Agriculture

An ag engineer says the trend toward automated field equipment could improve soil compaction issues in the future. Ohio State University’s Chair of the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Scott Shearer tells Brownfield the scale of equipment can become smaller if manufacturers remove human operator components. “I think that with current equipment sizes we’re paying a pretty significant price in terms of soil compaction,” he says.  “One of […]

A dairy analyst says the U.S. dairy industry could see indirect impacts from the Russian/Ukrainian war. Ben Laine with Rabobank tells Brownfield sanctions have been in place on U.S. dairy products since 2014, so exports aren’t likely to be impacted by the current conflict.  But, “Feed/fertilizer is a major factor,” he says.  “As we see more refugees moving into Europe, there’s potentially demand impacts.” And he says while China’s demand […]

The Missouri House of Representatives has given initial approval to eminent domain legislation that would protect agricultural land values for utility projects. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Mike Haffner of Pleasant Hill, says the legislation levels the playing field for producers. “These farmers and ranchers keep coming in and they plead with us to make sure that they don’t want their farmland taken away and condemned. But they’re asking us if […]

Commentary. Spring has arrived. It will not be long until planting begins in earnest and the next crop season is off to the races. It is this week in which the Spring Equinox falls that is officially designated as National Agriculture Week. National Ag Day fell on Tuesday of this week. The non-profit organization Agriculture Council of America (ACA), a group of leaders in the agriculture, food and fiber communities […]

The farm credit system is poised to help poultry producers impacted by highly pathogenic avian influenza. Tom Dobbe with Farm Credit Services of America says as a lender, they are always prepared for disasters. “They happen because of weather, they happen because of disease, they happen for a lot of reasons. We have disaster programs that are always in place that are ready to be deployed to our customers where […]

A local meat processor says labor shortages are making it difficult to meet consumer demands. Charlie Emswieler operates the Wahoo Locker in Eastern Nebraska and like many in the processing sector he’s struggling to keep up. “Typically (we’re) always scheduled out two to four months. And that was a nice comfort zone. Since the pandemic, though, things changed quite a bit and now we’re booked out to sometimes two years.” […]

Brownfield’s Mark Dorenkamp will be on the ground in Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Turkey Teaching and Research Facility open house Monday, May 9th. ...

Many consumers have heard about organic farming, crop rotation, and sustainable farming practices, but few are familiar with regenerative agriculture. Ali Webster, the director of research and nutrition communications at the International Food Information Council, discusses some findings from a recent regenerative agriculture survey by IFIC. Healthy Living: Click here for more information. ...

American Farm Bureau is asking President Biden to address high energy costs by increasing domestic energy production. Andrew Walmsley, senior director of congressional relations with AFBF, says Russia’s attack on Ukraine caused already-high energy prices to skyrocket. “We’ve seen energy prices increasing— up almost 130% since January 2021,” he says. “They were on the rise and the international events caused a humanitarian crisis, impacting all types of markets, but in […]