Author: staff

By Cami Koons A handful of Iowa farmers fired up their combines this week to start harvesting corn, according to the latest crop progress and condition report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  More than a quarter of corn acres across the state have reached maturity, according to the report, which is ahead of both last year and the five-year average for the reporting period. West-central Iowa and the northern regions of the state had lower percentages of mature corn than the rest of the state.  Eighty percent of corn has dented, which is also ahead of last year, but…

By Joshua Haiar MITCHELL — As China boycotts U.S. soybean purchases, a $500 million processing plant south of Mitchell that will turn more of the state’s crop into oils and livestock meal opened its doors Tuesday. Tom Kersting, the CEO of South Dakota Soybean Processors, which manages the plant, said it will help stabilize prices and create local demand. “If it wasn’t for demand sources like this facility, it’d be very, very tough out there,” Kersting said, calling China, until now, the No. 1 buyer of South Dakota’s exported soybeans. China is avoiding U.S. soybeans this fall in response to tariffs imposed…

By Robin Opsahl Gov. Kim Reynolds has returned to India with a delegation from Iowa this week, following up from trade discussions that began during her first visit in 2024. Reynolds had first visited India with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham and Iowa agricultural and business leaders, for a 10-day mission in September 2024. She and other state leaders discussed trade opportunities with business and government leaders between Iowa and India in areas like biofuel, commodity crops and agricultural technology. The governor is joined by many of the same Iowans,…

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reconsidering a rule extending endangered species protections to threatened species. FWS has drafted a proposal to rescind the 4(d) blanket rule, which automatically extends to threatened species a prohibition on the “take” of endangered ones, according to a court affidavit submitted by Elizabeth Maclin, the acting deputy assistant director of FWS’s Ecological Services Program. The agency plans to have the proposal ready for publishing in the Federal Register by the end of October. Two groups — the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Property and Environment Research Center — had challenged the rule, which was…

The Trump administration is making another run at reforming the way H-2A minimum wage rates for farmworkers are set in a manner that could provide some relief to farmers during a time of continued uncertainty about workers who are in the country illegally. A big question is whether the administration will follow the strategy they tried to implement as President Donald Trump was leaving office in 2020 or come up with a new method of setting the adverse effect wage rates, or AEWR, that farmers must pay H-2A workers. USDA took a step toward reform by announcing that it will…

Key Takeaways Corn is behind the 5-year average progress: 94% in dough stage (vs 96%), 61% dent (vs 70%), and 14% mature (vs 18%). Most small grains are nearly done: Spring wheat and barley at 97% harvested, oats at 98%.  Crop conditions are generally good: Minnesota’s corn and soybeans are rated mostly good-to-excellent, with topsoil/subsoil moisture also mostly adequate. USDA published the latest Crop Progress report on Monday, Sept. 8. Here’s a closer look at recent weather and the status of Minnesota’s most important crops as September started out. Weather Jared Goplen, agronomy manager for Wyffels Hybrids, said some areas have…

Key Takeaways Across the top 18 corn states, only 4% of corn was harvested as of Sept. 7, with most progress in southern states.Disease and dry conditions, among other things, are expected to impact yield.Some states are ahead on maturity — Iowa at 26%, Illinois 27%, Wisconsin 10% — but harvest in some places hasn’t kicked off. Across the country’s top 18 corn-growing states, corn harvest reached 4% the week ending Sept. 7, according to USDA’s latest Crop Progress report. The bulk of the progress comes from southern states like Texas and North Carolina, while Corn Belt states have only…

Almost a year after Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina, Tar Heel State farmers have some more financial help coming their way.  Late last week, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden announced $221.2 million in USDA funding to provide recovery assistance to eligible North Carolina farmers. “Today’s announcement is about delivering on our promise to stand shoulder to shoulder with America’s farmers in times of need. By signing this block grant with North Carolina, USDA is ensuring that producers have the resources to rebuild stronger after Hurricane Helene and keep producing the food and fuel our nation depends on,” Vaden said.…

This week’s Interesting Iron isn’t about horsepower or paint codes — it’s about people. As a matter of fact, it started with a man in Illinois who I’m pretty sure I made mad a few months back. It all started in May when I posted a video on our social channels asking folks to share the most interesting tractor story on their farm. I was hoping for stuff like an M that was won in a card game or a clapped-out 4430 that saved the home farm from a field fire during harvest, because I know those stories are out…

By Cami Koons The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it had improved and expanded its Farm to School Grant program and would invest up to $18 million to connect locally grown food to child nutrition programs.  The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants program was initiated in 2013, but according to a news release, the fiscal year 2026 investment represents the “largest total amount” the department has offered in a given year.  The Farm to School Grant announcement was made alongside U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest Make America Healthy Again report, which called for more…