Ag News

Dairy farmers have until Friday to begin the process of enrolling in the updated Margin Protection Program. Minnesota Farm Service Agency executive director Joe Martin tells Brownfield producers who can’t make it into their local [Read More…]

One region of the Midwest where crop development probably varies the most is north-central Iowa. Phil Long, an agronomist with Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, says rain has severely limited planting north of Ames towards southern Minnesota. [Read More…]

The public spat over farm payment limitations continues between Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and House Ag Committee chair Mike Conaway. Grassley and Conaway traded verbal jabs last week over the lack of farm payment reforms in the [Read More…]

Animal science professor Mike Hutjens at the University of Illinois says benchmarking tools are available as dairy producers look at forage and their bottom line.       Continue reading Feeding dairy cattle in a [Read More…]

Iowa is celebrating the 5th anniversary of the state’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. At a celebration event near Boone on Tuesday, Iowa ag secretary Mike Naig said he’s been very encouraged by the engagement across the [Read More…]

Nebraska’s corn crop is off to a great start. The first official rating of the season puts the crop at 83 percent good to excellent, 16 percent fair and only one percent poor. Eighty-one percent [Read More…]

The latest crop progress report for Iowa shows the corn and soybean crops are, on average, slightly ahead of normal–despite planting challenges in northern areas of the state. Statewide, as of Sunday, 96 percent of [Read More…]

Iowa-based Sukup Manufacturing has announced a partnership with grain management technology developer OPIsystems. Sukup electrical engineer Matt Koch says the company embraces the use of technology in agriculture, and that OPI creates the best grain [Read More…]

Late planting could result in lower yields for spring wheat farmers in the Upper Midwest. Jochum Wiersma, an extension small grains agronomist with the University of Minnesota, says mid-April was a pivotal time for this [Read More…]

The National Pork Producer Council is asking the administration to quickly resolve the US-China trade dispute. Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes, pork producers have lost $2.2 billion since March because of Chinese tariff retaliation. [Read More…]

The Trump administration plans to undertake a rule making process to help streamline the admission of H2-A workers.  U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the change will make the H2-A program more responsive to stakeholder [Read More…]

  Michigan farmers continue to lag behind last year and the five-year average planting pace. The USDA says corn is 64 percent planted, 40 percent has emerged, and condition is rated 69 percent good to [Read More…]

The dairy markets were higher Tuesday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Class Three May milk was unchanged at $15.17 a hundredweight. June was up $.09 to $15.76. July was up $.16 to $16.51.  August was [Read More…]

Bayer says the U.S. Justice Department has given Bayer conditional approval to acquire Monsanto, a big step forward for the proposed merger of the two ag companies. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann says the company now [Read More…]

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is heading back to Washington this week. According to CBC, Freeland’s primary objective is to rekindle NAFTA negotiations, which stalled after high-level talks broke off earlier this month.  But she [Read More…]

Ag issues are expected to be a focal point in the next round of trade talks between the U.S. and China. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will lead a U.S. delegation back to Beijing later [Read More…]

  The USDA reports corn and soybean export inspections, as of the week ending May 24th, remain slower than expected. The current marketing year runs through May for wheat, and August for beans, corn, and [Read More…]

  A strike by truckers and dockworkers in Brazil is impacting their agricultural exports.  Brazil’s largest port in Santos reports a shortage of soybeans, and Chinese-based COFCO has been forced to suspend shipments from there.  [Read More…]

Weed management continues to be a top priority for many farmers in the Midwest. Mike Beard raises corn, soybeans, and hogs in central Indiana. “We’ve got a whole new herbicide program this year- we’re planting [Read More…]

The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Council at Purdue University is funding six new projects this year. The council will sponsor the All-American Junior Sheep Show, the Whitley County Lamb and Wool Ambassador Pageant. [Read More…]