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USMCA renegotiation will likely take years
According to one trade expert at a recent Brookings Institution event, the USMCA renegotiation process will likely take years and extend past the Trump administration. Visiting Fellow Christopher Sands told the crowd at the event that the required six-year review of the 2020 USMCA is about to shift into an annual review process. He says that process will continue for each additional year. The USMCA relies heavily on agriculture with $149 billion in U.S. farm and seafood exports to Canada and...
Secretary Naig announces Sac County water quality project
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has formed a partnership with Sac County and the Sac County Soil and Water Conservation District to launch the first phase of the North Raccoon...
Midwestern states on lookout for corn rootworm
The growing season in the Midwest is going on with a new set of challenges than we faced last year. Well, maybe a new set of challenges isn’t the way we should think about it, but a new combination of familiar challenges. Instead of catastrophic drought, we are seeing...
House Appropriations Committee to markup crucial labor bill
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee is preparing to review a significant funding bill that may benefit farmers and ranchers. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), notes that this...
Previewing Friday’s USDA reports
The July WASDE report will be published on Friday by the USDA and will feature data based on the new supply and demand numbers. The report is released monthly and provides annual forecasts for supply and use of U.S. and world wheat, coarse grains, and oilseeds....
IDALS encouraging cover crop adoption with increased cost share
As more and more farmers adopt cover crop practices, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is offering an increased incentive for both first-time and returning cover crop users through the Water Quality Initiative. Now, first-time users are eligible...
Top scientists defend biofuels in court
Eight of the nation’s top agricultural, biomass, and greenhouse gas lifecycle scientists filed a brief on July 3rd challenging the faulty assumptions underpinning a number of attacks on the Renewable Fuel Standard. The brief was filed in the District Court of Appeals...
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Secretary Naig announces investments in Iowa’s food supply chains
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is investing more than $5.2 million in 24 Iowa projects and other supply chain improvement initiatives through the United States Department of...
November Farm Labor Survey shows wages rising in 2025
The November Farm Labor Survey shows farmworker wages are heading up in 2025. The cost of farm labor is yet another rising supply cost for farmers and ranchers, particularly for farmworkers hired through the H-2A visa program. Samantha Ayoub, an economist for the...
Secretary Naig talks the end of Harvest 2024
As the combines are put away, the tillage is finished, and the fertilizers are being applied, we see the 2024 harvest ending in Iowa. On my travels to Kansas City, I only passed one cornfield still standing. It marks a harvest in which Mother Nature had a rare moment...
Using multiple modes of action against corn rootworm
Corn rootworm is a pest that robs farmers of yields every year. When fighting against it, though, it’s important to make sure that you’re not relying on just one method. Wen Carter, marketing manager with AMVAC, said there was a notable amount of corn rootworm...
USDA reports rising cattle feedlot placements
The key takeaway from the USDA November Cattle on Feed report is that the number of placements into feedlots remains high. That’s USDA livestock analyst Michael McConnell who says that producers placed more cattle into feedlots in October than a year ago with...
