Ag News

The pork industry continues to prepare for the next foreign animal disease outbreak. In his opening comments during a National Pork Board news conference at World Pork Expo Wednesday, NPB vice president of science and [Read More…]

The USDA reports combined old and new crop soybean export sales for the week ending May 31st were below pre-report expectations. The 2017/18 marketing year for wheat ended May 31st. It continues through August for [Read More…]

The Senate Ag Committee plans to discuss its version of the farm bill next Wednesday. Chairman Pat Roberts and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow say the committee will go over the draft bill and any possible [Read More…]

Hello everyone, I’m Rhiannon Branch and I just started my summer as a News Assistant for Brownfield. I hail from the small town of Iuka in southern Illinois and although I did not grow up [Read More…]

  Bayer completed the acquisition of Monsanto stock today but company leaders say it will take some time before they stop using the Monsanto name. Bayer Crop Science Division President Liam Condon says, “Some authorities [Read More…]

An Iowa Senator is speaking out about President Trump’s decision to delay possible changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard.  Chuck Grassley says, “Thankfully, anti-ethanol forces were stopped by President Trump.” Chuck Grassley says the proposed deal [Read More…]

The tight labor market in rural areas is a major concern to pork producers.  At World Pork Expo, we discussed the issue with Jen Sorensen with Iowa Select Farms, which has 1,200 employees in Iowa. Sorensen also serves [Read More…]

RaboBank livestock market analyst Don Close says weather continues to be the single-most disruptive influence in the U.S. beef complex. Drought conditions forced the early placement of calves into feed yards, which substantially increased cattle on [Read More…]

At World Pork Expo on Wednesday, we stopped by the Nedap Livestock Management booth to visit with a couple of pork producers who own and/or manage facilities that have transitioned from gestation stalls to group [Read More…]

USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach addressed Wednesday’s SIP Luncheon at World Pork Expo in Des Moines. Ibach discussed topics that fall under his area of responsibility, including animal health, biotechnology and gene [Read More…]

With a huge and growing corn surplus, U.S. corn farmers say they need new uses for their grain – yesterday. NCGA President Kevin Skunes grows corn in North Dakota. At the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference [Read More…]

Some fields are too wet, others are too dry.  In southeastern South Dakota, Lewis Bainbridge finished corn planting a week ago, later than he would have liked, but “we’re still ok,” he told Brownfield Ag [Read More…]

North Central Indiana farmer Dennis Maple says he’s had a good planting season, “Planting was about the easiest planting season we’ve had, especially compared to last year. We started our corn in late April and [Read More…]

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were higher on follow through buying as traders prepared for the week’s widespread direct cash cattle business. No appreciable trade has been reported, but the futures market appears to [Read More…]

Jul. corn closed at $3.78 and 1/4, down 5 and 1/2 cents Jul. soybeans closed at $9.94 and 1/4, down 7 cents Jul. soybean meal closed at $365.00, down $2.30 Jul. soybean oil closed at 30.65, down 14 points Jul. wheat closed at $5.19 and [Read More…]

The new president of the National Pork Board says hog farmers will continue adhering to “We Care” principles and showing how they are having an impact. South Dakota pork producer Steven Rommereim has been elected [Read More…]

Soybeans were lower on fund and technical selling, with July closing just above last month’s lows. The trade continues to monitor any movement in trade discussions between the U.S. and China. Many forecasts have light [Read More…]

Minnesota Senator and Ag Committee member Amy Klobuchar tells Brownfield introduction of the Senate farm bill is expected Thursday.  “Bi-partisan agreement, how sweet those words are given what happened in the House, that would maintain [Read More…]

After four straight days of diving dairy prices, the markets took a slight turn higher at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Wednesday. Class Three June milk was up $.05 to $15.31. July was up $.16 to [Read More…]

U.S. ethanol production held steady last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 1.041 million barrels a day, unchanged from the previous week and up 42,000 from a year ago. The industry continues [Read More…]