Brownfield

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is expected to concentrate in the Upper Midwest. American Farm Bureau economist Veronica Nigh says the outbreak is following a similar pattern to 2015 with the largest impact on laying hens and turkeys. “Unfortunately those northern states, in particular Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa stand out as being the most impacted.” She tells Brownfield because those states stay cold longer, the window for infection is bigger. ...

An analysis by the Renewable Fuels Association shows the energy balance ratio of corn ethanol has improved in recent years. Chief Economist Scott Richman tells Brownfield ethanol continues to provide more energy to consumers than it takes to produce and distribute it. “Corn ethanol now provides users about three times the energy that is needed to produce it on average, and actually, the top quarter of plants are so efficient […]

An American Farm Bureau leader says the Biden administration’s direction on environmental policy going backward and is bad for farmers and ranchers.  Shelby Hagenauer is a Senior Director of Congressional Relations. She says, “We were very supportive of more common-sense reforms that had been done and were finalized in July 2020.” Hagenauer says many of the regulations still in place are from 1978, and the Biden proposal reverts to the […]

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is working to shape a Cattle Contract Library pilot program.  Bruce Summers is the administrator for AMS.  “Congress gave us until September 30, 2023 to design and implement this pilot,” he says.  “That’s 16 months and not a ton of time.” Chelsea Good with the Livestock Marketing Association says the pilot Cattle Contract Library should focus on three areas.  “The first is ease of use,” […]

The USDA says beef production was a monthly record for March at 2.506 billion pounds. That’s up 1% on the year with a slight increase in the slaughter pace to 3.015 million head and a twelve-pound gain in the average live weight at 1,384 pounds. March’s dairy cow slaughter was 297,200 head, up 30,700 from February, but down 5,000 from March 2021. The year-to-date dairy cow slaughter is 824,600 head, […]

A South Dakota farmer is hoping for rain as he plants alfalfa in dry conditions.  Travis Mockler farms near Centerville, in far southeastern South Dakota.  He tells Brownfield he hasn’t had snow all winter, and last week’s blizzard that hit the western part of the state didn’t bring him any moisture. “It’s soft out there so that’s nice, but very dry. We’re putting some hay in right now. Maybe next […]

Agricultural organizations are critical of the Biden administration’s direction on environmental policy. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says the final phase 1 revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA are disappointing and a move backward.  He says AFBF is disappointed the administration is reversing common-sense reforms and returning to a slow and cumbersome review process that will make dealing with supply chain and drought issues worse, […]

Brownfield Ag Meteorologist Greg Soulje says the extended forecast is showing signs of drought improvement.  “We anticipate some delays in spring grain planting and additional improvement to drought for the Northern Plains. The Western Corn Belt locale should be okay. we’ll get timely rains and there may be some delays offset by days of opportunity for fieldwork. Probably some wetter corridors would include parts of the I-70 corridor south into […]

A group of leading ag economists is projecting strong net farm incomes for the next couple years. John Kruse is with the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute… “We’ve got very strong commodity prices that’s leading us to very strong net farm income levels,” Kruse said. “We have to keep an eye on our fuel and fertilizer expenses on that side, and possibly labor here.” He said the […]