Author: staff

Ahead of 9:15 a.m. CT, July corn was down 5½¢ at $4.37 per bushel. July soybeans were up a penny at $10.58¼ per bushel. July wheat contracts were lower. CBOT wheat was down 12¾¢ at $5.42 per bushel. KC wheat was down 12¼¢ at $5.37. Minneapolis wheat was down 10¼¢ at $6.25. “Grain and soybean futures came under pressure in early trading from expectations for this afternoon’s USDA Crop Progress report to indicate improved U.S. crop conditions,” said The Brock Report, speaking of the overnight trade. “Wheat futures also felt pressure from a larger Russian crop forecast. However, soybean futures…

Problem: My husband recently passed away. Our estate plan is old, but our attorney says it still works. My husband’s half of the land could come to me outright or be disclaimed to a separate trust for my benefit. I’d receive the income for life, and upon my death, the disclaimer trust would split equally between our three children. Unfortunately, our wills made no provisions for our farming son. He’s worried this won’t play out well with his siblings, but my attorney says the trust could help us avoid estate taxes. I’m struggling with this decision. Should I put his…

By Ryan Hanrahan Bloomberg’s Michael Hirtzer, Erin Ailworth, and Skylar Woodhouse reported Tuesday that “American farmer sentiment jumped to a four-year high, with growers betting on rising crop exports as the Trump administration pushes for more trade deals from Vietnam to Italy.” “U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed an America-first agenda that has hit crop exports. Top commodities buyer China currently has no sales on the books for U.S. corn, soybeans, or wheat to be shipped next season,” Hirtzer, Ailworth, and Woodhouse reported. “Still, farmers are more optimistic, according to Purdue University and CME Group’s Ag Economy Barometer, which surveyed…

Like many vintage tractor collectors, Jerry Luecke started with the type of tractors that he grew up with on the family farm. In his case, it was a dairy farm near Folk, Missouri, and the tractors were Olivers like the models 70, 88, and Super 77. Consequently, the first tractor he bought on his own was a Model 70 on steel wheels, even though his family’s model was on rubber. Luecke doesn’t live on the farm anymore. After leaving home at 19, he settled near Bland, Missouri, where he started Luecke’s Roofing, a commercial and residential roofing business that covered…

John Deere is launching its new F8 and F9 Series self-propelled forage harvesters, designed to increase fuel efficiency, operator comfort, and productivity.  The new machines have increased horsepower and more automation features over previous models.  “A higher-quality forage output with more power, more precision and more uptime — that’s the focus of the new forage harvesters for our customers,” said Bergen Nelson, go-to-market manager for harvesting equipment at John Deere. “We’ve combined our strongest hardware with our newest and smartest precision ag technology to give forage producers a machine they can count on in every pass, every season, to create…

By Jasper Ward WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) – U.S. federal prosecutors have accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen that had the potential to be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon into the United States for research. The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday identified the pathogen as Fusarium graminearum, a fungus it said was classified in scientific literature as a potential agroterrorism weapon. In a statement it said that the fungus causes “head blight” in some crops and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses globally each year. According to an FBI criminal complaint, Zunyong Liu, 34, a researcher currently…

In recently released budget documents, the Trump administration has proposed a nearly $7 billion reduction in USDA funding for 2026. Almost $1.2 billion would come from the department’s primary farmer-facing agencies. USDA has described its Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area as the “focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands.” FPAC houses Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency (RMA).  These agencies “implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance, conservation programs and technical assistance, and…

In a recent article, I examined USDA’s Swampbuster Act, which sets out conservation practice requirements for farmers who participate in USDA programs. It included different situations where farmers may run afoul of the act and the penalties that can be imposed for violations. In this article, I will discuss options that exist for farmers facing a violation under the act. I cannot stress enough the importance of seeking professional help should a violation occur.  What’s the Penalty? If you are found to be in violation of the Swampbuster Act not only will you lose eligibility for USDA program benefits, you…

By Cami Koons A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld lower court decisions barring counties from imposing safety standards on a pipeline subject to federal safety standards.  The cases involved Summit Carbon Solutions, the company proposing to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through the state, and county supervisors from both Story and Shelby Counties.  Summit sued the counties in 2022 for enacting ordinances that required county-specific setback requirements and other regulations the company argued were preempted by federal pipeline safety laws.  A federal judge ruled in favor of Summit in Dec. 2023 and issued permanent injunctions, stopping the counties from enforcing the regulations, which…

The pork industry suffered one of the worst economic years on record in 2023. As producers now grapple with the uncertainty of tariffs, Agri-Pulse Newsmakers spoke with Kevin Stuckey, sow unit manager at Cooper Farms in Ohio; Chris Ford, VP corporate swine lender at Farm Credit Services of America; and Oklahoma Pork Council Executive Director Kylee Deniz to get a pulse on the animal health, labor, and economic challenges facing the industry.Plus, National Pork Producers Council CEO Bryan Humphreys discussed the budget reconciliation bill and the lack of producer input in the Make America Healthy Again Commission report. Watch the…