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Farm Bureau leader sounds alarm on fertilizer prices
As planting season is in full swing across the country, fertilizer prices are burdening farmers and ranchers. Kentucky Farm Bureau president Eddie Melton spoke to the Senate ag committee Tuesday and expressed his concerns. Melton said there are actions Congress can take to address the matter. Melton added that it’s important for farmers and ranchers to advocate for themselves with lawmakers and make their voices heard. For more information, visit fb.org.
Court filing on year-round E15 in the Midwest
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed a motion for summary judgment regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to respond to a request to sell year-round E15 in Midwest states. Iowa and six other states filed an opt-out request that would allow them to...
Farm stability a factor as we enter 2024
In 2023 we saw a little more of a bumpy ride than we have had in the few years prior. By no means are we in any kind of trouble, but profit margins were a little tighter. That means it is going to take even more careful planning to grow a crop in conditions that may...
U.S. Export Sales Report (11-30-23)
The new marketing year has been slowly improving, and that continues with this week’s export sales. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said the corn sales in particular caused a bit of a stir in the grain markets. McBride said the persistent soybean flash sales...
Fungal disease pressure still prevalent with hot and dry conditions
With harvest 2023 complete and the cold winter months just around the corner, now is a great time to study the ’23 growing season and lessons learned. Kim Tutor is a technical marketing manager with BASF and she says that despite the widespread hot and dry conditions...
Increasing Iowa Conservation Options
A lot of options when it comes to improving sustainability on your farm and in a lot of cases there's cost share available. Of course, cover crops are an increasingly popular sustainability option, and the Iowa Department of Agriculture is starting sign-up on...
USGC 2023/24 corn harvest report shows largest crop on record
According to the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 2023/2024 Corn Harvest Quality Report, the 13th such annual survey published globally today, the 2023 U.S. corn crop is the largest on record with the lowest percentage of broken corn and foreign material (BCFM) to date....
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More Ag News
HPAI detected in commercial chicken flock in Sioux County
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Sioux County, Iowa. The affected site...
Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul seeing catastrophic flooding
Last year, when I had the opportunity to go to Brazil, I spent the first days in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It’s in the Southern part of Brazil, still many hours from the ports along the ocean. While there, I saw some of the lushest regions of agriculture...
Bullish Cattle on Feed report creates market optimism
Just before the Memorial Day Weekend, the livestock markets got some homework in the form of the latest Cattle on Feed report. There was plenty of time for the markets to digest the neutral numbers, and today both live and feeder cattle climbed higher. Even though the...
Biobased products key to the future of agriculture
Biobased products, including fuels, lubricants, construction materials, and more are the future, and were the subject of several House farm bill amendments last week. Iowa’s Zach Nunn offered and withdrew his biobased products amendment after Chair Glenn Thompson...
Determining the profitability of cover crops on livestock operations
A recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service studied whether incorporating cover crops into livestock systems is more profitable than livestock operations that do not use cover crops. Maria Bowman, research ag economist with...
