Agriculture

Four Hoosier FFA members were named Stars over Indiana for excelling in their Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs. The Stars Over Indiana award ceremony took place Thursday evening during the Hoosier Degree Session at the Indiana State FFA Convention. Lucas Lyons of Jay County FFA Chapter was named the Indiana FFA State Star Farmer. He tells Brownfield his project involves raising 40 goats and managing 70 acres of corn and soybeans, […]

A member of the House Ag Committee says he’s excited about progress on the farm bill. Iowa Republican Randy Feenstra tells Brownfield meetings are ongoing. “A week ago Friday we had a deadline to get all the items in that we wanted in the farm bill, and now it’s all about writing.” He’s hopeful the first draft will be completed by the end of August. “Then we start plotting down […]

The American Farm Bureau Federation is supporting a working group that will address one of the biggest issues facing the ag industry: labor.  John Walt Boatright tells Brownfield farm country is at a critical juncture. “We continue to see a shrinking domestic workforce.  We continue to see a rising reliance on guest worker programs.”   Members of the House Ag Committee have formed a working group to analyze the issue. In a joint statement, […]

At least two Midwest agriculture directors would like to see adjustments for emergency haying and grazing Conservation Reserve Program acres in the next farm bill. Minnesota Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen tells Brownfield with the widespread drought, the issue got a lot of attention during the Midwestern Association of State Departments of Agriculture meeting. Petersen is the MASDA president. “We were honored to have FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux join us. In […]

Wisconsin’s new law providing 150 million dollars to improve agriculturally important local roads will allow towns to fund extra culverts farmers can use to run manure lines. Representative Travis Tranel Tranel says the intent of the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program is to improve weight-restricted roads, and make them last longer, so funding manure culverts makes sense. “They would score very well with a lot of agricultural economic activity, and then […]

John Deere go to market manager for planters Lina Pham says Deere recently introduced the new 1725C stackfold planter that comes in several configurations. She tells Brownfield the 1725C is factory equipped with a full agronomic suite to help farmers improve yields and profits. ...

A southern Illinois wheat farmer says the harvest has been in full swing this week.  Mark Krausz tells Brownfield the crop did okay this spring despite weather challenges. “Good emergence, good planting, but winter was a little cruel to us. It got really wet.” This prevented him and several other farmers from making timely applications of fertilizer and other inputs, but Krausz says the recent dry weather hindered grain fill. […]