Author: staff

A new national study reveals some bullish baseline trends regarding how American farmers are approaching agricultural drone technology and related equipment as an emerging cornerstone of crop production. The research, titled Farmer Perceptions of Agricultural Drones, surveyed full-time, large-scale row crop farmers across the U.S., highlighting both the adoption drivers and resistance points for producers. “Farmers told us that drones or drone services are becoming a core piece of their operational infrastructure,” said Cam Camfield, CEO of Stratovation Group, which conducted the survey. “This research separates the real-life field-level signals from the industry hype. It spotlights what’s actually accelerating or…

Today sustainability and environmental impact is more than just a trend. And many people who are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment focus on their diet. If you Google “sustainable diets,” you will frequently be told that, at the very least, you need to drastically reduce your intake of animal products. The United Nations itself recommends moving toward a plant-based diet to support sustainability. But there’s a lot more to sustainability than it might seem, and if your goal is to support sustainability, you can absolutely do that and still eat meat and other animal products.…

Image by Nokwan007, Shutterstock Top Third Ag Marketing, a division of StoneX Financial Services Inc., helps farmers become better agricultural marketers with the goal of marketing crops in the top third of prices. Mark Gold and his team provide AGDAILY.com with the latest information and a look ahead in their audio commentary. Listen to Mark Gold’s Weekly Grain Comments here! https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/top-third-agdaily-2025-12-08.mp3

Kaitlyn Ballard, a Northwest Missouri State University student, and Tarleton State University Block & Bridle took home the top prizes in the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2025 College Aggies Online scholarship program, announced during an awards ceremony held on December 5. Throughout the nine weeks of the program, $16,000 was awarded in scholarships to participating students and clubs. The 2025 CAO program had 265 individual participants that shared nearly 1,670 positive and informative posts on social media about agriculture. Eight collegiate clubs competed and hosted 22 campus and community events, reaching nearly 8,200 people in person. CAO is an initiative of…

Geared toward 4- to 9-year-olds, Our Christmas Tree Farm offers a cozy peek behind the scenes at what it takes to grow the centerpiece of many American families’ Christmas traditions: a real Christmas tree. Told through 7-year-old Kate’s narration, the story follows a bustling tree farm where the whole family pitches in, including Daisy the dog. Customers arrive ready to choose a tree and enjoy classic farm fun like popcorn, sledding, and other seasonal activities, while Kate’s family stays busy keeping everything running — popping corn, setting up sleds, and baling trees — alongside the careful work that makes the farm…

President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a $12 billion farm aid package this afternoon at the White House, aimed at producers facing low commodity prices and market disruption tied to the administration’s tariff policies and ongoing trade tensions — especially with China. According to Reuters, the plan, described by administration officials speaking ahead of the announcement, would deliver the bulk of the funding as one-time payments to crop farmers through a newly designed Farmer Bridge Assistance program, with the remainder set aside for commodities not covered under that framework. Reporting indicates the package is designed to reach a broad…

A little after 9 a.m. CT, March corn was up a penny at $4.45¾ per bushel. January soybeans were down 9¢ at $10.96¼ per bushel. March CBOT wheat was up 2¢ at $5.37¾ per bushel. March KC wheat was down 2¼¢ at $5.29 per bushel. March Minneapolis wheat was up 3¼¢ at $5.76¼. This morning, USDA announced China is buying 132,000 metric tons of soybeans for the 2025/2026 marketing year. Tomorrow USDA is expected to release the December World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports. The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is meeting Tuesday…

Applications are now open for the 2026-27 National Teacher Ambassadors for FFA, a program designed to give agriculture educators advanced training, hands-on experience with National FFA resources, and a leadership role that extends beyond their own classroom through outreach and support in their state. At its core, the program is built around working teachers helping other working teachers. The FFA’s latest report describes the ambassadors as a group of agriculture educators currently in the classroom who are trained to answer questions and provide training related to the various educational resources and experiences the National FFA Organization offers. Applications for the…

A farm aid package is expected to be announced next week for farmers suffering from export losses and low commodity prices. Agri-Pulse Newsmakers sat down with Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden to discuss the package, which he says “a wide variety of commodity crops” will be eligible for.In this extended year-in-review interview, the Trump administration’s efforts to advance many agriculture priorities this year  — tackling food inflation, advancing trade deals, and consolidation in the meat sector — were discussed. Vaden, who is leading the USDA reorganization, also shared a timeline for when USDA staff will be relocated to five regional hubs across…

By Michael Langemeier A previous article discussed crop machinery cost and investment (Langemeier, 2025). Crop machinery cost is computed by summing economic depreciation, interest, property taxes, insurance, repairs, fuel and lubricants, and custom hire and rental expense. This article examines crop machinery costs for small and large farms and for net return categories. Trends in corn and soybean crop machinery costs are also examined. A forthcoming article will examine crop machinery investment and net investment by farm size category. Crop Machinery Cost Table 1 presents machinery cost per acre for farms with less than 250 acres or more than 1000 acres of corn or…