The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a farmer's replanting of harvested Roundup Ready© soybeans violates Monsanto Company's patent rights. 

The ruling leaves in place a former court award of $84,456 against farmer Vernon Bowman for planting and harvesting the soybeans, which he had purchased as commodity beans from a local grain elevator or saved from his prior harvests.

Relying on the theory of "patent exhaustion," Bowman argued that Monsanto's patent rights exhausted after the first sale of the seed and did not apply to later uses or sales. 

Bruce Nelson, state executive director for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Montana, announced that Agriculture Secretary Vilsack declared four Montana counties as primary disaster areas and nine as contiguous disaster areas due to disaster designations authorized in Montana and South Dakota.

Farmers who want to be counted and help determine the future of farming in America have until May 31 to respond to the 2012 Census of Agriculture. The USDA has already received more than 2 million completed Census forms.

Soucy International Inc. announced the launch of a brand new product in its line of Soucy Track agricultural track systems: the S-TECH 800, designed for high-power tractors.

The new features include a completely revamped design.

Harvest at the right moisture, pack well and seal tightly.

Those were key tips from Brian Holmes, Ph.D., for corn silage growers attending the recent Silage Pit School in Turlock, California.