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Grain markets monitoring three major headlines
The ag marketplace has been all over the place recently. This week alone saw double-digit moves in both positive and negative directions for corn and soybeans, with both markets finishing the week higher. There are a few major news factors that have led to this heightened volatility. Bill Moore of PRICE Futures Group said there’s a lot of hope that a peace treaty can finally be reached with Iran. Moore said the markets are also anticipating the May WASDE report, which will offer the first good...
A year-end message from Secretary Naig
As we take stock of 2023, there are things to be proud of. There are those moments where we persevered through adversity in weather, trade, markets, and the Federal Government’s lethargy. There are things that the farmers in Iowa can be proud of, like the strides we...
Wrapping up the ag markets at the end of 2023
The final two weeks of the calendar year are always quiet in the ag marketplace, and that was no different this year. Bill Moore, senior account executive with The PRICE Futures Group, said many traders have used the opportunity to even themselves out for the new...
Pork industry facing uncertainty as Prop 12 takes effect in 2024
California’s Prop 12 goes into effect with the new year on January 1. It becomes California state law during a time of already great uncertainty in the pork market. American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson said that’s on top of some already bearish pork...
Finding the benefits of lower nitrogen usage
One of the obvious benefits of lower synthetic nitrogen usage is, of course, lower input costs, but there are environmental benefits as well. Jim Kelly, Director of Business Development with Pivot Bio, said their N-OVATOR program helps to measure that impact and...
Foreign U.S. farmland ownership grows, shrinks for China
Foreign ownership of U.S. farmland grew last year, according to a recent USDA report, but not for a key U.S. adversary. Foreign entities bought nearly 3-and-a-half million acres of U.S. farmland and forest in 2022, up more than eight percent to more than 43 million...
Growing opportunities in the field of precision agriculture
Precision agriculture, just like farming as a whole, has come a long way in recent years and will continue to develop quickly. And as the average U.S. citizen becomes further removed from the farm, modern farm technology might be surprising to a lot of people. Matt...
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Food Bank of Iowa receives generous grant from State Farm
Earlier this week the Food Bank of Iowa received a grant from State Farm to support their goal of mobile food distribution and to help Iowans recover from last month’s tornado outbreak. The funds will provide the equivalent of tens of thousands of nutritious meals,...
Nominations open for FSA local county committees
Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local USDA Farm Service Agency county committees. The committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2024 election must...
Ag producers facing a record trade deficit
The U.S. is facing a record-large agricultural trade deficit in 2024. Betty Resnick, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the deficit has deepened significantly in the last two years. Resnick said there are many challenges contributing to the ag...
Emissions lawsuit against EPA filed on Tuesday
The National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association joined the American Petroleum Institute in filing a lawsuit against the EPA. The suit, filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges...
United Soybean Board is committed to innovation
The secret to keeping the soybean markets strong is no secret. We have to keep driving demand for U.S. soybeans. It is imperative that we not only try to open up more international markets, but we also need to keep finding uses at home. The Soybean Checkoff sustains...
