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Boozman defends excluding Prop 12 from farm bill
Senate Ag Chair John Boozman shares reasons for his decision not to limit the out-of-state reach of California’s Prop 12 restriction on extreme animal confinement in his farm bill draft. Boozman says although Republicans are ready to vote to restrict California’s animal confinement standards, the same can’t be said about Democrats. For Bozeman, without Democrats' votes, there is not much that can be done. He concludes with what is needed for something concrete to happen. California represents...
Early season weed control in corn
Having clean fields as corn plants emerge will get the crop off to the best possible start. Phil Krieg, an agronomy service representative with Syngenta, says early-season weeds fundamentally alter corn growth from the very beginning of the growing season. Krieg...
Expanding the reach of the National FFA Organization
FFA alum Aaron Wetzel recently took over as the 2025 Chairman of the National FFA Sponsors’ Board. Wetzel is the Vice President of Production and Precision Agriculture with John Deere, where he’s spent over 35 years. Wetzel said technological curiosity will be a big...
Farm sector profits to grow in 2025
USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts inflation-adjusted U.S. net cash farm income, defined as gross cash income minus cash expenses, to increase by $30.6 billion from 2024 to $193.7 billion in 2025. U.S. net farm income, a broader measure of farm sector...
Iowa cannot take foot off the pedal pushing for year-round E15
Iowa has led the way in securing year-round access to E-15 for eight midwestern states, but the fight isn’t over—we must continue pushing to make it permanent nationwide. Expanding E-15 access across the country strengthens our rural economy, lowers fuel costs, and...
U.S. Export Sales Report (2-6-25)
While the export sales were once again within the range of estimates, they are trending lower, and it will be tough for them to gain back much ground. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the latest numbers from the USDA. McBride said there were...
Super Bowl snacks brought to you by farmers and ranchers
With the Super Bowl approaching this weekend, it’s important to remember how our favorite gameday snacks will put dollars back into the pockets of U.S. farmers. In fact, the National Chicken Council estimates that 1.47 billion chicken wings will be eaten on Sunday...
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More Ag News
Naig outlines ag priorities, skips governor race
Since Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced last month that she would not seek reelection, speculation about her potential successors has quickly intensified, particularly within the Republican Party. The field is already starting to take shape, with 4th District U.S....
Using adjuvants to optimize herbicide activity
On Monday the state of Iowa was hit with widespread thunderstorms that delivered considerable rainfall to large swaths of the state. Before the storms however, a one-to-two-week window of favorable weather conditions allowed growers to get a lot of seed in the ground...
Thunderstorms make summertime precipitation difficult to predict
Most of the crops in Iowa are in the ground at this point, so many farmers are keeping a close eye on the weather and praying for some “million-dollar rain.” To get a clearer picture of what the large-scale weather patterns will look like in the U.S., many analysts...
South American Weather and Crop Update (5-20-25)
Parts of South America recently received some rain, but now there are concerns about water damage since they almost received too much rain. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the upcoming forecast is looking to be drier for the bulk of Brazil and Argentina...
NASS releases 2024 county corn and soybean yields
The National Agricultural Statistics Service released the 2024 county yield estimates for corn and soybeans. Following typical patterns, corn and soybean yields were highest in the Midwest Corn Belt region and south into the Mississippi Delta. Counties with yields...
