Flood

Hawaii Farmers Face $31M in Damages After Devastating Kona Low Flooding

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:45:51 GMT

A series of relentless Kona Low storms has left Hawaii’s agricultural community reeling, with record-breaking rainfall causing what officials describe as the worst flooding the islands have seen in decades.

Between March 11 and March 15, the National Weather Service reported that some areas received more than 30" of rain. A second system followed less than a week later, with the University of Hawaii recording staggering localized totals of up to 61". In total, an estimated 2 trillion gallons of water were dumped on the state’s countryside, leading Hawaii’s governor to label the event the most severe flooding since 2004.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda surveys flood damage in Hawaii.

(Rep. Jill Tokuda)

A Significant Blow to the Workforce

The impact on the farming community is widespread. U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda , D-Hawaii, reports that the scale of the destruction is historic.

“At least 1 in 3 farmers, ranchers and producers were negatively impacted,” Tokuda says.

Data from Hawaii Agriculture Disaster Response , based on self-reported farmer information, indicates that as of Thursday afternoon at least 500 farmers had been affected. The damage spans more than 4,000 acres, with estimated losses already exceeding $31 million. Farmers on Oahu have been hit particularly hard, accounting for over $20 million of that total.

(Hawaii Ag Disaster Response- Hawaii Agricultural Stewardship)

Legacy Crops Wiped Out

The losses are not just financial but also generational. Tokuda says she visited a coffee farm in Kona that was preparing to plant as the storms struck.

“They were just about to plant 20,000 saplings in their fields ... completely wiped out and gone,” Tokuda explains. “They had legacy trees that were originally planted over a hundred years ago by their founders — gone and lost.”

Beyond the loss of plants, the physical geography of the farms has changed. One of the most urgent requests from producers is for topsoil.

“They can’t sell their crops, which means they can’t pay themselves or their employees,” Tokuda adds. “They need to replace seedlings; they need to replace equipment.”

Long-Term Concerns for Food Security

Areas of Hawaii enjoy a nearly year-round growing season, farmers planting different crops in the wet and dry seasons. The timing of these storms was catastrophic for those in the middle of a harvest.

Amanda Shaw, a nonprofit leader for Agricultural Stewardship Hawaii, helped create the state’s farmer response platform. She says even her home area, Waimanalo, which avoided the worst of the flooding, still saw devastating losses.

“A lot of our farmers lost 90% of what they had in the ground,” Shaw says. “If it was leafy greens, that was totally gone.”

According to Shaw, coffee and macadamia nut growers likely sustained the heaviest long-term damage, while vegetable producers lost significant rotations of squash and leafy greens.

The primary concern now is whether the industry can recover. Shaw says while farmers are known for their resilience, the financial burden of this event may be a breaking point for some.

“We are concerned that if folks see significant damage on their land that they’re not able to recoup from, that it could be a pathway out of farming for some folks,” Shaw says.

Farmer Aid and Ways You Can Support

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity on April 1 announced 333 Emergency Farmer Relief grants. The department reports it received over 1,600 eligible forms and continues to look for more funds to give producers. The grants provide a producer $1,500 to address immediate needs. FEMA granted Hawaii federal assistance for recovery efforts.

The Hawaii Agricultural Foundation and Hawaii Farm Bureau are accepting donations for farmers through the Hawaii Farmers’ Disaster Relief Fund. Tokuda lists a number of assistance programs for farmers on her website.

Early Planting Unlikely for Much of Eastern Corn Belt as Wet Pattern Dominates Spring Outlook

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 19:37:23 GMT

While some farmers may be enjoying the recent stretch of unusually warm temperatures, the broader spring weather pattern suggests early planting will likely be difficult across much of the eastern half of the country.

Matt Griffin, meteorologist with BAM Weather, says the start of March brings temperatures well above seasonal averages in many areas, particularly across the southeastern U.S. But those warmer temperatures are coming alongside an extremely active weather pattern that continues to deliver frequent rainfall.

The forecast points to an active moisture track from the eastern half of the country through March 12th.

(Matt Griffin, BAM Weather )

“Over the next week or so, it’s just going to be very warm,” Griffin says. “It’s going to continue to be very warm and very active.”

Griffin says the warmth is widespread across the eastern half of the country. In some areas of the eastern Ag Belt, temperatures are running significantly above normal for early March.

“We’re starting off March on a very warm note,” he says. “In fact, some of those colors into the eastern Ag Belt, the eastern U.S., in some spots 20 degrees above normal.”

However, the bigger concern for farmers isn’t the temperature. It’s the amount of precipitation expected to accompany the pattern.

Griffin says forecasts show a wide swath of rainfall stretching from Texas into the Ohio Valley, with some areas expected to see multiple inches of rain in a short period of time.

“With this pattern coming, a lot of rain,” he says. “In fact, you can see this corridor of rain from near Dallas stretching into the Ohio Valley.”

Flooding Concerns Already Building

Some parts of the eastern Midwest could see particularly heavy totals.

“The folks in the Eastern Ag Belt, lots of rain,” Griffin says. “That area of pink there suggests amounts of three-plus inches of rain.”

In parts of the region, the ground is already saturated from recent systems. Griffin says the combination of previous rainfall and additional storms raises concerns about flooding. He adds that the areas receiving the heaviest precipitation could continue to deal with high water issues.

“I think anywhere you see the purples and the pink colors, and especially the blue areas, we’re going to have a continuation of flooding issues as well,” Griffin says.

Mid-March Cold Front Brings Another Shift

Even though the opening stretch of March is unseasonably warm, Griffin says that warmth likely won’t last the entire month.

A colder air mass is expected to push through the country around the middle of March.

The forecast points to an extremely mild pattern for the western half of the U.S. in March.

(Matt Griffin, BAM Weather)

“The warmer temperatures I don’t think are here to stay necessarily,” Griffin says. “If we look at the following week’s pattern, this is around March 13th to the 19th, we do see a cold front that passes through.”

That cold front will help bring temperatures closer to normal across portions of the eastern Corn Belt, he says.

“It will help, especially for some of you folks in the Eastern Ag Belt, really knock down those temperatures a little bit,” Griffin says.

In addition to cooler temperatures, the system could bring another round of precipitation and even some late-season winter weather for northern areas.

