Ag News

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, cattle futures closed lower on pressure from weak fundamentals.  This week’s steady to lower cash trade and weakness in beef values were also negative.  The trade is also looking ahead [Read More…]

The Seaboard Triumph Foods pork processing plant in Sioux City, Iowa has started a second production shift. “We’ve been staffing a second shift though the summer, just getting folks on board and trained,” says the plant’s [Read More…]

The USDA says cash dairy prices ended the week lower except for dry whey.   In the weekly dairy market news recap, the agency says butter output is active in the western region of the [Read More…]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D, NY) cut a deal this week to move a slate of judicial and executive nominations to Senate floor votes in exchange for [Read More…]

A southwestern Indiana farmer says his corn and soybean yields are above average but nowhere near the record crop he had last year. Joe Steinkamp grows soybeans, white corn, and wheat in Vanderburgh County. “I’d [Read More…]

The CEO of the Minnesota Pork Producers is pleased with preventative steps taken domestically as African Swine Fever continues to spread in other parts of the world. David Preisler says the U.S. pork sector has [Read More…]

Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores, one of the nation’s largest convenience store chains, says it will expand its offering of E15 fuel to more than 500 of its locations over the next couple of years. That [Read More…]

Extended holding times for feedstuffs to reduce swine disease risks in the U.S. is a tool identified by the National Pork Board to include along with strong biosecurity. The Board’s Dr. Dave Pyburn says peer-reviewed research [Read More…]

A judge has granted an order staying a county ordinance requiring farmers to have a nutrient management plan in place to apply manure or poultry litter to fields. “The injunction means that these farmers can [Read More…]

Dec. corn closed at $3.69 and 1/4, up 6 and 1/2 cents Nov. soybeans closed at $8.58 and 1/4, up 6 cents Oct. soybean meal closed at $312.80, up 80 cents Oct. soybean oil closed at 28.73, up 8 points Dec. wheat closed at [Read More…]

Soybeans were higher on short covering and technical buying, rallying a little after the release of the USDA numbers. The USDA continues to project record production, but the estimate was down slightly on the month [Read More…]

It is National 4-H Week and an 11-year member of the organization shared with Brownfield the story of how 4-H taught her to advocate for agriculture. “This year, the 4-H theme is ‘4-H Inspires kids [Read More…]

An official with one of the nation’s leading farm real estate companies says interest in selling ag land is picking up among landowners. Randy Dickhut with Farmers National Company says their ag land listings are [Read More…]

USDA is forecasting milk production for this year and next higher as dairy farmers increase their herd size and milk per cow is expected to increase. In its October supply and demand report, USDA forecasts [Read More…]

Agriculture studies for space travel are resulting in useful technology for agriculture on earth. At Bayer’s 2018 Future of Farming Dialogue a NASA scientist spoke about a device that can show the ions in a [Read More…]

The USDA increased its ending stocks estimates for U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat. The rise in corn was because of higher ending stocks last marketing year, along with a lower feed use projection, but the [Read More…]

U.S. ethanol production and stocks both climbed last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 1.04 million barrels a day, up 25,000 on the week even as corn prices firmed. The ethanol industry [Read More…]

Rain has stalled corn and soybean harvest in a number of states, including Minnesota. University of Minnesota Extension soybean agronomist Seth Naeve says he has concerns about pod shatter, but believes farmers should prioritize corn [Read More…]

Ideas shared at the “ImAGine Ag Business” forums across the state this week include better infrastructure and a more skilled and abundant work force to help move agriculture forward, “I’m really excited to see that [Read More…]

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says livestock haulers need flexibility when it comes to the hours-of-service rules. Allison Rivera, director of government affairs for NCBA, says the current rules are too restrictive, but a split [Read More…]