Author: staff

While traveling in Nebraska on Monday, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins kicked off the “Make Agriculture Great Again” and the first policy pillar of the agenda focuses on small family farms, “which are the heart of our communities and our nation,” say policy documents. The op-ed column published below highlights challenges faced by small family farms and briefly describes solutions that USDA will pursue. The department shared a more detailed policy plan to put small family farms first in a 14-page Farmers First document provided to Successful Farming on Monday. “The defense of the family farm is a defense of everything…

AGDAILY Staff · May 19, 2025 Gateway to Success Academy in Scottville, Michigan, is tackling food insecurity through a student-run food club. Housed in a small 357-square-foot space, the club operates like a mini grocery store where students shop twice a week using a point system. Volunteers, such as 10th-grader Bella VonDrak, help run the store and learn budgeting, cooking basics, and communication skills. Located in a food desert, G2S partners with Ludington’s Lakeshore Food Club, which supplies groceries and covers the program’s costs. Much of the food comes from local farmers, helping support Michigan agriculture while meeting students’ needs.…

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long said that he would like to “weaponize” regulatory agencies to eliminate the use of pesticides in American agriculture, and his rhetoric has frequently used animal-activist terminology like “factory farming.” This approach is central to his Make America Healthy Again mantra, which he hopes will help legitimize his role in the Trump administration. But an article by The Wall Street Journal points to friction between Kennedy and administration officials over how much blame to place on crop protection products for U.S. health woes. Kennedy is laying out his argument and…

For Bud Hagen, General Product Support Manager at HOLT Truck Centers in Texas, the values of agriculture and family have always run deep. With over three decades at Holt and even more time spent around county fairs and show barns, Hagen’s experience reflects the hard work and dedication involved in raising kids in agriculture. Hagen’s journey with youth livestock projects began not with his own children, but when he first met his wife in high school. “She was very active in FFA,” he recalls. “I remember wanting to go to the movies or out on dates, but it always had…

Today, USDA published the seventh Crop Progress report of the 2025 growing season. Here’s a look at the latest corn, soybean, wheat, and oat numbers. Corn Crop Progress As of May 18, 78% of the corn crop across the country’s top 18 corn-growing states had been planted. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 73%. Half of the corn crop had emerged across the top corn-growing states as of May 18. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 40%. Soybean Crop Progress The USDA said that as of May 18, 66% of the soybean crop across the top soybean-growing states…

John Deere pledges to invest $20 billion in the United States over the next decade, Chairman and CEO John May said during the company’s second-quarter 2025 earnings call last week. The commitment includes expanding manufacturing, supporting workforce development, and upgrading facilities across more than a dozen states. The statement comes as Deere has fielded heavy frustrations from the agricultural sector over moving several pieces of its operation to Mexico. The company says that this planned initiative builds on existing efforts by the company to maintain and modernize its U.S. operations. Since 2019, John Deere has invested $2.5 billion in its…

Dr. Shawn Frehner, a well-known veterinarian in the Las Vegas area, officially died by suicide from drowning at Lake Mead, the Clark County coroner’s office has confirmed. It was the cause most people had suspected. His body was discovered on April 18 near the Boulder Islands within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Dental records confirmed his identity the following day. The coroner determined that Frehner’s cause of death was drowning, with pentobarbital — a barbiturate commonly used in animal euthanasia — also found in his system. The coroner’s office confirmed in an email to PEOPLE that his manner of…

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/2025/05/Top-Third-agdaily-2025-05-12-1.mp3 The post Markets in Minutes: Top Third looks ahead for week of May 19, 2025 appeared first on AGDAILY.

U.S. sales of tractors in all classes dropped 12.3%, while Canadian sales of agricultural tractors grew 3.4% in April 2025 compared to April 2024, according to numbers from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). “The April report of slow tractor and combine sales is reflective of the overall softness in the ag economy. Increased input prices, high interest rates, and global trade concerns are leading to farmers taking more of a cautious approach to their capital investments,” said Curt Blades, senior vice president of AEM. “With planting season underway, we remain optimistic the ag economy will improve, leading to a…

By Isabel Teles, Ana Mano, Roberto Samora, and Lisandra Paraguassu SAO PAULO, May 16 (Reuters) – Brazil, the world’s largest chicken exporter, confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm on Friday, triggering protocols for a country-wide trade ban from top buyer China and state-wide restrictions for other major consumers. The outbreak in southern Brazil was identified at a farm supplying Vibra Foods, a Brazilian operation backed by Tyson Foods TSN.N, according to two people familiar with the matter. Vibra and Tyson did not immediately respond to questions. Vibra has 15 processing plants in Brazil and exports to over 60 countries, according to its website.…