“This would be a window for a sneaky wintery weather threat,” he says. “The Northern Plains into the Great Lakes, through Michigan and into the interior Northeast—not impossible.”

Active Storm Track Through March

Even beyond that system, Griffin says the broader weather pattern remains active through the remainder of March, especially in the eastern half of the country.

“Once again, I’m going to sound a little bit like a broken record,” Griffin says. “The Eastern Ag Belt and the Northeast, where the rain I think can be above normal in those spots.”

The active storm track could also bring severe weather risks at times as the region transitions deeper into spring.

Above normal to much above normal precipitation is in the forecast for the eastern part of the U.S., along with the northern tier of the country, as we finish March.

(Matt Griffin, BAM Weather)

“At times, not only this week but last week as well, there is some potential severe weather associated with this as we head into the first half of March,” he says.

Looking further into the month, Griffin says the divide between wetter eastern areas and drier western regions becomes more pronounced.

“Later into March, I do think we continue to see this active weather pattern into the Eastern Ag Belt in particular,” he says.

Forecast maps show significantly above-normal precipitation stretching from Ohio southward through Kentucky and Tennessee.

“Our latest forecast shows much above normal rains into Ohio, down into Kentucky, into Tennessee,” Griffin says.

Because of the ongoing storm activity, he says it would not be surprising to see additional severe weather events during the period.

“That active weather pattern remains,” he says. “Wouldn’t be shocked to see some bouts of severe weather.”

Meanwhile, conditions further west are trending in the opposite direction.

“It’s going to be a bit of an Ag Belt divided,” Griffin says. “Wet east, dry to the west.”

Temperatures are also expected to fluctuate frequently as the pattern evolves.

“We’re going to see ups and downs in our temperatures,” Griffin says. “I do think it’ll be a little bit of a roller coaster ride.”

He points to another cooler stretch likely developing around the third week of March.

“We get around March 18th through the 22nd, it’s probably going to be a little colder,” he says.

El Niño Influence Builds Into Spring

As the calendar turns to April, Griffin says longer-range indicators show an emerging El Niño pattern beginning to influence weather across the United States.

“What I think starts to occur is we start to feel a little more influence of our emerging El Niño,” Griffin says.

April’s weather pattern is shaping up to be divided, with below normal precipitation for parts of the West, and above normal precip in the South, along the Atlantic Coast and in the Northeast.

(Matt Griffin, BAM Weather)

That shift could move the corridor of heavier rainfall slightly farther south and east.

“What that’s going to do is shift the above-normal rains a little bit further to the south and to the east,” he says.

Areas such as northeastern Texas and the Tennessee and Kentucky River valleys may see an increased focus for precipitation.

“Where I think the focus of the rain will be is areas into say northeastern Texas into the Tennessee, Kentucky River valleys and some of those areas as well,” Griffin says.

Even so, parts of the central Corn Belt could still see periodic rain events.

“If you’re in areas eastern Iowa to Ohio, I still think there’s some rainfall opportunities there,” he says.

Watching Frost and Moisture Into May

Temperature patterns may also turn somewhat cooler in parts of the Plains during April.

“I do think this will be a little bit of a colder pattern, especially for some of you folks in the Northwestern Plains into the Northern Plains,” Griffin says.

He also says early April could bring the possibility of additional late-season winter weather in some regions.

“We may have some early April sneaky winter events as well,” he says.

May looks to turn dry in the heart of the U.S., with below normal temperatures in the east and heat in the West.

(Matt Griffin, BAM Weather)

By May, the broader weather pattern may shift again as the El Niño signal strengthens.

“I think the colder air that we talked about in April does start to bleed to the east,” Griffin says.

At that point, rainfall may concentrate more heavily across the southern tier of the country.

“We continue to see this transition more into this El Niño,” he says. “The southern jet stream is just going to be a little bit more energetic.”

That setup could bring above-normal rainfall to the desert Southwest, Gulf Coast and southeastern U.S.

“I think that’s where the rain, above normal rains, are going to be more focused,” Griffin says.

Meanwhile, parts of the Plains may trend drier as spring progresses.

“You can see much below normal at this point into areas into the Plains—the Northern Plains, the Central Plains,” he says.

Despite those shifts, Griffin says the temperature outlook for May does not currently suggest extreme heat.

“At this point we’re not talking about any extreme temperatures one way or the other,” he says.

He notes the dryness across parts of the western Ag Belt could become a concern if it persists.

“All of the outlooks I mentioned out further to the west and to the Western Ag Belt were relatively dry,” Griffin says.

Still, he says there is at least some positive news in the seasonal outlook.

“I guess if there’s one silver lining… I don’t think we’re talking necessarily about extreme heat at this time,” he says.

One additional factor farmers will be watching closely is the possibility of a late spring frost in northern areas.

“I do think we need to watch May as far as late frost concerns,” Griffin says.

Regions such as the Northern Plains, Michigan and the Northeast may face the greatest risk.

“Those would be areas at risk for a late frost,” he says.

However, Griffin says the broader Corn Belt may largely avoid that issue this year.

“For much of the Ag Belt, to be honest, I just think this year we largely avoid that risk,” he says.

Bottom Line for Planting

For many growers, though, the biggest immediate concern is the wet start to the planting season.

With repeated storms expected across the eastern Corn Belt, Griffin says field conditions will likely remain too wet to support widespread early planting.

“Especially east of Iowa, it’s just not going to happen in my opinion,” Griffin says.

He says the persistent rainfall throughout March and April makes early fieldwork unlikely in many areas.

“It’s just too wet for March, too much rain in April,” Griffin says. “I just don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Iowa Farmer Battles Today's Pests While Eyeing Tomorrow's 'Mean Sixteen' Threats

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 18:55:16 GMT

For Worth County, Iowa, farmer Sarah Tweeten, the list of high-priority agronomic threats isn’t a political abstract — it’s a harsh reality she deals with every season.

Farming with her parents, Brian and Julie, and her uncle Roger, Tweeten has been steering the partnership toward more resilient cropping practices since joining the operation in 2021. This includes shifting from conventional tillage to strip tillage and splitting nitrogen applications.

