Corn and soybean good-to-excellent condition ratings fell at the national level last week, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Tuesday.

At Christensen Farms in Minnesota, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a final action imposing no additional wastewater discharge regulations on meat and poultry processing facilities.

Corn growers’ checkoff dollars are driving new research that could open major markets for ethanol in the equipment farmers use every day.

Farmer sentiment dipped again in August as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer Index fell 10 points to 125. Producers were markedly less optimistic about the future in August as the Index of Future Expectations dropped 16 points to 123. This was the lowest reading for the future index since last September.

Harvest is quickly approaching, but grower groups and the ag industry are on edge as China has yet to make a purchase from the fall U.S. soybean crop.

The nation’s top environmental official says the EPA is in the final stages of a Waters of the U.S. rule and that could bring stability to the ag industry.

The number of replacement heifers available to enter the nation's dairy herd has fallen to a 20-year low. Replacement heifer supplies could fall even further over the next two years before a recovery begins in 2027, according to new CoBank research.

The call for action on year-round E-15 was loud at this year’s Farm Progress Show.

The National Pork Board (NPB) has named David Newman as the organization's new CEO, effective Sept. 1.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on a federal court decision that vacates a burdensome and unfair disaggregation labor rule, which is part of the 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate Rule.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins on Thursday announced a commitment to new actions (PDF, 1.2 MB) to increase the number of rural food animal veterinarians across the U.S. and recruit new veterinarians to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in their role to protect American ranchers, animals, and our food supply.

With large crops and low prices, leaders representing corn and soybean farmers are pressing the need for more demand for their crops, whether it is selling more biofuels or re-establishing export sales with China.

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) on Tuesday announced a $2 billion investment from Cronus Chemicals LLC (Cronus) to construct a new fertilizer production facility in Tuscola, Illinois.

The latest Rural Mainstreet Index says the ag economy weakened during August.

For Charlie and Jeremy Kootz, a father-son team farming near the Kannapolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County, cover crops are more than conservation.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden suggested Tuesday that USDA officials are looking at a "bridge" policy that would help crop farmers facing low commodity prices until stronger price supports take effect next year.

China, the largest buyer of US soybeans, has yet to make a purchase for the 2025-2026 marketing year.

Solutions from the Land submitted the following statement in response to USDA’s call for comments on the Department’s proposed reorganization plan.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on Monday announced a new state-funded conservation cost-share pilot project supporting farmers and landowners in the watersheds upstream from the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids metropolitan areas. The Streamside Buffer Initiative encourages farmers and landowners living in these priority watersheds to add perennial buffers to fields along streams to prevent nutrients from entering these important source water areas.

The first case of New World screwworm (NWS) was confirmed in a human in Maryland by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in coordination with the Maryland Department of Health.

Not a lot of changes to the USDA’s national crop condition ratings over the past week.

When retail prices for any consumer product reach record high levels, the corresponding drop in demand usually materializes in short order. Beef appears to be among the few exceptions to that rule, having defied common expectations surrounding price elasticity.

University of Missouri Extension, SCN Diagnostics and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council are again offering free testing for soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the No. 1 pathogen of soybean in the United States.

The USDA says 1.598 million cattle were placed into U.S. feedlots during July 2025.

The Trump administration granted full small-refinery exemptions on 63 petitions to the Renewable Fuel Standard, while granting partial exemptions on 77 petitions and denying 28 petitions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Friday.

China has not made any U.S. soybean purchases from this fall's crop, which has growers concerned about the relationship with the largest U.S. soybean purchaser ahead of harvest. We asked Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, about the trade landscape and what he's watching for in USDA’s quarterly ag trade outlook due this week.

Currently, soybean gall midge is known to occur in 185 counties across seven states in the Midwest. Eight new counties have been confirmed in 2025, with five of those being in Iowa.

The United States and the European Union are pleased to announce that they have agreed on a Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade (“Framework Agreement”).