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2025 Iowa Beef Quality Assurance awards
The Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC) celebrated four outstanding Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) award recipients during the 2025 Iowa Cattle Industry Convention, held Tuesday, December 16, at the Prairie Meadows Convention Center. The awards ceremony recognized cattle producers and industry leaders who exemplify excellence in cattle care, stewardship, and continuous improvement through their commitment to BQA principles. For more than three decades, Beef Quality Assurance has been a flagship...
World Pork Expo holds first Youth Issues Contest
At this year’s World Pork Expo, the National Pork Producers Council launched their inaugural Young Pork Advocates Issues Meet. This competitive speaking event is aimed at young people aged 17-22 to help explore issues facing the pork industry. We talked with three of...
Grassley discusses farm bill framework from Senate Ag Republicans
This week Senator John Boozman (R-AR), the ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee, unveiled the Senate Republican-drafted framework of the farm bill. Republicans have been stating for months that there should be more “farm in the farm bill.” Senate Ag committee...
Reflecting on the outstanding “Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon” campaign
A marketing initiative by the Iowa Pork Producers Association went viral last football season, encouraging consumers to purchase more ham and bacon through a clever name association. Kevin Hall, Iowa Pork Producers Association Communications Director, said the idea...
Uneventful June WASDE provides little market support
We weren’t expecting much from this month’s WASDE report, and those expectations turned out to be correct. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said this was a very neutral report. However, McBride said that this neutral report does not change the issues we’ll face...
Ag stakeholders react to Republican farm bill framework
Several key agricultural groups and stakeholders issued responses to the Senate Ag Committee Republicans’ farm bill framework. Gregg Doud, President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, calls it a strong framework that marks another important step in...
NPPC is working globally to keep animals safe and trade moving
Earlier this week, we started a conversation with National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) VP of Government Affairs Maria Zieba. We discussed why it is important to have an international coalition to collaborate on finding solutions to foreign animal disease (FAD)...
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South American Weather and Crop Update (10-1-24)
Monsoon season will be starting soon in Brazil, which means they will finally get some much-needed rains. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the upcoming forecast in South America. The longer-term forecast is much the same. McBride added that...
Farmers are already feeling the impact of the expired farm bill
With no new farm bill in place after the 2018 farm bill deadline passed, there are already impacts on U.S. farmers and ranchers. Sam Kieffer, vice president of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation, outlined some of the programs that went away. Keiffer...
How has U.S. ag trade evolved in the last 100 years?
A lot has changed in the United States ag trade over the last century. USDA senior economist Sharon Sydow at this year’s ag outlook forum explains where the U.S. ag economy was 100 years ago. Price volatility, foreclosures, and high land values were all thorns in the...
U.S. hog inventory up slightly
The U.S. inventory of hogs and pigs on September 1, 2024, totaled 76.5 million head, up slightly from September 1, 2023, and two percent higher than June 1, 2024. Breeding inventory, at 6.04 million head, was down two percent from last year, but up one percent from...
Rural North Carolina reeling after Hurricane Helene
We are no stranger to storm damage in the Midwest. Hail, tornados, and derechos can wreak havoc on our acres. But for everything we deal with, except for the 2020 derecho, it is nothing compared to the strength of a hurricane. The Southeastern part of the country is...
