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Naig urges Senate action on Farm Bill
The House has passed its version of the Farm Bill, but Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the focus now turns to the Senate, where the legislation could face a much more difficult path forward. Naig said House passage was an important step toward giving farmers more certainty during a period of tight margins and ongoing economic stress. He said the legislation still sends an important signal that Congress recognizes the financial challenges facing agriculture right now. Naig said the...
Bullish Cattle on Feed report creates market optimism
Just before the Memorial Day Weekend, the livestock markets got some homework in the form of the latest Cattle on Feed report. There was plenty of time for the markets to digest the neutral numbers, and today both live and feeder cattle climbed higher. Even though the...
Biobased products key to the future of agriculture
Biobased products, including fuels, lubricants, construction materials, and more are the future, and were the subject of several House farm bill amendments last week. Iowa’s Zach Nunn offered and withdrew his biobased products amendment after Chair Glenn Thompson...
Determining the profitability of cover crops on livestock operations
A recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service studied whether incorporating cover crops into livestock systems is more profitable than livestock operations that do not use cover crops. Maria Bowman, research ag economist with...
Looking at the volatility in cattle
Last week the U.S. Meat Export Federation held their annual meeting in Kansas City, MO. It came when livestock markets were in a state of heavy fluctuations. The Cattle market is seeing a little more of the volatility than the hogs are. There have been some erratic...
Livestock groups welcome farm bill markup
Livestock groups welcomed the House Agriculture Committee's action to markup the Farm Bill. The National Pork Producers Council says the bill supports all pork producer's farm bill requests, including a federal fix to the host of Prop. 12 issues plaguing producers and...
Red meat industry holds optimistic outlook for 2024
The U.S. red meat industry gathered in Kansas City last week for the annual U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Spring Conference. USMEF Chair Randy Spronk sensed optimism among attendees for the remainder of 2024. Spronk stressed the need for an equal playing field...
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Pork industry using research to overcome trade barriers
Recently published research demonstrates how Pork Quality Assurance® Plus on-farm standards and partnerships between national pork organizations and USDA can overcome trade barriers specific to trichina. Courtney Knupp, vice president of international market...
USMEF honoring recipients of two prestigious awards
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) announced the 2024 recipients of its two most prestigious awards, who will be honored Nov. 7th at the USMEF Strategic Planning Conference in Tucson, Arizona. Nick Giordano, the former lead lobbyist for the National Pork...
Seed technology advancements helping growers stay one step ahead
With a very wet start to the growing season followed by an extremely dry and warm finish in August and September, the weather has thrown a lot of curveballs at growers this year. Eric Bartels is a northwest Iowa Beck’s Hybrids agronomist, and he says that advancements...
Distressed agricultural borrowers get $250 million in USDA assistance
The Department of Agriculture announced an additional $250 million in automatic payments for distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. With the assistance more than 4,600 producers across the country will...
Nutrien makes multi-year commitment to FFA
Later this week the National FFA convention will be expected to hit a record attendance in Indianapolis. More than 70,000 students from all over the country are set to assemble to discuss agricultural leadership and gain more insight into leadership training and the...
