Author: staff

Farmers in Ohio and Pennsylvania are still working to reach the halfway point of their corn planting season. The latest Crop Progress report published by USDA indicated 34% of Ohio corn and 40% of Pennsylvania had been planted by the week May 18. Farmers in the 16 other top growing states have passed the 50% benchmark. Ohio During the week ended May 18, Ohio corn planting progress increased 9 percentage points to 34% complete. That’s significantly behind the five-year average of 48%. Last year at this time 45% of Ohio corn had been planted. Iowa Environmental Mesonet USDA said just…

By Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) – China’s soybean imports from Brazil fell 22.2% in April from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, as harvest delays, logistics issues and prolonged customs clearance disrupted shipments. China imported 4.60 million metric tons of the oilseed from Brazil last month, showed data from the General Administration of Customs. April soybean arrivals from the U.S., China’s second-biggest supplier, fell 43.7% compared to the year-earlier period to 1.38 million tons, as buyers turned to Brazil for supplies, partly due to tariff uncertainty. Overall soybean imports for April totalled6.08 million tons, the lowest since 2015. For…

In the panhandle of Nebraska, where the beef industry stands as a pillar of the community, local ranchers are extending their support beyond the pastures to embrace foster families through an initiative called Foster Love with Beef. This program ensures that families welcoming new foster children can bond over hearty, nutritious meals featuring locally donated beef.​ Founded by Jessi Grote, a rural nurse, rancher, and mother, Foster Love with Beef was born out of personal experience and a deep-seated desire to give back. Reflecting on her journey, Grote shared how the groundwork for the initiative took shape. “As our long-term…

As of 9:12 a.m. CT, July corn was unchanged at $4.54½ per bushel. July soybeans were up 5¢ at $10.58 per bushel. July wheat contracts were higher. CBOT wheat was up 4½¢ at $5.50½ per bushel. KC wheat was up 4¼¢ at $5.40½. Minneapolis wheat was up 3¾¢ at $6.01½. August live cattle were down 3¢ at $207.83 per hundredweight (cwt) as of 9:12 a.m. CT. August feeder cattle were down 85¢ at $296.65 per cwt. July lean hogs were down 50¢ at $103.05 per cwt. July crude oil was up 15¢ at $62.18 per barrel. June S&P 500 futures…

Kerissa and Charlie Payne are beginning farmers living their dream of raising two daughters on a farm in central Ohio. By conventional measures, their livestock farm, Covey Rise, is a success. Yet, below the surface, the challenge of finding quality affordable child care has kept their business from growing and reaching its full potential. “It feels like we’re always split between keeping the kids safe on the farm, being a good parent, and the needs of the farm,” Kerissa Payne said. The United States has a child care crisis, yet the issue remains largely invisible in the farm sector. For…

In 1985, contaminated milk in Illinois led to a Salmonella outbreak that infected hundreds of thousands of people across the United States and caused at least 12 deaths. At the time, it was the largest single outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. and remains the worst outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning in American history. Many questions circulated during the outbreak. How could this contamination occur in a modern dairy farm? Was it caused by a flaw in engineering or processing, or was this the result of deliberate sabotage? What roles, if any, did politics and failed leadership play? From…

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of four articles on the contributions farmers and tractor manufacturers made to winning World Wars I and II. This article originally appeared in Ageless Iron Almanac. Although historians still debate the true origin of the vehicle that is considered to be one of the greatest weapons brought to bear by the U.S. during World War II, there is little doubt that Minneapolis-Moline contributed to the creation of Jeep-like vehicles. Years before American Bantam and Willys-Overland began development of the vehicle affectionately dubbed the Jeep by soldiers, Minneapolis-Moline engineers were experimenting with…

 I am about to attend one of the most stressful events anyone can imagine. That’s right: I will soon be going to my high school class reunion. Specifically, it’s the reunion that will mark 50 years since we graduated. Fifty years! How can that be? How is it that half a century has slipped under the bridge since we wore those ridiculously oversized gowns and those silly caps that looked like a cross between a beanie and a pizza box?  I’ve stayed in touch with a few of my classmates over the years. Some of them, like me, never left…

After a week of warm temperatures, a low pressure system will bring cooler temperatures and precipitation early to the middle of the week. Precipitation will be widespread across the Midwest, ranging from North and South Dakota to Ohio. Southern Missouri to western Tennessee could get up to 5 inches of rain.  “This isn’t one of those systems where somebody gets an inch, everybody else gets one-tenth of an inch —  most people are going to see some significant rainfall,” Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said.  Ford said the forecasted precipitation is welcome for some and unwelcome by others. Southern Illinois…

July corn ended the day up 7¢ at $4.54½ per bushel. July soybeans closed up 2¼¢ at $10.53 per bushel. July wheat contracts closed higher. CBOT wheat ended the day up 17¢ at $5.46 per bushel. KC wheat was up 13½¢ at $5.36¼. Minneapolis wheat was up 12¼¢ at $5.97¾. “Corn, soybeans, and wheat were solidly higher through most of today’s session as managed money buyers returned to the market,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. “One reason for this was an addition of weather-related risk premium as weather forecasts this morning were drier in the western U.S.…