An Iowa farmer says fungicide applications have helped him manage disease and environmental pressure. Brett Heineman tells Brownfield spraying at the right time has been critical. “From what we’ve seen, the biggest bang for our buck has been getting it on before you see the disease. If you are already seeing disease, you’ve already lost some potential in your plant.” He says fungicides can help protect plants from heat, drought, […]
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House to improve USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage Program for farmers. House Agriculture Committee member Elissa Slotkin is a co-sponsor of the Dairy Farm Resiliency Act. “It basically helps expand the safety net for medium-sized dairy producers,” she says. The Michigan Democrat tells Brownfield she’s hopeful its bipartisan support will carry it through the farm bill process. “There’s no better time than now […]
The lack of rain is impacting an Illinois farmer’s crops. Mark Krausz farms in southern Illinois and he is also the President of the Illinois Wheat Association. Krausz tells Brownfield his corn and soybeans are really struggling. “We haven’t had any, like a tenth and maybe two-tenths twice. One was a tenth and one was a tenth-and-a-half actually since the first part of May. We’re really dry.” Krausz says drought-tolerant […]
An extension agronomist says some farmers across the Corn Belt are getting more concerned about this year’s drought. Meaghan Anderson is with Iowa State University. “Thus far, we’ve been able to kind of skirt by in a lot of the drought area with some really relatively great yields. But I think as it continues to persist on it absolutely becomes more and more of a concern every day.” She tells […]
Milk futures were lower and cash dairy prices were mixed Thursday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. July Class III milk was down $0.49 at $15.29. August was down $0.45 at $16.18. September was down $0.37 at $17.28. October was down $0.18 at $18.02. November through May contracts ranged from nine cents lower in December to five cents higher in May. Dry whey was down $0.0025 at $0.2650. Twelve sales were […]
U.S. red meat production during May was record large for the month. That included a monthly record for pork production at 2.271 billion pounds, a jump of 4% on the year with a 5% increase in the slaughter to 10.584 million head more than canceling out a two pound loss in the average live weight at 289 pounds. Beef production was 2.306 billion pounds, 1% higher than May 2022 with […]
Lawmakers are attempting to terminate the Waters of the United States rule. A repeal of the Biden administration’s updated WOTUS rule through a resolution of disapproval was passed earlier this year, but it was vetoed by President Joe Biden. Lawmakers couldn’t get the votes to override the president’s veto. Eric Burlison, a U.S. Congressman from Missouri, tells Brownfield the provision is included in the 2024 Army Corps of Engineers budget […]
California’s Department of Food and Ag has announced modifications to the implementation of Proposition 12, providing some relief to the pork industry. Iowa State University ag economist Lee Schulz says the six-month grace period was welcome news. “We know now that the CDFA will not enforce it till the end of the year,” he says. “In their language, it’s really anything that is in production is going to be able […]
As drought intensifies across much of the country, cattle producers are looking for ways to get the most out of short forage supplies. Purdue Extension beef specialist Ron Lemenager says producers should adjust their feed management strategies and one area he’s been researching is the impact of feeding time. “We allowed animals to have access for one hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours of […]
