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South American Weather and Crop Update (2-24-26)
With all of the uncertainty in the U.S. ag marketplace, South America may be positioned to take some global market share back. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the latest weather forecasts look mostly good for their crops. McBride said harvest progress in Brazil is slightly behind, but it’s not enough to raise any concerns. Planting for the safrinha crop is looking great as well. With all of the moving pieces surrounding the U.S. tariff situation, McBride said it’s difficult to...
Don’t hold your breath on a new Farm Bill in 2024
The lines are in the sand and the differences are glaring as we approach what could be one of the greatest exercises in futility the federal government has seen in quite some time. Of course, we are talking about the Farm Bill, which seems to carry all the optimism of...
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...
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Pork industry using research to overcome trade barriers
Recently published research demonstrates how Pork Quality Assurance® Plus on-farm standards and partnerships between national pork organizations and USDA can overcome trade barriers specific to trichina. Courtney Knupp, vice president of international market...
USMEF honoring recipients of two prestigious awards
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) announced the 2024 recipients of its two most prestigious awards, who will be honored Nov. 7th at the USMEF Strategic Planning Conference in Tucson, Arizona. Nick Giordano, the former lead lobbyist for the National Pork...
Seed technology advancements helping growers stay one step ahead
With a very wet start to the growing season followed by an extremely dry and warm finish in August and September, the weather has thrown a lot of curveballs at growers this year. Eric Bartels is a northwest Iowa Beck’s Hybrids agronomist, and he says that advancements...
Distressed agricultural borrowers get $250 million in USDA assistance
The Department of Agriculture announced an additional $250 million in automatic payments for distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. With the assistance more than 4,600 producers across the country will...
Nutrien makes multi-year commitment to FFA
Later this week the National FFA convention will be expected to hit a record attendance in Indianapolis. More than 70,000 students from all over the country are set to assemble to discuss agricultural leadership and gain more insight into leadership training and the...
