By Cami Koons The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) announced Tuesday more than $450,000 in cost-share funding awarded to several conservation districts for water quality improvement projects.  The Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Districts intend to use the funding to help private landowners implement practices such as…

The Great Western Ranch — stretching more than 500,000 acres across New Mexico, making it one of the largest ranches in the United States — has just been sold. This hope is that this transaction allows the ranch to remain a vital ecological corridor and a model for large-scale land…

Farmer sentiment continues to weaken, as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer declined again in July. The barometer fell 11 points to 135 from June, a reading that resulted from U.S. farmers’ weaker perceptions of both current conditions and future expectations. The July Current Conditions Index dropped 17 points…

At the 40th International Sweetener Symposium, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden spoke about what he called the Trump administration’s commitment to advancing a stronger future for American agriculture. Speaking before a packed room of sugarbeet and sugarcane growers, trade officials, and industry leaders in Traverse City, Michigan,…

This summer, a farmer came up to me and said, “I thought you were crazy to sell new-crop corn, soybeans, and wheat ahead in January and February.” He said he hesitated, but he followed my advice. “Now, I wish I would have done more,” he said. I admit, I haven’t…

By Joshua Haiar A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., introduced legislation recently to improve a federal conservation program with changes, including a higher maximum annual payment for landowners. The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers and ranchers to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production, and maintain…