Author: staff

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ first major set of policy proposals are aimed at improving the viability and longevity of smaller-scale family farms — a tactic directly addressing some of her biggest critics over the past several months. The newly launched Make Agriculture Great Again Initiative has outlined a toolkit of actions, including the streamlining of application processes, improving reliable access to credit, farmland, and markets, and appropriate business planning tools that are intended to better serve the 86 percent of farms in the U.S. that are considered to be small operations. Rollins, a Texas A&M graduate who has served as…

In late February, Yamaha Motor announced the launch of Yamaha Agriculture, a new company that focuses on delivering autonomous equipment and AI-powered digital solutions to help specialty crop growers become more sustainable, profitable, and resilient.  As part of Yamaha Agriculture’s launch, the company acquired Robotics Plus and The Yield. Robotics Plus is a New Zealand-based agritech company that specializes in the design and build of robotics, AI, and autonomous machines that reduce reliance on labor and provide data-driven insights for growers. The Yield is a precision yield management company focused on specialty crops that claims to transform precision agriculture practices…

By Morgan Chilson SCRANTON — On a gravel road northwest of this small Kansas town, a picturesque creek with overhanging trees shimmers with brilliant shades of green. The beauty, though, hasn’t made up for the aggravation caused by high floodwaters that sweep the wooden bridge over that creek off its moorings to land about 30 yards or so away from the roadway, leaving the road impassable for area farmers, said Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director. “That old wood one, it kept floating away. If we got a big, heavy rain, it would float down there, and we’d have…

At the market close, July corn was up 4¢ at $4.47½ per bushel. July soybeans were ¾¢ higher at $10.50¾ per bushel. Karl Setzer, partner with Consus Ag Consulting said, “A bump in weather-related risk premium in grains following a shift in global patterns is also favoring grains. China is seeing weather stress on its grain crops, and now parts of the European Union are seeing drought develop. This morning, sources in Brazil claimed the safrinha crop is running on subsoil moisture as the country transitions into its dry season. If Brazil does not receive rain soon, scouts say the…

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA JBSS3.SA to explain its $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and whether the money courted the Trump administration’s recent approval of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. JBS, the world’s largest meat company, received approval in April from the Securities and Exchange Commission to dual-list its shares in Brazil and New York after years of trying. The company’s donation to President Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities in January was the largest of any donor. Warren, a Democrat, asked the company in a letter whether it or its subsidiary poultry company…

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, May 19 (Reuters) – Argentina’s 2024/25 soybean crop could suffer “significant losses” in northwestern Buenos Aires province due to the impact of recent heavy storms, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Monday, indicating it may be forced to trim its outlook. The exchange currently estimates a soybean crop at a decent 50 million metric tons, but said in its report that the heavy rains could further delay the already slow harvest of the grain and cause damage to the plants. In the northwestern Buenos Aires province 730,000 hectares of the soybean crop have yet to be harvested, the exchange said in a report detailing the impact of the storms. “This…

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has announced Sarah Hagenow of Poynette as Wisconsin’s 78th Alice in Dairyland. In this position, Hagenow will work for the contract year as a full-time communications professional for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, educating the public about the importance of agriculture in Wisconsin. Hagenow feels at home in Wisconsin’s agricultural industry and enjoys telling the stories of its hard-working people. She is a senior at the University of Minnesota and will graduate with a degree in agricultural and food business management and a minor in international agriculture. Hagenow’s…

While traveling in Nebraska on Monday, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins kicked off the “Make Agriculture Great Again” and the first policy pillar of the agenda focuses on small family farms, “which are the heart of our communities and our nation,” say policy documents. The op-ed column published below highlights challenges faced by small family farms and briefly describes solutions that USDA will pursue. The department shared a more detailed policy plan to put small family farms first in a 14-page Farmers First document provided to Successful Farming on Monday. “The defense of the family farm is a defense of everything…

AGDAILY Staff · May 19, 2025 Gateway to Success Academy in Scottville, Michigan, is tackling food insecurity through a student-run food club. Housed in a small 357-square-foot space, the club operates like a mini grocery store where students shop twice a week using a point system. Volunteers, such as 10th-grader Bella VonDrak, help run the store and learn budgeting, cooking basics, and communication skills. Located in a food desert, G2S partners with Ludington’s Lakeshore Food Club, which supplies groceries and covers the program’s costs. Much of the food comes from local farmers, helping support Michigan agriculture while meeting students’ needs.…

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long said that he would like to “weaponize” regulatory agencies to eliminate the use of pesticides in American agriculture, and his rhetoric has frequently used animal-activist terminology like “factory farming.” This approach is central to his Make America Healthy Again mantra, which he hopes will help legitimize his role in the Trump administration. But an article by The Wall Street Journal points to friction between Kennedy and administration officials over how much blame to place on crop protection products for U.S. health woes. Kennedy is laying out his argument and…