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Grassley says farm bill markup possible next week even without McConnell
United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says that the Senate Ag Committee could still mark up a farm bill next week before the August recess without sidelined Mitch McConnell and a GOP majority. Senator Grassley says Ag Chair John Boozman still hopes to take up the farm bill in the final week before a five-week recess, despite Senator McConnell not yet medically cleared to return. At the same time Grassley says that building a bipartisan majority for the farm bill is more difficult than in...
Fertilizer decisions for 2026 crop will be a balancing act
Fertilizer prices aren’t at historic highs, but relative to last year’s prices and the current prices for crop commodities, they are elevated. According to data from USDA and analysis by University of Illinois Farmdoc, fertilizer prices in the state are 6% to 20%...
USMEF Heartland team reviews market investments in Korea
A team of producers representing the pork, beef, corn and soybean industries visited Korea last week to see first-hand the investments the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is making in the market. Korea is the leading export market for U.S. beef, with purchases...
Rollins: Mexico cooperation key to screwworm defense
The New World screwworm has not entered U.S. herds, but the threat has officials on guard. The parasite can devastate livestock, particularly cattle, and poses risks to any mammal. A recent case in a U.S. traveler returning from El Salvador underscored that danger....
September WASDE leaves analysts scratching their heads
This month’s WASDE report was not as friendly as projected, but the markets still moved higher to end the week. A few factors, including the recent end of the old crop marketing year, may be influencing the markets in confusing directions. Allendale commodity broker...
Secretary Rollins on new dietary guidelines, updated MAHA Report
Sound, simple and clear. That’s how Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins describes the roll out of the national dietary guidelines while previewing their content. The dietary guidelines will follow recommendations by the MAHA Commission which Rollins is a member of. Commodity...
Fertilizer prices climbing higher once again
Fertilizer prices appear to be on the rise again. While they have not hit the record high they reached in 2022, Faith Parum, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said some products, like phosphates, are climbing higher. Parum said there are two main...
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Governor Reynolds, ISU, and BioMADE break ground on new $40M biomanufacturing facility
Today, BioMADE, the State of Iowa, Iowa State University (ISU), and Iowa State University Research Park celebrated the groundbreaking of a new pilot-scale bioindustrial manufacturing facility near Ames, Iowa. Scheduled to open in 2027, the 15,000 sq. ft. multi-user...
Flash sale data shows that China has not made big U.S. purchases yet
Last Friday was the first WASDE report since the end of the government shutdown. While the markets have already from recovered from that report, there is still plenty of information that was released that the markets will continue to look at. Allendale commodity...
What to expect from La Nina weather pattern this winter
It has been over a month since the National Weather Service officially declared the La Nina weather pattern for North America this winter. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says a La Nina winter has been the norm in recent years. Rippey describes the winter weather that...
Jay Theiler of Agri Beef Company elected chair of USMEF
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) concluded its Strategic Planning Conference in Indianapolis Friday with election of new officers. Chairing USMEF for the 2025-26 term is Jay Theiler, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Agri Beef Company in Boise,...
Naig: USDA is back and Iowans stayed committed
The federal government is back open following the longest shutdown in United States history. Congress reached an agreement late last week, the President signed it, and agencies have been working their way back to normal ever since. USDA entered the restart period in a...
