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Smithfield Foods awards 12 Impact Grants nationwide
Smithfield Foods has awarded more than $280,000 in Impact Grant funding to 12 nonprofit organizations working to strengthen communities where Smithfield employees live and work. These grants build on the more than $24 million Smithfield invested in 2025 to strengthen communities nationwide, including donating more than 16 million servings of protein to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. “Through our Impact Grant Program, we are proud to partner with local organizations that are addressing...
Silver linings to rainy weather planting delays
As we finish up the 200th consecutive week of drought in Iowa, there’s actually some hope to be found, as the drought conditions are very much trending in the right direction. The recent storms have dumped off plentiful amounts of rainfall for the soils across the...
The latest tool to help growers battle SCN
If you are a soybean grower in the Midwest you are well aware of the threat of soybean cyst nematode or SCN. The yield robbing pest is responsible for $1.5 billion dollars in loss annually. To give growers another tool to help fight SCN, BASF has developed a new...
U.S. Export Sales Report (5-2-24)
Despite an exciting day in the grain markets, export sales were very mild this week. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said corn and beans came within estimates. Corn sales are only slightly behind the 5-year average, but McBride said beans are far enough behind...
The 2024 Iowa’s best burger announced
From cheese curds to chip dust, burgers as big as dinner plates to multiple patty burgers, fresh veggies to cheeses, and sauces to spreads, this year’s Top 10 Iowa’s Best Burger restaurants had it all! However, only one can claim the title of Iowa’s Best Burger in...
Ag Committees release previews of Farm Bill
Yesterday, while the NAFB attended Washington Watch, House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson released a framework for the House Version of the Farm Bill, and Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman released the full Senate version. Both addressed the NAFB members in attendance...
EPA’s Regan Defends WOTUS Implementation
Regulatory overreach was a topic of debate in Washington D.C. this week regarding EPA and the implementation of the new WOTUS rule. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan told a House panel that the EPA is working in tandem with the Army Corps of...
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More Ag News
Quarterly Grain Stocks report didn’t make much of an impact
The grain markets were positioned for an impactful Quarterly Grain Stocks report, but what we got today was simply a neutral and slightly positive report. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the corn numbers were friendly to the marketplace. McBride said the...
Partisan gridlock and the election could again delay farm, ag spending bills
Partisan gridlock and fallout from the November election could again force Congress to postpone key decisions for agriculture into 2025. It’s not just the farm bill, but USDA and other spending bills are also stuck in months of political gridlock in a narrowly divided...
Coastal port strike will have a big impact on meat and livestock industries
Longshoremen at ports along the East and Gulf Coasts are set to strike when their current labor contract expires at midnight tonight. U.S. Meat Export Federation Vice President for Economic Analysis Erin Borror said a shutdown will have a significant economic impact...
Veterinarian shortage reaching crisis level
Veterinarian shortages are not new. Anyone who ever needed a vet in the middle of the night will tell you that. And any rural vet called in the middle of the night will agree. What is new is the realization that it is about to get worse. “If our veterinary workforce...
Secretary Naig excited for the harvest season
Harvest is well underway here in Iowa. Farmers are hitting the fields and getting the crops out while the weather is extremely cooperative. With no real rains in the forecast and warmer temperatures; it should hopefully make for a smooth harvest season. We know when...
