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Secretary Naig announces urban water quality projects
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig today announced four additional urban water quality projects, continuing the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s (IDALS) multi-phase investment in locally-led conservation efforts across Iowa communities. This announcement builds on two previous rounds of urban water quality projects announced in May and June. Together, these projects will help improve water quality, manage urban stormwater, reduce nutrient runoff, and provide...
Keeping an eye on Mississippi River water levels
Grain shippers and farmers are keeping an eye on the water levels in the Mississippi River. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, said water levels have been a consistent challenge to shipping grains for the last few years. The...
USDA data confirms agritourism is saving some family farms
The latest Census of Agriculture from the USDA, conducted in 2022, is beginning to reveal hard data on the benefits of agritourism for family farms. The numbers confirm what many farmers have experienced firsthand diversifying into agritourism is helping sustain their...
Few changes made in February WASDE
Not much was expected from this month’s WASDE report. However, it still managed to be quiet even by those standards. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride said they were looking for slight reductions to the U.S. balance sheet, but no changes were made. The only...
Speaking up for a new farm bill
With no shortage of issues facing farmers and ranchers right now, the House Ag Committee recently heard testimony from a panel of producers. Alisha Schwertner, a Texas cotton farmer, said there was one important message she hoped to pass on to the committee....
SAF Coalition talks about boosting U.S. energy dominance
Alison Graab, Executive Director of the SAF Coalition, highlighted the opportunity for the new Administration to boost U.S. energy dominance through supportive Sustainable Aviation Fuel policies. She said America is well-positioned to be a global leader in SAF,...
The final ag trade numbers for 2024
The USDA has finished compiling the final trade data for December 2024 and for the entire year of ag trade. Here is USDA economist James Kaufman with more on the final numbers. The data points to a growing ag trade imbalance. Kaufman expands on month over month ag...
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More Ag News
NPPC: Line speed rise won’t hurt safety
It takes tremendous effort and coordination to move our agricultural products from the farm gate to the grocery store shelves. Every step of the supply chain relies on effort and efficiency to keep food flowing to consumers. One of the most critical links in that...
Be early and active when managing post-emergence weeds
With most of the crops planted at this point, it’s time to be thinking about post-emergence weed management already. Northeast Iowa Beck’s Agronomist Lee Koenigsfeld said it’s important to take care of weeds while they are small and easy to kill. When it comes to...
U.S. cattle herd may be rebuilding due to strong demand
Signs are pointing to a rebuilding of the cattle herd in response to continued strong consumer demand driven by increasing quality. That was the message from CattleFax CEO Randy Blach to attendees of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Spring Conference as it got...
GT Thompson stresses farm safety net as tax bill heads to Senate
House Ag Chair GT Thompson says the Trump Tax Bill, which is now headed to the Senate, will improve the farm safety net. While most of last week’s House debate on the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” focused on SNAP and Medicaid savings opposed by Democrats, Ag...
Ethanol industry urges Reynolds to veto eminent domain bill
Iowa ethanol advocates and farmers are urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a bill restricting carbon sequestration pipelines. The advocates said in a press conference Thursday the bill is “extremely problematic” to biofuels, farming, energy and Iowa economies. The bill,...
