Planting season is winding down for a southern Iowa farmer. Ray Gaesser says they aren’t far off their average pace. “It’s been a little more of a struggle than last year, but everyone is so well equipped anymore that we can get the crop in here in Iowa in a short period of time,” he said. He tells Brownfield favorable weather conditions are allowing them to wrap up this week, […]
U.S. ethanol production was steady last week as the supply tightened. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 991,000 barrels a day, unchanged on the week and down 41,000 on the year. Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development says margins remained in positive territory for most producers. The Renewable Fuels Association says net inputs by refiners and blenders hit a 29-week high and the volume of […]
A north-central Iowa farmer says she has finished planting. April Hemmes raises corn and soybeans south of Hampton. “A lot of people in my area are wrapping up,” she said. “I just talked to another farmer and they have been running that bean planter 24 hours. Everybody is just trying to get it done.” She tells Brownfield she was able to take advantage of an early corn planting window. “We […]
The global wheat market is continuing to get tighter after India announced over the weekend it is limiting wheat exports. Ag economist Ben Brown with the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute tells Brownfield protectionist policies blocking commodity exports are snowballing. “It’s an exacerbating wheel,” he said. “When one country puts protectionist policies on it, it sends the price in all the other countries up, especially those […]
Consumers living in urban and rural communities vary in food satisfaction and food security. The latest Purdue University Consumer Food Insights Report found that 14 percent of all households and 23 percent of rural households are facing food insecurity. The survey also found that 71 percent of consumers in urban areas and 61 percent of consumers in rural areas area satisfied with their diets. Jayson Lusk, director of the Purdue […]
Cargill has announced it’s building a soybean processing facility in southeastern Missouri. Cargill said the $450 million project in Pemiscot County will boost soybean meal and soybean oil processing to meet growing domestic food, feed and fuel demand. Cargill said it plans to run more than 60 million bushels of soybeans through the facility yearly which Missouri farmer Aaron Porter says will raise the local soybean basis and open more […]
An early-season heat wave will gradually end across the southern and eastern U.S., although Eastern heat will linger through the weekend. Meanwhile, markedly cooler air will overspread much of the country, including the northern and central Plains and the Midwest. Weekend frost and freezes could affect the northwestern half of the Plains, extending as far south as eastern Colorado and northwestern Kansas. Frost may also extend into parts of the […]
Across the Corn Belt, showers and thunderstorms are curtailing fieldwork, following a favorable period for corn and soybean planting. Early Wednesday, some of the heaviest rain is falling in the middle Mississippi Valley. During the week ending May 14, more than one-quarter (27%) of the U.S. corn and 18% of the soybeans were seeded, although overall planting progress for both crops—49% for corn and 30% for soybeans—is the slowest since […]
Stress has a substantial impact on the way consumers eat, according to the 2022 Food and Health Survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC). Ali Webster, director of research and nutrition communications with IFIC, says thirty percent of consumers surveyed made nutrition or diet changes to help reduce stress levels. “Looking further at the group of people who said they are stressed and are making changes to their diet […]
