Agriculture

Michigan agriculture and environmental groups have received $900,000 to support cover crop adoption across the state through the Farmers for Soil Health partnership. The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan, Michigan Soybean Committee, Michigan Pork Producers Association, Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) hope to establish cover crops on at least 55,000 acres. Corn Marketing Program of Michigan Director of Research and Agronomy Kristin […]

A Southeast Nebraska farmer says his crops are in desperate need of moisture and could be showing signs of disease pressure. Nathan Dorn farms 30 minutes south of Lincoln and says he received about 2 inches of rain Thursday morning, but it’s not nearly enough. “We’re limping from rain to rain. We don’t feel like we have a full soil profile. We don’t feel like there’s enough out in the […]

Farmers this past year have invested nearly $7 billion in crop insurance policies. National Crop Insurance Services President Tom Zacharias tells Brownfield coverage spans nearly 500 million acres in the U.S. “Crop insurance for the major field crops covers about 90 percent of planted acres, and those are the principal field crops—corn, soybeans, wheat, etcetera,” he says. Zacharias says farmers also spend an additional billion dollars for crop insurance at […]

Ethanol production and stocks both moved higher last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production was a six-week high at 1.004 million barrels, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week, but a decrease of 67,000 from a year ago. Some plants are coming back on-line after seasonal maintenance as the industry prepares for summer driving season and expanded E15 access but continues to grapple with some questions about […]

On a vote of 314 – 117, the U.S. House has passed the agreement in principle to raise the debt ceiling and the Senate is now considering the bill. The bill includes a temporary expansion of work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Agri-Pulse is reporting the Senate is expected to give the final approval by the weekend. The deadline to avoid a government default is Monday, June 5. […]

Iowa farmers are paying record high cash rents. Iowa State University Extension economist Alejandro Plastina says the average cash rental rate increased nine percent from 2022 to 2023. “Reaching a record high of $279 per acre as an overall average across the state. But we’ve seen that higher quality land saw higher percent increases.” The previous record for Iowa was $270 per acre in 2013. He tells Brownfield farmer profitability […]

Heavy rains following planting are causing some fields to be replanted in the Eastern Corn Belt. Patty Mann raises corn in west central Ohio. “One area in Shelby County got a really hard two-inch rain the same day that we planted it so there was a pretty thick crust on there. We thought we were going to have to redo the whole field. We decided to get everything planted the […]

A professor of entomology says producers should consider insecticide applications to fight against corn rootworm pressure. Bob Wright with the University of Nebraska says some growers have started spraying foliar insecticides to reduce egg-laying. “It’s really important that you time foliar insecticide properly. The first beetles to emerge are males, and they don’t lay eggs and then females emerge later and it takes them a week or more to be […]

A farmer and market analyst in northeastern South Dakota says the prevent plant story has shifted slightly in the Northern Plains as field conditions improved. A heavy snowpack and cool spring temperatures were common as spring began in the north and conditions started improving in May. DuWayne Bosse says planting season was delayed and he started planting corn May 25, the final planting date. “Farmers wanted to plant the crop […]