The changes are part of a broader mindset: Protecting yields today from weeds, disease and insects while aggressively preparing for the next generation of agronomic threats. This forward-thinking approach is what led Tweeten to Washington, D.C., earlier this week as a Farm Journal Foundation farmer ambassador to help introduce a new report: “ The Mean Sixteen: Major Biosecurity Threats Facing U.S. Agriculture and How Policy Solutions Can Help. ”

Today’s Battles and Tomorrow’s Warnings
Researched and developed by Stephanie Mercier, PhD, the report takes an in-depth look at 16 significant pest issues U.S. farmers face now or could realistically in the future.

Tweeten is already battling a couple of the problems that underpin the urgency behind the research. For example, Palmer amaranth (pigweed) is gaining ground in her fields and across Iowa. The pervasive broadleaf weed can drastically reduce yields, with studies showing corn yield reductions between 11% and 91% and soybean yield reductions of 17% to 68%.

“We’ve struggled with pigweed as it continues to establish more resistance to our herbicides in our toolkit,” Tweeten says.

Two additional agronomic issues the report details include:

1. Asian Soybean Rust. First detected in the U.S. in Louisiana in 2004, this fungal disease has spread to southern states like Georgia and Mississippi. Scientists warn that warming winters could enable its migration to the Midwest, adding to existing disease pressures.

2. Corn Ear Rot. It can lead to aflatoxin production, making corn unmarketable and posing risks to humans and livestock. Aflatoxin is an issue Pickens County, Ala., farmer Annie Dee says is an ongoing problem for corn growers in her area.

“If we have aflatoxin, it can be impossible to sell the corn,” says Dee, also a Farm Journal Foundation Farmer ambassador.

A more recent threat she references is the impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu) on local poultry farms.

Since January 2022, HPAI has been confirmed in a commercial or backyard poultry flock in all 50 states.

(USDA)

“An important market for us is poultry feed meal, so that’s a constant worry. The trickle-down effect is if we can’t move our corn then we can’t meet our financial obligations,” Dee adds.

Despite agricultural R&D offering a high ROI — $20 in benefits for every $1 spent — the Farm Journal Foundation report notes public funding for ag research has been declining over the past two decades.

“Farmers urgently need sustained support for aflatoxin research and prevention because these risks threaten our yields, our markets and the trust consumers place in American agriculture,” Dee says.

U.S. public spending on ag research and development has been falling for two decades.

(USDA-ERS)

African Swine Fever Has ‘Devastating Potential’
Looking to the future, Tweeten says she is concerned about African swine fever (ASF) and its potential to impact crop farmers as well as hog producers. The highly contagious swine disease hasn’t been detected in the U.S. mainland, but it isn’t far away. ASF has been confirmed in the Caribbean countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, roughly 700 miles from Miami, Fla.

“Being a farmer from Iowa, where we have probably eight times the amount of pigs as we do people, an outbreak of ASF would be just devastating to our state,” Tweeten says.

Hogs are among the biggest customers for the corn and soybeans Tweeten and her family grow. If African swine fever were to shut down hog production or exports, it wouldn’t just be a blow to livestock producers – it would hurt the entire agricultural community, she contends.

Read about 5 livestock diseases that could impact U.S. food security and economic stability.

Food Security Is National Security
When it comes to justifying funding for ag research, Tweeten knows there’s competition for every federal dollar. But she believes agriculture deserves a front-row seat — not only because of its economic weight and impact on farmers, but because of its role in national security.

“There’s that argument that food security is national security,” she says. “If there’s one thing COVID made us aware of, it’s that a disruption to our food chain can be terrifying, quite frankly.”

The pandemic made consumers and policymakers more aware of supply chain vulnerability. In 2020, the shock to the supply chain came from a human disease and logistical bottlenecks.

(Sarah Williams Photography)

Next time, Tweeten says, the disruption could just as easily come from animal or plant disease — whether African swine fever in hogs, Asian soybean rust or some other pathogen in crops. She worries about scenarios where farmers could face a fast-moving disease or crop pest while critical tools are still hung up in regulatory delays.

Her message: Farmers need a full toolbox, not one that’s half-built by the time a threat arrives.

“Ag needs to be in a good position when these sorts of emerging diseases and pests come into the country,” she says, “to have the tools in our toolbox ready for farmers to pull out.”

About the Farm Journal Foundation
The Farm Journal Foundation is a farmer-centered, non-profit, nonpartisan organization established in 2010. It works to advance agricultural innovation, food and nutrition security, conservation, and rural economic development.

USDA Launches New Round of Disaster Aid: What Producers Need to Know to Sign Up

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:35:13 GMT

USDA is launching the next phase of its Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) , aimed at farmers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 . This new round — Stage 2 — was unveiled on Monday and is expected to be significantly more complex than earlier programs and will likely include a surge in enrollment from specialty crop growers.

Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce says this latest stage fills major gaps for producers who either lacked crop insurance altogether or whose losses didn’t quite trigger an indemnity payment. He also says this round of disaster aid is complex, and there are a few things producers can do in advance to make the sign-up process a little easier.

Stage 2 Designed for “Shallow Losses” and Quality Loss

Fordyce explains the scope of eligible disasters is much wider than many producers realize.

He says the qualifying events including everything from drought and wildfires to a derecho. He adds that the program is specifically geared toward losses that fell through the cracks of traditional programs.

“This supplemental disaster relief program is going to assist producers that either did not have crop insurance or their crop insurance didn’t trigger an indemnity, but it was close,” he says. “We call those shallow losses. And there’s also a quality loss component we haven’t really been able to address in previous programs.”

Fordyce says with this stage being more complex, there are two things he wants producers to know:

“I think I think number one, if you are in an area that had a weather disaster in 2023 and 2024, if you’re a producer, you think back, did I have a severe weather event, right? Hurricane, wildfire, derecho, freeze, drought, whatever, and it impacted my crop, then you’re probably eligible,” says Fordyce. “So just think back to 23 and 24. And then, contact that local FSA county office, go to the website. There’s resources on that website as well, and then just be thinking about documentation that could prove that loss. And I mean, I think depending on the crop, depending on the geography, you know, that documentation’s gonna be different.”

Specialty Crops Expected to Be a Major Share of Applicants

What crops will be covered? Fordyce emphasizes many specialty crop operations will find Stage 2 particularly valuable.

