Agriculture

Some farmers might be forced to replant after heavy rains moved across Southern Minnesota Wednesday night. University of Minnesota Extension crops educator Dave Nicolai says two to four inches of rain fell in areas where some crops were just planted or barely emerged. “The crop in both situations, particularly if it’s emerged and you get excessive rains and water ponds over the crop for an extended period of time, you’re […]

A new Rabobank report suggests commodity prices will drop some before 2024 but move higher through 2030. Economist Stephen Nicholson tells Brownfield he sees some changes and some trends in corn, soybeans, and wheat markets that are overall supportive of prices in the long term. “You do see them trending down over that ten years, and that’s part of the function of the model itself. It’s also a function that […]

The USDA reports the week ending May 4th was generally bearish for U.S. export sales. Wheat hit a marketing year low with Russia continuing to dominate the global market, and corn, soybean, beef, pork, rice, and soybean oil also saw significant week-to-week declines. Soybean meal and sorghum sales were up sharply on the week, while cotton sales were slightly higher. Export sales are driven by several factors including seasonal supply […]

A data cooperative is bringing together stakeholders to help farmers and ranchers better understand, implement and value data gathered on operations.   Jennifer Clarke, the Cooperative’s lead and professor with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says producers have been inundated with technology and data. “We need a framework in which to provide producers with value from their data.” She tells Brownfield the cooperative will help producers gather the data and reproduce […]

The US Supreme Court has announced its decision to uphold California’s Proposition 12, the ballot initiative that requires pork sold in the state to be raised under strict guidelines. Approved by California voters in 2018, the measure bans sales of pork, veal, and eggs from animals whose confinement does not meet minimum space requirements. The justices rejected the National Pork Producers Council’s argument that the measure violates the Commerce Clause.  […]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing the U.S. Trade Representative to eliminate trade barriers with Japan for blueberry growers. The lawmakers say tariffs on frozen blueberries have put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage since the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership was enacted in 2018. Michigan Blueberry Advisory Committee President Chad Reenders tells Brownfield reduced demand for West Coast frozen blueberries backfills available storage space and market access for […]

Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of broadly below-normal temperatures from the south-central U.S. to the Great Lakes region, while warmer-than-normal weather will cover the lower Southeast and areas northwest of a line from Arizona to the western Corn Belt. Meanwhile, near- or below-normal precipitation in the northern U.S., including the Midwest, should contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions across the South. ...

Brazil’s equivalent of the USDA has raised its already record large corn and soybean production estimates. CONAB now sees Brazil’s soybean crop at 154.811 million tons, 0.8% more than in April and up 23.3% from last year following an increase in planted area and better yields. The soybean harvest is nearly over with exports projected at a record 95 million tons, with Brazil holding most of the global market share […]