Author: staff

By Cami Koons Iowa senators advanced a bill Monday to provide farms 40 acres or larger with state protection against surveillance by drones.  Lawmakers approved a law in 2024 to prohibit remote-piloted aircraft from flying over animal feeding operations and homesteads and create misdemeanor penalties for those who operate a drone over these areas.  Senate File 491, would alter the law from protecting only “secured farmstead” — defined as an animal feeding operation and up to 400 feet surrounding it — to a “farmstead,” which is at least 40 contiguous acres used for farming or pasture and generates at least $15,000 in…

By Joshua Haiar Some ethanol leaders think it’s ironic that Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden brought his “Open for Opportunity” tour to an ethanol plant this week, after he signed a bill that negatively impacted a proposed multi-billion-dollar project for the industry. “The whole industry is very disappointed with how things went in South Dakota,” Walt Wendland, president of the Ringneck Energy ethanol plant in Onida, told South Dakota Searchlight. Rhoden visited the plant Tuesday, after launching his tour highlighting economic development on Monday in Sioux Falls. Wendland wants to connect the Onida plant to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed $9 billion, five-state pipeline that would capture carbon…

It doesn’t take long to realize just how much agriculture means to Phil Krieg. It’s not only his nearly five-decade stint in the ag industry that makes it clear. It’s evident in the way he cares about growers, in his goal to wrap up his career in the place he started it, and in his list of extracurricular activities. Krieg is an agronomic service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection, covering three sales districts in southern Illinois and one in southwestern Indiana. He’s also a contributing agronomist for Successful Farming’s coverage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Progress report. As…

USDA released its latest Milk Production report Friday, detailing the nation’s milk production for the month of February. Here’s a snapshot of what the agency reported for the major milk-producing states. February Milk Production According to USDA, total milk production across the 24 major states during February reached about 17.0 billion pounds, down 2.6% year-over-year. The 24 major states together contribute over 95% of U.S. cow’s milk production. The agency added the caveat that the production estimate was actually a 0.9% increase compared to last February after adjusting for the leap year. Taking a look at individual states, total production…

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, March 20 (Reuters) – A leading grains exchange in Argentina cut its forecast for the country’s 2024/2025 soybean crop by a million metric tons on Thursday as the impact of a drought becomes clearer. The Buenos Aires exchange now sees the crop’s output hitting 48.6 million tons, down from its forecast of 49.6 million tons published last week. Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal. The exchange said the smaller than expected output was due to a drought that has reduced yields in the country’s northeast. “High temperatures and the prolonged water deficit…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a new funding initiative aimed at combating highly pathogenic avian influenza and addressing its impact on poultry production and egg prices. The move follows U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’ recent declaration of emergency funding to curb the spread of the virus and stabilize the egg market. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration, the USDA has earmarked up to $100 million for research, prevention, and potential vaccine development efforts. This initiative…

Did you know that almost 40 percent of all food in the United States goes to waste? Food that is safe to eat, nutritious, and available goes in our collective trash cans. We throw away 133 billion pounds of food each year. It’s a staggering statistic, especially when you consider that some of our neighbors are food insecure. I’ve served on the board of directors for an Indiana-based nonprofit called Cultivate Food Rescue for the past three years. The nonprofit’s mission is to collect perishable food, transform it into single-serve freezer meals, and distribute it to the community. Since opening…

By Ryan Hanrahan Reuters Lisa Baertlein, Karl Plume, and Timothy Gardner reported Wednesday that “President Donald Trump’s plan to revive U.S. shipbuilding using massive fees on China-linked ship visits to American ports is causing U.S. coal inventories to swell and stoking uncertainty in the embattled agriculture market, as exporters struggle to find ships to send goods abroad.” “Trump is drafting an executive order that would rely on funding from a U.S. Trade Representative proposal to levy fines of up to $1.5 million on China-made ships or vessels from fleets that include ships made in China,” Baertlein, Plume, and Gardner reported.…

It’s not just about the farmers who handle herbicides — large-property owners and scientists also consider the effort and effectiveness of applying plant-control products I was handed my first bottle of herbicide in my senior year of college, during an invasive shrub removal on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens. I had taken part in invasive plant removals for years, both throughout Athens and in my hometown in Wisconsin, but all of those removals had been done by hand, with painstaking hours spent pulling up seedlings, cutting vines off trees, and chopping down shrubs. At this removal, we were…

Benson Hill Inc, a seed innovation company that was named Overall FoodTech Company of the Year in 2021, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. In its announcement, the company stated that it and its subsidiaries have voluntarily initiated the process, with plans to pursue a sale of its business under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. As part of this effort, Benson Hill aims to sell all or a portion of its assets while continuing to support its farmers, partners, and customers throughout the proceedings. To maintain operations during the…