“What we think will be crops that will probably have a higher subscription rate through this program are gonna be specialty crops. So it’ll be again what you think of as conventional specialty crops, you know, grapes, so it’s trees, vines, bushes would be you know, probably more more of those crops that would be included,” he says.

He notes that Stage 1 was largely focused on crops with well-established crop insurance data streams, such as major row crops.

“This one’s going to be harder, more complicated, because the data isn’t as uniform and the crop mix is so diverse,” he says.

Producers MUST Enroll in Person, Fordyce Urges Them to Prepare Now

One of the biggest changes in Stage 2 is how growers must apply. Unlike Stage 1, USDA is not mailing pre-filled applications. Producers must go to their FSA county office and work through the application with staff.

Fordyce says with this round being more complicated, preparation is key, but USDA has created a clear and concise checklist to help .

“We’re asking folks to call the local county office to set up an appointment,” he says. “We want to use the producer’s time in the best way we can. This is not something where you just walk in and hope to get it done quickly. There are documents we need, and the more a producer gets ahead of that, the smoother the process will be.”

USDA has published a detailed checklist at FSA.usda.gov/SDRP , and Fordyce encourages producers not to wait.

“It’s a list of documents you really should start getting your hands on, and if you don’t have documentation for something, the checklist also lays out acceptable ways you can substantiate the loss,” he says. “Depending on the crop and the geography, what counts as documentation is going to be different. That’s why we want folks to look at it now, not when they’re sitting in the county office.”

He stresses early preparation will matter because demand will be high.

“This one’s more complicated than Stage 1, no question, and it’s going to take more work from producers and from our county offices,” he says.

Billions Already Distributed And Billions More to Come

SDRP Stage 2 is part of the $30 billion disaster and economic assistance package Congress authorized.

Fordyce explains: “SDRP Stage 2 is part of the $30 billion Congress appropriated back in December. The first $10 billion was the economic aid program, then $6 billion for SDRP Stage 1. When we wrap up SDRP Stage 2, we will have administered all $30 billion in disaster and economic relief.”

What Farmers Need to Know

1. You must enroll in person at your FSA county office.

No prefilled applications will be mailed.
Call ahead to schedule an appointment.
Expect longer processing due to program complexity.

2. Stage 2 covers 2023 through 2024 weather-related losses.

Includes “too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy” and other major events.
Eligibility includes shallow losses and quality losses.

3. Specialty crops likely benefit most.

Trees, vines, bushes, grapes and other specialty crops are expected to represent the majority of applicants.

4. Prepare documents in advance.

Use the SDRP checklist at FSA.usda.gov/SDRP .
Documentation varies by crop and region.

Market Loss Payments Still Being Debated, Prices at Harvest Are a Concern

Producers are still asking about potential market loss payments tied to tariff impacts and trade disruptions. While some hope an announcement will come before year-end, Fordyce cautions nothing is final.

“We’re having conversations almost daily with the Secretary’s office, the chief economist’s office, the White House,” he says. “When and if we do something, we want it to be well informed through the data we have. We want it to reflect where we are today, but also, it has to reflect where we were because many producers sold crops at harvest when prices were low. We know that.”

He stresses any decision must accurately reflect the full picture.

“There’s nothing decided yet, no imminent announcement I’m aware of, but the points producers are raising are the same ones we’re discussing internally,” Fordyce says.

Cotton Farmers and Other Struggling Commodities Are Part of the Conversation

Fordyce says USDA is closely tracking severe distress in cotton country.

“There are multiple commodities that are part of the conversation,” he says. “China is the big name because of soybean and sorghum exports, but there are other factors affecting other commodities too. When we make a decision, it’s going to be informed, it’s going to be representative of where we are, and it’s going to rely on the data we have access to.”

Borrower Limits Remain a Roadblock

As lenders warn of widespread stress, many producers want USDA to raise loan limits for beginning farmers and other borrowers. Fordyce says USDA cannot make that change without congressional action.

“Loan limits are statutory,” he explains. “We had a significant increase in 2018, but prices, land values and equipment costs have all shifted since then. We have champions in Congress who understand the inadequacies of our loan limits, and they want to increase them. We’ll see where that goes.”

USDA Leadership Knows the Stakes

Fordyce says USDA leaders understand, personally, the financial strain farmers face.

“My first operating loan was in 1983 at about 18% interest,” he says. “And I still wanted to farm. There are people up and down the hallways of USDA leadership who have farmed, who are farming or who have direct ties to a farm. There’s absolutely a 100% understanding of what’s happening both broadly and commodity by commodity, region by region.”

AgriTalk’s Chip Flory also talked to Farm CPA Paul Nieffer about the latest round of disaster aid. You can listen to that conversation as he outlines what farmers need to know.

How Pro Farmer 2025 Crop Estimates Compare and Contrast With USDA Expectations

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 20:35:41 GMT

As more than 100 crop scouts traversed dirt roads and two-lane highways, stopping dozens of times to sample corn and soybeans in seven Midwest states, they gathered insights to answer the question on many farmers’ minds this week: How would the Pro Farmer estimates compare to the numbers USDA-NASS released August 12?

The answer: Pro Farmer found a big corn crop but one that’s currently positioned to average 182.7 bu. per acre – 6.1 bu. below USDA’s 188.8 bu. projection.

“When we put the yield estimate out, it comes with a plus or minus 1% for corn and a plus or minus 2% for soybeans, and that’s because we know things can change yet,” says Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk and lead scout on the western leg of the tour.

“The other thing is the yield models that we use give us a range, and then, based on conditions, we can move within that range with the yield estimate that we’re going to pull,” he adds.

With that perspective in play, here’s how the Pro Farmer and USDA estimates compare:

Pro Farmer Corn Estimate (+-1%): 16.042 to 16.366 billion bushels; 180.9 to 184.5 bu. per acre average
USDA Corn Estimate: 16.7 billion bushels; 188.8 bu. per acre average

(ProFarmer)

Disease Pressure Across The Midwest Is Concerning
The 2025 growing season has been marred by heavy disease pressure in many of the corn and soybean crops Pro Farmer scouts evaluated this week.

