Farm Business - General
Welcome to a tale too insane for fiction: a cottonmouth farmer seeking a snake venom crop for harvest.
Grower sentiment plummeted to a reading of just 99 in May, the lowest in two years. The dramatic rise in input costs “creates havoc in people’s minds,” says Jim Mintert, report co-author.
Brett Bruggeman says their business starts with the customer, and he’s a believer in segmentation as such identifying customers by appetite to growth, transparency with data, and willingness to advocate.
Gas prices crushed another record to start June, and experts say there’s no sign of a slowdown yet with $5 gas a strong possibility as the summer driving season pushes into high gear.
Serving military veterans across the country, NCAT’s Armed to Farm training provides resources and education for veterans to start and operate their own agricultural business.
The White House is considering waiving U.S. gasoline environmental rules aimed at reducing summertime smog, hoping the waiver will combat rising pump prices, Reuters reported.
Is private land a federal playground? The government claims a phenomenally powerful right—access and surveillance on every inch of farmland, hunting ground, and pasture in the U.S., without warrant or probable cause.
U.S. diesel prices are the highest ever, with warnings of shortages, especially in the eastern U.S., and the most intensive part of the farming season is still ahead.
The latest round of agricultural credit condition surveys from the Federal Reserve banks show high farm real estate values are supporting farm finances.
From the farmer perspective, e-commerce in agriculture shouldn’t just mean point, click, buy AgVend’s Pat Sullivan says.
The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation weighs in on immigration reform and year-round work permits, Waters of the U.S. concerns and support for the new Climate-Smart Commodities Program.
Let’s bust through some outdated ways of thinking about farming today.
“This funding is supporting small BIPOC food companies and farmers to ensure that those hit hardest by COVID are able to weather the storm and recent supply chain disruptions,” said Jade Clark, AgLaunch.
The fundamentals were already in place, forecasting positive prices for grain. The war in the Ukraine has strengthened that prediction.
For 17 straight months, the rural economy has posted healthy and consistent growth. That’s according to the March Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) from Creighton University.
“Agriculture labor is one of those funny challenges that sounds almost boring at first but once you dive in, you realize it’s one of the most fascinating parts of our industry,” writes Tyler McGee.
Black swans emerge, to cast shadows of doubt on agriculture’s future
The March CME/Purdue Ag Economy Barometer posted the weakest farmer sentiment reading since May 2020, as the survey found the biggest concern among producers continues to be “higher input costs.”
USDA now expects food price inflation in 2022 to be from 4.5% to 5.5%, compared with 2021, based on the all-food Consumer Price Index. No category shows a potential decline.
Farm commodity prices, production costs and consumer food prices are higher than would have been expected a few months ago, according to the 2022 U.S. Baseline Outlook report by FAPRI.
For March 2021, the Rural Mainstreet Index sits at 65.4. That is up from February’s 61.5.
It is clear the current administration sees the USDA and its influence over domestic agriculture as critical to fight climate change. What is not so clear is the definition of a “climate-smart” commodity.
Volatility is here to stay in the grain markets — but so could higher prices.
We could be headed for a volatile year – or more – in both ag commodities and energy. Here are just a few reasons for strong prices.
UPDATE: 03/02 4:23 pm-EST-There are reports a missile struck a vessel flying under the flag of Bangladesh in Ukraine.
Farm lender Farm Credit Mid-America giving $210 million back to customers per cooperative patronage.
Hopes for docile agriculture markets in 2022 have already been blown out of the water. Instead, we could be headed for a volatile year – or more.
Brett Bruggeman says now is the time to view these trends as the future of serving “the grower of tomorrow.”
Darrin Simmons is conquering his NFL coaching dreams in Cincinnati, but the Kansas farm kid says he combines wheat when he’s not on the football field. This week he’s savoring the surreal experience of the Super Bowl.
As we prepare to put 2021 to bed, several of our editors reminisced about the past year and identified the stories, pieces and clips they enjoyed producing the most.