Did you miss some agricultural news this week? No need to worry – here are some of the week’s top headlines to fill you in.

The search for spare parts

Finding replacement or spare parts during critical planting season may no longer be simple, easy and fast. When your local dealer can’t find the parts, it’s time to get creative. Follow these tips to avoid downtime during spring planting. – Farm Futures

Manure supplies run short

Facing a global shortage of commercial fertilizers made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more U.S. growers are looking to get their hands on animal manure. Not only are more U.S. farmers hunting manure supplies for this spring planting season, some cattle feeders that sell waste are sold out through the end of the year, according to industry consultant Allen Kampschnieder. – Reuters

E15 available this summer?

As gas prices across the country hit historic highs, higher blends like E15 have been selling for, in some instances, more than 50 cents cheaper per gallon. USDA Secretary Vilsack and EPA Administrator Reagan are having discussions on allowing E15 past the current June 1 cutoff date to help alleviate gasoline prices. – Farm Futures

Time to tissue sample

Perhaps you don’t see much value in tissue sampling. Why should you start, especially this year when input prices remain high? Make sure your nutrient dollars are paying off at the right place at the right time. Betsy Bower shares three examples that illustrate where tissue sampling can provide valuable insights. – Indiana Prairie Farmer

U.S. farmers plant more sunflowers

U.S. farmers may plant twice as many additional acres with sunflowers as the government forecast, according to a trade group, with prices soaring in the wake of Russia’s war with Ukraine. The commodity used in everything from potato chips and frying food to bird feed and shampoo could see a massive supply shortfall. – Bloomberg

Bird flu vaccine in development

Adel Talaat, a professor of microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is in the process of developing a vaccine that would offer domestic birds protection from current and future strains of the avian influenza virus. Though Talaat’s vaccine is not yet available for commercial use, he hopes it will help protect flocks from future outbreaks of avian influenza. – UW-Madison

Feedback from the Field returns for 2022!

Keeping up with crop conditions and development across the country can be challenging as planting season nears, but Farm Futures is here to help. Our Feedback from the Field series is back for another year to help farmers across the country share their views on the 2022 growing season.

Just click this link to take the survey and share updates about your farm’s spring progress. I review and upload results daily to the FFTF Google MyMap, so farmers can see others’ responses from across the country – or even across the county! – Farm Futures