Author: staff

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…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the proverb observes, which explains why your brand preference generally influences your view of tractor beauty. There are a great many examples of aesthetically pleasing tractors. The Farmall 1206, the Deere 30 Series, the Massey-Harris 101, the Minnie-Mo UDLX, and the Oliver 70 are just a few of the lovelies the industry has fashioned. But for sheer striking good looks, the Graham-Bradley tractor owns eyeball honors as the most glamorous tractor of all time. Starting with that spectacular grille sweeping back to its streamlined side curtains – all touched off with a…

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – The National Academy of Sciences has canceled a workshop on preventing human bird flu infections after being told to stop work on the event by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an email sent to one of the workshop presenters and seen by Reuters. Bird flu has infected 70 people, most of them farmworkers, over the past year as it has spread aggressively among cattle herds and poultry flocks. Experts, including CDC officials during the previous administration of President Joe Biden, warned that further spread of the virus could allow it to…

Corn planting got off to an uneven start last month across top corn-growing states. Near-perfect conditions pushed some growers ahead, while persistent rain left others stuck on the sidelines.  Even within the same Corn Belt state, conditions have varied widely, creating a patchwork of progress across the region. Here’s a look back at April, drawing on USDA’s first four Crop Progress reports of the season and insights from agronomists. Iowa Although corn planting in Iowa tracked with the five-year pace for the first couple weeks of April, the state’s corn planting surged the week ending April 20. Progress continued to…

In her first 100 days as secretary of agriculture under the Trump Administration, Brooke Rollins has taken aggressive steps to refocus the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of her mission to put “Farmers First.” The policy under Rollins has reprioritized some of the doctrine of Trump’s previous Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who adopted the slogan “Do Right and Feed Everyone” in his tenure. Rollins has zeroed in on the rollback of what she describes as the Biden Administration’s “woke Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion agenda,” aiming instead to build a USDA that emphasizes “unity, equality, meritocracy, and color-blind policies.” “It…

1. Wheat Futures Higher in Overnight Trading Wheat futures were higher overnight on some technical buying and unfavorable weather in parts of the Canadian Prairies.  Investors who were short the market, or had bet on lower prices, likely bought back contracts and booked profits after the front-month contract earlier this week dropped to the lowest level since August.  Also giving prices a boost are tightening global inventories of the grain.  Stockpiles at the end of the 2024-2025 marketing year are projected at 260.7 million metric tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s down from the 269.1 million metric…

No matter whether your farm is big or small, commercial or hobby, or focused on crops or livestock, there’s one tool that people in the agricultural industry universally carry: a knife. That trusty sharpened blade has a multitude of uses, and it’s rare that you’ll ever see me without one on my hip. While we all have personal preferences about blade shape and choosing a fixed blade vs. a folding knife, it’s not uncommon to hear the question asked: Which are the best knives for farmers and ranchers? I’m a bit of a knife nut — I use them for…

With black cutworm moths making their annual migration into the Midwest, agronomists are urging farmers to begin scouting susceptible fields to avoid significant crop damage. Trapping reports from across Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin indicate increasing moth activity, marking the beginning of a high-risk window for corn. Flight Monitoring Trapping efforts begin April 1st and continue through the end of May for black cutworm and armyworm in Illinois and other Midwest states. “This gives us an indication of when moths start arriving and helps us determine potential areas where insect pressure might be a little higher,” said Kelly Estes, Illinois…

Farmers can now submit nominations for the 2026 Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year contest, which comes with cash prizes — and, of course, bragging rights! This is the eighth year of the contest, which celebrates farm dogs and the many ways they support farmers and ranchers. The grand prize winner — Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year — will win a year’s worth of Purina Pro Plan dog food and $5,000 in prize money. The winner will be recognized at a Farm Dog of the Year award ceremony at the American Farm Bureau Convention in Anaheim, California,…

By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — The Trump administration defunded 16 of 17 Feed the Future labs across the country when it began wiping out U.S. Agency for International Development projects. After months in limbo, Kansas State University found out its lab is the lone survivor. Two K-State labs that are part of the Feed the Future network received stop work orders in January. In early April, K-State officials received notice that the Climate Resilient Cereals Innovation Lab could resume work, said Timothy J. Dalton, professor of agricultural economics and interim director of the lab. The second lab, the Feed the…