Author: staff

Missouri farmers accuse Tyson of colluding to keep competitors from buying a shuttered plant, leaving them stranded with millions in debt. DEXTER, Missouri — On an early August morning in 2023, Shawn Hinkle received a call from one of his technicians at Tyson Foods who, through tears, told him the company’s plant in Dexter was shutting down. Hundreds of jobs at the poultry slaughterhouse would be lost and farmers like Hinkle, who contracted with Tyson to raise egg-laying hens, would be out of business. A decade earlier, Hinkle borrowed $2.3 million to build two chicken houses on his land. After…

Top Third Ag Marketing helps farmers become better agricultural marketers with the goal of marketing crops and livestock 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 here! https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/top-third-Agdaily-2024-12-30_OPEN.mp3 The post Markets in Minutes: Top Third looks ahead for week of Dec. 30, 2024 appeared first on AGDAILY.

Beef products and livestock producers take a lopsided amount of criticism from the public and from misguided lawmakers — usually in the form of climate concerns or nutritional health. However, new research from the Indiana University School of Public Health could help to mitigate some of the heart-health concerns that opponents have lobbied about beef. The peer-reviewed comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis has affirmed that beef can be enjoyed in a heart-healthy diet. Specifically, research consistently demonstrated that eating two (3-ounce) servings of unprocessed beef, on average, in a daily dietary pattern had no significant impact on most cardiovascular disease…

By Aayush Raj Dhakal and Joe Janzen Futures and options markets are often presented as vital tools for farmers to hedge price risks associated with crop production. The textbook example is a corn farmer who offsets the risk of price declines for their growing crop by selling a corn futures contract at planting and buying it back at harvest. Gains or losses in the value of the crop over this period are offset by corresponding losses or gains in the value of the futures position, allowing the farmer to lock in prices ahead of the harvest. But how commonly do…

Published: 9:13 a.m. CT Good morning. The grain markets are higher with soybeans leading the charge higher. Nearby corn futures are trading at the highest price since last June and wheat futures are pulled higher by corn and soybeans. The U.S. dollar has turned higher after a lower start. The grain markets are focused on weather in Argentina where the forecast is not dry with some possible extreme heat by later this week. I look for crop ratings and yield forecasts to begin to move lower. Earlier this morning, March corn futures were up 4¢, March soybean futures were up…

James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., the Georgia peanut farmer who became the 39th president of the United States, has died at age 100, according to the Carter Center. The nonprofit reported Carter died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by family. Farm Roots At age 4, Carter and his parents, Earl and Lillian Carter, moved to a 360-acre farm in Archery, Georgia, a small hamlet outside the city of Plains, southeast of Columbus. His father grew peanuts, cotton, sugarcane, and corn commercially with the help of tenant farmers, plus vegetables for the family. He also raised livestock and…

Travis and Kendra Paulton have always held back for their own freezer a few steers from their commercial Angus cow-calf operation. When friends in town asked if the Paultons would consider selling their beef, the couple began feeding out one or two more steers.  First, they sold halves and quarters to friends, then friends of friends. About five years ago, they started selling individual cuts at the local farmers market. Soon came the next step: shipping beef nationwide.  Dakota Canyon Ranch, just outside the southwest corner of the Black Hills National Forest, in Dewey, South Dakota, is about an hour…

The first time I visited Wrenn’s Farm in eastern North Carolina, the greenhouses were falling, the former farm stand was in disarray and the farm looked like what it was: abandoned.  The farm had grown many things in its lifetime. Tobacco covered the fields before Austin’s grandparents turned to vegetable production. Their only child and Austin’s father, Mitchell Wrenn, started growing strawberries in the 1980’s. He started with a pick-your-own field, then expanded to grow for grocery stores and added strawberry plugs for other farmers to buy.  Growing up, Austin knew he wanted to come back to the farm. However,…

If your soil’s pH levels are not within the ideal range your crops require, you could be losing production. For overly acidic soils, applying lime to raise the pH level could prove a cost-effective management practice. Liming of acidic soils can increase corn and soybean yields, said Antonio Mallarino, agronomist and Extension soil fertility specialist at Iowa State University (ISU). Numerous ISU research trials at multiple sites since 2007 showed liming increased corn or soybean yields up to about 25 bushels per acre over the yields of the control plots, Mallarino said. He did note that potential yield increases lessen…

After Darren Eichelkraut graduated from high school 20 years ago, he left his family’s fifth-generation dairy farm near Paoli, Wisconsin, to work in construction. Later, he worked in a hardware store. “But once I started thinking about raising a family, I realized I wanted to do that back on the farm,” he said.  While keeping his town job, Eichelkraut also began working for his parents, Junior and Jean Eichelkraut, on their 52-cow Breezy View Dairy. Taking over the dairy became his dream, but he saw that something needed to change for him to earn a full-time living from the dairy…