Author: staff

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…

U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) sent a letter Thursday to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins urging her to develop an emergency plan to vaccinate cattle against highly pathogenic avian influenza.  Since the most recent outbreak of HPAI beginning in February 2022, HPAI has impacted 116 commercial bird flocks and 26 backyard flocks in Round’s home state of South Dakota, amounting to 6.7 million birds. Nationwide, the virus has affected over 166 million birds across 50 states and Puerto Rico and in 671 counties. In March 2024, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service detected HPAI infections…

The growing outbreak of New World screwworm in Mexico has triggered serious concerns for U.S. agriculture. First detected in Chiapas in November 2024, NWS has now breached containment thresholds, spreading more than 127 miles beyond the secondary buffer zone into Oaxaca and Veracruz. With over 1,400 detections in Mexico, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suspended live animal imports from Mexico on May 11, citing insufficient sterile fly capacity to contain the spread. Image by AFBF Sterile Insect Technique, which involves releasing sterile flies to control wild screwworm populations, has been the primary tool in keeping the pest at bay. The…

Just after 9:00 a.m. CT, July corn was down 4¾¢ at $4.58¼ per bushel. July soybeans were 7¼¢ weaker at $10.60¼ per bushel. Karl Setzer, partner with Consus Ag Consulting said, “The market has exhausted its fresh news from either side and traders are now focused on simply shoring up positions and starting the Memorial Day weekend. Fresh news is light this morning which is further cutting into trade activity, and volume. Volume will thin as the session progresses, and this can elevate volatility even more.” July wheat markets started the day mixed. CBOT wheat was down ¾¢ at $5.43¾…

1. Wheat Lower Overnight on Favorable Weather Wheat futures were lower amid favorable weather in several global production areas. Rainfall in the U.S. southern Plains will boost prospects for the hard-red winter wheat crop while precipitation in northern growing areas of the country will favor early spring wheat growth, said Don Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist with Maxar.  Drought conditions in Kansas and Oklahoma, the largest producers of winter wheat, were little changed week to week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 35% of Kansas was suffering from drought conditions as of May 20, down from 37% seven days earlier.…

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, May 21 – Dry weather conditions in the coming days will help air out Argentina’s muddy fields, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Wednesday, after heavy storms flooded the already behind-schedule soybean crop. Fierce rains washed out the north of Buenos Aires province at the end of last week, with the exchange warning that it may need to cut its estimates for the soybean harvest. Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal. The exchange currently pegs 2024/25 output of soy at 50 million metric tons. But with the harvest running late, farmers risk losing crops due to…

Iowa ethanol advocates and farmers are urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a bill restricting carbon sequestration pipelines.  The advocates said in a press conference Thursday the bill is “extremely problematic” to biofuels, farming, energy and Iowa economies. The bill, House File 639, which passed the Iowa Senate May 12 and is awaiting a signature from Reynolds, would change definitions of a common carrier and increase insurance requirements for pipelines transporting liquid carbon dioxide. It would also set requirements for the Iowa Utilities Commission and expand who can intervene on dockets with the commission.  Advocates and lawmakers in favor of the bill oppose…

By Christine Zhu Leaders of the nonprofit advocacy group Toxic Free North Carolina held a virtual press conference along with community advocates on Wednesday to warn lawmakers against what they said are the dangers of Section 19 in the 2025 North Carolina Farm Act. The provision, part of Senate Bill 639, would remove responsibility from pesticide manufacturers and sellers to disclose a product’s risks as long as the pesticide container bears a label indicating that it has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The bill’s language would also remove the ability of individuals…

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday released the first report from his Make America Healthy Again Commission, delivering on his promise to take a hard line against crop protection products. The agriculture industry responded by saying that the consequences of limiting access to scientifically supported ag products would be “severe” for farmers. Kennedy’s 68-page document, subtitled Making Our Children Healthy Again, points to environmental chemicals — including pesticides widely used on farms and in residential settings — as potential contributors to chronic disease in children. While the commission insists the report is about promoting public…