Author: staff

Ahead of 9:15 a.m. CT, December corn was up 3½¢ at $4.38¾ per bushel. January soybeans were up 13½¢ at $11.47¼ per bushel. March CBOT wheat was up 1¼¢ at $5.53¾ per bushel. March KC wheat was up 1½¢ at $5.43¼ per bushel. March Minneapolis wheat was up 2¢ at $5.86¼. With the government shutdown over, USDA has begun releasing data. This morning the agency released the weekly U.S. Export Sales report for the week that ended on Sept. 25. “USDA pegged net U.S. corn export sales for the week ended Sept. 25 at 55.8 million bushels, with net weekly…

In their competition for rural health care dollars from a new federal fund, states are seeking money to bolster emergency services, address chronic diseases, and recruit and train more doctors and nurses. All 50 states submitted their applications to the federal government last week to get shares of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. Congress created the program in response to concern from rural health care providers — as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — about the effects of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed this summer. A…

By Karl Plume and Julie Ingwersen CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (Reuters) – A crop data blackout during the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown has led to the widest range of analyst estimates in a decade for corn and soybean yields, as an information vacuum at harvest time and during critical trade negotiations distorted the market for the country’s two most valuable crops. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release a hotly anticipated crop report including the government’s first estimates of the two feed crops since mid-September, before the harvest had taken shape. In the absence of last month’s world agriculture supply and demand estimates report, traders have…

Emerging technologies may make cattle management easier than ever. These systems may reduce the need for on-farm labor and provide greater insights into your herd.  A Scanner to Weigh Cattle ClicR Technologies, a Florida-based imaging company, has developed a scanning system it said can measure individual cattle weights with 98% or better accuracy — without scales!  ClicRweight Bovine Solution is a 3D camera mounted above a watering or feeding station. Every time an animal comes to drink or eat, the system identifies it and takes multiple scans. Then, a patented algorithm sorts the scans and calculates animal weights, said Joey Spicola,…

U.S. tractor and combine sales saw a steep year-over-year decline in October, even as farmer confidence edged higher on the strength of the livestock sector, according to the latest report from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. The October AEM Ag Tractor and Combine Report showed that total farm tractor sales were down 19.6 percent compared to October 2024, with 17,258 units sold across all drive types. Two-wheel-drive models under 40 horsepower (typically the most active segment) dropped 22 percent, while large tractors over 100 horsepower fell 17.3 percent. Sales of four-wheel-drive tractors, often used in large-scale crop operations, plunged 56.3…

For more than 60 years, the Buckert family name and Case tractors have been synonymous in much of western Illinois and eastern Iowa. It all started with Alvin Buckert, who started farming near Hamilton, Illinois, with a Case Model CC. Over the years, other Case tractors were added, including a DC and SC. In the meantime, Alvin’s son, Fred, joined the farming operation in 1955 after he returned from the U.S. Army — adding even newer Case models like a 730 and 800.   However, Fred saw Case tractors as more than just farm machines. By the early 1960s, he was…

Case IH is rolling out the new Farmall M Series tractors — which the brand says is built to bring reliable power, comfort, and versatility to everything from daily chores to demanding fieldwork. It is designed with integrated technology and a smoother operator experience. The Farmall M Series includes the 100M, 110M, and 120M models, each running a 4-cylinder, 3.6L Stage V engine that delivers between 100 and 120 horsepower. Sitting at the top of the Farmall range, these tractors boast a 5,200 kg rear lift capacity and an 8-ton gross vehicle weight, with transport speeds up to 40 kph…

Oklahoma’s attorney general has asked a federal judge to keep the state’s governor out of a long-running lawsuit against Tyson Foods and other major poultry companies. The lawsuit, filed by the state in 2005, accused several poultry companies of polluting the Illinois River Watershed in eastern Oklahoma with phosphorus from chicken waste spread on fields as fertilizer. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled in favor of the state but ordered each side to negotiate damages. This year, Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked Frizzell to impose penalties exceeding $100 million on the companies, including Tyson, Cargill, and Simmons Foods.…

By Cami Koons Iowa saw its first snowfall over the past week, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said marked the “official end of the growing season.”  While crop progress and condition statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are unavailable due to the ongoing government shutdown, Naig estimated that corn and soybean harvest in the state is coming to a close.  “Based on my observations while traveling around the state and the conversations I’m having with farmers, harvest appears to be nearly complete,” Naig said in a statement Monday. According to Naig, what he has heard from farmers…

Lumo was selected as the Audience Choice Award winner during the AgSharks Pitch Competition at the 2025 Western Growers Annual Meeting. During the competition, startup companies pitch their innovations in front of a live audience of the world’s largest specialty crop producers to win a $250,000 minimum investment  The finalists were: DriftSense gives growers field-scale, hourly-resolved 10-day spray plans so they can use less chemistry, avoid drift and protect yields. Lumo helps growers irrigate to plan with block-level precision. Mapana analyzes plant systems for fertilizer and mineral intake and provides input recommendations and tracks soil health. TRIC Robotics helps farmers…