for al and cindy, i'm john phipps, saying thank you to u.s. farm report. we'll be working to do even better. [brr, brr, brr] engine starts for the millions living with copd, breathing becomes a real s. copd stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but you may have heard of it as chronic bronchitis or emphysema. over time, it makes it harder and harder to breathe, until you feel like you're breathing through a straw. copd is the fourth-leading cause of death in the us. it kills one person every 4 minutes. and it took my grandmother. an estimated 24 million americans are affected, but as many as half of them don't even know it. it's a race against time to spread the word about this serious disease. if you're over 35 and have ever smoked, you could be at risk. the good news is there are steps you can take to improve your symptoms. i'm danica patrick, and i drive 4 copd. take action today to breathe better tomorrow. join the movement at drive 4 copd dot com, take our screening questionnaire today, and talk to your doctor.

i'm john phipps. be sure and check out my forecast, especially the drought map. if anyone told me in may or june what i would took look today, i would be skeptical. the speed with which extremes follow each other seems to have picked up recently. regardless of the reason, we're beginning to trade reduction weather already. all this means is element volatility will challenge producers. time now for the headlines. here's al pell. >> thank you, john. environmental protection agency has given the green light for vehicles. the gasoline supply can be blended with 15% ethanol. cars built since 2007 can hand it will ethanol content. there's a 15% ethanol that will not harm engine performance. livestock groups have argued against the increase. >> american livestock producers are helping rebuild the beef markets in the former soviet union. in kansas, a hendrickson family is taking part in the similar program. two weeks ago they were asked if they wanted to ship their -- to russia. >> you hear about the global economy and typically our globe is small in eastern kansas. it's

i'm john phipps. if you thought last year green reports, this year report lived up to the same excitement. al will give us the details in just a moment. yes, we can grow a -- crop in the u.s. many of us had become convinced we had corn production figured out. some areas did see some wonderful numbers, but even the most advanced seed machinery could not overcome the weather thrown at us. we're building a game plan to handle years like this better. funny how high prices can inspire such dedication. here's al pell. >> in the sequel to last week's surprising grain stocks report, the usda added more stunning reports. average corn yield was dropped a breathtaking 6.7-bushels per acre. production is pegged at 12.7 billion-bushels and for beans the market was expecting slightly higher yields. still, a record but below last month. now, adding up all the changes and production used to carry out corn was moved below the psychological $1 million-bushel number. both numbers were sharply below analysts expectations

i'm john phipps. i think we can talk at the round table about the grain stocks report. normally this check is not a headline grabber, but this week the corn counters found a few bins of old crop corn that nobody knew were there. in fact, they reported a $350 million-bushels than the trade expected. linda smith has an excellent interview. he was noticeably defensive. confidence is reports is eroding. such indifference could be a liability. time now for the headlines. here's al pell. >> thanks, john. 2009 was a miserable harvest season on many farms, but 2010 is shaping up to be a much different story. let's begin with corn. 27% of the crop had been harvested, up 9 points from the week before and 0 points ahead of last year's pace. growers in indiana and kentucky are leading the charge. at the same time ticking is just getting going in minnesota, iowa and wisconsin. soybean is moving ahead also. up four points from the week before. southern states are reporting significant progress. harvest season is al