Top Stories
U.S. dairy industry hoping to see USMCA renewal
U.S. agriculture groups are watching the pending negotiations between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada as the countries work on renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Tony Rice, the director of trade policy for the National Milk Producers Federation, said the USMCA is very important for the dairy industry and U.S. dairy exports. Rice said the Federation supports the continuation of USMCA, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, starting with U.S. dairy access to Canada. Rice said...
USDA proposes to remove flavored milk from schools
Last week, we discussed how the USDA proposes cutting the amount of dairy and milk provided under the WIC program. However, the proposals on dairy do not end there. You may not want to hear this for those school-aged kids, but the USDA is now proposing that chocolate...
Another record year for farm exports
The American agriculture sector posted its best export year ever in 2022. USDA says international sales of America?s farm and food products reached $196 billion. Final trade data from the U.S. Commerce Department showed U.S. ag exports increased 11 percent, or $19.5...
U.S. beef exports set annual records as pork finishes strong
U.S. beef exports set annual records for both volume and value in 2022, according to year-end data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Pork exports finished lower year-over-year, but export value was the third largest on record,...
Tractor rollovers remain leading cause of fatalities in U.S. agriculture
There have been an untold number of advancements made in agricultural safety since farming first began in the United States. However, tractor rollovers remain a danger in agriculture despite safety measures available that can prevent injuries from tractor...
Senators reintroduce bill to defend cattle producers
Senators Jon Tester, Chuck Grassley, and Mike Rounds reintroduced their ?Meat Packing Special Investigator Act? to fight consolidation and enforce the national anti-trust laws. The bill would create the ?Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters?...
America will be eating a lot of chicken wings during the Super Bowl
While Chiefs and Eagles fans fight this weekend over who has the better team, the rest of the country will watch over a plate of chicken wings- 1.45 billion of them, according to projections released by the National Chicken Council (NCC). That's an average of four...
Video
More Ag News
U.S. pork rebounds impressively in Taiwan
Trade tensions related to ractopamine use have impacted U.S. pork exports to Taiwan for many years. But the issue reached a boiling point in 2021 when Taiwan announced that it would depart from its zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine and begin accepting imports...
Farmers don’t need added uncertainty from government shutdown
With the potential of a government shutdown looming, funding concerns are rampant throughout the government and in the agriculture sector. The United States Congress is currently working on a spending bill which if not agreed upon, would bring a partial government...
Iowa local food day connects students to farmers
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig celebrated Iowa Local Food Day today by serving locally-sourced school lunches to hundreds of elementary students at Meadowview School in the ADM School District (Adel – De Soto – Minburn). Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has...
Heart failure cases increasing in feedlot cattle
Animal health is always an issue for farmers. I remember growing up in on our family hog farm. As soon as one hog would start coughing, it would spread rather quickly. That meant vet checkups and feed-added medicine to help the animals shake the virus or other...
Food Bank of Iowa receives massive donation from Smithfield Foods and Hy-Vee
Smithfield Foods and Hy-Vee partnered together to donate several tons of food- over 100,000 servings- to the Food Bank of Iowa on Tuesday. The donation will provide high-quality protein to people in 55 Iowa counties who are struggling with food insecurity. Michelle...
