Author: staff

By Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, Jonathan Coppess, and Carl Zulauf The House Reconciliation Bill includes changes to statutory reference prices used to trigger payments from the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, as well as changes to Agricultural Risk Coverage (see Farmdoc Daily, May 14, 2025). We evaluate how these changes will impact Federal outlays of the six largest program crops, finding that the proposed changes, if enacted, will increase spending by $29.873 billion from 2025–2035. Proportional increases are larger for rice, peanuts, and cotton than for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Changes in the House Reference Bill for PLC and ARC-CO The…

Honda announced the return of the FourTrax line of multipurpose ATVs — the FourTrax Rancher, Foreman 4×4, and Foreman Rubicon — for the 2026 model year.  The FourTrax models will have new accessories for 2026 including the Mini-Pro Connect Line that allows owners to bring a camera, phone, tablet or Bluetooth speaker on the ride. Other features include a new audio system, gun-boot mount, steel baskets, and handguards. FourTrax Rancher The FourTrax Rancher is designed for recreational and work use, available in four different trims. Options include a 5-speed manual transmission, and Honda’s 5-speed automatic Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT). All…

By Heather Schlitz CHICAGO, May 22 (Reuters) – Dr. Mike Lemmon’s pigs, each valued between $2,500 and $5,000, were supposed to be on a plane bound for Hangzhou, China, from St. Louis in April, where’d they spend the flight snoring, play fighting, and snacking on oats and husked corn before taking up residence at Chinese hog farms. Instead, many went to a local Indiana slaughterhouse for less than $200 each after the Chinese buyer canceled the order within a week of China implementing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in April. China is one of the biggest importers of American breeding pigs and other livestock genetic material such as cattle…

By South Dakota Searchlight Staff A coalition of groups opposing a multi-state carbon dioxide pipeline celebrated the removal of controversial language from the budget reconciliation bill passed Thursday by the U.S. House. Last week, the groups raised alarms about a provision they said would have allowed federal regulators to approve natural gas and carbon dioxide pipelines over prohibitions in state law. South Dakota passed a law earlier this year that bans the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Eminent domain is a legal process for gaining land access from unwilling owners, in exchange for compensation determined by a judge. Chase Jensen, a senior organizer for Dakota Rural…

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, May 22 (Reuters) – Recent heavy rains in Argentina have delayed the country’s wheat planting, as well as its soybean and corn harvests, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday in its weekly crop report. Argentina’s 2025/26 wheat planting season kicked off this week with just 3.4% of the planned 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) planted so far. The figure is 10 percentage points behind where it was at the same point last year, and four percentage points under the five-year average. Argentina is a major global exporter of wheat. Recent downpours of between 100 and…

By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) – The European Commission sought clarity from the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump recommended on Friday putting a 50% tariff on EU imports from June 1, with Brussels’ and Washington’s trade chiefs due to talk later. The Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, said it would not comment on the tariff threat until after a call between European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at 1500 GMT. European stocks tumbled and the euro gave back some gains, while euro zone government bond yields fell sharply after Trump’s announcement. “This is a major…

Pivot Bio, which develops microbial nitrogen products as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers, is relocating key parts of its business from Berkeley, California, to the Midwest. The company’s new footprint will be centered in two hubs: Center for Research, Development, Innovation & Operations – campus focused on science, product development and manufacturing operations.Global Headquarters – the company’s base for leadership and business operations.  The move brings the company closer to the heart of U.S. agriculture and many farmer customers. By centralizing teams and operations, Pivot Bio hopes to speed product development and decision-making, and make better use of technology like AI to…

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 88% of South Dakota is experiencing some form of drought or dryness. A sliver of two southwest counties reported D3 extreme drought covering less than 1% of the state. This is considerably better than the week prior when 100% of the state reported moisture stress and nearly 3% of South Dakota suffered from D3 conditions. Laura Edwards, South Dakota state climatologist, said that rains from the past week should lead to continued improvement in drought conditions.  “From the North Dakota border down to about I-90, we saw weekly totals at about 4 to…

John Deere has acquired Sentera, a provider of remote imagery solutions for agriculture headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The acquisition will advance Deere’s existing technology tools to generate and use data to make decisions that improve farm profitability, efficiency, and sustainability. John Deere Sentera Technology Drones equipped with Sentera technology fly over fields at high speeds and generate high-resolution images. Images are processed with Sentera’s FieldAgent application to identify the exact location of specific weeds to generate a weed map. This map becomes a targeted prescription for how much product a farmer needs to load into their sprayer, helping minimize…

The House Republicans’ newly unveiled budget proposal includes sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), potentially impacting millions of Americans who rely on food assistance to meet basic nutritional needs. Advocates and policy experts warn that the proposed reductions could represent the largest rollback of SNAP in the program’s history. Under the plan, the federal government aims to slash SNAP funding by as much as $300 billion over the next decade. This reduction would not only tighten eligibility and impose stricter work requirements but also shift a significant portion of the program’s financial responsibility to state governments; many…