Ag News
NW Illinois farmer on pace with planting
An Illinois farmer says he got lucky with some much-needed rain last week, “We were very, very dry going into last week and we got some rain and hail about a week or 10 days [Read More…]
Cattle futures pressured by lack of direction from cash market
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, cattle futures closed sharply lower for the second consecutive day pressured by fundamentals. The lack of direction from the cash trade, mixed wholesale markets, and a stronger US dollar all [Read More…]
EPA biofuel volume mandates delivered to White House
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sent its 2019 ethanol volume mandates and 2020 biodiesel volume mandates to the White House. The news service Platts reports the notice, from the Office of Management and Budget, [Read More…]
Spring planting delays could lead to chaos
An extension soybean agronomist anticipates a chaotic stretch for farmers trying to catch up on planting. Seth Naeve with the University of Minnesota says soils throughout the Upper Midwest are warm and wet, and fieldwork [Read More…]
Getting creative with dairy management
A dairy specialist recommends farmers search for alternative management ideas to help overcome a year in the red. “Try not to get pessimistic with what’s going on, we’ve been here before.” Vita Plus dairy [Read More…]
Dairy leaders on what NAFTA, Canada’s Class 7 mean to farmers
Dairy farmers, like others, want to see a good NAFTA agreement to help bolster markets but not everyone sees Canada’s Class 7 powder prices as a problem. Continue reading Dairy leaders on what NAFTA, Canada’s [Read More…]
There’s no such thing as GMO milk
If a dairy cow eats GMO feed grains does that mean you are drinking GMOs in your milk? The answer is, NO, it does not. Continue reading There’s no such thing as GMO milk at Brownfield [Read More…]
Some Minnesota farmers starting to think about crop failures
A frustratingly small window for fieldwork has some farmers in southern Minnesota preparing for crop failures. Lawrence Sukalski grows corn and soybeans in south-central Minnesota near the Iowa border. He says in four decades of [Read More…]
Planting pace varies widely across Minnesota
In its latest crop progress report, the USDA says corn farmers worked around scattered thunderstorms late last week to bring planting to 40 percent complete. However, Lawrence Sukalski says his farm in Martin County has [Read More…]
Conditions in north-central Iowa look more like early April than mid-May
A north-central Iowa farmer behind on planting says conditions resemble early April rather than mid-May. Wayne Fredericks of Osage is a strip and no-till corn and soybean grower who uses cover crops. He tells Brownfield [Read More…]
Nebraska planting moves ahead
As of Sunday, 72 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was planted, slight ahead of the five-year average, with 41 percent of soybeans in the ground, also ahead of normal. Winter wheat condition rated 64 percent [Read More…]
Big spread in Iowa’s planting progress
The pace of corn planting in Iowa varies widely, from 91 percent complete in the southeast to 26 percent in north-central Iowa. Overall, the state’s corn crop is 65 percent planted, up from 40 percent [Read More…]
CME milk futures higher, cash dairy mixed Monday
Milk futures were higher and the cash dairy markets were mixed Monday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Class Three May milk was up $.01 at $15.24 a hundredweight. June was up $.23 to $16.09. July [Read More…]
Missouri A-G leads brief supporting organic rule withdrawal
A friend of the court brief has been filed by 14 state Attorneys General supporting the repeal of the Obama Administrations’ organic livestock and poultry practices rule. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley says the 2017 [Read More…]
House plans ’18 Farm Bill vote this week
The Farm Bill is a top priority in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. Ag Committee Chairman Michael Conaway worked all weekend trying to round up support from other Republicans. The House Rules Committee [Read More…]
Soybean, wheat export inspections up on week
The USDA reports that as of the week ending May 14th, sorghum export inspections remain ahead of the USDA’s anticipated pace for the 2017/18 marketing year. The current marketing year runs through the end [Read More…]
US, China working together ahead of trade talks
The next round of trade talks with China will continue tomorrow in DC. Tensions have been high since both countries announced tariffs on 50 billion dollars worth of goods, and President Trump proposed an additional [Read More…]
‘Things that can go wrong’ to prevent crop emergence
There are many factors that can keep a crop from breaking ground, including everything from low temperature to disease to herbicide injury. “There can be a lot of different things that can go wrong,” said [Read More…]
Reauthorizing RFA a priority in Minnesota Legislature
Legislation important to the pocketbooks of Minnesota farmers is making progress as the Session winds down. Representative Jeanne Poppe of Austin, DFL lead on the House Ag Finance Committee, says reauthorizing the Rural Finance Authority [Read More…]
Rains not enough to signal germination problems, yet
Some parts of the northern Corn Belt where planting has just begun are experiencing wet, cool conditions. University of Minnesota Extension corn agronomist Jeff Coulter says he’s not overly concerned about seed germination. “It’s colder [Read More…]