Ag News

Dairy prices were mostly down Wednesday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  Class Three April milk was up $.01 at $14.53 a hundredweight.  May was down $.11 at $15.02. June was down $.05 to 15.50. July [Read More…]

A USDA livestock economist suggests the profit balance is shifting in the beef sector. Shayle Shagam says cow/calf operators, feedlots, and packers have been mostly in the black so far this year. But with expectations [Read More…]

Farmers in northern Minnesota are ahead of their southern counterparts when it comes to planting progress this spring. Dave Torgerson, executive director of the Minnesota Wheat Council, says the northern part of the state missed [Read More…]

There’s no sign of letup in partisan bickering among House Agriculture Committee members about Republican-proposed farm bill work requirements for SNAP recipients.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said committee Democrats have done nothing [Read More…]

A Missouri legislative committee will form to address budget shortages in the Missouri Department of Agriculture. State Representative Don Rone of southeast Missouri says the committee will examine the department’s funding levels, especially the Division [Read More…]

An agronomist says as conditions improve, soil moisture should dictate planting progress. Jon Zuk covers southeastern Minnesota for Winfield United. He tells Brownfield every spring there are farmers who regret not waiting for fields to [Read More…]

May corn closed at $3.86 and 1/2, up 5 and 1/4 cents May soybeans closed at $10.27 and 1/2, up 5 and 1/4 cents May soybean meal closed at $376.20, up $4.10 May soybean oil closed at 30.79, down 22 points May wheat closed at $4.86 [Read More…]

  Soybeans were higher on commercial and technical buying. Beans saw a bounce off the recent lows, with help from bean meal, but they remain concerned about Chinese demand. China bought significantly more soybeans from [Read More…]

The USDA says March 2018 poultry production was 4.021 billion pounds, a decline of 4% from the year ago total of 4.170 billion pounds. The preliminary live weight of all poultry was 5.313 billion pounds, [Read More…]

President Trump is sending his Treasury Secretary and U.S. Trade Representative on a trip to China over trade tariffs, “We’re having Secretary Mnuchin, Bob Lighthizer, heading over to China at the request of China and [Read More…]

  U.S. ethanol production last week averaged less than a million barrels a day for just the second time this year. The last time below that mark was the first week of 2018. The U.S. [Read More…]

  A professor emeritus at the University of Illinois has some advice for dairy farmers trying to stay profitable during this tight margin environment. Mike Hutjens points to some measurement tools that look at the [Read More…]

Across the Corn Belt, mild, dry weather in the upper Midwest contrasts with cool, showery conditions in the Ohio Valley. By April 22, corn planting had not begun, and was at least 10 percentage points [Read More…]

Dairy prices were mixed Tuesday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  Class Three April milk was unchanged at $14.52 a hundredweight.  May was up $.04 at $15.13. June was up $.06 to 15.55. July was up [Read More…]

A University of Illinois ag economist says there could be significantly lower corn production this year, “I do see corn setting up for a possible rally. There’s a very bullish outlook currently. Monitoring the weekly (USDA) [Read More…]

Several Democrats on the Senate Ag Committee asked Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to help calm the waters and the partisan divide over the House Ag Farm bill that was approved last week along party lines. [Read More…]

The EPA administrator says so-called hardship waivers are not granted subjectively.  Scott Pruitt says granting the controversial waivers for Renewable Volume Obligations is under statutory constraint. Speaking Tuesday at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting [Read More…]

A slow-moving storm will drift northward along the Atlantic Seaboard, reaching New England on Thursday. Additional rainfall associated with the storm could reach 1 to 2 inches in the middle and northern Atlantic States. Meanwhile, [Read More…]

  Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were mixed, mostly lower on a lack of follow through buying and position squaring ahead of this week’s widespread direct cash business. Also, while beef was higher at [Read More…]

A high school agriculture instructor in southeast Minnesota says a degree in ag education can lead to many successful career paths.   Paul Aarsvold teaches at Plainview-Elgin-Millville. He says there is a huge shortage of [Read More…]