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Soy, Corn Markets Back Looking to South America

Following a bounce in the wake of a mostly bullish USDA supply-demand update last week, Chicago corn and soybean futures have quickly refocused on South American growing conditions. 

“The primary thing right now is South American weather,” said market analyst Tom Lilja of Progressive Ag in Fargo, North Dakota.  

Near-term forecasts call for more heat and dryness in drought-plagued Argentina, although the longer-term outlook is for wetter conditions. The weather in Brazil has more favourable throughout the 2022-23 growing season, although southern areas are still trending drier while the early harvest in the country’s central region is being interrupted by rain. 

“Argentina does continue to be the biggest concern amongst the trade,” said Lilja, noting that production estimates out of the country continue to be revised lower. 

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Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

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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.