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Plenty of uncertainty in ag economy heading into 2025
2024 has been challenging for farmers and the agricultural sector. Dave Widmar, economist and managing partner with Agricultural Economic Insights, said 2024 has been full of twists and turns. Widmar said there have also been changes in the overall U.S. economy. While lower interest rates are a good thing, Widmar said it’ll take a while before the ag economy notices an economic impact. For more insights, go to aei.ag.
International buyers already preparing for next week’s election
Theoretically, in eight days it should all be over. Of course, I am talking about the current election cycle. We should soon know who our representatives will be in Washington and Des Moines, and we should hopefully know who the new President will be as well. I say...
Rain is slowly returning to relieve dry soils
As harvest continues across the state, there’s been very little relief from the excessively dry weather. In fact, the drought monitor has only continued to expand in more areas. Justin Glisan, state climatologist for Iowa, said that, while the weather has been good...
Getting to know pork consumers and their buying habits
The National Pork Board’s consumer segmentation study divided consumers into seven different groups based on their consumption priorities for pork. Patrick Fleming, vice president of demand development for the National Pork Board, says as the name implies, the Tasty...
A “fast and furious” harvest season
It has been a “fast and furious” corn and soybean harvest this fall, that’s according to USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey. Warm and dry conditions have given farmers good conditions for fieldwork which has led to a quick harvest pace, says Rippey. Rippey says the...
Mississippi River system levels dropping
For the third year in a row, the Mississippi River is experiencing low water levels during harvest season. In the spring and early summer, precipitation and water levels were quite robust. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, says...
Talking precision Ag with CASE-IH
The precision agriculture space is growing exponentially as the years go by. Equipment companies are constantly increasing the capacity of what we can do in the field. Technology is allowing us to reduce input costs and maximize what we can get out of our acres while...
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Benson Hill unveils updated website made with farmers in mind
In the effort to tell the company’s new brand story, Benson Hill has updated and enhanced its website. The changes now showcase how Benson Hill’s seed innovations are driving a more sustainable future for feed, food, and fuel markets. Rich LaBonte, vice president of...
Marketing pork to the confident meat eater
The National Pork Board completed a sophisticated segmentation study of U.S. consumers to learn their priorities to connect with them emotionally. David Newman, vice president of market growth for NPB, said the Confident Meat Eaters, one of the seven consumer...
Iowa Ag Secretary Naig discusses Pure Prairie Poultry situation
Earlier in the month we learned of the situation surrounding the Pure Prairie Poultry company and the financial woes leading to producers not having feed for the birds and lacking the payments they were supposed to receive. The Iowa Department of Agriculture &...
October cattle report shows strong demand for cattle and beef
Last Friday’s Cattle on Feed report confirms a strong demand for cattle and beef says USDA economist, Michael McConnell. September placements into feedlots of 2.16 million head is down 2% from a year ago. Marketings out of feedlots were up 2% leaving feedlots October...
Forty percent of farmers work off the farm
The 2022 Census of Agriculture showed about 40 percent of American farmers worked 200 or more days off the farm in 2022. The majority, 93 percent, of the 3,078 U.S. counties for which data was reported had at least 30 percent of producers working 200 or more days off...