Deliberations on the nearly 24 year-old free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have gotten more contentious and ending the deal could spell trouble for agriculture domestically. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was discussed during a…
Last month Chinese officials announced they were lowing import tariffs on certain types of cheese. That’s great news for the dairy markets and will likely lead to an increase in cheese exports. However, while it will help, China’s demand for…
Reactions across agriculture were mixed to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) blending targets for renewable fuels for 2018 and 2019, setting the total renewable fuel volume at 19.29 billion gallons. The 15 billion gallon target for convention biofuel, including corn-based…
In 2017, farmers and the market thought soybean acres would overtake corn acres, but King Corn reigned supreme. Roughly 90.4 million acres of corn and a record high 90.2 million soybean acres were planted in 2017. For 2018, the USDA’s…
Commodity prices have been low and trading sideways, and 2017 wasn’t a great year for most farmers. Last month, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) released data that show the downturn in the ag economy has bottomed, and farm income…
Farmers hoping for any sign of an economic bright spot for 2017 got a modest one yesterday. Net farm income is expected to inch up a slight 3% over 2016 and reach $63.2 billion this year, according to the U.S.…
USDA's Office of the Chief Economist is forecasting soybeans to reach a record of 91 million acres in 2018—equal to that of their rotation partner, corn at 91 million acres. Before switching acres to soybeans consider market implications. "The past…
Soil is life, dirt is death, and the vast distance between takes a lifetime to cross. Mike Kelley is staring into the chasm and believes part of his farmland will suffer stunted yields for the rest of his life. He…
Nutrient-rich soils spoil corn—in fact, so much nitrogen is present in the soil, a function that would have made microbes fixate corn nitrogen has shut off. Ever since, farmers have applied ton after ton of nitrogen to the soil to…
If the industry could only guarantee half of your corn seed is what you paid for, would that be good enough? Seed corn producers and companies have checks and balances in place to ensure you get what you expect. Standards…