Author: staff

Kentucky farmer Suzanne Cecil White has always been a go-getter, eager for a challenge. After teaching high school math for 10 years, she returned to Owensboro where her family operates a diversified farm. In 2011, the summer after moving and having her first child, a magazine article inspired a career pivot. She ran a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for 10 years and now manages a dozen greenhouses of vegetables as well as the distributor relationships that get her produce to restaurants and schools in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. She also has an event venue down the road from the home…

USDA’s latest Milk Production report, released Friday, outlines the nation’s milk production through the end of 2024. Here’s a look at the numbers across the 24 major milk-producing states. November Milk Production Significantly Revised For the 24 major states, USDA revised November’s milk production to 17.3 billion pounds, up from the preliminary production estimate of 17.2 billion pounds. With that revision, November production was down only 0.3% year-over-year. “The November revision represented an increase of 89 million pounds or 0.5% from last month’s preliminary production estimate,” according to the agency. December Milk Production Down Year-Over-Year Milk production across the 24…

Two exceptional college students pursuing careers in agriculture will be awarded $2,500 each this semester from the National Wheat Foundation, with sponsorship from BASF. NWF is encouraged to see such bright and hard-working students with career goals that will benefit agriculture and the wheat industry for many years to come. NWF selected Teagan Macy, a junior at the University of Idaho pursuing a degree in crop science. Macy is the fourth generation from their family farm near Culver, Oregon. She has excelled academically and in extra-curricular activities such as FFA and soil judging. Congratulations, Macy. Ryland Peters, a sophomore at…

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the temporary postponement of its final rule amending the Horse Protection Act regulations. The new rule, which was initially scheduled to go into effect on February 1, 2025, has been delayed for 60 days, with the new implementation date set for April 2, 2025. APHIS had previously published the final rule (89 FR 39194-39251) to amend the horse protection regulations. Among other provisions, the rule would require APHIS to screen, train, and authorize qualified individuals to detect and diagnose soring at horse events, including shows, exhibitions, and…

In October 2024, a sale of 41,554 acres of farmland across a portfolio of 46 farms was sold by Farmland Partners Inc. to Farmland Reserve, Inc., an entity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for $289 million.  Who Is Farmland Partners? Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns more than 140,000 acres of farmland across 15 states and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. The company went public in 2014, and has since purchased more than 300 farms through various transactions with other investors, landlords, and farmers. Farmland Details…

For the majority of the nation’s top corn-growing states, drought conditions remained completely unchanged this week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) report. However, some states did see minor to significant changes in drought across their regions. The most notable changes happened in North Carolina. Here’s a look at where things stand in the Tar Heel State, along with input from the State Climate Office.  Drought on the Rise According to the USDM report released Jan. 23, D1 moderate drought in North Carolina jumped 20 points compared to the week prior, from 45% to 65%. Also, the overall…

Bipartisan members from both chambers of Congress have introduced the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which would allow for unflavored and flavored whole and reduced fat (2 percent) milk to be offered in school cafeterias. The act focuses on highlighting the known health benefits and nutrients milk provides to young Americans, including better bone health, lower blood pressure, and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes. According to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, milk is a source of two under-consumed nutrients — calcium and vitamin D — along with other key nutrients. Most importantly, in…

Just ahead of 9 a.m. CT, March corn was down 3¼¢. March soybeans were down 9¢. March wheat contracts were also down. CBOT wheat was down 8½¢. KC wheat was down 11½¢. Minneapolis wheat was down 9½¢. This morning, USDA released the weekly U.S. Export Sales report for the week that ended Jan. 16. It was delayed one day because Monday was a holiday. Concerning corn, soybean, and wheat net export sales for the 2024/2025 marketing year, The Brock Report said: “Corn net export sales of 1.66 million metric tons were at the high end of trade guesses that ran…

By Nicolas Misculin BUENOS AIRES, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange announced cuts to estimated yields for Argentina’s soybean and corn crops by 1 million metric tons each, citing hot weather and insufficient rainfall, according to a statement released on Thursday. The new forecast for the 2024/25 soybean crop is for 49.6 million tons, while the same season’s corn crop is expected to come in at 49 million tons. A weekly crop report from the exchange blamed high temperatures and an ongoing lack of humidity mainly in southern farmland as well as central-eastern areas in Entre Rios…

By Laurie Chen, Mei Mei Chu, Ella Cao, Naveen Thukral and Ana Mano BEIJING/SAO PAULO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, has stopped receiving Brazilian soybean shipments from five firms after cargoes did not meet plant health requirements, according to a statement from the Brazilian government confirming what Reuters had learned from two sources on Wednesday. The phytosanitary-related suspension comes as Brazil has been bolstering its share of the world’s biggest soybean market at the expense of the No. 2 exporter, the U.S. It’s also an unexpected twist in the global agricultural supply chain, as U.S.…