Author: staff

After a marathon session, the U.S. Senate has passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a wide-ranging reconciliation package that delivers significant wins for agriculture, including strengthened safety net programs and expanded tax provisions. The 51-50 vote was decided by Vice President JD Vance, breaking the Senate tie and sending the bill back to the House, where it’s expected to reach President Donald J. Trump’s desk by July 4. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall praised the bill’s passage, emphasizing its potential to bring much-needed certainty to farmers. “Improvements to farm safety net programs that reflect today’s agricultural economy and…

Take look at these three farmland transactions that transpired in January and February 2025. 173.69 acres in Madison County, Ohio Date: March 25, 2025 Price: $19,200 per acre Farmland in central Ohio sold for $19,200 per acre, totaling $3,334,848 for the 173.69-acre tract. The farm featured 159.19 tillable acres of highly productive Kokomo and Crosby soils, ideal for high-yield grain production. With substantial frontage along Lafayette Plain City Road and I-70, the property also offered strong development potential. The strong per-acre price reflects the continued demand for premium farmland in Madison County, with excellent soil productivity, strategic location, and development…

Dozens of farm and agricultural workers have died from heat stroke since 2015, according to federal data.  This week, swaths of the U.S. are dealing with high temperatures and warnings of heat stroke, a potentially deadly condition. The heat wave comes just as federal regulators have convened public hearings on a Biden-era proposal aimed at preventing deaths related to heat illness among U.S. workers. Farmworkers are among those most at-risk, according to a study by the National Institute of Health. They often wear pants and long sleeves to protect themselves from pesticides while laboring, and some employers push workers to…

When the rare opportunity arises to buy farmland — arguably a farmer’s most valuable asset — what are some things to keep in mind? Three experts offer their advice to streamline the land-buying process.  Organize Your Finances  Curt Covington, senior director of managed accounts at AgAmerica, said, “Your accountant and lender will thank you” for having your financial records in order. He said it’s important to have on hand an up-to-date balance sheet and other key financial documents such as tax returns, bank statements, equipment lists, and yield sheets. “Lenders ask for information, and they ask for that information for good reason,…

While we’ve all heard of salmonella in chickens, salmonella in cows is likely unknown to many. Nevertheless, Salmonella dublin is a disease that has been present in cattle herds for decades — in Denmark as well as many other countries. And it is on the rise globally. It causes pneumonia, blood poisoning, and abortions, and kills many thousands of calves and cows every year. Although Salmonella dublin infects humans far less frequently than the more regular salmonella, there is every reason to take it seriously: it is significantly more dangerous and kills up to 12 percent of those who become…

We’ve all heard it said: farming makes up 10 percent of America’s greenhouse gas emissions. It’s been repeated so often, folks take it as gospel. And sure enough, if you dig into the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s reports, you’ll find a tidy number — about 600 million metric tons of CO2e a year, or 10.8 percent of the total. But here’s the catch. That number only tells half the story. It counts what’s coming out of the barn, but not what’s going into the ground. And it treats cow burps like they stick around forever, when in reality they vanish…

The Department of Government Efficiency has removed additional USDA offices from its lease termination list, further trimming the more than 100 ag department offices originally listed on the DOGE Wall of Receipts. In total, 18 more termination listings have been removed since Successful Farming first reported the original list had been shortened. Those 18 terminations were projected to save $9.92 million.  Now, just 31 USDA agency offices are listed for lease termination, with a total savings listed as $9.83 million. The 18 offices no longer listed include three Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices, 10 Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices,…

After weeks of discussion and an overnight “vote-a-thon” session rolling from Monday morning into Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed a budget reconciliation bill late Tuesday. The bill passed with a 51-50 vote after Vice President JD Vance broke the tie on the floor.  The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where it will have to pass a vote in the lower chamber before heading to the desk of President Donald Trump. Large segments of the bill will have an impact on agriculture and rural families. One of the most contentious portions of the bill is a cut to…

Editor’s note: This article was written by my grandfather several years ago before he passed away. I recently found it and made a few modifications to his original manuscript. He left a note on it stating he hoped to have it published. Today’s high horsepower, 4-wheel drive, track units, and front-wheel assist have replaced all but memories of the tandem tractor era. This new wave of power came late in the 1950s and early 1960s. My farm life had been interrupted by a two-year stay in the U.S. Army, one year of which I spent in Korea as a tank…

In its Crop Progress report released Monday, the USDA offered a first look at the progress of soybeans setting pods across the country. Nationwide, progress reached 3% during the week that ended June 29, just ahead of the five-year average of 2%.  Just under half of the 18 top growing states have soybeans at the setting pods stage, with progress ranging from 1% to 41%. Here’s a closer look. Arkansas USDA reported that 41% of the soybean crop in Arkansas had reached the setting pods stage as of June 29, an increase from 33% the week prior. That’s ahead of…