It was an issue Lane Akre says showed up repeatedly in corn and soybean fields from the get-go, as tour scouts fanned out to check 2,000-plus fields across seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota.

“We know disease can speed up the maturation of plants, making it difficult to keep them healthy long enough for optimal grain fill before harvest,” says Akre, Pro Farmer Economist and lead scout on the eastern leg of the tour. “We are concerned diseases like southern rust and tar spot could negatively impact corn yields in some of these states during the next few weeks.”

Soybeans Could Be the Star of the Season
USDA’s August estimate for the national soybean yield average is just slightly above what Pro Farmer scouts found in fields this week. Pro Farmer places the soybean yield average at 53.0 bu. per acre, with a total crop size of 4.246 billion bushels

By comparison, USDA expects soybeans to average a record high 53.6 bu. per acre, with a total crop of 4.29 billion bushels.

Pro Farmer Soybean Estimate (+-2%): 4.161 to 4.330 billion bushels; 51.9 to 54.1 bu. per acre

“One of the questions heading into the tour was whether the soybean crop could live up to the lofty expectations a lot of people have for it, and we found that it does,” Akre says. “There’s a massive crop out there in fields. We’re just hoping it can hold on until harvest – and outpace the disease pressure out there – to deliver on those big yields.”

Corn and Soybean Yield Summaries
Pro Farmer and AgWeb reported extensively throughout the tour — the highs and lows of each crop in each of the seven states. Here are summaries from each state. Click on the links to learn more details.

Illinois: Scouts reported an Illinois corn crop that looked lush from the road, but once they picked ears and pulled back husks, most described finding an average to above-average crop – not the record yield estimate USDA reported on August 12.

“The Illinois corn crop just wasn’t what we’d hoped,” Akre says. “USDA is anticipating a 1.7% jump from a year ago, and we’re actually down 2.2%.”

Indiana: Wet conditions from rain, fog and heavy due is causing some unevenness in Indiana corn and soybeans. Still, the state’s corn crop posted a yield number that came in 3.35% higher than its 2024 number.

From disease pressure to too much rain, some scouts found a solid soybean crop in Indiana, while other routes exposed extreme variability. Overall pod count numbers were down 2.30% from 2024.

Iowa: Scouts spent two days in the state gathering dozens of samples to gain insights and project yield estimates. Despite challenges from disease pressure, scouts reported a big corn crop with significant potential. Their estimates put the Iowa crop up 2.93% over 2024, and up 6.4% versus the three-year average.

“This Iowa crop has a very, very strong ear count, great grain inches — just a very consistent equation putting that corn yield together,” reports Emily Flory Carolan, Pro Farmer Crop Tour data consultant.

For soybeans, scouts found a massive crop, up 5.49% in the number of pods as compared to the 2024 crop.

Minnesota: The corn crop in Minnesota is currently heading for a record yield this season, if it can outpace disease pressure. Scouts recorded the longest grain inches in the corn there that have ever been measured in the tour’s history.

“That’s definitely what pulled up that yield average for us,” Carolan says.

Soybeans also show tremendous yield potential in Minnesota. Pod counts were up 20.38% this week versus 2024 counts, and up 19.9% versus the three-year average.

Nebraska: Adequate moisture is pulling up corn yields in the state this season, with some tour routes reporting 8% to 10% increases compared to 2024 and 2023. The much-improved corn yield estimates were a welcomed change, scouts say, after seeing corn there struggle in two back-to-back years of drought.

Soybeans also are promising big yield results, with pod counts up 15.0% this week over the 2024 estimate.

Ohio: Heavy rains last spring meant many farmers either got a late start to the growing season or they had to replant fields. The moisture extremes early on have resulted in considerable variability in fields from one end of the state to the other. Still, scouts say the Ohio crop has solid corn yield potential overall, citing possible records along some Pro Farmer Crop Tour routes.

The soybean pod factory in Ohio is going strong – with numbers up 4.66% this season over 2024 – but scouts caution a lack of late-season moisture is concerning. More rain is needed for the soybean crop there to finish well.

South Dakota: Based on USDA’s August crop estimates, scouts knew the possibility was there to uncover a big crop in South Dakota. Field estimates show record yield potential is possible , especially due to ample moisture this year that’s supported growth and development.

Soybeans might be an even better story in South Dakota this year. Pod counts came in at 15.9% above last year’s tour and well above the three-year average of 970.1 pods.

For more insights from the 2025 Pro Farmer Crop Tour:

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 4 Results from Iowa and Minnesota

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 3 Results from Illinois and Iowa

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 2 Results from Indiana and Nebraska

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 1 Results from Ohio and South Dakota

Crops vs. Foliar Diseases: A High-Stakes Race Underway in Midwest Fields

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 02:17:44 GMT

Two words sum up the concerns Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts expressed about the corn and soybean crops they evaluated on Thursday in Minnesota and northeast Iowa: disease pressure.

Corn crops infected by southern rust and tar spot were a common sight in fields across both states during the fourth and final day of the tour.

“We saw disease in all of the fields we sampled today, though one of them really wasn’t too bad,” says Lane Akre, host of the eastern leg of the tour. “We saw a lot of early stages of tar spot, and we saw a lot of southern rust throughout.”

So it was no small surprise to the crowd attending Thursday night’s live broadcast when the final tally showed Pro Farmer’s corn estimate for Minnesota actually surpasses USDA’s 202-bu.-per-acre yield projection made August 12.

Pro Farmer estimates the Minnesota corn crop will average 202.86 bushels; that’s up 23.02% versus 2024 and up 13.41% versus the three-year average, according to Emily Flory Carolan, Pro Farmer Crop Tour data consultant.

“This crop is huge; it absolutely is,” Carolan says. “Minnesota is the only state on tour where we have recorded over a 200-bu. average this year. It is a record-year yield for the state.”

She adds that scouts recorded the longest grain inches in the crop that have ever been measured on the tour. “That’s definitely what pulled up that yield average for us,” she says.

Minnesota soybeans show similar yield promise, with final numbers pegged at 1247.86 pods in a 3' x 3' area. That’s up 20.38% versus last year, and up 19.9% versus the three-year average, Carolan reports.

