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USDA is closing the application deadline for large-scale pilot projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms and forests this Friday. The USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program will award $5 to $100 million to large projects that incentivize climate-smart practices and expand market opportunities.  Proposals for smaller-scale projects are due June 10. The program was announced in early February as part of a $1 billion investment in climate-smart programs. […]

An ag economist says consumer pushback from rising food costs is less likely to impact a few key protein staples. Tanner Ehmke with CoBank tells Brownfield there are some grocery items that will stay in carts. “It’s harder to push back on those staples when they’re still on a dollar per calorie level are still very affordable, things like eggs and cheese,” he says. But for more indulgent proteins like […]

An ag economist says the Federal Reserve’s announcement Wednesday afternoon on the future of interest rates will likely have a strong impact on commodity markets one way or the other. The University of Missouri’s Ben Brown says the market is expecting a half a percent increase in short-term interest rates. “Even if that is held constant, I think you’re going to have some traders that still feel like that’s too […]

Knowledge is power.  And by using information from their operations, farmers can maximize their return on investment. In this Managing for Profit, Joel McCormick, AGRIntelligence Information Specialist for Helena talks the tools available to help farmers harness that data. ...

Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of above-normal temperatures along and east of a line from Texas to Minnesota, except for cooler-than-normal conditions along the middle Atlantic Coast.  Cool weather will also dominate the northern High Plains and the West.  Meanwhile, near- or below-normal precipitation throughout the East and Far West should contrast with wetter-than-normal weather across much of the nation’s mid-section, including the Plains […]

An agronomist says farmers should not worry about this year’s later planting dates impacting yields yet. Farmers are planting two to three weeks behind last year, but Bob Berkovich with Pioneer in Wisconsin tells Brownfield the number of growing degree units or GDUs is not far behind the average, and he says the forecast looks good. “The National Weather Service, they actually think that there’s a greater chance for above-average […]

Workers at two CNH Industrial plants went on strike Monday at noon after contract talks broke down.  The company that makes Case IH, New Holland, and Steyr farm machinery had more than one-thousand employees at Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Iowa walk off the job.  United Auto Workers Vice President Chuck Browning issued a statement saying, “Our members at CNHi strike for the ability to earn a decent living, retire with […]

Iowa’s first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in more than a week is in a non-commercial backyard flock in northeast Iowa. The Iowa Department of Agriculture says the virus was found in Bremer County and reminds flock owners they should prevent contact with their birds and wild birds. Before Tuesday’s detection, the last case of avian flu in the state was reported on April 22nd in a mixed backyard […]

A lack of sun and warmth is stunting alfalfa development in at least one Midwestern state. University of Minnesota Extension crops educator Dave Nicolai says it’s been an abnormally cool spring. “Really cold temperatures have really slowed that growth and availability.” He encourages farmers to wait until alfalfa stems are two inches or taller with a rule of thumb that if stem counts are over 55 stems per square foot […]