Author: staff

As part of National Nurses Month, AgriSafe is recognizing the essential role rural nurses play in agricultural communities by offering full scholarships for its Nurse Scholar program — a $500 value. The program is designed to support nurses who are committed to improving health outcomes in America’s rural and farming regions. The AgriSafe Nurse Scholar program is a distance learning course developed specifically for rural nurses. It provides 23 ANCC contact hours of continuing education, focusing on the prevention, identification, and assessment of health conditions related to agricultural work exposures. The program is asynchronous and accessible online, allowing participants to…

Some folks dream of a Yellowstone vacation to get up close with bison. Others just need to take a casual drive down US 31 in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, where the bison come to you. Recently, a handful of these hefty escape artists from Oleson’s Buffalo Farm decided to trade pasture grass for pavement, lumbering down the highway like they had errands to run. The Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police quickly responded — not to wrangle the bison (good luck with that), but to direct traffic around the prehistoric parade. Now, let’s be clear: Keeping bison fenced…

Kioti Tractor is introducing new models to the HX Series utility tractor line — the HX1302 and HX1402 — Kioti’s most powerful tractors yet with 35 hp more than previous models.  “The HX1302 and HX1402 utility tractors represent a significant advancement in stability, power, and versatility,” said Joel Hicks, product line manager for tractors at KIOTI. “These new models empower operators to tackle demanding tasks across farming, land management, and grounds maintenance.” Performance The HX1302 can reach up to 130 hp (109 PTO hp), while the HX1402 can hit up to 140 hp (120 PTO hp). Both tractors are powered…

July corn ended the day down 8½¢ at $4.51 per bushel. July soybeans closed down 14¢ at $10.48½ per bushel. July wheat contracts closed higher. CBOT wheat ended the day up 1¾¢ at $5.30¼ per bushel. KC wheat was up less than a penny at $5.25¼. Minneapolis wheat was up 7¢ at $6.03¼. “Corn futures fell sharply Tuesday as strong planting progress, early harvest reports from Brazil, and concerns about weakening U.S. export demand pressured the market,” said the Grain Market Insider newsletter by Stewart-Peterson Inc. “Soybean futures ended lower Tuesday, with July closing just below the 100-day moving average…

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide an additional $14.5 million in reimbursements to state-run meat and poultry inspection programs. The funding, authorized under the USDA’s existing authority, is intended to prevent disruptions in inspection services that ensure meat and poultry products remain safe and accessible to American consumers. “President Trump is committed to ensuring Americans have access to a safe, affordable food supply. Today I exercised my authority to robustly fund state meat and poultry inspection programs to ensure states can continue to partner with USDA to deliver effective and…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ramping up efforts to control the New World Screwworm with a $21 million investment in a new sterile insect production facility in Metapa, Mexico. The announcement came during a bilateral call between U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and her Mexican counterpart, Secretary Julio Berdegué Sacristán, as both nations reaffirmed their commitment to containing the spread of the destructive livestock pest. The New World Screwworm, a parasitic insect that preys on warm-blooded animals, poses a significant threat to livestock health, rural economies, and national food security. It was eradicated in the U.S. in the 1980s…

A vintage advertisement for the Allis-Chalmers Model G tractor states, “For all jobs on some farms; for some jobs on all farms.” That phrase holds true for today’s 40–99-hp utility tractors: Most farms can find at least one use for a tractor that size, and some farms may only need a tractor that size.  “When I look at a heat map of the United States where these are listed, it’s all across the board,” said Andy Campbell, director of insights at Tractor Zoom. “There’s livestock farmers; fruit and specialty growers; even rural landowners and local governments are buying these units.” He…

By Casey Smith Property tax tweaks and a new online portal were among this year’s legislative wins for Hoosier farmers. But a high-priority proposal to help retiring farmers transition land to a new generation of growers failed to cross the finish line in the final days of the session. Rural-focused portions of Gov. Mike Braun’s first agenda pledged to “cut red tape,” strengthen the agricultural economy and protect Indiana farmland from encroaching development. The Republican governor had two early successes: property tax relief and a new online farmer portal. Some Legislative Wins Baked into Senate Enrolled Act 1, a hotly-debated property tax measure, were changes…

By Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY, May 27 (Reuters) – A mission representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will travel to Mexico in the coming days, Mexico’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday, and could then lift its suspension of Mexican cattle imports. The U.S. had suspended the imports on an outbreak of the New World screwworm, an insect which burrows into livestock and can kill them. Mexico has rolled out measures meant to combat the spread of the pest, the ministry said in a statement, adding U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins had expressed her satisfaction with them in a video call with…

By Sky Chadde | Investigate Midwest  Around 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve in 2022, flames ripped through the bowels of an industrial facility in Fremont, Nebraska. Elevators were scorched. Conveyor belts collapsed. Metal doors melted. As smoke filled the sky, employees scrambled to escape. One dialed 911. “The plant’s on fire,” he hurriedly breathed. “Is everybody out of there?” The dispatcher asked. “Working on it.” Local fire crews extinguished the blaze at the Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) plant about three hours later. Equipment failure likely created a spark. But the product upon which ADM built an empire was most responsible for the…