Author: staff

Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno defeated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy beat Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, the only working farmer in the Senate, in Montana as Republicans won a Senate majority in Tuesday’s elections, boosted by farm-state victories. In Nebraska, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer won her third term over an unexpectedly strong challenger. With Sheehy’s victory, Republicans were assured of at least 52 seats in the Senate. At present, Democrats have a 51-49 majority. Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, a stalwart defender of SNAP in farm bill discussions, will retire at the end of…

Elise Anderson has raised pigs since she was 8 years old, and at least three generations of her family have produced pork in rural Nebraska. When Anderson joined the Lyons-Decatur FFA chapter in 2018, a swine entrepreneurship supervised agricultural experience (SAE) was a natural fit. Anderson started by breeding, farrowing, and raising market hogs. Although she continued to enjoy taking care of pigs with her family, she soon found additional interests in food science, plant science, dairy cattle judging, and agritourism. “FFA really helped foster my love of learning,” Anderson says. “I love to soak up new information about any…

Texas farmers officially wrapped up corn harvest for the season as of Nov. 3, according to the latest USDA Crop Progress report. With that, the Lone Star State is the first of the top 18 corn growing states to reach 100% corn harvested.  Although this year’s corn harvest outpaced the five-year average all season, the pace slowed in the last few weeks as progress drew near 100%. Harvested corn was at 98% as of Oct. 13, 99% as of Oct. 20, and 99% as of Oct. 27. Farmers are still working toward completing harvest of other crops, like cotton, and…

AGDAILY Bites The wholesale price for 8- to 16-pound hens was 99 cents per pound the week of Oct. 19. A drop in production was blamed on higher input and labor costs. There is a move toward non-traditional meats for holiday meals after Thanksgiving. AGDAILY Discussion Consumers should find good whole turkey prices, but that could change as the holiday season progresses due to lower production and supplies than last year, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. David Anderson, an AgriLife Extension economist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Agricultural Economics, Bryan-College Station, said prices on whole…

AGDAILY Bites Corn silage samples have a high increase in mycotoxin contamination compared to 2023. More than 95 percent of crops today are contaminated with at least one mycotoxin. Alltech will stream From Field to Feed: 2024 Crop and Mycotoxin Analysis at 10 a.m. ET Nov. 21. AGDAILY Discussion Preliminary analysis by Alltech of corn silage samples in the U.S. reveals a high increase in mycotoxin contamination compared to 2023, with all samples containing two or more mycotoxins. This finding is part of the company’s 2024 U.S. Harvest Analysis, which aims to uncover the threat mycotoxins pose to animals and…

The first state to complete the 2024 soybean harvest was a surprise: Minnesota has finished  harvest, the USDA said in the latest Crop Progress Report, released Nov. 4. The state was 5 percentage points ahead of its five-year average for Nov. 3.  This is a change from 2023, when Louisiana was the first state to get all of its soybeans in the bin. According to the June Acreage Report released by USDA, Minnesota planted the third-most soybeans in the country in 2024, at 7.53 million acres. So why was Minnesota first this time around — and what did it mean…

A newly established award presented by the American Farm Bureau Federation recognizes veterans or service members for excellence in farming or agriculture and positively impacting local communities. Retired Army Col. Joe Ricker of Indiana is the first recipient of the Veteran Farmer Award of Excellence. Ricker served 30 years in the Army before retiring from a logistics post at the Pentagon in 2022. His service also included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since leaving the Army, his commitment to excellence in farming and enriching the lives of veterans has blossomed in a myriad of ways in both his local community…

Online registration and housing for the 2025 Commodity Classic opens today. America’s largest farmer-led agricultural and educational experience will be held Sunday, March 2, through Tuesday, March 4, in Denver, Colorado. Following record-breaking events in Orlando and Houston, Commodity Classic will visit Denver for the first time in 2025. “Elevating Excellence in Agriculture” will feature a robust schedule of over 30 educational sessions, inspiring speakers, the opportunity to network with thousands of farmers from across the nation, unique tours in and around Denver, and a trade show with over 500,000 square feet of exhibit space featuring the latest technology, equipment,…

Problem:  We paid good money for sophisticated estate plans years ago, but after reading many articles, I’m feeling unsure. We have thick binders filled with entities and complex trusts, promising to protect us against everything. Yet I can’t find anything specific to our operation or family situation.  We bought life insurance so our farming son could buy out his siblings, but I just learned the policies will lapse once the cash value runs out.  Land prices climbed so much that our original plan is probably irrelevant, and anyway, not all of our kids agreed with it. We’ve spent so much…

At one time, farm shops were, well, just that … under-roof areas built for repair and service chores. Today such structures have grown beyond providing space to work on machinery to include specialized maintenance bays, welding centers, offices, meeting rooms, storage depots, kitchens, entertainment centers, and whatever farmers’ fertile imaginations come up with. Farm shops have morphed into one-stop farm headquarters that serve mechanical as well as management needs of operations. In this edition of Top Shops, we offer three different approaches farmers took in creating such headquarters. Runyard: Office Addition Is a Natural Extension Alan and Dexter Runyard intended to…