Top Stories
USDA sets new research priorities for 2026
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced a new slate of research priorities for 2026, focusing on farm profitability, climate resilience and food system innovation. USDA officials said upcoming competitive grants will emphasize soil health, water efficiency, pest and disease control, and technologies that help producers adapt to extreme weather. The priorities also include improving nutrition, food safety and rural economic development. Agriculture officials said the updated...
FDA is on top of HPAI testing in wake of new outbreaks
After a lull in the number of new HPAI outbreaks, we have seen three more dairy herds in California testing positive recently. It does bring the seasonal issue back into focus. The disease seems to flair up with the migration season of birds. As we enter into fall, we...
South American Weather and Crop Update (9-10-24)
Drier conditions are persisting in Brazil as planting begins for the next crop. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the latest weather patterns in South America. While there is some rain forecasted for the southern areas of Brazil, most of the...
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...
Video
More Ag News
USMEF expanding Costco’s sales of U.S. meat in Mexico
In Mexico, Costco is a leading distributor of U.S. beef and pork cuts – not just to everyday shoppers, but also to businesses. With Costco looking to expand its sales of U.S. red meat to foodservice clientele in Mexico, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) recently...
Fish and Wildlife Service proposes ESA listing for monarch butterflies
A new species might be added to the Endangered Species list, with a threatened designation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a proposal to list the Monarch Butterfly. Shelby Hagenaur, senior director of government affairs for the American Farm...
A plan to resume Mexican live cattle imports into the U.S.
The United States-Mexico border was closed for the importation of Mexican cattle into the U.S. in late November, after a case of New World Screwworm was detected in Mexico. Import restrictions on live cattle imported into the U.S. were put in place out of an...
U.S. corn, soy oil exports outdo previous forecasts
The USDA recently had to significantly boost its 2024-2025 export outlooks thanks to better-than-expected export sales for corn and soybeans. Last Tuesday’s WASDE shows record-low stocks to use for U.S. soybean oil. There was also a surprising number in corn ending...
Hemmes reflects on time on United Soybean Board (Part 2)
On Friday, we started talking with April Hemmes, a Hampton, Iowa farmer who had spent the better part of a decade working with the United Soybean Board (USB) and has now stepped down. We talked about the growth she had seen and the improvements made both to innovation...
