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Senator says time is running out for US growers, help needed now
United States Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) told the Senate that U.S. growers can’t wait much longer for help from Washington. Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer says that the combination of high input costs and uncertainty in trade has brought farm finances dangerously close to the struggles of the 1980s farm crisis. This scenario is playing out with the backdrop of one of the biggest bumper crops in years. Fischer argues that her Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act would help to drive...
High gas prices have Washington full of ?answers?
You don?t have to go far to see what oil companies hope you will accept as the new normal. Gas prices are up around $4 a gallon in Iowa, and higher on the coasts. It is hitting everyone in the wallets. It affects all of our budgets in different ways, but mostly...
Farmers need to scout for armyworm in corn and wheat
If it isn?t one thing, it is another. In a year where we must get every bushel squeezed from our fields, we don?t have any room for error. One cornbelt entomologist is seeing signs and conditions that point to some armyworm infestations possibly springing up in...
Governor?s Charity Steer Show prepares for 40th anniversary
The Governor?s Charity Steer Show will return this year, and they?ve reached yet another milestone, with 2022 marking the 40th anniversary of the charity event. The opening ceremony will take place this Friday, and both the Iowa Cattlemen?s Association (ICA) and the...
IDALS working to better water quality in Iowa
When we discuss water quality, we talk about all the efforts it takes to make improvements. However, these improvements aren?t cheap, and they have to be profitable for producers and cities to survive. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) is...
Cash rental rates rise significantly across Iowa
Stronger commodity prices and farmland values are leading to higher cash rents across most of the state. According to the most recent annual survey of cash rental rates for the state of Iowa?s farmland, it showed that rates have increased an average of 10.3% in 2022,...
Landus & Des Moines Water Works partner on Plots in the Park
Water quality has been a hot-button topic in the state for many years now. Upstream farmers are needing to accomplish certain tasks and have certain tools available to grow a successful crop, but urban folks downstream are worried about what is showing up in their...
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More Ag News
HPAI causing increase in egg prices
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak is causing a short supply of eggs, leading to higher prices for consumers. According to American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson, the key factor in that price change is the inventory of laying...
The importance of making plans for planting
As February approaches it?s still too cold with too much snow on the ground to get much work done outside. However, it is a great time to sit down and draft a plan of attack for planting season 2023.Andrew Penney is a technical agronomist with Dekalb based in Iowa. He...
U.S. Export Sales Report (1-26-23)
This week?s exports were average to slightly bullish. Corn numbers are still just a little disappointing, but soybeans and wheat are friendly. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride provided a breakdown of this week?s U.S. Export Sales Report.McBride said there have...
Brazil’s family farms are not that different from ours
The Siebt family started Fazenda Gaucha in 1976, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, literally from nothing. They started from less than nothing. Rogerio Luiz Siebt and his wife, Solange arrived when he was 21 and she was 19. There was no power or water. The only...
Former Iowa Governor and U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad to lead World Food Prize Foundation
Earlier this week, the World Food Prize Foundation announced that former U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad will join the organization as its president. Established by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the World Food Prize is considered the...
