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Wisconsin officials confirm finding highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds around the state.  The Department of Natural Resources says the H5 virus was found in a Cooper’s hawk and a bald eagle from Dane County, a lesser scaup from Columbia County, a red-tailed hawk from Grant County, a Canada goose from Milwaukee County, and a trumpeter swan from Polk County.  The affected birds were tested by the U.S. Geological Survey’s […]

The drought in the Western Plains has intensified and a rancher in the Nebraska Sandhills says he’s been waiting four months for relief.     Frank Beel operates a cow/calf herd and a small feedlot in the north-central part of the state between Ainsworth and Valentine near Highway 20. “Our last rainfall was October 27th. We did get about 4-6 inches of snow at the first part of December but that’s […]

A bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives is asking the Biden administration to prioritize agricultural trade as part of its discussions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region. The lawmakers say the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework should address tariff and non-tariff barriers for ag exports and include Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards. During this week’s House Ways and Means Hearing, U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai said tariffs are not expected to be part of […]

The leader of a state grassroots organization says agriculture needs consistency and clarity with the Clean Water Act. Garrett Hawkins with the Missouri Farm Bureau says the latest Waters of the U.S. rule increases government oversight and adds more uncertainty for basic agriculture practices. “All of us can agree we need clean water, but we also want clear rules.” He tells Brownfield the Navigable Waters Protection Rule provided an appropriate […]

A soy-based rubber mulch and playground surface took home the top prize for the 2022 Student Soybean Innovation Competition. Team Smulch members Libby Plassard, a freshman majoring in business management and finance; Ethan Miller, a freshman studying biochemistry; and Zuhal Cakir, a student working on a Ph.D. in chemical engineering took home $20,000 during the award ceremony Wednesday at the Purdue University Memorial Union. Plassard tells Brownfield about their product. […]

The USDA expects farmers to plant more soybeans and less corn in 2022. Matt Bennett with AgMarket.Net tells Brownfield the Prospective Plantings report showed corn acres down 4 percent and soybean acres up 4 percent from 2021. “There’s no question that this corn situation has changed after this report into a more friendly tone. Need to buy acres potentially as far as swing acres whereas soybeans it’s basically the polar […]

The USDA says demand slowed for corn and soybeans, and rose for wheat during the first quarter of the year.  Corn stocks on March 1 totaled 7.85 billion bushels, up 2% year over year, close to pre-report expectations.  Soybean were pegged at 1.93 billion bushels, up 24% from March 1, 2021, higher than expected.  Wheat stocks on March 1 were at 1.02 billion bushels, down 22% from last year, below […]

A seed sales representative says he’s noticed some regional and national trends for seed purchases heading into the 2022 growing season. Brian Hackbarth sells LG Seeds in northeastern Wisconsin and upper Michigan.  He tells Brownfield, “Industry-wise, there’s more beans going in than there is corn.” Hackbarth says his farmer clients are trying to cut input costs and take advantage of the higher soybean prices.  Hackbarth says many in the industry […]

Excessive rain has already pushed back planting start dates for farmers in southern Illinois. Daryl Cates farms in the Mississippi River bottoms of Columbia, Illinois. He tells Brownfield he had considered getting planters out in early April, but they’ve received more than 4 inches of rain in the past week. “If we had not got this rain, I was thinking we would have tried to start next week. Now, they […]