The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to give conservation uses of the land it manages “equal footing” with grazing, energy production, mining, and recreation, and to even allow companies to lease lands for environmental mitigation.

Crop insurance has become the biggest safety net for commodity producers -- despite talk about disaster programs -- leading at least some economists to question whether crop insurance has become too costly or taken the risk out of farming.

A reprieve from cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Minnesota is over.

The negative impacts of drought, high nitrogen prices and other high prices associated with pasture management have left some pastures in the state in less-than-ideal condition.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint and demanded a jury trial against Dichao Xie over what the agency called a "fraudulent scheme" in which he misused non-public information to trade on the feeder cattle futures and options market.

Agricultural technology advancements and adoption could be accelerated by federal legislation.

The Biden administration's “waters of the U.S.” rule survived a court challenge in Kentucky, where a federal judge rejected an injunction request by the state and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to enjoin the rule.

Farmer sentiment weakened ­again in March as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell 8 points to a reading of 117. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices declined 8 points in March, leaving the Current Conditions Index at 126 and the Future Expectations Index at 113.

The U.S. winter wheat crop reflects the impact of drought in the U.S. Plains and wet conditions in parts of the Midwest.

Following extensive engagement by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Japan published a new biofuels policy today that will allow the United States to capture up to 100 percent of Japan’s on-road ethanol market.

Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member John Boozman says he will only vote in favor of a farm bill that fixes reference prices used in the Price Loss Coverage program.

USDA's March 1 Grain Stocks and Prospective Planting reports, released on Friday, March 31, featured lower-than-expected planted acres and March 1 soybean stocks, and higher corn acres (up 4% from last year) than the trade had expected.

For almost 60 years, the University of Minnesota has maintained a one-of-a-kind herd of Holsteins. Scientists have now shown these unique “unselected” Holsteins offer considerable potential to help improve health traits of dairy cows.

Farmers made more in February than January while paying steady money.

On Friday, March 31, at 11 a.m. CDT, USDA will issue its annual Prospective Plantings report and the Grain Stocks report for March 1, a combination that has generated large price moves in the past.

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Taxation and Internal Revenue Service Oversight, led 40 of his Senate colleagues, including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, in reintroducing legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its Margin Protection insurance plan, adding more than a thousand counties to the insurance option that provides coverage against an unexpected decrease in operating margin for corn and soybean producers.

Cover crops and manure are tools that help farmers keep soil in place and provide nutrients for row crops. University of Minnesota Extension Associate Professor Melissa Wilson has spent three growing seasons looking at the best ways to use these tools together. There have been two basic findings: the earlier the cover crop is planted, the more biomass it will produce, and with fall placement of manure, later is better than early.

The USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report shows some short-term expansion.

Republicans in Congress succeeded in passing a bill through the Democratic-led Senate on a 53-43 vote Wednesday to overturn the controversial waters of the U.S. rule under the Clean Water Act, sending the bill to President Joe Biden, who is expected to veto the measure.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday that relatively low salaries are making it difficult for USDA to retain employees, including Farm Service Agency field staff.

University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute is forecasting lower U.S. farm income this year.

Speaking on a recent Cattle Chat podcast, veterinarians Brian Lubbers, Brad White and Bob Larson discussed the signs of hardware disease and offered suggestions on ways to manage it once it is suspected to be impacting an animal.

An active storm track the next two weeks could slow spring fieldwork in Iowa.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told lawmakers last week she is putting Chief Agriculture Negotiator Doug McKalip in charge of working with Brazil to end its tariff on U.S. ethanol and now McKalip is preparing to go to there as U.S. tensions remain high over the barrier preventing U.S. exports.

Tensions are high as House Agriculture Committee members work on the nutrition title of the next farm bill.

A Purdue University team led by Jiqin (JQ) Ni has received a $500,000 grant from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research to document air-quality issues surrounding pork production in partnership with the National Pork Board.

The spring season has certainly been an active season thus far. Severe storms are picking up, exemplified by the tragic tornado that plowed through Mississippi March 24 that killed at least 26 people.