Advanced Ag Tech and Blueberries in Oman

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“On the Turnrow” Conversation

More layoffs at Deere plant - Related to the previous entry, and I mentioned tractor sales yesterday, John Deere is laying off a few more people in Iowa.

It’s the first layoffs for them in 2025. Only 3 weeks in. Demand is just lagging fairly badly. Hopefully this turns around.

Agriculturedive

From Oman of all places:

An interesting story from across the earth. The Oman government is trying to diversify its agriculture production with blueberries. The seedlings are coming from Georgia in the United States. 

Anyone who has grown or tried to grow blueberries know they can be a bit fragile - I’ve never been to Oman of course. They seem to believe that being a cooler mountain region blueberries could work. In turn they could have some higher value crops that are sustainable and don’t destroy all their resources. 

This is the kind of thing I am always brainstorming for us over here in the USA. I am always trying to figure out some higher value crops to grow. I haven’t really come up with anything for our climate in West Texas. What interesting crops have y’all tried out there? Let me know.

Hortidaily

News We Are Reading Today

Cotton futures are trading 10 to 23 points in the green so far on Tuesday. The outside markets were mixed factors, as the US dollar index is down 1.403, with crude oil $1.82/barrel lower.  CFTC Commitment of Traders data showed managed money spec traders adding 3,744 contracts to their net short position as of 1/14 at 43,086 contacts.

The Seam reported 66 bales of online sales on January 20 at an average price of 51.52 cents/lb. ICE cotton stocks were unchanged on Monday, at 218 bales of certified stocks. The Cotlook A Index was back up 80 points on 1/20 at 78.05 cents/lb. The USDA Adjusted World Price (AWP) was back down 68 points from the previous week on Thursday afternoon at 53.98 cents/lb. BarChart

Trump Says He Will Designate Mexican Cartels as ‘Terrorist Organizations,’ Vows To ‘Take Back’ Panama Canal The label for cartels could be the first step toward military action

President Donald Trump signaled in his inauguration speech on Monday that he was preparing for confrontations in the Western Hemisphere by vowing to label Mexican cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” and “take back” the Panama Canal.

Trump said in the speech that he would be deploying the military to the southern border with Mexico to “repel the disastrous invasion of our country” and that he would be signing an executive order to designate “the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.”Anti-War

Trump Eyes 25% Tariffs on Canada, Mexico on Feb. 1 President Donald Trump said he may impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as February 1, while promising punitive measures on other countries as part of new US trade policy. Trump rekindled his threat against the two major US trading partners hours after taking the oath of office — accusing them of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the United States. "We're thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada, because they're allowing vast numbers of people — Canada's a very bad abuser also — vast numbers of people to come in, and fentanyl to come in," Trump said Monday in the Oval Office as he signed an array of executive orders. NewsMax

Mental Game

There will probably be a good deal of political news in the near future. Its understandable with the time of year. But sometimes I like to throw in some encouragement, if only because I myself need it.

As I said this section could just as well be for my own edification as anybody else. I often live in fear and doubt. This is clearly not God’s will. We are constantly told not to fear. Just a reminder to keep fear at bay and trust in God.

Justin T. Criswell