Author: staff

A 234.65-acre tract of farmland in southeast Minnesota with two wind turbines on the property sold for about $2.87 million at an auction held on Dec. 4.   The land is about 15 miles east of Austin in Mower County, which sits along the Iowa border. Drone pictures of the property show dozens of wind turbines on adjoining and nearby farms.  Greg Jensen, the LandProz agent handling the auction, wasn’t surprised by the sales price. About a dozen bidders took part in the sale, he said, with bidding starting at $10,000 an acre. But a much larger crowd of close to…

Brooke Rollins is sure to be confirmed by the Senate as agriculture secretary in the new Trump administration, and she will start with a valuable asset — an ongoing relationship with the president, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “She has, I think, a very important asset … she has a relationship with the president. Boy, that’s really, really important in the ag job,” said Vilsack, who served under two presidents in his 12 years as secretary. Rollins was head of the White House domestic policy council during President-elect Trump’s first term, and more recently led a pro-Trump think tank. It…

Major U.S. farm groups said they would try to torpedo a short-term government funding bill in Congress this week unless it contains a multibillion-dollar bailout for agriculture. Negotiations fell apart over the weekend on inclusion of so-called economic aid in the only must-pass bill left before adjournment, scheduled for Friday. “I call on members of Congress who represent agriculture to stand with farmers by insisting the supplemental spending bill include economic aid for farmers and voting it down if it doesn’t,” said president Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Groups speaking for soybean, wheat, cotton, rice, and sorghum…

1. Wheat Futures Decline in Overnight Trading Wheat futures were lower in overnight trading amid favorable weather in parts of Australia.  Rainfall will be limited in the next 10 days, allowing farmers to get back into fields and continue harvesting their wheat, said Don Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist with Maxar.  Rainfall will favor parts of Queensland and Victoria into the weekend, the forecaster said.  Precipitation fell in parts of the U.S. Delta region where soft red winter wheat is overwintering. Rains in northern growing areas likely improved crop prospects.  Global wheat production in the 2024/2025 marketing year is now forecast…

President-elect Donald Trump called for a “streamlined spending bill” that also increases the federal debt ceiling on Wednesday as a replacement for the three-month government funding bill that congressional leaders produced the preceding day. That bill included $10 billion to offset a decline in farm income and $21 billion in disaster relief for agriculture. “Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” said Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in a statement on social media. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined…

One day after President-elect Donald Trump shot down a stopgap government funding bill, the House defeated a Trump-backed bill written by Republicans to keep the government running until March 14. The GOP bill included $31 billion to buffer the impact in rural America of natural disasters and lower farm income. Without congressional approval of a funding bill, the government will run out of money on Friday night. The Republican bill failed, 235-174. Voting against it were 38 Republicans and 197 Democrats. Voting for it were 172 Republicans and 2 Democrats. Earlier in the day, farm groups said agricultural aid was…

1. Soybean, Grain Futures Higher Overnight Soybean and grain futures were higher in overnight trading on continued optimism about demand for U.S. products.  Exporters reported sales of 277,200 metric tons of soybeans to an unnamed country with 152,200 tons set for delivery in the 2024/2025 marketing year that started on Sept. 1 and the rest for delivery next year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.  That follows sales of 135,000 tons of corn and 120,000 tons of soybean meal to Colombia, all for delivery in the current marketing year, announced Wednesday.  On Tuesday, USDA said exporters sold 170,400 tons of…

What Happened Low prices for row crop farmers and higher input costs have had a material impact on farmers’ bottom lines as well as mental health. According to the most recent USDA Economic Research Service report, net farm income is forecast at $140.7 billion for 2024, down 4.1% (or $6 billion) from the previous year. When adjusted for inflation, net farm income is projected to decline $9.5 billion. Why This Is Important First, it is important for farmers to understand that they are not alone in their economic struggles. Second, it is also important for those who associate with farmers…

Every year, a lot of really interesting tractors show up on Tractor Zoom that I never get to write about. There’s only so many hours in the day, you know? With over 700 auctioneer partners and close to 1,400 dealer locations, it happens more frequently than I’d like. This year, we’ve seen more machinery changing hands than ever before, but a lot of it was newer stuff and inventory reduction auctions. There was still quite a bit of interesting stuff, and they deserve some love too. Here’s a few that stuck out to me that never got the attention they…

By Cami Koons Pathologists said in a press conference Friday they are encouraged by laboratory preparedness for a potential outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, but are worried about the number of infected animals and the ability of the virus to mutate.   The College of American Pathologists press conference followed a week of new developments with the virus, H5N1, including the first severe case detected in a human in the U.S. and a state of emergency declared in California, where a large number of dairy cows have been infected. Ben Bradley, a part of the college’s microbiology committee and an assistant professor in…