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USDA says Iowa near major weather boundary
Weather conditions across the United States continue to show a sharp contrast between wet and dry regions, and USDA Chief Meteorologist Brad Rippey says Iowa is sitting near the center of that dividing line. Speaking during a discussion in Washington, D.C., Rippey said drought conditions still dominate much of the country, even as parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes region have dealt with flooding and severe storms. Rippey, who authors the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor and contributes weather...
Secretary Naig announces expansion for NW Iowa water quality project
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that a successful Water Quality Initiative (WQI) project in Plymouth, Sioux, O’Brien and Cherokee Counties is expanding into a larger territory while beginning a new phase that includes an added focus on...
U.S. Export Sales Report (12-14-23)
This week’s export sales were neutral on the marketplace, but the sales were actually still very good for this time of year in the corn and wheat markets. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the latest export numbers from the USDA. McBride said...
Study shows that U.S. farming is still a family business
Despite cries against so-called “factory farming,” the Farms and Ranches at a Glance Report shows U.S. farming is still a family business. Betty Resnick, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist, said the report is a project of USDA’s Economic Research Service and...
There are more casualties without a Farm Bill
We have spent a lot of time these past few weeks lamenting the fact that a new Farm Bill was not passed, nor are we even close to having a new one. Work started almost two years ago, and thanks to political gridlock, nothing was accomplished. Farmers rely on...
Cattlemen’s Beef Board telling real stories of real producers
The cattle industry is often targeted by activists who seek to ruin it, which is why advocacy is so incredibly important. If we don’t tell our story, someone else will tell their version of it. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is one of the organizations that seeks to...
Proper range and pasture management makes a difference
It is easy to see how range and pasture management could get put on the back burner of a cattle operation. After all, as long as Mother Nature is not in a bad mood, your pasture ground is going to fill out with grasses for forage on its own. However, that only tells a...
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NPPC says House version of the farm bill meets producer needs
The lines have been drawn in Washington D.C. with Republicans asking for more “farm in the farm bill” and Democrats unwilling to budge on shifting funding to farm from food and conservation programs. In late May the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on...
Opportunities increasing for U.S. pork worldwide
One bright spot in the swine industry lately has been the growth and opportunity in the overseas markets. It’s proof that our global pork advocacy efforts are paying off. John Hinners, Senior Vice President of Industry Relations with the U.S. Meat Export Federation,...
U.S. Export Sales Report (6-6-24)
This week’s export sales were status quo once again. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the corn market has now seen seven straight weeks of strong sales. Status quo isn’t great for the soybeans, though, as they continue to struggle with sales. Soybeans...
HPAI detected in an O’Brien county dairy herd
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in O’Brien County, Iowa. Final...
NPPC gives update on African Swine Fever
The World Pork Expo brings topics of pork production to the forefront of producer’s minds. Obviously, while we haven’t heard as much about African Swine Fever, it is still a threat and is an integral part of making sure that the industry and its producers have all the...
