Grilled Chicken with Cabernet Sauce, UPC 71921 00781; production code is 3059525952.
• DiGiorno® Crispy Flatbread Pizza Tuscan Style Chicken, UPC 71921 02663; production codes are 3057525922 and 3058525921.
Each product package above has an establishment number of P-5754.
In addition, the following products are subject to FDA recall:
• DiGiorno® pizzeria!™ Bianca/White Pizza, UPC 71921 91484; production code is 3068525951.
• California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Crispy Thin Crust White®, UPC 71921 98745; production codes are 3062525951, 3062525952 and 3063525951.
The problem was discovered after the firm received consumer complaints that small fragments of plastic were found in the CPK Crispy Thin Crust White Pizza. The problem was related to the lot of spinach used in the production of three additional varieties of pizza subject to recall. There has been one consumer report of injury thus far (a chipped tooth) associated with consumption of these products. The fragments are of clear, brittle plastic, in irregular triangles, and may have sharp edges.
All the pizzas being recalled were produced between February 26 and March 9 of this year and shipped to retail establishments nationwide.
Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Nestlé USA Consumer Services at 800-456-4394 or nestlepizza@casupport.com for further instructions. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., E.T. and this Saturday, May 4 from Noon to 8 p.m. E.T.
Wet fields keep Illinois corn planting at standstill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois farmers still can't begin planting their corn crops due to muddy fields caused by the heavy rains that inundated the state in recent weeks.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that as of Monday there's been no significant planting done in Illinois because many fields are simply too wet for farmers to get out in them in tractors.
The USDA says just 1 percent of the state's corn crop has been sown. This time last year, three-quarter of the state's cornfields were planted, more than double the five-year average of 36 percent.
Nationwide among key farming states, 4 percent of the corn crop is in the ground, down from 49 percent a year ago at this time.
USDA: Highest corn acreage since 1936 expected
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The USDA reports that farmers intend to plant 97.3 million acres of corn this year, the most since 1936.
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The spring planting survey released Thursday says the 2013 corn planting forecast is up slightly from last year's 97.2 million acres.
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Corn remains profitable, as prices are strong after last year's drought left the grain in short supply.
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Record corn acreage is expected in Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, and Oregon.
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But some Corn Belt states will continue to be affected by the worst drought since the 1950s, with slightly less planted acreage expected.
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The report says farmers plan to plant 77.1 million acres in soybeans, down slightly from 2012's 77.2 million acres but still the fourth-highest soybean planting on record.
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