Top Stories
Scouting now helps manage future rootworms
Corn rootworm larvae are already active in many Iowa fields, but much of the damage they cause remains hidden below the soil surface. Agronomists say that makes scouting and monitoring especially important, even when crops appear healthy above ground. Dan Etter, a Channel technical agronomist in southern Iowa, said rootworm pressure can be easy to overlook because the pest spends much of its life cycle feeding underground. Unlike foliar diseases or other visible crop issues, rootworm damage...
60th annual Cookout Contest highlights Farm Bureau Day at the fair
Today, August 13th, is Farm Bureau Day at the Iowa State Fair, and it’s a beautiful day to stop by Farm Bureau Park. It wasn’t hard to find the park today either, because the Iowa Farm Bureau hosted its 60th annual Cookout Contest, and the smells were carried on the...
U.S. pork preferred by Mexican consumers
Mexico is a leading market for U.S. pork exports. According to Courtney Knupp, Vice President of International Market Development for the National Pork Board, the cultural connection to pork in Mexico is deeply rooted in family gatherings, which often revolve around...
A Teddy Bear of a Super Bull
Teddy Bear is the big bull of the 2024 Iowa State Fair, weighing in at 3,064 pounds and earning the win in the Super Bull Contest. The purebred Simmental bull was the heaviest of the three bulls competing and is now on display at the entrance to the Cattle Barn for...
Weekly crop progress and condition report
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and...
Iowa Turkey celebrating new look and new menu items
The Iowa Turkey Federation Grill has been a go-to destination for hungry fairgoers for over four decades. They have been offering their traditional staples of a smoked turkey leg and a turkey tenderloin sandwich plus mixing in some new foods here and there. This year...
Iowa Dairy royalty wrapping up a year of representing the industry
With their year of service wrapping up this State Fair, we talked with the Iowa Dairy Princess and Iowa Dairy Princess Alternate about their experience. Ashley Elsbernd served as the 70th Iowa Dairy Princess this past year. We spoke to Ashley about her background in...
Video
More Ag News
Be better prepared for pest protection in soybeans
As we prepare and finalize plans for the 2025 crop, we have to start thinking about how we will protect our plants in the fields. So many factors are beyond our control, but crop protection isn’t necessarily one of them. While things may not go according to plan or...
USMCA biotech corn dispute settled in U.S. favor
After almost two years of back and forth between the parties, a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Dispute Settlement Panel recently announced its ruling on a U.S. challenge of Mexico’s ban of U.S. biotech corn imports. In a March 2023 senate hearing, Under Secretary for...
Bird flu driving egg costs higher
Shoppers were buying more eggs to bake Christmas treats ahead of the holiday season at the same time U.S. wholesale egg prices were up 150 percent from last year. Reuters says the average retail price of a dozen eggs surpassed $3.60 in November, $2.50 higher than the...
NPB recaps 2024 for the holidays
As 2024 draws to a close, the National Pork Board wants to take a moment to look back on the work that they Pork Checkoff accomplished this year based on producer priorities. One primary initiative is the 15-member producer-led Board of Directors allocated a large...
Holidays can intensify rural mental health challenges
For the 46 million people living in rural America, the holiday season can present added pressures to an already stressful time of year. In addition to higher rates of depression, suicide rates among people in rural areas are 64 to 68 percent higher compared to people...