(ProFarmer)

A Much Better Growing Season, So Far
The findings in Minnesota were a pleasant change from what scouts found in 2024, when weather seemed to jog between two extremes – drought and flooding – for much of the season.

Jaden Serbus, Pro Farmer tour scout and farmer based near Renville, Minn., says he was relieved to see Mother Nature had course corrected.

“Last year, the corn crop was only as high as my head, all yellow and stunted with very, very poor yields with all the rain,” Serbus recalls. “This year, many areas are like a garden spot.”

Minnesota District 8 & 9 (10 stops)
Nicolett, Le Sueur, Waseca, Steele, Dodge, Olmsted counties
🌱 Avg Pods in a 3X3 - 1262.80
🌽Avg Yield- 208.35#pftour25 @Feckersbrad73 pic.twitter.com/IklmOxDOTA
— McKenzie Feckers (@MFeckers) August 21, 2025

Northeast Iowa Crops Look Good, But…
As Akre and his team of scouts moved into northeast Iowa on Thursday morning, early yield estimates had Akre concerned results there could bring the state’s overall averages down.

“We saw a lot of drowned-out parts of fields, and that’s limited some of the ear size and counts as populations are down due to skips,” he says.

Despite some agronomic challenges, scouts recorded strong numbers that put the Iowa corn crop at 198.43 bu.-per-acre yield average for 2025. That’s up 2.93% versus last year, and up 6.4% versus the three-year average.

“This Iowa crop has a very, very strong ear count, great grain inches — just a very consistent equation putting that corn yield together,” Carolan reports.

Iowa soybeans are also looking to break yield records. The 2025 crop delivered a 1384.38 pod estimate average in a 3' x 3' area on Thursday; that’s up 5.49% versus last year and up 12.94% versus the three-year average.

(ProFarmer)

Linn Co. Iowa. Lots of tar spot and rust. 46 avg ear count, pretty light, but made some big ears. Yield est 208.53 but still a long way to go grain fill wise#pftour25 pic.twitter.com/efDDM6sbBG
— Lane (@iwatchcorn) August 21, 2025

“For the most part, the Iowa beans are pretty lush and the pod counts have been there, the soil moisture is up, so the potential is pretty high on beans...I think that’s been the real story the last couple of days — how many pods are out there,” Akre says.

But foliar diseases rearing up in Iowa fields have the potential to put the kibosh on record yields between now and harvest, reports Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk and lead scout on the western leg of the tour.

That concern is one reason he reminded crop tour listeners on Thursday that Pro Farmer’s current yield estimates could change before combines roll.

“When we put the corn yield estimate out, it comes with a plus or minus 1%. The soybean crop estimate comes with a plus or minus 2%, and that’s because things can change. We all know that,” Flory says.

“The other thing is the yield models that we use give us a range, and then, based on conditions, we can move within that range with the yield estimate that we’re going to pull,” he adds, noting that he wonders whether the soil moisture currently available will offset some of the discount scouts put on the crops because of the disease pressure that’s present.

At the end of the day, August 21, no one knows how the final corn and soybean yields will net out. As Flory notes, while there’s optimism about better yields coming in this harvest versus a year ago, the outcomes depend on how well the crops cross the finish line.

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 3 Results from Illinois and Iowa

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 2 Results from Indiana and Nebraska

Watch On-Demand: Pro Farmer Crop Tour Day 1 Results from Ohio and South Dakota

Gorgeous Corn Crop Masks A Tough Reality For Central Illinois Growers

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 21:03:42 GMT

For more than a decade, Jerry Gidel has done annual yield checks on corn in central Illinois – walking fields, making estimates, and evaluating how the crop is stacking up compared to those in previous years.

On Tuesday, Gidel reports field checks in seven counties that circle the community of Bloomington, Ill., indicate corn yields there are going to average 198.3 bushels per acre.

At first blush, that might sound like an OK corn crop average until you look back at the yield average he calculated for the area in 2024 – 213.7 bushels. That’s a whopping 15.4 bushels more per acre than what Gidel and scouting partner, Jack Scoville, an analyst with The Price Futures Group, found in central Illinois fields last Saturday, August 9.

Gidel and Scoville say the crop there looks big, lush and beautiful, so what gives?

“I think it had to do with high overnight temperatures, which continue to be a nemesis,” Gidel told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday.

Pollinating Corn Likes Cooler Nighttime Temps
When corn gets little to no relief at night from high daytime temps, yields tend to suffer.

“When you keep the humidity in the atmosphere, you prevent the temperature from cooling off at night. And what ends up happening is you keep those stressful night lows around. And so it’s just not ideal,” explains Eric Snodgrass, senior science fellow at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Cooler nights (in the 60s) help to slow respiration, preserving sugars for grain development and maximizing yield, reports the Agronomic Crops Network .

Above-average nighttime temperatures were common the past few weeks in the Midwest, according to news reports on AgWeb .

What Happened In Central Illinois?
In central Illinois, the pollination issue was not only heat related, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, who is based there. Nor was it a result only from the phenomenon of overly tight tassel wrap Farm Journal has reported on extensively.

Instead, Ferrie believes wet conditions at the wrong time contributed to much of the poor pollination in corn crops around the Bloomington, Ill., area.

At pollination time, many farmers saw three or four consecutive days of heavy fog and rainfall. The moisture prevented corn pollen sacks from opening on time, essentially interrupting the pollination process, Ferrie recalls.

“It caused some significant issues with our kernel set,” says Ferrie. “I’m seeing yield losses of 15- to 40-bushel hits in affected fields.”

What Corn Stand Evaluations Show
As Gidel and Scoville scouted central Illinois corn, they saw the results of poor pollination throughout the seven counties.

“When you get in there and pull husks off the ears, we found smaller ears and a lot of tip back, and that’s really what seemed to do this crop in,” Scoville says.

“That’s how you end up getting our averages for our central Illinois tour,” adds Gidel.

Flory honed in on Gidel and Scoville’s yield estimates from three Illinois counties that show how significantly they are off this season versus last year:

Ford County: 221.5 bu/a in 2024; 207.6 this year
Iroquois County: 236 bu/a in 2024; 221.9 this year
Woodford County: 257.2 bu/a in 2024; 213.6 this year

“These three are the biggest-yielding counties you guys have seen over the past couple of years,” Flory told Gidel and Scoville. “That is a fairly consistent reduction on top-end yields from a year ago, and it certainly makes me think that that the central Illinois crop is not going to be what it was a year ago.”

