Author: staff

Agriculture and basketball have been intertwined since the sport’s inception in 1891.  James Naismith created the sport of basketball at a Massachusetts YMCA, using a ball and peach baskets (where the game got its name) in an effort to create new indoor activities for members. Before inventing basketball, Naismith grew up on a farm in Almonte, Ontario, Canada, and often did chores around his grandparents’ property after school — learning how to “chop trees, saw logs, and drive horses” as a kid, according to the Naismith Basketball Foundation. The connection between basketball and agriculture has continued into the modern day…

Republicans on an Iowa House subcommittee have approved a bill requiring Deere & Co. to return half of its 2024 state research tax credit due to large-scale layoffs. HSB 306 targets companies that laid off over 1,500 workers in 2024, mandating repayment of up to 50 percent of funds received through Iowa’s Research Activities Tax Credit. Deere laid off approximately 1,700 workers at its Iowa plants, prompting lawmakers to push for financial accountability. Radio Iowa reported that Republican Representative Derek Wulf of Hudson linked the measure to President Donald Trump’s economic policies, stating, “In my opinion, this bill is the…

Ever since he can remember, farming with his father has been Andrew Morgan’s dream. The Morgan family farms corn and soybeans in rural southern Minnesota, sitting near “a triangle of towns,” Morgan said. Waseca and Waterville are the closest towns, but Morgan adds they’re still 10 miles away. That is where the Nebraska senior grew up, on farmland once owned by his grandfather. Morgan says his father, Keith, bought back the family’s farmland and equipment after his grandfather lost the farm in the mid-1980s farm crisis.  “I grew up in the country, 100%,” Morgan said. “I was kind of away…

Ahead of 9 a.m. CT, May corn was up 4½¢ at $4.66½ per bushel. May soybeans were down a penny at $10.07¼ per bushel. May wheat contracts were lower. CBOT wheat was down 6½¢ at $5.57 per bushel. KC wheat was down 10½¢ at $5.84¼. Minneapolis wheat was down 6¼¢ at $6.05½. Following the end of the overnight market and ahead of the 8:30 a.m. open, Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing, described corn and soybean trade as rangebound, and said the wheat market is experiencing profit taking following the recent wheat rally. This morning, USDA released…

DAILY Bites Syngenta’s Sustainable Sourcing Program allows companies to obtain an additional profitability benefit Farmers participating in the program will get between 1% and 2% higher the price of their sunflower grain versus domestic market price. In its first year of implementation in Argentina, 4,000 tons of sunflower oil produced in fields applying verified regenerative agriculture practices were delivered to PepsiCo. DAILY Discussion Syngenta and PepsiCo have spent the past year collaborating in South America to boost regenerative and traceable agriculture in the food industry value chain in a transparent and verifiable way. In the first stage of this partnership,…

1. Wheat Futures Decline in Overnight Trading Wheat futures were lower in overnight trading on concerns about demand for U.S. goods as the dollar strengthens.  The greenback was up 0.5% in overnight trading against a basket of its global counterparts.  A stronger dollar makes U.S. goods less attractive on the global market.  Investors are watching for the results of a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see if any progress was made on finding a peaceful end to the years-long war that began in February 2022 when Russian forces attack Ukraine.  Trump said the…

1. Soybeans, Grains Little Changed Overnight Soybean and grains were little changed in overnight trading as investors weigh weak crush rates for beans against dry weather in the southern Plains that may affect the wheat crop.  Processors crushed 177.87 million bushels of soybeans in February, below trade forecasts and down more than 11% from January, according to data from the National Oilseed Processors Association.  That was down almost 5% from the same month a year earlier.  Still, precipitation forecast for next week may slow fieldwork for farmers in parts of Argentina, said Don Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist with Maxar.  “Limited…

By Cami Koons Iowa landowners and pipeline fighters gathered Tuesday at a rally in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda asking lawmakers to ban eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines. Senate Democrats also pushed for an amendment that would help pipeline and eminent domain bills go to the floor for debate. The protesters have opposed a large carbon sequestration pipeline, headed by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions, for several years. The opponents have significant support in the Iowa House, which advanced more than 10 related bills ahead of the legislative funnel deadline, but Iowa senators have historically allowed similar bills to stall in their…

DAILY Bites A University of Illinois study found that heat stress leads to a 1% annual decline in U.S. dairy milk yield, equating to $245 million in losses over five years. Smaller farms suffer more, losing 1.6% of annual yield on average, while larger farms can mitigate losses with better cooling strategies. Climate projections suggest extreme heat days will become more frequent, increasing milk yield losses by 30% by 2050. DAILY Discussion Livestock agriculture is bearing the cost of extreme weather events. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how heat stress affects U.S. dairy production, finding…

By Joana Colussi, Nick Paulson, Gary Schnitkey, and Silvina Cabrini South American countries, which together produce about 55% of the world’s soybean supply, are on track to set a record in the 2024-2025 crop season, despite localized drought challenges in some regions. Brazil’s soybean production is expected to reach an all-time high, Argentina’s production is projected to remain steady compared to last season, while Paraguay’s soybean output is forecast to decline from last year’s record harvest. In this article, we analyze the latest forecasts for South America’s harvest season and how record production in the coming months should keep downward…