Author: staff

March corn is down 2¼¢ this morning. January soybeans are up 5¼¢. March wheat contracts are lower. CBOT wheat is down 8¢. KC wheat is down 7¾¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 4½¢. This morning, USDA announced Mexico is buying 454,090 metric tons of corn — 364,792 metric tons for the 2024/2025 marketing year and 89,298 metric tons for the 2025/2026 marketing year. February live cattle are up $1.83 this morning. January feeder cattle are up $4.80. February lean hogs are down 28¢. January crude oil is down $1.12. The U.S. Dollar Index December contract is down to 106.71. December S&P…

Integrated agricultural software company Bushel recently completed the arc of its 2024 documentary series, which focuses on co-founder Ryan Raguse and his efforts to take over the family farm in Wheaton, Minnesota. Titled, The Unexpected Acre, the series is available for free on YouTube. Raguse had to step in and lead the farming operation following his father’s unexpected passing last summer. Though he grew up dedicated to farming with his family, taking the lead for the first time this season brought many new and unforeseen challenges. The series not only captures the hands-on aspects of farming but also the emotional…

Imagine a second set of eyes on your pregnant cows and receiving an alert, with a high degree of precision and accuracy, when a cow is about to give birth. Now imagine those eyes trained on your pregnant cows 24 hours a day, seven days a week, taking neither breaks nor being called away to perform other tasks. That is what Nikon is developing. The company, well known for its imaging technologies, is using its expertise to produce an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system, using cameras to constantly monitor cows in individual calving pens. Employing advanced algorithms, the system can…

Listen to the Podcast Meet John Zimmerman John Zimmerman is a second-generation corn, soybean, and turkey producer from Northfield, Minnesota, raising around 100,000 birds a year. As part of his role as the 2024 chairman of the National Turkey Federation, this week he is delivering two turkeys from a special “presidential flock” on his farm to the White House, where they will be presented to and — they hope — pardoned by President Biden. In this week’s episode of 15 Minutes With a Farmer, we discuss why Minnesota is the biggest turkey-producing state, the important role producer groups play, and…

Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the nonprofit America First Policy Institute and a native of Texas, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next U.S. secretary of agriculture. As ag secretary in the second Trump administration, Rollins would lead a U.S. Department of Agriculture that has more that 100,000 employees across the nation. The alumnus of FFA and 4-H has a long history of Trump’s trust. During his first term, Rollins was an assistant to the president for intergovernmental and technology initiatives. She then went on to become acting director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council,…

by Ariana Figueroa WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump Saturday announced his intent to name Brooke Rollins of Texas, the president and CEO of the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute, to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country,” Trump said in a statement. Trump’s statement said Rollins is a graduate of Texas A&M University, with an undergraduate degree in agriculture development. “From her upbringing in the small and Agriculture-centered town of Glen Rose, Texas, to her years of leadership…

On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump tapped surprise pick Brooke Rollins to be the next USDA Secretary of Agriculture. For weeks, the industry had been speculating who would be next to lead the department. Agricultural industry groups and several other contenders for the position were quick to react to the news. National Sorghum Producers Amy France, a sorghum farmer from Scott City, Kansas was among the first to comment on President-elect Trump’s nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture. “We congratulate Brooke Rollins on her nomination as Secretary of Agriculture. This is an important moment for U.S. agriculture, and we…

By Cami Koons The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s decision that Summit Carbon Solutions is allowed temporary access to properties for surveying, because it is a pipeline company that would be transporting a hazardous liquid.  The case involved Kent Kasischke, a Hardin County landowner who refused to let Summit surveyors on his land to survey for their proposed pipeline that would transport carbon dioxide, primarily sequestered from ethanol plants, to underground storage in North Dakota.  The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case in early October.  Kasischke argued Iowa Code section 479B.15, which allows a pipeline…

Public health officials confirmed six additional cases of bird flu infection of farmworkers, five in California and one in Oregon, raising the U.S. total to 52 this year. The Oregon infection was the first in the state and was tied to an outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus at an egg farm in Clackamas County, southeast of Portland. To date, all of the infected people have had mild symptoms and responded to treatment, typically antiviral medication. Scientists are on the alert for any signs the avian influenza virus is evolving to become more transmissible among people. The Oregon Health…

The top agricultural issue for the lame duck session will be disaster and financial aid to farmers. The farm bill, meanwhile, already a year overdue, is likely to be delayed until 2025 “unless the attitude really changes,” said House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson on a podcast. Thompson also said he thinks stopgap aid for farmers will get done. “The other things that we worked hard to put into this farm bill, we will get them done. We always planned on having to do an extension if we couldn’t get it [completed],” said Thompson during the podcast with Missouri Rep. Mark…