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Year-round E15 passes House by the skin of its teeth
After years of delays, temporary waivers, court battles, and political fights, the U.S. House approved nationwide year-round E15 legislation Wednesday evening, though not without another dramatic procedural showdown along the way. The House passed the measure by a 218 to 203 vote after first defeating an effort to send the bill back to committee. Agriculture groups closely watched the debate throughout the afternoon as supporters argued the legislation would strengthen domestic energy...
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....
IDALS opens Cover Crop Insurance program sign up Dec 1st
Iowa has been working hard to set an example to other states as a leader in nutrient reduction in the soil and water. Farmers are doing what they can to use more eco-friendly practices intended to do a better job of protecting our resources. Even though much has been...
Biologicals are more than just a blanket term
In the ag industry, the term “biologicals” is often used as a blanket term. However, it’s supposed to be used to refer to naturally occurring inputs. Jason Little, vice president of ecosystem strategy with Indigo Agriculture, said they specialize in biologicals around...
Health benefits make probiotics essential for every animal
Agricultural efficiency is going to continue to be a central focus of every agricultural operation as farmers are asked to do more with less. As the world’s population grows and natural resources become more scarce, farmers will still be tasked with feeding the world....
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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...
Looking at the volatility in cattle
Last week the U.S. Meat Export Federation held their annual meeting in Kansas City, MO. It came when livestock markets were in a state of heavy fluctuations. The Cattle market is seeing a little more of the volatility than the hogs are. There have been some erratic...
Livestock groups welcome farm bill markup
Livestock groups welcomed the House Agriculture Committee's action to markup the Farm Bill. The National Pork Producers Council says the bill supports all pork producer's farm bill requests, including a federal fix to the host of Prop. 12 issues plaguing producers and...