Gidel agrees, noting that the highest yield he and Scoville found in central Illinois this year was 222 bushels per acre. “Last year, it was 257 bushels – so 35 bushels less is a huge difference. That definitely eliminates some of your potential,” he says.

Gidel adds what he and Scofield saw in Illinois has him concerned about what the national corn yield average will total.

“It definitely doesn’t give you [the confidence] that we’re going to see the nationwide number that some people are projecting, that 185, 187 bushels versus last year’s 179.6,” he says.

Will Pro Farmer Find The Same Yield Potential As USDA?
With USDA’s bigger than expected production estimate announced Tuesday — a record high 188.8 bushels per acre for corn and 53.6 bpa for soybeans — farmers will be analyzing Pro Farmer Crop Tour reports to see if in-field observations support or contradict the agency’s estimates.

The annual Pro Farmer Crop Tour gets underway next Monday, August 18. Scouts will be sharing reports from 2,000-plus fields across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. Learn more about the event here .

Get more of the details on what Gidel and Scoville shared regarding the central Illinois corn crop with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory here:

Your next read: USDA Shocks the Market With Corn Yields

Silver Linings: Farmers Share What’s Gone Right & Wrong This Season

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 16:42:29 GMT

What you can’t hear, reading this brief article, is the laughter.

In some cases the farmers attending this year’s Farm Journal Corn & Soybean College were laughing because the stories others in the room were telling were just downright funny.

In other cases, it was the laughter of commiseration – the ‘I understand-what-you-are-going-through’ kinds of chuckles.

Either way, the camaraderie was cathartic. It lifted spirits, gave encouragement and reminded this group of farmers they were with people who understood their worries but were doing their darnedest to press on and find silver linings in a year marked by dismal markets.

Below are comments from five different farmers who shared how their growing season is going. I hope you’ll be able to relate to some of their experiences:

East-central Iowa: “We’re just sitting in a pocket that’s had ample rain. Planting went well. The corn crop looked fabulous the moment it came out of the ground, and it just hasn’t looked back. I think it’s going to be a whopper.”

Northern Illinois: “I’ve got several neighbors coming up and saying mine’s the best crop they’ve seen, but we’ve been blessed with rain. I’ve got cattle in a (feedyard) so having extra rain isn’t always the greatest thing for that, but it is what it is.”

Southwestern Ontario, Canada: “It was a cool, wet spring. Most of our corn took at least three weeks to get out of the ground. We’re just starting to tassel now here (in late July). The crop is very uneven. There was a lot of burn, a lot of urea was put on 4-foot-tall corn. We ran out of 28% and 32% UAN. People bought it in October, and it never showed up.”

Eastern Oregon/central Washington. “We pretty much irrigate everything. If you’d look at the Google Earth map, everything you see brown is dryland wheat and everything you see that’s green is irrigation. I grow primarily fresh market potatoes. The corn’s our rotation. Everything we do, onions, alfalfa, etc., is irrigated. We don’t (have) rain. We’ll turn the switch on and start pumping. It’s costly. Hearing you guys talk about two, three inches of rain, I’d love to have it, but it never comes.”

Northeast Kansas: “Everything has been like perfect (conditions) for our corn all the way through, so far. We’ll see if that carries out to yield, but right now the corn looks fabulous. 2014 was our best crop ever, and we think we’re going to be right there this year, if things continue the way they have.”

Also, check out the brief video I did with two growers during the event. I appreciated their willingness to share their thoughts on what’s gone right for them this season. They did their best to share some words of encouragement for anyone who’s watching. My sincere thanks – Pat Gannon, Colfax, Iowa, and Doug Bontekoe, Marion, Michigan – for letting me talk with you between sessions.

Your next read: Ready For What’s Next: How An Iowa Farmer Survived the ‘80s Farm Crisis and Now Invests In Others

Tight Tassel Wrap Is Affecting Pollination In Corn Across 4 States

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 22:20:00 GMT

Pollination is always a critical point in corn development, and this year is no different. One development hiccup some agronomists and farmers are finding now is what Ken Ferrie describes as an overly tight tassel wrap that is impacting pollination in specific genetics.

“It’s a situation where the tassels on some of these varieties, based on the growing conditions, were wrapped too tight. The pollen couldn’t get out of the wrap, which led to a poor start of the pollination cycle,” explains Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

The problem went unnoticed by most corn growers until this week. Ferrie says farmers have been calling him the past couple of days and nights, as they’ve checked crops for pollination and found poor results.

“There’s kind of a panic when they find out they got moderate to poor pollination on some of their best genetics out there,” Ferrie said on Tuesday during a discussion on AgriTalk with host Chip Flory.

Unfortunately, there is no management practice or product that can correct poor pollination.

“The only thing we can do now, other than adjust our marketing strategies, is to think through whether we’re going to double-spray fungicide or not on a crop that’s been dinged,” Ferrie says.

Environmental Factors At Play

Fields that showed rapid growth syndrome with scattered yellow plants in early June should be watched carefully, advises Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting research agronomist.

“We believe the conditions that resulted in the rapid growth in May and into June also played a role in this wrapped tassel issue at pollination,” he says.

“What we’re finding is silks that emerge a week before any pollen makes it down,” Duesterhaus adds. “As the silks continue to grow longer, the ones on the underneath side get shielded, resulting in patches of unpollinated kernels at the base or along one side of the ear.”

In Illinois, the affected hybrids Ferrie has evaluated were planted during a brief window of about April 14 through April 17 and then encountered some environmental stress – such as too much heat – during the onset of early, rapid growth.

“It’s some of our big-hitter hybrids that are affected,” Ferrie says, noting he has seen the problem in 200- and 300-acre fields in central Illinois where farmers likely planted a single hybrid.

However, in many cases, those same genetics planted the week after April 17 seem to have gone through the pollination process just fine.

“Also, if the farmer had a split planter, and the hybrids synced up in silking, farmers were able to mitigate some of the risk, because the one hybrid pollinated the other one for you,” he says.

