News Archives
Study: Ag labor shortages cost state economy as much as $11.7B
Kansas State University and Kansas Department of Agriculture economists are reporting findings of a study indicating that alleviating a shortage of farm labor in Kansas could boost the state’s economy by as much as $11.7 billion.

An exotic tick that can kill cattle is spreading across Ohio
A species of exotic tick arrived in Ohio in 2021 in such huge numbers that their feeding frenzy on a southeastern farm left three cattle dead of what researchers believe was severe blood loss.

Washington Week Ahead: USDA nominee gets hearing, pork industry awaits agency decision
With action on a farm bill postponed to next year, the Senate Agriculture Committee turns to handling a pair of nominations, including a new undersecretary for rural development at the Agriculture Department.

Biden-Harris Administration will continue seeking full USMCA benefits for U.S. dairy
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai recently announced that a dispute settlement panel established under the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) has released a report regarding Canada’s dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation measures.

Trees for Troops delivers real Christmas spirit to service members
The Trees for Troops program is sending their 300,000 Christmas tree to a military family this holiday season.

Nutrien acquires soybean breeding program, others tout latest varieties for new year
It's the time of year when seed companies roll out their latest soybean offerings and growers will have dozens of new varieties to choose from in 2024. They'll also have expanded options from Nutrien Ag Solutions in the future.

Farmers and ranchers will pay more for H-2A labor in 2024
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released its farm labor survey, and the news isn’t good for agriculture.

Rain ending, cold coming, snow falling for Thanksgiving travel
The holiday travel season starts this week as folks gear up to prepare their houses to accept friends and family and others to do the traveling. For most of the country, there are limited issues due to the weather. But there could be some hiccups, especially for those that travel through the Rockies.

Extension buys time, but farm bill faces multiple hurdles in 2024
Lawmakers have given themselves another year to write a new farm bill, but they have a limited amount of time to reach bipartisan agreements on critical issues and could easily be forced to pass another long-term extension of the 2018 law.

Economist says cattle haven't hit their high yet
Cattle prices have pulled back recently, but a livestock economist says it likely won’t last for long. University of Missouri’s Scott Brown says, “I’m not convinced that we’ve seen our record yet.”

Millions of soy & other agriculture acres on the line if EPA pesticide proposal becomes reality
Recently released proposals from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding its Endangered Species Act commitments under the pesticide program are causing great concern among soybean farmers. To provide scope for the potential detriment to soy, just one of the proposals alone could significantly hinder or eliminate pesticide use on close to 13 million acres of cropland, including more than 5 million acres of soybeans.

Rep. Dusty Johnson awarded Farm Bureau Golden Plow award
The American Farm Bureau Federation and South Dakota Farm Bureau today presented Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) with AFBF’s Golden Plow award. The Golden Plow is the highest honor the organization gives to sitting members of Congress.

Senate Ag Chair Stabenow encouraged by progress on farm bill
The chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee suggests passing a one-year extension of the farm bill is evidence of Congress working with a sense of urgency.

USDA promises action on swine line speeds ahead of Nov. 30 deadline
The pork industry is awaiting action by USDA ahead of Nov. 30 on whether processing plants can move to the faster line speeds that a few facilities have been allowed to use in a time-limited trial.

NCGA joins letter expressing concern for ad hoc disaster relief changes
NCGA and 16 corn state affiliated associations recently joined with over 140 allied national, regional, and state commodity organizations in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack relaying their concerns with the design of the Emergency Relief Program for 2022.

USDA Crop Progress Report: 7% of corn left to harvest, soybean harvest wraps up as of Nov. 19
Most soybean fields have been harvested, while about 7% of the nation's corn crop was left to harvest as of Sunday, Nov. 19, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

200,000 pounds of poultry products donated to Hoosiers this year
On Monday, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb and the Indiana State Poultry Association recognized the generosity of Indiana’s poultry producers at the 76th annual Governor's Poultry Presentation at the Indiana Statehouse. Over the past year, Indiana poultry farmers and businesses have donated 200,000 pounds of duck, turkey and chicken and 172,000 dozen eggs to Hoosiers in need.

AFBF appreciates farm bill extension, urges new bill
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented on the passage of a stopgap spending bill by both the House of Representatives and Senate, which includes a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill.

Peterson skeptical of moving IRA money
Former House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson says moving the Inflation Reduction Act’s conservation funds to commodity program supports is “off the table” for Ag Committee Democrats in the House and Senate, and people trying to do just that “are dreaming.”
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October cattle placements up on year
There were fewer cattle placed into U.S. feedlots than expected during October.

Iowa companies sued for using H-2A ag workers as long-haul truckers
A pair of Iowa trucking companies are accused in a federal civil lawsuit of conspiring to fraudulently bring in guest workers under the H-2A program to work as long-haul truckers instead of temporary workers on a farm operation.

Fischer legislation removes barriers to precision ag technology
At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing last week, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) discussed how three of her bills address common barriers to the adoption of precision agriculture tools. These barriers include financing, connectivity, and internet access.

Placement numbers will be closely watched in Nov. 1 Cattle on Feed Report
Attention in the cattle market this week is being squarely placed on the upcoming Nov. 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report, which will be released at 2 p.m. CST Friday.

Soybean, rice export sales hit marketing year highs
U.S. soybean export sales surged to a marketing year high during the week ending November 9th.

USDA announces planned trade missions for 2024, shares next steps for Regional Agricultural Promotion Program
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Thursday announced next steps in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to bolster U.S. agricultural trade, including the department’s planned trade missions for 2024 and the opening of a public comment period for the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).

Ever.Ag adopts Varda's Global FieldID to improve traceability in agriculture retail
Varda, the agtech startup founded by Yara, today announced its partnership with Ever.Ag, the innovative agtech service provider that empowers agriculture, food, and beverage supply chains.

NCGA to Congress: Farm bill extension provides certainty for growers but full reauthorization still needed
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) said today that it is pleased that the House and Senate passed a continuing resolution that extends the 2018 farm bill for one year, but the association said the extension is no substitute for a fully reauthorized farm bill.
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Storm system prior to Thanksgiving will send temperatures plummeting
It has been on the radar for a while now, but a major storm system is forecast to cross the country this weekend through early next week, bringing widespread precipitation to a lot of the country and causing temperatures to fall prior to Thanksgiving weekend.
