Author: staff

My love for the county fair runs deep and goes back to Aug. 21, 1931, 41 years before I was born.  The Great Depression was in full swing and times were tough, including in Warren County, Iowa. In order to take everyone’s mind off of the dire financial situation and give them something to look forward to, the Warren County Fair Association announced a contest where a local couple would win an extravagant wedding at the fair. The winning couple was kept a closely guarded secret until the moment they stepped into the grandstand for the ceremony. The winners were…

Today, USDA published the 16th Crop Progress report of the 2025 growing season. Here’s a look at the latest corn, soybean, wheat, and oat numbers. Corn As of July 20, 56% of the corn crop across the country’s top 18 corn-growing states had reached the silking stage. That puts progress behind the five-year average of 58%. USDA said 14% of the crop across 16 states had reached the dough stage. The five-year average is 12%. Only Colorado and North Dakota did not have any corn silking to report. The agency reported the condition of the nation’s corn crop as follows: Good/excellent: 74%Fair: 20%Poor/very poor:…

The National 4-H Council Board of Trustees recently elected five young adults to the 2025 Young Alumni Advisory Committee. These rising young stars will help guide the nation’s largest youth development organization and serve as ambassadors, advisors, and advocates for 4-H. The 18- to 22-year-olds will serve a three-year term, leading alumni connections and donor engagement projects that spotlight how 4-H helps youth become Beyond Ready for career and life. Through the national Beyond Ready initiative, 4-H aims to reach ten million young people through positive youth development to ensure they are healthy, productive and engaged for their future. YAAC…

The Trump administration’s termination of work permits for more than 530,000 immigrants could have far-reaching economic consequences for the country’s agricultural sector, potentially deepening labor shortages and leading to higher food prices. According to a recent analysis by FWD.us, a bipartisan immigration advocacy group, the rollback of humanitarian parole programs and other immigration policies could sharply reduce the workforce in several U.S. industries that rely on immigrant labor. Under the Biden administration, immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — four countries grappling with ongoing humanitarian crises — were allowed to enter the U.S. temporarily under a humanitarian parole system…

Waypoint Analytical has opened its newest agricultural laboratory in Grand Island, Nebraska. The company aims to reduce turnaround times for soil testing and improve agronomic recommendations.  Lab services include soil testing, plant tissue analysis, water testing, comprehensive plant pathology testing, and soil biology reports. The company is piloting a new soil biology test to give farmers a better understanding of their soil’s microbiology.  “Soil or tissue sampling provides a window into crop health,” says Lizzie French, soil biology manager at Waypoint Analytical. “By bringing advanced testing closer to farmers, we’re helping them understand what’s happening beneath the surface — so…

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/2025/07/top-third-agdaily-2025-07-21.mp3 The post Markets in Minutes: Top Third looks ahead for week of July 21, 2025 appeared first on AGDAILY.

The city of Duluth, Minnesota, demands only the best. It wasn’t good enough for the town to be located on a Great Lake; it also insisted on being on the shores of the one named Superior. Striving for the best has enabled Duluth to hold their biennial Festival of Sail. My wife and I are enchanted by the romance and adventure of old-fashioned sailing ships, so we motored to Duluth to swash some buckle. The tall sailboats looked like prickly caterpillars when they were moored with their sails stowed. But when they were on the harbor under full sail, they…

The National FFA Organization recently announced a partnership with Vivayic, the nation’s largest learning solution provider for agriculture, to create virtual leadership labs. This unprecedented collection of modules will use a challenge-based learning approach to help prepare FFA members for success. Development of these online programs will start this fall, with plans to make the leadership labs available to FFA members by the summer of 2026. “We believe partnering with Vivayic on this project is an exciting step forward in making leadership education more accessible, engaging, and impactful for our members,” said Christine White, chief program officer at National FFA…

As corn and soybeans progress into reproductive stages, midseason scouting is not just a box to check — it’s a key driver of yield protection and return on investment. Timely in-field observation helps identify weeds that escaped early control, diseases emerging under humid conditions, and insect threats that can damage ears, pods, and roots. Watch for Weed Escapes Now is a good time to scout for weed escapes, even though postharvest is the next major control window. Mapping and noting current weed hotspots will help guide next season’s weed management strategy. “Go out and scout those fields,” said Stevan Knezevic,…

DAILY Bites The USDA terminated around 70 foreign contract scientists — mostly Chinese nationals — following a national security review targeting individuals from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. The dismissals, combined with a federal hiring freeze through October, may halt agriculture research projects. USDA staff are now prohibited from co-authoring publications or attending events with nationals from the four “countries of concern” without agency approval, raising alarm over the erosion of international scientific cooperation. DAILY Discussion The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the termination of approximately 70 foreign researchers employed through contractual arrangements. This decision followed a national…