Agriculture

The Michigan Association of Conservation Districts plans to launch a new Michigan Climate Smart Farm Project in the Western Lake Erie Basin later this year. Executive director Dan Moilanen says the pilot will support small and underserved producers in Washtenaw, Lenawee, Monroe, and Wayne counties. “It’s going to be a climate verification system that’s basically adjacent to the MAEAP program,” he explains.  “A farmer can get environmentally verified and then […]

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued an emergency waiver allowing E15 sales for the 2023 driving season.   Ethanol and farm groups have been urging the agency to approve year-round sales, and American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings tells Brownfield, “Price concerns continue to be on the minds of Americans when it comes to what they’re paying at the pump. Supply for both crude oil and gasoline inventories are down […]

Stagnant milk production growth last year helped push dairy prices to record highs and they’ve been freefalling since. USDA’s Annual Summary of Milk Production, Disposition, and Income this week showed only a 0.1 percent increase in milk production in 2022, while farmer earnings increased by 37 percent to an average of $25.39 per hundredweight. Senior dairy analyst Lucas Fuess with RaboResearch tells Brownfield milk prices since last year have dropped […]

The Chairman of the U.S. Grains Council says South Korea is a growing market for U.S. ethanol. Josh Miller tells Brownfield ethanol use is expected to increase in the country. “Currently, we’re getting approximately 80 million gallons of industrial ethanol in there,” he said. “We’d like to penetrate the market for fuel grade ethanol as well.” He says he recently met in-person with South Korean ethanol stakeholders at the annual […]

Parts availability and cost can be a challenge for farmers, and John Deere parts marketing specialist Phil Lauer says REMAN is a solution that takes components like starters and alternators all the way to engines and transmissions and runs them through a strenuous remanufacturing process.  He tells Brownfield the results are quality products at a more affordable price. ...

Meat prices have pulled back some from the high levels in 2022, but that category still makes up a significant portion of consumers’ grocery store bills.  When thinking about economics, higher prices would likely indicate a pull-back in consumption.  Brian Earnest, an ag economist for CoBank says while in theory that should be what happens, that hasn’t been the case. AUDIO: Healthy Living on consumer spending ...

Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of below-normal temperatures in California, the Desert Southwest, and most areas from the Mississippi River eastward, while warmer-than-normal weather will be confined to the Rockies and High Plains.  Meanwhile, near- or below precipitation in the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and much of the Southeast should contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions in New England, the western Gulf Coast region, and from the […]