Author: staff

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says the USDA’s downsizing plan due in May could include some consolidation. Recording at the White House Easter Egg Roll, Agri-Pulse Newsmakers asked Rollins about the department’s plans to address bird flu this spring, her thoughts on the timing for trade assistance, and whether she’s confident Congress will provide needed funding through the Commodity Credit Corporation. Newsmakers also spoke with Emily Metz from the American Egg Board, Cathy Burns from the International Fresh Produce Association, and Philip Good from the United Soybean Board to discuss the commodities on display at the event. Watch the Video Want…

Carla Schultz wants consumers to know food produced by American farmers is safe, whether it’s GMO, organic, or anything in between. The Michigan farmer, direct marketer, and grain merchandiser joined us at Commodity Classic in Denver to talk about bridging the gap between farmers and the general public, working with family, and serving on the United Soybean Board. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to 15 Minutes With a Farmer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please rate and review us! Meet Carla Schultz Schultz and her family raise a diverse range of crops and livestock near…

1. Grain, Soybean Futures Decline Overnight Grain and soybean futures were lower in overnight trading as the dollar strengthened and on favorable weather in global growing areas.  The greenback gained 0.2% against a basket of its global counterparts overnight. A stronger dollar makes U.S. goods including agricultural products less attractive to overseas buyers.  The dollar has been choppy in recent trade amid volatility due to the global trade war between the U.S. and several countries.  Also weighing on prices overnight is favorable weather in some growing areas of the world.  Rainfall continues in much of northern Brazil, the world’s largest…

By Jeff Beach Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to “Make America Healthy Again [MAHA]” is making some North Dakota farmers queasy.  Kennedy’s MAHA movement shuns highly processed foods and dyes. But it also includes an attack on oils made from seeds such as sunflowers and canola, with North Dakota being a leading producer of those specialty crops. These oils are among what has become known as the “Hateful Eight,” oils from canola, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, soy, rice bran, sunflower, and safflower targeted by the MAHA movement.  During a roundtable discussion last week in Fargo with…

By Cami Koons Iowa farmers had just over two days suitable for field work last week due to rainy conditions, but the percentages of corn and soybean acres planted remain ahead of average rates, according to the state’s crop progress and condition report. State Climatologist Justin Glisan said Iowa had “an unseasonably wet reporting period” with the average precipitation for the week above 2 inches and more than 5 inches in some areas of the state.  The precipitation raised soil moisture conditions, making topsoil conditions 86% adequate or wetter. Subsoil conditions rated 67% adequate moisture. Thirty-four percent of Iowa’s corn acres…

What Happened Many agricultural commodities have tradeable futures and options contracts. Few industries offer an avenue to manage risk and opportunities the way the various exchanges for agriculture do. Today, we’ll use corn as an example. Corn is traded at the Chicago Board of Trade. Traders have the ability to buy and sell futures or buy and sell options. Our focus will narrow down to selling call option premium to create a revenue stream while, at the same time, challenging the underlying futures contract to rally. Why This Is Important For many years, the corn market has offered little positive…

By Zach Wendling LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen enacted a new burn ban Tuesday for central and western Nebraska through May 10 in response to continued “very dry” conditions. The new executive order rescinds a previous mandate last week prohibiting permitted burns statewide through the end of the month. With the new order, burns are allowed in eastern Nebraska unless there is an active red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for a specific area. The initial burn ban came after a prescribed fire April 21 got out of control in the Plum Creek area near Johnstown in Brown County. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than…

By Nick Paulson, Gary Schnitkey, and Carl Zulauf The USDA’s harvest-season estimates were for 2024 U.S. corn and soybean yields to be above trend because of good to excellent conditions throughout most of the growing season. Those yield estimates were revised down following the 2024 harvest season, with final U.S. yields coming in slightly below trend for both corn and soybeans. While early yield estimates for Illinois were also revised down, 2024 corn and soybean yields ended above trend, extending a 12-year run of excellent corn and soybean yield performance in Illinois. Since the 2012 drought, Illinois yields have fallen below trend for…

By Tom Polansek and Savyata Mishra April 29 (Reuters) – China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, is no longer a viable market for top U.S. pork processor Smithfield Foods SFD.O due to retaliatory tariffs by Beijing, company executives said on Tuesday. The disruption shows how the tariff war escalated by U.S. President Donald Trump is upending global trade and forcing changes at a prominent food company that pays U.S. farmers to raise hogs that are slaughtered for meat. China increased its levies on imports of U.S. goods this month, hitting back at Trump’s decision to single out the world’s No. 2 economy for higher duties. Beijing’s additional tariffs pushed…

It’s normally a two-person job to align a grain auger to the grain bin fill opening: one person on top of the grain bin giving hand signals to the tractor operator below. What do you do when there is no second person to help? The exhausting process begins with backing the tractor and auger to a position that appears adequate. The operator then gets out of the tractor, climbs the ladder on the grain bin, checks to see what adjustments need to be made, climbs back down, gets back into the tractor, and moves it as needed. This whole process…