Author: staff

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has issued two major animal health updates impacting veterinarians, livestock producers, and industry stakeholders across the state. In a June 13 memorandum, State Veterinarian Dr. Jeff Kaisand confirmed the first detection of the Asian Longhorned Tick and Theileria orientalis Ikeda in Iowa livestock. The confirmed case occurred in Van Buren County, located in southeast Iowa. Theileria is a protozoan parasite carried by the ALHT, which infects red and white blood cells and can cause bovine infectious anemia. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s records, this is the first known case of both…

I walked into the room and was struck by the preponderance of graying hair and balding heads. Who were these old people? And what were they doing at my high school class reunion?      It was difficult to comprehend that it’s been half a century since my classmates and I walked across the stage in our high school’s gymnasium wearing those goofy hats and our goofy grins. Perhaps no one was happier with my graduation than our school administrators. This was especially true for our principal, Mr. Grebner. I spent so much time in his office that my name was stenciled on one…

At the 97th Illinois FFA State Convention, delegates voted to expand the Illinois FFA major state officer team for the first time in nearly 30 years. With an overwhelming majority of 422 delegates supporting the move, the Illinois Association FFA Constitution and bylaws were amended to add a sixth major state officer: the sentinel. The decision was driven by a growing membership base, now nearly 43,000 students, and a desire to strengthen support for chapters and individual members across the state. The last change to the officer team occurred in 1996, when the secretary-treasurer role was split into two distinct…

By Ryan Hanrahan Reuters’ Ted Hesson and Marisa Taylor reported at the end of last week that “President Donald Trump’s administration has directed immigration officials to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants and meatpacking plants, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters, a senior Trump official, and a person familiar with the matter.” “The order to scale back U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids came from Trump himself, the person familiar with the matter said, and appears to rein in a late-May demand by top White House aide Stephen Miller for more aggressive sweeps,” Hesson and Taylor reported.…

You’d be hard pressed to find a farm these days without a semi for hauling grain and other tasks. In the last few decades, they have become an invaluable piece of equipment for modern farm operations.  Sales of new trucks are slowing, but the used and auction market remains strong, especially among farmers looking to upgrade or add to their fleet. As one might expect, factors such as age, condition, and brand play a big role in used pricing. Used trailer pricing and availability is also holding steady.  In this podcast, Andy Campbell and Dave Mowitz discuss the use of…

Sugar beet farmer Tim Deal wants consumers and legislators to know sugar is an all-natural product, denouncing statements from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that, “sugar is poison.” Earlier this year, he testified before the Senate Ag Committee on the importance of including provisions for the sugar industry in a new Farm Bill. Listen to the Podcast Subscribe to 15 Minutes With a Farmer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please rate and review us! Meet Tim Deal When the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative was formed in Wahpeton, ND, in 1972, farmers in…

1. Soybeans, Grains Higher on Trade Talk Optimism Soybean and grain futures were higher in overnight trading as optimism about normalized trade relations with China gave prices a boost.  Top officials from the U.S. and China will meet in London today, June 9, in a bid to end the ongoing trade war between the countries.  U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading a delegation from Washington, while China’s contingent will be led by He Lifeng, China’s vice premier for economic policy.  Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke for about 90 minutes on Thursday.  Trump said the talks went well…

By Morgan Chilson TOPEKA — The firing and rehiring of federal workers at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan was part of an “imperfect process,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Wednesday. Rollins responded to questions from U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, at a U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearing. NBAF conducts high-level research of animal pathogens, zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that pass from animals to humans, and other issues that affect food safety. “It’s the nation’s first bio-safety level 4 lab for livestock. It was built to protect us from the worst animal disease. I understand that…

1. Wheat Futures Rise as USDA Raises Export Outlook Wheat futures were higher in overnight trading after the USDA raised its forecast for exports of the grain in the 2025/2026 season that started on June 1.  Exporters will ship 825 million bushels of the grain in the current marketing year, the agency said in a monthly supply and demand report yesterday.  That’s up from a previous outlook for 800 million and the 820 million bushels that were shipped in the previous year.  Total use including exports are now forecast at 1.984 billion bushels, up from the prior forecast for 1.959…

By Ella Cao and Gus Trompiz BEIJING/PARIS, June 13 (Reuters) – Chicago soybeans ticked up on Friday on the back of a jump in crude oil prices after Israel conducted strikes on Iran, though the oilseed market remained capped by uncertainty over U.S. biofuel targets and expectations of abundant global supply. Wheat edged higher to recover from an earlier four-week low, while corn eased to move back towards a six-month low from last week. Favourable crop prospects continued to hang over grain markets, with relatively benign weather in the U.S. Midwest and the onset of wheat harvesting in the Northern…