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South American Weather and Crop Update (6-9-26)
While drier conditions still remain in South America, recent rainfall has caused a notable improvement. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the latest forecasts for Brazil and Argentina. Currently, farmers in Brazil just wrapped up first crop corn harvest and are waiting to start on the safrinha crop. McBride said harvest is almost finished for the crops in Argentina as well. Here in the U.S., the grain markets are looking ahead to this month’s WASDE report, which will...
Secretary Naig announces availability of crop insurance discount program
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will once again offer its Crop Insurance Discount Program for acres that are planted with cover crops. Farmers and landowners who plant cover crops...
Grassley sees lame duck farm bill as unlikely
Prospects for a lame duck farm bill don’t look much better than those before the November elections, according to ag lawmakers and lobbyists. September will be full of debate over simply keeping the government funded. Congress returns after the elections for two weeks...
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-...
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More Ag News
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...
