Author: staff

The 2024 American Agri-Women celebrated its 50th National Convention by honoring two exceptional women, Sara Reid Herman, and Marie Bowers, with the prestigious 2024 LEAVEN Award. This award represents the highest honor of recognition by AAW, recognizing individuals who have acted as “leaven,” influencing and uplifting those around them to advance agriculture and empower others. Image by American Agri-Women Here’s some info on the winners: Marie Bowers, a fifth-generation grass seed farmer from Oregon, and is a leader in agriculture advocacy. Marie’s leadership extends beyond her farm. She is the Vital Issues Chair for AAW, has served as President and…

FFA chapters across the country are spreading holiday cheer through a wide range of community service projects, from organizing food and coat drives to delivering gifts and handmade holiday cards. Members are brightening the season for families in need, senior citizens, and children by volunteering their time and resources to make a positive impact. These efforts not only bring joy to their communities but also reflect the core values of FFA: leadership, compassion, and “Living to Serve.” Here are some of the ways they’re doing it: Fairfield FFA in Ohio donates “birthday” boxes to the local food bank.  Triton FFA…

Listen to the Podcast Meet Arlene and Caite Arlene Hunter and Caite Palmer are the hosts of the “Barnyard Language” podcast, which focuses on running farms and raising families. Arlene is a Canadian dairy farmer with four kids, and Caite is an American beef and sheep producer with two children. The two met online in a Facebook group for a parenting podcast, struck up a friendship, and started a podcast of their own. Now in its fourth season, “Barnyard Language” features guests from all aspects of agriculture, covering both serious and fun topics. Caite Palmer There are so many ways…

The federal government has a bad habit of spending money on problems before even figuring out what’s really wrong, and the recent New World screwworm scare is a prime example. This is typical Washington behavior — prematurely spending first and asking questions later. But here in Texas, we do things differently. We solve problems with proven solutions, not government handouts and wasteful spending. While protecting Texas cattle from disease is always our number one priority, we need to carefully consider the ripple effects of drastic measures like closing the border to livestock and animal products. It’s a surefire way to…

Born into farming and drawn back to the family farm in Manson, Iowa, after years in college and in the workforce, Brent Johnson has been doing double-duty as farmer and president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. Initially wanting to stay on his family farm, Johnson’s parents encouraged him to get an education, which led to an agronomy degree from Iowa State University. He has also started an independent crop consulting business. In December 2023, Johnson spoke with Successful Farming magazine about his education and how it has helped him advance his family farm and how he manages being an Iowa…

This Yuletide season has seemed a bit peculiar for my wife and me. Our impression that this was an off-kilter Christmas was mainly due to a summer and fall that passed in a blur of chemotherapy and radiation treatments and doctor’s appointments to treat my tonsil cancer. We were in Brookings one evening and decided to take in the view of residential Christmas lighting. We were somewhat disappointed when we could find only isolated islands of cheerful lights, not the blocks-long, dazzlingly luminous holiday vistas we had hoped to see. I recently had a couple of follow-up checkups in Sioux…

Image by Nokwan007, Shutterstock Top Third Ag Marketing helps farmers become better agricultural marketers with the goal of marketing crops and livestock in the top third of prices. Mark Gold and his team provide AGDAILY.com with the latest information and a look ahead in their audio commentary. Listen here! https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ag-daily-2024-12-23.mp3

March corn and soybeans have been choppy this morning and not trading too far from unchanged. March corn is currently up less than a penny, while March soybeans are down 1¼¢. “I think that the low last week in soybeans will prove to be a long-term low on the soybean chart,” said Al Kluis, managing director of Kluis Commodity Advisors. “Not getting super bullish, but the market is really cheap, and end users around the world are stepping in to buy.”  The USDA announced new corn and soybean export sales this morning: Unknown destinations are buying 132,000 metric tons of…

A 234.65-acre tract of farmland in southeast Minnesota with two wind turbines on the property sold for about $2.87 million at an auction held on Dec. 4.   The land is about 15 miles east of Austin in Mower County, which sits along the Iowa border. Drone pictures of the property show dozens of wind turbines on adjoining and nearby farms.  Greg Jensen, the LandProz agent handling the auction, wasn’t surprised by the sales price. About a dozen bidders took part in the sale, he said, with bidding starting at $10,000 an acre. But a much larger crowd of close to…

Brooke Rollins is sure to be confirmed by the Senate as agriculture secretary in the new Trump administration, and she will start with a valuable asset — an ongoing relationship with the president, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “She has, I think, a very important asset … she has a relationship with the president. Boy, that’s really, really important in the ag job,” said Vilsack, who served under two presidents in his 12 years as secretary. Rollins was head of the White House domestic policy council during President-elect Trump’s first term, and more recently led a pro-Trump think tank. It…