Author: staff

Problem: My wife and I are in a good position. We don’t need much income. We have three kids and eight grandkids. One son farms with us. Our other two work outside the farm. We’re all different, but we get along great.  We operate through a C corporation that holds machinery, grain, livestock, and a little land. Most of our land is owned outside the corporation. Our estate keeps growing beyond our needs, so we’re both thinking of gifting $18,000 of corporate stock to each child annually around Christmas. Is this a good way to start transferring the farm? –…

By Cami Koons AMES — National Farmers Union President Rob Larew spoke about the stalled reauthorization of the Farm Bill and strategies to promote agriculture and conservation within the upcoming administration Saturday at the Iowa Farmers Union annual conference.  “I am so tired of talking about this farm bill,” Larew said with a laugh to a full conference room at the Quality Inn in Ames.  The Farm Bill is a bipartisan package of legislation, typically reauthorized every five years, regulating and funding food and farm programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation initiatives to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.…

In 1839, Simon Wyckoff bought 172 acres of what is now Warren County in central New Jersey. More than 100 years later, in 1958, the fifth and sixth generations of Wyckoffs, who had transitioned to dairy farming, planted 1,000 Norway spruce seedlings on a difficult piece of ground. Their first harvest was in 1967, when they sold six trees for $5 each. In 1970, they sold the cows, and the family became full-time Christmas tree farmers. John Wyckoff is the seventh generation to run the family farm. Today, Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm has more than a dozen species planted on about 70 acres.…

Farm income is down for the second year in a row, with receipts from corn and soybeans — the two largest field crops — off by a combined $23.5 billion from 2023 levels, but higher than expected livestock revenue is a counterweight, said the Agriculture Department on Tuesday. It estimated net farm income, a broad measure of profits, at $140.7 billion this year, down by $6 billion from last year but still the fourth-highest level on record. Production expenses, for goods such as livestock feed, fertilizer, and pesticides, are falling for the first time since 2019, allowing farmers and ranchers…

The Agriculture Department shirked its duties in a 2020 rule that exempted genetically engineered plants from pre-market review if they were unlikely to pose an environmental risk, ruled U.S. district judge James Donato on Tuesday. Donato overturned the rule, issued during the first Trump administration, and told USDA to reconsider it. Dubbed SECURE, the regulation was the fruit of a multiyear effort to modernize USDA plant regulation. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said it would streamline innovation. Opponents said it would allow the majority of genetically engineered and gene-edited plants to escape USDA review. Previously, all such plants needed USDA approval…

1. Soybeans, Grains Little Changed Overnight Soybean and grain futures were little changed in overnight trading as investors weigh signs of demand for U.S. agricultural products against favorable weather in South America.  Exporters sold 136,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China for delivery in the 2024/2025 marketing year, the Department of Agriculture said in a report yesterday.  That follows sales of 30,000 tons of soybean oil to South Korea and an additional 134,000 tons of soybeans to China that were also announced this week.  About 21.7 million metric tons of soybeans have been exported since the start of the…

By Cami Koons Through several programs and funding cycles associated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Rural Development office, rural and agricultural communities in Iowa have been awarded millions of dollars over the past month.  These programs funded clean energy projects, community development, safety, and the middle of the food supply chain in Iowa.  $18.3 Million in Clean Energy Projects The Iowa director for USDA Rural Development, Theresa Greenfield announced the latest round of Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funding Nov. 14.  The majority of the 195 projects funded were solar array installations, with one ethanol facility…

DAILY Bites USDA launches National Milk Testing Strategy, a mandatory nationwide program to test raw milk for H5N1, enhancing biosecurity and safeguarding dairy herds and farmworkers. New Federal Order issued requiring nationwide raw milk sampling, epidemiological data sharing from affected herds, and mandatory reporting of positive test results by laboratories and veterinarians. Five-stage implementation plan icludes state-specific strategies for surveillance, containment, and elimination of H5N1, progressing toward a long-term goal of national herd freedom from the virus. DAILY Discussion Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the launch of its National Milk Testing Strategy.…

Emma Zaicow, a Purdue University student, and Les Voyageurs, a Louisiana State University club, took home the top prizes in the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2024 College Aggies Online scholarship program. Throughout the nine weeks of the program, $20,000 was awarded in scholarships to participating students and clubs. The 2024 CAO program had 278 individual participants that shared nearly 2,500 positive and informative posts on social media about agriculture. Thirteen collegiate clubs competed and hosted 36 campus and community events, reaching nearly 5,500 people in person. CAO is an initiative of the Alliance that connects college students, industry experts, and social…

When it comes to spring spraying, every second counts. An equipment failure when perfect conditions finally align could be detrimental to a pest control plan.  Luckily, winter offers a period of downtime between seasons, when farm equipment can be brought into top shape.  “Wintertime is when we finish what we started,” says Fred Whitford, director of Purdue Pesticide Programs. “You’ve used these sprayers, you’ve made money out of them. They’ve protected your crop against weeds, insects, and diseases. Now is the time to give them a little loving care, so that next year they’re ready to roll.” While each sprayer…