Top Stories
NWS cases less than 100 miles from U.S. border
There are over 1,800 active cases of the New World Screwworm in Mexico, and 15 of those cases are now less than 100 miles from the U.S. border. Rear Admiral Michael Schroyer, the associate administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, says that sterile screwworm flies are strategically being placed in areas where they are needed the most. Schmoyer is also the Director of the New World Screwworm Directorate and he says that predictive models are being used to try and project...
Naig looks back at 2023 & ahead to 2024
It has become almost cliché to say that the year that is ending, has been a “strange one.” Ever since the Chinese Trade War, we have been saying that in agriculture. We were just fortunate to have the pandemic fall in 2020, and it gave us a reason to say that the...
Making “cents” of soil health practices
We all know that soil health practices make sense from a conservation perspective, but do they also make “cents” (or dollars) from a financial point of view? This will be one of many topics of discussion at the Practical Farmers of Iowa 2024 Annual Conference, which...
2024 will be a big year for dairy policy
Many opportunities for change and improvement in U.S. dairy policy have been delayed until 2024 or are in the formal rulemaking process. Danny Munch, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the farm bill extension has delayed work on some of the...
U.S. Pork certified as compliant with animal welfare standards
Pork Quality Assurance® Plus (PQA Plus®) version 5.0, PQA Plus Site Assessment version 5.0, and Transport Quality Assurance® (TQA®) version 8 have been certified to be I-S-O, or International Organization for Standardization, compliant with international animal...
Ag groups pleased with rail re-opening
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reopened the Eagle Pass and El Paso rail crossings into Mexico. Ag groups like the National Corn Growers Association were happy with the move but cautioned the agency against making similar decisions in the future. “This is...
ASA watching issues on the horizon for 2024 (Part 2)
Yesterday, we began a discussion with the American Soybean Association (ASA) about some of the things they are watching on the horizon for producers in 2024. We focused mainly on where things are sitting with the Farm Bill. While that is a very important piece of...
Video
More Ag News
Food Bank of Iowa receives generous grant from State Farm
Earlier this week the Food Bank of Iowa received a grant from State Farm to support their goal of mobile food distribution and to help Iowans recover from last month’s tornado outbreak. The funds will provide the equivalent of tens of thousands of nutritious meals,...
Nominations open for FSA local county committees
Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local USDA Farm Service Agency county committees. The committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2024 election must...
Ag producers facing a record trade deficit
The U.S. is facing a record-large agricultural trade deficit in 2024. Betty Resnick, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the deficit has deepened significantly in the last two years. Resnick said there are many challenges contributing to the ag...
Emissions lawsuit against EPA filed on Tuesday
The National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association joined the American Petroleum Institute in filing a lawsuit against the EPA. The suit, filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges...
United Soybean Board is committed to innovation
The secret to keeping the soybean markets strong is no secret. We have to keep driving demand for U.S. soybeans. It is imperative that we not only try to open up more international markets, but we also need to keep finding uses at home. The Soybean Checkoff sustains...
