Top Stories
Dairy leaders push for ag labor reform on Capitol Hill
Dairy farmers from across the country took their message to Capitol Hill this week, urging lawmakers to advance agricultural labor reform and other key dairy priorities. More than three dozen advocates participated in the National Milk Producers Federation's State Dairy Association Summit, holding about 50 meetings with members of Congress and their staffs. A top priority was the Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act, introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson. The...
Nomination deadline for the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award extended to May 19
Iowans seeking to nominate individuals or families who are conservation leaders in their community for the 2025 Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award now have two additional weeks to complete and submit the application. The nomination deadline for the prestigious...
Fast start, sudden stop: Spring in 2025
The 2025 Spring Planting Season kicked off at full throttle, with tractors humming and seeds hitting the soil in a race against time. But just as quickly as it began, Mother Nature threw a wrench in the works, bringing rain, wind, and cool temperatures that brought...
Cercospora leaf blight poses a heightened challenge for soybean farmers
As planting season continues and the 2025 crop season gets fully underway, it’s important for farmers to be aware of the diseases that can impact their crops and limit yields. Last year, the top yield-limiting foliar disease for soybeans was Cercospora leaf blight...
National Farmers Union hosting a week of action
The National Farmers Union is hosting a Week of Action May 5th-9th, 2025. Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, says that farmers are dealing with too much uncertainty and are in desperate need of a new five-year farm bill. Larew says that America’s...
U.S. ag groups react to EPA strategy
The EPA released an updated draft Insecticide Strategy, and U.S. agriculture groups and supporters reacted to the news. “EPA’s numerous pragmatic improvements to the draft Insecticide Strategy have created a final strategy that can be better implemented by applicators...
Chinese government urging other countries to oppose U.S. tariffs
China and the U.S. have officially drawn lines in the sand regarding trade and tariffs. China seems to be digging in for the long term and looking for allies. Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX, said the Chinese government released a video this...
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Hot and humid conditions and the impact on agriculture
This week in Iowa has been hot, humid, and wet with frequent rainfall and humidity that has stressed humans and livestock. Iowa is not alone as the United States has featured wide swaths of similar weather. The extremes of the hot and humid weather have been felt in...
Smallest U.S. cattle herd since 1973
The July Cattle on Feed Report offered little relief to customers paying higher prices for beef. That’s despite the cycle of herd liquidation that seems to be slowly ending. There were 94.2 million cattle and calves in the U.S. as of July 1, the lowest mid-year number...
Iowa farmers urged to keep tar spot from ruining bumper crop
Iowa has received plenty of rain recently, and the temperatures have finally cooled off as well. On top of that, we’re looking at one of the biggest crops in recent history. Southwest Iowa Beck’s Agronomist Nate Meyer said he’s not sure that he’s ever seen such a big...
South American Weather and Crop Update (7-30-25)
The weather in South America has still not changed much, with farmers in Brazil and Argentina seeing mostly clear and dry conditions. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said there are scattered rain showers, but otherwise the weather remains status quo. The dry...
Basis matters now, say Midwest ag economists
Tight corn supplies might normally trigger a rally in the market, but so far, that hasn’t been the case. Despite strong demand and dwindling stocks, futures prices have stayed relatively steady. That’s because—while the numbers show a squeeze—markets may be confident...
