Author: staff

According to the latest Crop Protection Network (CPN) map, positive cases of southern rust have been reported in 49 Iowa counties this growing season. Southern rust has been confirmed in neighboring Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Cases also have been reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Weather Across Iowa, July’s unusually wet weather has continued into the first half of August. During the first full week of the month, localized flooding challenged parts of the state, especially eastern Iowa, state Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig reported…

By Cami Koons Across the country, farmers and small entrepreneurs are adding drones to their fleet of tools for tasks such as spraying agricultural chemicals or spreading seeds for a cover crop.  Today, the majority of the ag-drone market is made up of Chinese manufactured machinery, which some federal laws seek to outlaw, asserting national security fears.  Those in the industry, however, wonder if the budding American ag-drone market is ready to fill the gaps in the event of a U.S. ban on Chinese drones — which could begin at the end of the year.  How and Why Drones? Drones…

Recognized as the oldest continuously family-owned ranch in Oklahoma, Stuart Ranch traces its Quarter Horse bloodlines back more than 70 years. Most mornings on the Stuart Ranch begin in stillness, but not in sleep. By 3:30 a.m., Terry Stuart Forst is up, the Oklahoma night still stretching its darkness across the skies. The early mornings give her time for Bible study and to crack open one of a stack of journals she has kept since 2011, the year the drought was so bad, water tanks went dry and grass crisped to powder. Those journals are more than a record of…

By Ryan Hanrahan The New York Times’ Dani Blum, Benjamin Mueller, and Alice Callahan reported that “a highly anticipated White House report on the health of American children would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides that the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has called major threats, according to a draft of the document that was reviewed by The New York Times.” “The report, if adopted, would be good news for the food and agriculture industries, which feared far more restrictive proposals than the ones outlined in the draft,” Blum, Mueller and Callahan reported. “Through…

By Brooke Thorington, WRKF-FM PLAQUEMINE – It’s planting season for sugarcane farmers in Louisiana as they replenish fields that are older than three years and no longer yielding as much sugar. When President Donald Trump said he wanted Coca-Cola to use sugarcane in its signature drink, instead of high-fructose corn syrup, it brought a lot of attention to the industry. Patrick Frischhertz is the son-in-law of an eighth generation sugarcane farmer. He’s been in the business for close to 16 years, and he oversees St. Louis Planting in Plaquemine. The company farms sugarcane and soybeans. When Trump boasted he’d convinced…

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to terminate union contracts with thousands of employees of its animal health and food safety inspection agencies, according to documents seen by Reuters, as one union on Wednesday challenged the firings in court. The notices sent to union leaders at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Food Safety and Inspection Service on Tuesday evening said the action was aligned with President Donald Trump’s March executive order to exclude some federal workers from collective bargaining because their agencies have national security missions, the documents show. The Trump administration also…

With almost everyone in the agricultural industry antsy about the followup to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s debut MAHA Report, The New York Times began reporting Thursday evening that it has received a leaked draft of the new version, dated Aug. 6 — one that appears to temper many of the concerns ag producers would have about the Health and Human Services secretary’s attack on modern pesticide use. According to the NYT, the draft report says that environmental regulators will work with “food and agricultural stakeholders” to ensure that the public is aware of an confident in existing pesticide review procedures,…

By Naveen Thukral and Ella Cao SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean exporters risk missing out on billions of dollars worth of sales to China this year as trade talks drag on and buyers in the top oilseed importer lock in cargoes from Brazil for shipment during the key U.S. marketing season, according to traders. Chinese importers have finished booking soybean cargoes for September, taking around 8 million metric tons, all from South America, three traders told Reuters. For October, Chinese buyers have secured about 4 million tons — half of their expected requirement — also from South America, the traders…

Shorter days and cooler nights mean it’s nearly time to pull the combine out of the shed and prepare for harvest. While it can be tempting to start as quickly as possible, building in a few days pre-harvest to thoroughly inspect your machine can save downtime and expense later — when you may not have the time to spare.  “My theory has always been: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Jake Koehn, technician at Diamond K Combine Repair in Lakin, Kansas. “You can do the repairs in the shop, in a controlled environment, where it’s…

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has announced that his office is leading a bipartisan coalition of 11 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting cattle ranchers in their fight against manufacturers who market foreign-sourced beef under the “Product of USA” label. “Ranchers in South Dakota and across America work hard to produce the highest quality beef products in the world,” Jackley said. “The ‘Product of USA’ label is a brand that reflects the quality of American beef.” The case stems from a lawsuit filed by South Dakota ranchers in federal district court after the U.S. Department of…