KFGO & Growing Harvest Ag Network’s Sarah Heinrich & Rusty Halvorson bring you the latest in agriculture news and information from the Upper Midwest.
USDA seeks partnership proposals on CRP benefits
The USDA strongly encourages eligible conservation partners to submit proposals for $10 million in available funds to research the Conservation Reserve Program's environmental benefits. CRP is one of the world's largest voluntary conservation programs with an established track record of preserving topsoil, sequestering...
12h ago
U.S. Department of Agriculture / CC
Finstad and Fischbach introduce FARMER Act in the House
Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) introduced the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience Act into the House last week. The FARMER Act is intended to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) had previousl...
12h ago
USGC expanding opportunities in established Asian markets
The U.S. Grains Council recently organized marketing conferences promoting U.S. corn fermented protein (CFP) and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) in South Korea and Taiwan. Both countries are already important trade partners for U.S. agriculture but still have significant opportunities for growth in CFP and...
13h ago
Jeff Hitchcock / CC
NMPF statement on "higher-of" inclusion in the House farm bill
From NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud: "We commend House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn 'GT' Thompson, R-PA, for including language in the House farm bill to restore the previous "higher of" Class I mover formula. The previous mover served dairy farmers well for decades, while the current mover ...
May 10, 2024
eutrophication&hypoxia / CC
USDA announces new actions to reduce impact and spread of H5N1
On March 25, 2024, immediately following the first detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle in the Texas panhandle region, USDA and HHS began their work to understand the origin of the emergence and its potential impact in bovines and humans. USDA experts also took swift action to trace animal movements, began sampling to ass...
May 10, 2024
Julia Rubinic / CC
USDA forecasts winter wheat production up 2% in 2024
U.S. farmers are expected to produce 1.28 billion bushels of winter wheat this year, according to the Crop Production report released today by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). In NASS's first winter wheat production forecast for 2024, production is expected to increase 2% from 2023. As of May 1, ...
May 10, 2024
Dmitry Kalinin / CC
12,000 people visit Ag on the Mall in D.C.
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers partnered with other ag industry stakeholders to showcase American agriculture at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It was a chance to show the public how farmers feed and fuel the world while protecting the environment for future generations. More than 12,000 people came ...
May 10, 2024
U.S. Drought Monitor: Wet weather across Great Plains and Midwest led to scattered improvements
Heavy precipitation fell in western Oregon and adjacent southwest Washington and northwest California this week, and across large portions of the central U.S., as a series of storm systems caused continued bouts of severe thunderstorms and unfortunately included more significant tornadoes. The wet weather across portio...
May 10, 2024
Age of U.S. farmers still concerning
The average age of U.S. farmers remains a concerning topic. Farmdoc Daily says the 2022 Census of Agriculture confirms that U.S. farmers continue getting older. However, America's farmers are also becoming younger relative to the U.S. population. Relative to the rest of the population, the farmers have become slightly ...
May 10, 2024
USDA NRCS Texas / CC
Rounds introduces legislation to prevent mandatory electronic tagging of livestock
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced legislation that would prevent federal government overreach on the operations of South Dakota farmers and ranchers. The bill would prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from implementing any rule or regulation requiring the mandatory use of electronic identification tags, or ...
May 09, 2024
K-State Research and Extension / CC
American and Australian cattle producers commit to partnership through joint statement signing
Leaders of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and Cattle Australia (CA) signed a joint statement at the Beef 2024 convention in Rockhampton, Australia to further the two organizations' partnership on issues related to cattle health, lab-grown proteins, and sustainability. "America's cattle farmers an...
May 09, 2024
EPA, FDA, and USDA issue joint regulatory plan for biotechnology
In response to President Biden's Executive Order 14081, "Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ...
May 09, 2024
Phil Warren / CC
U.S. and Mexico dairy industries renew commitment to cross-border cooperation
Leading dairy representatives from the United States and Mexico met this week in Chihuahua, Mexico to renew their commitment to collaborate and advocate on mutually beneficial dairy policies. This was the sixth meeting between leading U.S. and Mexico dairy organizations since 2016. The National Milk Producers Federatio...
May 09, 2024
Marco Verch Professional Photographer / CC
New bill would scale up voluntary, locally-led big game conservation on working lands
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Congressmen Ryan Zinke (R-Mont) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) introduced the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act. This bill would support and expand voluntary efforts to improve wildlife habitat, including big game habitat, on private and working lands. Building on the success of ...
May 09, 2024
Meat Institute updates animal handling guidelines to include bison
To help drive the meat industry forward, the Meat Institute has updated its Animal Handling Guidelines and Animal Welfare Audit. The changes include scores for each criterion, allowing the Institute's members to set goals. The Meat Institute also released a new bison animal welfare audit. The guidelines and audit were ...
May 09, 2024
Minnesota Soybean launches 'Behind the Dollar' campaign
Minnesota supports more than 25,000 soybean farmers. Every time a soybean farmer sells soybeans, one half of one percent of the market price is "checked off." But where do those checkoff funds go from there? Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) is dissecting the true value of checko...
May 08, 2024
United Soybean Board / CC
North Dakota Stockmen's Association's Feedlot Tour will make stops near Dunn Center, Dickinson
The 22nd annual North Dakota Stockmen's Association's (NDSA) Feedlot Tour will be June 18 at feedlots near Dunn Center, and Dickinson, N.D. The tour stops will include Ben Murphy's Cowliseum (hoop barn) near Dunn Center and Jeff and Jaden Kuhn and families' feedlot near Dickinson. The tour will depart from the Cenex C-...
May 08, 2024
USDA seeks committee members for urban agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking nominations for four positions on the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. USDA will accept nominations from May 7, 2024, to July 7, 2024. The 12-member Committee, which first convened in March 2022, is part of USDA's efforts to increa...
May 08, 2024
Lawmakers ask USDA to restore canceled NASS reports
Representative Jim Costa (D-CA) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) led 70 colleagues in sending a letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The officials want him to reverse the USDA's decision to cancel or discontinue several NASS reports. The July Cattle Report, the Cotton...
May 08, 2024
K-State Research and Extension / CC
Ag Economy Barometer shows farmer sentiment at lowest level since 2022
Farmer sentiment dropped sharply in April, as indicated by the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. It fell 15 points to an April reading of 99. Both of the subindexes of the barometer also dropped. The Current Conditions Index dropped 18 points to 83, while the Future Expectations Index fell by 14 points ...
May 08, 2024