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Advisors urge farmers to use tax data for broader financial planning
Farm financial records can offer more than a snapshot of past performance: they can serve as a roadmap for future decisions, according to agricultural finance experts. As producers prepare tax returns for filing this week, advisors say the process provides an opportunity to evaluate profitability, manage risk and plan for long-term sustainability. A key step is ensuring farm records align with official tax documents, a process known as “matching,” which helps identify discrepancies and improve...
35th World Pork Expo offers great opportunities for producers
It is only a few weeks away. Thousands of people from all over the globe will descend on the Iowa State Fairgrounds for the 35th World Pork Expo. The event runs from June 7-9 and offers educational forums, the latest in pork production technology, and always great...
Balanced crop nutrition key to a quality growing season
As much as 60 percent of a crop?s yield depends on soil fertility. Curt Woolfolk is the senior manager of crop nutrition technologies for The Mosaic Company and he says balanced crop nutrition is a key to grower success every year.Woolfolk says that performance...
Lack of West Coast port labor contract creates uncertainty for U.S. red meat
West Coast Longshoremen and terminal operators started negotiations on a new labor contract on May 10, 2022. The talks have continued for more than a year without resolution, and port workers have been without a contract for 10 months. While the situation is not...
Rural caregivers face mental health challenges too
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Rural Minds and the National Grange Society held a webinar discussing the challenges facing caregivers in rural America. Those mental health challenges often get overlooked. Brittnee Henry is a communications and marketing...
State report shows biodiesel blends gain ground in Iowa
The availability of biodiesel blends at the pump continues to expand in Iowa, making up 70 percent of reported on-road diesel sales in the state in 2022. That?s according to the latest Retailers Fuel Gallons Report from the Iowa Department of Revenue, which keeps...
Senate Ag Chair Stabenow talks Farm Bill
Last week, we heard from House Ag Committee Chair G.T. Thompson about where he saw the progress of the Farm Bill that is being renewed this year. He seemed to be in a positive frame of mind that they can get it done. Today, we will continue to get that outlook from...
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Secretary Naig announces expansion for NW Iowa water quality project
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that a successful Water Quality Initiative (WQI) project in Plymouth, Sioux, O’Brien and Cherokee Counties is expanding into a larger territory while beginning a new phase that includes an added focus on...
U.S. Export Sales Report (12-14-23)
This week’s export sales were neutral on the marketplace, but the sales were actually still very good for this time of year in the corn and wheat markets. Allendale commodity broker Greg McBride gave an update on the latest export numbers from the USDA. McBride said...
Study shows that U.S. farming is still a family business
Despite cries against so-called “factory farming,” the Farms and Ranches at a Glance Report shows U.S. farming is still a family business. Betty Resnick, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist, said the report is a project of USDA’s Economic Research Service and...
There are more casualties without a Farm Bill
We have spent a lot of time these past few weeks lamenting the fact that a new Farm Bill was not passed, nor are we even close to having a new one. Work started almost two years ago, and thanks to political gridlock, nothing was accomplished. Farmers rely on...
Cattlemen’s Beef Board telling real stories of real producers
The cattle industry is often targeted by activists who seek to ruin it, which is why advocacy is so incredibly important. If we don’t tell our story, someone else will tell their version of it. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is one of the organizations that seeks to...
