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Groups tell House Ag Committee that USMCA is critical for U.S. Farmers
Farm and food industry leaders told members of the House Agriculture Committee that renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is critical to the future of American agriculture and rural communities. During a hearing on the future of USMCA, representatives from commodity groups, dairy organizations, and the meat industry highlighted the agreement's importance for agricultural exports and market stability. The agreement is scheduled for a formal review beginning July 1. “USMCA has been the gold...
Ag groups urging Congress to pass new farm bill
As the U.S. ag economy continues to spiral downward, over 300 food and farm groups sent a letter to Senate and House leadership asking Congress to pass a new farm bill that would help to slow it. Joe Gilson, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau,...
More dairy included in school nutrition campaign
Making sure that our children have access to healthy food at lunch is something that everyone agrees on. However, that’s about where the agreement ends. How nutrition is provided has become a heated and increasingly political debate over the past decade or more. Many...
La Nina likely to return this fall
The weather has been on the drier side in some parts of the state recently, as regions like western Iowa have seen the return of abnormally dry conditions on the drought monitor. However, this isn’t as big of a problem right now, as the crops are very close to full...
July was a strong month for beef and pork exports
Exports of U.S. beef continued to build momentum in July, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said July beef exports totaled 110,419 metric tons (mt), up 7% from a year ago-...
Farming efficiently and improving yields with PTx
In the spring of 2024 AGCO announced the launch of PTx bringing two of its precision ag entities, Precision Planting and PTx Trimble, together under one umbrella. Seth Crawford is the general manager of PTx and he says that with AGCO’s precision ag offerings from...
SAF coalition submits comments on energy credits and incentives
The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition submitted comments responding to request for stakeholder comments on energy credits and incentives from the House Ways and Means Committee. In its comments, the Coalition underscored the economic benefits associated with SAF...
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Collecting financial data for flower farms
Iowa is no stranger to specialty crop farming, and flowers are one of those specialty crops. Since they can be planted so close together, flowers can offer substantial yields on smaller acreages. However, as it is with many specialty crops, there isn’t a lot of data...
USDA announces more regulatory reforms for Packers and Stockyards Act
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a third installment in regulatory reforms to the Packers and Stockyards Act. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said this third change, in combination with the others, is intended to level the playing field for farmers raising...
Arctic cold and potential cattle concerns
A strong arctic system is expected to settle over much of the United States late this week and into the weekend, creating concerns for livestock producers. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the latest blast of arctic air could bring some of the coldest temperatures...
SCN continuing spread renews focus on the threat
Researchers have been updating the map of known soybean cyst nematode distribution regularly since 2000, and with each update, the threat spreads. The latest update, spearheaded by Greg Tylka, a nematologist from Iowa State University, reveals 31 counties in ten...
John Deere See & Spray™ technology is ready for 2025
It might be the middle of January, but it won’t be too long, and we will be ready to return to the fields for another growing season. One of our main jobs when growing a crop is feeding and protecting those plants. To do that you need to have a sprayer that you can...
