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Yield Winners, Fertilizer Facts and Cattle Rumors

Here are the Top 5 things the DTN Newsroom is tracking for the week of Dec. 10. Watch for coverage of these and other topics through the week on our subscription platforms as well as on www.DTNPF.com.

All times listed below are in Central Standard Time (CST) unless otherwise mentioned.

1. Yield winners announced: Both the National Corn Growers Association and the National Sorghum Producers are expected to announce their annual yield contest winners. Will we see familiar names, or will some new contestants pop in with top yields?

2. Global Fertilizer Outlook: DTN Staff Reporter Russ Quinn continues our deep dive into global fertilizer conditions on the supply and demand side along with what possible wild cards could affect price. His latest piece, on the phosphorus outlook, is here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

3. Cattle market rumors: Late in the past week, rumors flew about reasons for the drop in cattle futures prices while herd size remains historically small. At this writing it appears to be the "X" (formerly known as Twitter) factor -- that is, a remark thrown out into social media that then fed on itself. Ah, social media, we get what we pay for. DTN editors and analysts will look under whatever rocks turn up at the bottom of that stream.

4. Weather cools down: The weekend band of snow near the U.S.-Canada border pushed a cold front south through the Plains and east through the Upper Midwest. Temperatures have dropped some 20 degrees Fahrenheit from the previous week, but still remain mild by December standards through this week, well-above normal across northern zones.

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Trending Video

Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima

Video: Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima


In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate at Iowa State University, explains how soybean meal net energy is evaluated using growth assays and calorimetry. He discusses caloric efficiency, validation under commercial conditions, and differences between controlled and real-world environments. Gustavo also highlights practical implications for diet formulation and ingredient valuation. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Indirect calorimetry provides a precise estimation of ingredient energy, yet validation under production conditions remains essential for accurate application in real systems.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, specializing in swine nutrition, ingredient evaluation, and energy metabolism. With over 15 years of experience across Latin America, his work focuses on soybean meal utilization, caloric efficiency, and applied research for commercial production systems.