Top Stories
Drought coverage shrinking across most of the U.S
Spring and early summer rainfall has helped to shrink the drought coverage area in the United States. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the U.S. Drought Monitor looks vastly different as of July 7th compared to the drought monitor maps of April 2026. The areas of D3 and D4 (extreme and exceptional) drought categories are also shrinking, although Rippey says only some of the regions with those designations have seen improvement. The Great Plains is one of the regions that has benefited from...
Getting a head start on corn disease management
Planting season will be here before we know it, and Iowa’s corn farmers are looking for another productive year. Among many other things, disease management is a top solution for corn growers to defend their yield potential. Todd Cogdill, technical service manager...
HPAI detected in a commercial turkey flock in Buena Vista 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 (H5N1 HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in...
GROWMARK Foundation Offers $110,000 in Student Scholarships
Students pursuing careers in agriculture and business have another opportunity to secure financial support, as the GROWMARK Foundation renews its scholarship program for 2025. The foundation will award fifty-five scholarships valued at $2,000 to students attending...
U.S. Export Sales Report (2-13-25)
Much like the February WASDE report, this week’s export sales did not provide much news for the markets to react to. Allendale commodity broker Ben Breisch gave an update on the latest numbers. However, Breisch said the soybeans are trending in a concerning direction....
Big changes in 2025 to help save money
While inflation finally shows signs of slowing, consumers still face higher costs and an uncertain economic future. A recent AARP survey found one in three older adults feeling financially insecure. Sean Voskuhl, Oklahoma State Director for the AARP, talked about the...
South American bean production and balance sheets
On Tuesday the USDA published the February WASDE report which provides both domestic and global supply and demand estimates. One of the biggest changes in this month’s numbers were to the Argentinian soybean crop says World Agricultural Outlook Board Chair Mark...
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More Ag News
Insecticide-resistant soybean aphids pose a challenge to Iowa farmers
For a few years, soybean aphids weren’t too much of a problem in Iowa. However, last year was a wake-up call for farmers in Northern Iowa especially. Kurt Maertens, BASF technical services representative for Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, said that soybean aphids...
Mental Health Awareness Month is especially important for agriculture
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Farmers and ranchers experience higher rates of mental health issues compared to the general population. This is due to many factors, including financial strain and weather-related stress. Dr. Larry Tranel, a dairy field...
Farmland prices began to soften in 2024
2024 was the cooling period for farmland prices after several years of quickly rising farmland values. Randy Dickhut, farmland sales expert with Agricultural Economic Insights, says fluctuating farmland prices are a typical pattern over a multi-year period. According...
Iowa cash rents drop in 2025
The 2025 annual survey of cash rental rates for Iowa farmland shows that rates decreased, on average, by 2.9 percent in 2025 to $271 per acre. It’s the first decline in cash rents since 2019, after a peak of $279 per acre during the previous two years of the survey....
Congress yet to deliver on E15 promise
E15 fuel will be available again this summer thanks to another temporary waiver from the Trump Administration. While Iowa is one of eight Midwestern states already allowing year-round E15 sales, this fix remains only partial. Iowa lawmakers are still in the fight,...
