Top Stories
Breaking down the Prospective Plantings and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports
The USDA released both the Prospective Plantings and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports on March 31st. Heading into the day, the markets were anticipating big news from the planting acres, but it seems that there was more to react to in the grain stocks report. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the Prospective Plantings report had a smaller adjustment to the corn acres than most analysts anticipated. McBride said the soybean acres saw a similar adjustment in the opposite direction. Both...
USDA awards grants to farm groups leading environmental efforts
United States Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack was a featured speaker at the Commodity Classic mainstage on Friday March 10th in Orlando Florida. At a time of volatile commodity prices and high input costs, Vilsack says that farmers, ranchers, and producers need to work to...
Red meat exports see growing impact on corn and soybean values
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) leaders recently gathered in Orlando for this year?s Commodity Classic. As a national organization, it?s very important for the USMEF to join in supporting other commodity groups at the annual gathering. USMEF Chair Dean Meyer, who...
New Holland recommends genuine replacement filters on your equipment
With spring planting just around the corner, it is essential to get your equipment fired up and ready to go for another growing season. When getting those tractors ready, don?t forget to run down that complete checklist. Farmers know that proper inflation,...
USDA investing $29 million in more American-made fertilizer production
The USDA announced it received over 350 applications for $3 billion in funding to expand domestic fertilizer production capacity. The applications came from 47 states and two territories for the first two rounds of a new grant program to add innovative domestic...
Farm safety is a year-round effort
The national Ag Safety Awareness Program Week was March 6-10. However it is also a reminder that farm safety is not a one week focus.Megan Schossow, outreach director and center coordinator for the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, says it?s always...
State pork organizations are ?eyes and ears? of the industry
There is a pig in almost every state in the union, but the geographics of how they are raised vary by location. Dr. Brett Kaysen, senior vice president of producer and state engagement for the National Pork Board, said that there are forty-two state pork organizations...
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More Ag News
A new threat to soybeans in the Midwest
A soybean disease that is new to farmers in the central corn belt has been causing issues in soybean fields this growing season. Red crown rot is a fungal disease in soybeans that has attacked southern soybean fields for decades. Unfortunately for midwestern farmers,...
Determining the optimal soybean seeding rate
Honing in on the proper seeding rate for soybeans, according to new numbers and new analysis from our friends at the Iowa Soybean Association. Always helping to improve, that's the goal of Iowa Soybean Association checkoff funded research. Joe McClure, ISA director of...
Secretary Naig raises concerns with Endangered Species Act herbicide strategy
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raising serious concerns about its draft Endangered Species Act draft herbicide strategy. Given Iowa’s national leadership in crop production and the...
Wet weather slowing harvest all over
If you recall, we have basically been dealing with drought for the past two years here in Iowa. It seems now that our state may have been suffering longer than others. That doesn't mean we aren’t getting our rain at all, it’s just that harvest isn’t the most...
Cattle nutrition needs to be specific
While we know nutrition is a cornerstone of well-being for humans and animals, it has a large significance in the life of a cow, from calf to mature adult. Dr. Kevin Dill, director of dairy technical innovation for Purina, said cattle nutrition is not a...
