Author: staff

AGDAILY Reporters · May 20, 2025 Ground Control Robotics, a startup founded by Georgia Tech researcher Dan Goldman, is bringing robotic centipedes to agriculture. Inspired by the efficient movement of wiggly animals like snakes and arthropods, these robots are designed to navigate rugged terrain and perform tasks such as data collection and weed control, particularly in perennial crops like grapes and blueberries. Unlike traditional farm robots that rely on wheels or four-legged designs, GCR’s segmented, legged robots can maneuver through cluttered environments without damaging plants or requiring complex controls. The robots use a combination of simple motors and cable-driven legs…

What Happened The May USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report indicated tighter projected carryout (supply left over at the end of the marketing year) for both old and new crop corn supplies. The 2024/2025 marketing year started Sept. 1, 2024, and runs through Aug. 30, 2025, reflecting last year’s crop production as well as expected usage. For the upcoming 2025/2026 marketing year, projected carryout is forecast at 1.8 billion bushels, well below the pre-report estimate of 2.044 billion.   Why This Is Important Smaller supplies create a more critical environment for the upcoming growing season. Put another way,…

During a recent House Appropriations Committee hearing, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) warned of a growing crisis in the Big Bend Sector of Texas, where illegal border crossings are surging despite declines elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border. Addressing Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Pete Flores, Gonzales shared that ranchers in his district feel left behind as their region remains a hotspot for illegal activity. “What I’m hearing from my ranchers is that, for everyone else, they’ve gotten relief,” Gonzales said. “But that area — the Big Bend Sector — continues to be a hotbed in particular.” NEW: When…

Crop subsidies and crop insurance can feel like a bit of a mystery at times. Pretty much everyone has heard about them, but unless you are a row-crop producer or work in crop insurance, chances are you still have questions. So, here’s a primer on how these things work for American growers. The U.S. government provides subsidies — monetary payments and other types of support — to certain farmers and agricultural businesses. Subsidies can be given to support specific practices, support disaster aid, marketing, to mitigate risks, and more. Subsidies first appeared in the first Farm Bill in 1933, the…

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ first major set of policy proposals are aimed at improving the viability and longevity of smaller-scale family farms — a tactic directly addressing some of her biggest critics over the past several months. The newly launched Make Agriculture Great Again Initiative has outlined a toolkit of actions, including the streamlining of application processes, improving reliable access to credit, farmland, and markets, and appropriate business planning tools that are intended to better serve the 86 percent of farms in the U.S. that are considered to be small operations. Rollins, a Texas A&M graduate who has served as…

In late February, Yamaha Motor announced the launch of Yamaha Agriculture, a new company that focuses on delivering autonomous equipment and AI-powered digital solutions to help specialty crop growers become more sustainable, profitable, and resilient.  As part of Yamaha Agriculture’s launch, the company acquired Robotics Plus and The Yield. Robotics Plus is a New Zealand-based agritech company that specializes in the design and build of robotics, AI, and autonomous machines that reduce reliance on labor and provide data-driven insights for growers. The Yield is a precision yield management company focused on specialty crops that claims to transform precision agriculture practices…

By Morgan Chilson SCRANTON — On a gravel road northwest of this small Kansas town, a picturesque creek with overhanging trees shimmers with brilliant shades of green. The beauty, though, hasn’t made up for the aggravation caused by high floodwaters that sweep the wooden bridge over that creek off its moorings to land about 30 yards or so away from the roadway, leaving the road impassable for area farmers, said Ryan Fine, Osage County public works director. “That old wood one, it kept floating away. If we got a big, heavy rain, it would float down there, and we’d have…

At the market close, July corn was up 4¢ at $4.47½ per bushel. July soybeans were ¾¢ higher at $10.50¾ per bushel. Karl Setzer, partner with Consus Ag Consulting said, “A bump in weather-related risk premium in grains following a shift in global patterns is also favoring grains. China is seeing weather stress on its grain crops, and now parts of the European Union are seeing drought develop. This morning, sources in Brazil claimed the safrinha crop is running on subsoil moisture as the country transitions into its dry season. If Brazil does not receive rain soon, scouts say the…

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA JBSS3.SA to explain its $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and whether the money courted the Trump administration’s recent approval of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. JBS, the world’s largest meat company, received approval in April from the Securities and Exchange Commission to dual-list its shares in Brazil and New York after years of trying. The company’s donation to President Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities in January was the largest of any donor. Warren, a Democrat, asked the company in a letter whether it or its subsidiary poultry company…

By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES, May 19 (Reuters) – Argentina’s 2024/25 soybean crop could suffer “significant losses” in northwestern Buenos Aires province due to the impact of recent heavy storms, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Monday, indicating it may be forced to trim its outlook. The exchange currently estimates a soybean crop at a decent 50 million metric tons, but said in its report that the heavy rains could further delay the already slow harvest of the grain and cause damage to the plants. In the northwestern Buenos Aires province 730,000 hectares of the soybean crop have yet to be harvested, the exchange said in a report detailing the impact of the storms. “This…