The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Yield Contest. Participants delivered outstanding yields, once again showcasing the ingenuity and resilience that define U.S. agriculture.

Governor Mike Parson recently hosted a ceremony proclaiming December as Christmas Tree Month in Missouri. The proclamation was presented to winners of the Missouri Christmas Tree Association’s annual wreath and tree contests, held earlier this year at the association’s annual convention.

The congressional wheels are in motion to extend the current farm bill into 2025.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing protection for one of the nation’s most beloved species -- the monarch butterfly -- and is encouraging the public to be part of its recovery.

USDA cut corn ending stocks by 200 million bushels (mb), aggressively improving its forecasts for exports and ethanol production. The new ending stocks estimate, 1.738 billion bushels (bb), is 62 mb below the lowest pre-report trade estimate.

Some of the more commonly known and grown oilseed crops in the U.S. have long been canola, soybeans and sunflowers, but a breakthrough by Kansas State University biochemists could lead to the cover crops pennycress and camelina also becoming a source for improved biodiesel.

According to the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 2024/2025 Corn Harvest Quality Report, the 14th such annual survey published globally earlier this week, the 2024 U.S. corn crop is projected to be the third largest on record with the highest 100-kernel weight in the history of the report and lower broken corn and foreign material (BCFM), lower total damage and lower moisture than in the last five years.

Congress is poised to pass the latest water infrastructure bill under the "Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024," which will help offset some inland waterway costs while focusing heavily on flood risks nationally.

Syngenta Crop Protection has reached a new milestone in its collaboration with AI-informed crop health company Enko® to discover novel weed control molecules, advancing efforts to bring much-needed innovation in herbicide technology to farmers.

Exports of U.S. beef and pork posted year-over-year increases in October, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), with pork exports well-positioned to set annual volume and value records in 2024.

The University of Missouri has announced a new center focusing on rural energy, innovation, and policy.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1 HPAI) in a commercial layer flock in Sioux County, Iowa. This is Iowa’s sixth detection of H5N1 HPAI within poultry in 2024.

A Creighton University economist says there are concerns Atlantic and Gulf Coast port workers could strike again in mid-January.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing the start of its National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS), which builds on measures taken by USDA and federal and state partners since the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in dairy cattle was first detected in March 2024.

USDA does not adjust U.S. production figures in the December report, instead taking the opportunity to focus on the demand side of the balance sheet, which went largely ignored in the November report, much to the frustration of traders. The December WASDE report also offers slightly more confidence in the accuracy of USDA's estimates, albeit slightly, and there remain categories that have proven to be largely difficult to predict early in the marketing season.

California Rep. Jim Costa is challenging the House Ag Committee’s current ranking member, David Scott of Georgia, and Angie Craig of Minnesota for the top Democratic position on the panel. We ask about Costa’s vision for the committee.

U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) recently announced his legislation, H.R. 5863 The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, passed the U.S. Senate. The legislation provides long-awaited tax relief for Americans harmed by recent hurricanes, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and the train derailment in Ohio. The legislation now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature to become law.

The ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday called out the conservative House Freedom Caucus for opposing disaster aid in the final days of Congress.

An ag economist says concerns over Russian wheat quality caused U.S. wheat futures to move higher Thursday.

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture has recently received confirmation of the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in three sites: a backyard chicken flock in McHenry County, a commercial turkey flock in Ransom County and a backyard mixed flock in Bottineau County. All results were confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, IA.

In a challenging economic landscape of low commodity prices and tight margins, the United Soybean Board (USB) continues to deliver economic returns to U.S. soybean farmers through strategic investments.

A team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior is launching a first-of-its-kind study to explore potential links between beef consumption and brain health.

A federal court in Texas has blocked rules for the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), including the provisions that required farmers, ranchers and other businesses to provide their ownership information to the U.S. Treasury Department.

A crop insurance specialist suggests Title I Commodity programs should play a bigger part in risk management in 2025.

Researchers in South Dakota State University's Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory are racing to develop a vaccine for a new strain of a highly contagious disease that is currently wreaking havoc on the U.S. poultry industry.

As the year draws to a close, many producers rely on operating loans, or lines of credit, to finance essential expenses when cash flow is tight.

A team of researchers continues to investigate persistent diseases that prey upon soybean seedlings, such as Fusarium, Pythium, and Phytophthora. The pathogens that cause these diseases are widespread and complex, which makes it complicated when scientists delve into how they work.

Farmer sentiment jumped again in November as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer climbed 30 points to 145. Both the Current Conditions and Future Expectations indices increased in November, with the biggest improvement taking place in future expectations.