Author: staff

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 6 (Reuters) – Argentine farmers began planting their fields with soy for the 2025/26 season in recent days, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday, noting most fields benefited from “optimal” surface moisture conditions. Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal, and the exchange expects this season to yield some 48.5 million metric tons of crop. Farmers have planted 4.4% of the 17.6 million hectares it expects will be sown with soy, it added. Corn farmers are waiting for optimal conditions to begin planting the late-maturing crop for the 2025/26 season,…

By Todd Hubbs and Scott Irwin The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a trilogy of decisions for the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in recent months that represents some of the most significant regulatory developments for biomass-based diesel in the program’s history. The vast majority of biomass-based diesel produced in the U.S. and used to comply with the RFS is made up of FAME biodiesel and renewable diesel (farmdoc daily, Feb. 8, 2023). The combined effect of higher renewable volume obligations (RVOs), more restrictive small refinery exemptions, and mandatory reallocation creates substantially higher biomass-based diesel requirements for 2026-2027 (farmdoc daily, Oct. 25, 2025). This…

By Julie Ingwersen CHICAGO, Nov. 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is collecting survey-based data for its upcoming crop production report scheduled for release on November 14, an official with the agency’s statistical arm said on Wednesday, despite the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. The report will include the government’s first updated estimates of U.S. corn and soybean yield and production since September 12, when most of the Midwestern harvest was not yet underway. The October crop report was not issued due to the shutdown. The USDA’s reports are closely monitored by grain traders globally. Along with corn and soybeans, the upcoming…

By Naveen Thukral and Ella Cao SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Reuters) – China has booked two cargoes of U.S. wheat following last week’s meeting between the countries’ leaders, traders said on Thursday, the first such purchases since October last year, signalling easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Investors welcomed the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, which helped ease concerns over the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies that had disrupted flows of goods including key agricultural products. Beijing on Wednesday announced that from November 10 it would scrap tariffs that it had announced on March…

Reports say that China has begun purchases of U.S. farm products in the wake of last week’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Under the deal the leaders made, China pledged to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans before the end of 2025 and a minimum of 25 MMT annually from 2026 through 2028. That said, the purchasing that has begun has been described as “modest” so far. News outlet Reuters reported that Chinese buyers have booked two cargoes of U.S. wheat, the first such purchases since October last year, two…

By Casey Hall SHANGHAI, Nov. 6 (Reuters) – A shipment of sorghum has been sent from the United States to China since last week, Mark Wilson, chairman of the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council, said on Thursday, the first known cargo following the recent meeting between the two countries’ leaders. “I know after the meeting, one shipment of sorghum has been loaded and is coming over,” Wilson told Reuters on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, adding that he did not know the size of the shipment. China, the top market for U.S. farmers and the world’s largest…

For growers and researchers, keeping pace with crop maintenance during the growing and harvest seasons is a massive, time-consuming effort. But the future of crop production could require less hands-on operation with new agricultural technology. Frank Bai, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) at NC State University, is testing a drone docking solution that he hopes will help growers automatically assess the health of their crops remotely. Bai’s research focuses on developing and applying advanced and reliable technologies in precision and digital agriculture to address gaps in sensing, data processing and application to enhance…

In the past, farm lineage focused on men. Sons generally inherited the farm, while daughters moved to their husbands’ farms. Today, 35% of all U.S. producers and 41% of beginning farmers are women, according to the USDA. As farmer demographics evolve, so, too, does the genealogy of farming. Illinois Agri-Women (IAW) celebrates matriarchal lineage on the farm with a new project, Generations of Women in Agriculture Across America (GoAg3). The group is conducting a nationwide search for female farm-family dynasties that include at least three living generations of women involved in or retired from production agriculture or agribusiness.  Applications may…

Corteva has announced two crop protection solutions to combat insect damage and protect crop yields are on the horizon.  “Innovation is at the core of our crop protection business and today’s announcement further advances our global leadership,” said Robert King, executive vice president, crop protection for Corteva, in a news release. “These new insect management solutions complement our existing portfolio of leading biological and insecticide products and will help farmers better manage costly insect damage while supporting our vision of providing more sustainable solutions, improving farmer productivity and strengthening global food security.” Goltrevo This novel bioinsecticide will target some sap-feeding…

The study out of Virginia Tech reveals how rainfall data choices can make or break insurance payouts for farmers and ranchers. Somewhere in the vast open stretches of American pastures, a farmer watches storm clouds roll across the horizon. A few miles away, rain pours down, but the farm remains bone dry. Weeks later, the farmer will not receive a payout from the farm’s rainfall index insurance policy, even though its harvest was well below average. Why? Because the average rainfall for the farmer’s grid — an area 17 by 17 miles defined in a national rainfall dataset — was…