(X, formerly Twitter)

Farmers In Multiple States Affected

Ferrie says he is getting reports from farmers across Illinois, plus from some in Missouri and Iowa, who are finding the issue in their fields.

“It is a wider-based problem than just in McLean County, Ill., right now,” he says.

Iowa State University Field Agronomist Meghan Anderson says she has encountered the problem on a limited basis in Iowa and from one farmer in Indiana. Most of the corn in her area, central Iowa, is currently on the back end of R1 (silking).

“My impression is the affected hybrids are still producing pollen, which will hopefully shake loose and be able to pollinate the plants,” she says. “My expectation is that it will not have a big effect on corn pollination here. I can’t say that with certainty, but that’s my expectation based on knowing how corn pollinates.”

Steps Farmers Can Take Now

Ferrie is advising growers to be proactive in checking their corn for pollination, so they can decide how they want to invest in their crop during the second half of the season.

“We’re telling guys to pick 10 ears in a row and do that randomly throughout the field. Then strip the ears down, lay them on your tailgate, and try to estimate how many kernels didn’t make it,” he says.

“For simple math, let’s say that once you get done doing your numbers that roughly 20% of the kernels didn’t make it. In that scenario, you probably gave up 15% of the yield.”

In affected fields, Ferrie says he has seen potential yield losses that he anticipates will range from 15% to 40% at harvest.

“Some of these are going to bite as far as what the yield is at the end of the season,” he says.

Grain traders and agronomists are discussing pollination stress in eastern Illinois...

Over the past 14 days, Livingston & Iroquois counties in IL, two of the largest #corn producing counties in the US, have received only 43% and 48% of nrml rainfall.#oatt #agwx #AgWeather pic.twitter.com/OG3Mfaup89
— CropProphet (@CropProphet) July 15, 2025

The important step, he encourages, is for farmers to get out and check their fields for pollination so they can plan decisions for fungicide applications and whether they need to make any marketing adjustments.

“This is a tough break for some of our guys out here, but scouting can help them decide what to do next,” he adds.

Ferrie provides additional details on this issue and how to evaluate your hybrids for pollination success in his discussion with Chip Flory on AgriTalk. This is an excellent, informative discussion you don’t want to miss. Give it a listen here:

Your next read: David Hula Shares Risk Management Strategy to Address Corn Pollination Challenges

USDA Expedites $16 Billion in Disaster Aid Payments: What Crop Farmers Need to Know

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:40:14 GMT

It’s the largest portion of the $21 billion in disaster aid approved by Congress at the end of 2024. And this week, USDA announced farmers will be able to start signing up for $16 billion in disaster aid payments starting this week through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP).

The disaster aid was approved by Congress as part of the continuing resolution in December. On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can start applying for the $16 billion in assistance starting July 10. This is in addition to the $1 billion in livestock disaster aid already announced by USDA .

USDA says in order to expedite the process, its Farm Service Agency (FSA) will deliver the assistance in two stages.

Stage One: This is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program (NAP) during 2023 and 2024. USDA says those sign-ups will start in person at local FSA offices July 10. Prefilled applications are also being mailed to producers starting today.
Stage Two: Those sign-ups that apply to eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall.

USDA says FSA is launching a streamlined, prefilled application process for eligible crop, tree and vine losses by leveraging existing NAP and Risk Management Agency indemnified loss data. The prefilled applications, which is part of stage one, is what is being mailed now.

“American farmers are no stranger to natural disasters that cause losses that leave no region or crop unscathed. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA has worked around the clock to deliver this relief directly to our farmers,” said Secretary Rollins in a statement. “We are taking swift action to ensure farmers will have the resources they need to continue to produce the safest, most reliable and most abundant food supply in the world.”

Who’s Eligible?
Under the latest program, producers who suffered losses due to natural disasters in the 2023 and/or 2024 years are eligible. The disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought and related conditions.

When it comes to drought, USDA says the producer’s county must have been rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought) or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.

What’s Next?
Once those payments are released, USDA’s final phase of the American Relief Act will be another emergency livestock relief program, but this covers flood losses producers saw in 2023 and 2024.

Appleton says that’s been the most difficult program to outline and detail, as USDA has never administered a disaster program for livestock that covered losses due to flooding.

“We’ve never had a disaster program for livestock that was triggered on flooding, so that piece of it is going to take us a little bit longer,” USDA deputy undersecretary Brooke Appleton told Farm Journal last month. “As these programs are ready to roll out, we’re focused on doing it as soon as we can, rather than holding them all and doing it all at once. We want to make sure as soon is the assistance is ready to go, we are getting it out and getting it to the folks who need it.”

USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant roll out timeline can be tracked.

Ag Commissioner Calls Deadly Flooding in Central Texas "Devastating"

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 17:58:06 GMT

Its being called one of the deadliest U.S. floods in decades.

Devastation in central Texas over the holiday weekend as heavy rain and flooding on the Guadalupe River created a 26 to 30 foot wall of water.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says while the priority in Texas is on search and rescue for the over 40 people still missing, flash flooding hit 21 counties, accounting for about 10% of the state.

He says they won’t have an accurate damage total for at least a month, but the loss to agriculture will be significant.

“If you can picture this in your mind, in less than 24 hours there was the same amount of water that goes through Niagara Falls in a month and a half. Now that’s that’s a lot of water by anybody’s standard. It came early in the morning, 3 a .m. pretty much unannounced,” he describes.

Miller says they haven’t assessed the agricultural damage yet but this is a large production area for cattle, sheep, goats and hay, but also vineyards and wineries.

“But I can tell you firsthand that we have over hundreds and hundreds of miles of fencing destroyed, barns, structures wiped out, homes wiped out, farm equipment, tractors underwater, implements washed down the river, crops underwater, crops washed out. We’re finding dead livestock, cows, and top of trees in the river bottom. So it’s the impact on agriculture is going to be pretty large,” he says.

Miller says they’re helping farmers and ranchers with supplies and opening up the STAR or State of Texas Agriculture Relief fund, plus the agriculture mental health hotline to all Texans.

He says, “I have opened up our hay and feed hotline. If anybody needs feed or hay, call that. You can find it on our website TexasAgriculture .gov. Also, if you want to donate or even donate transportation, we could use that. Number two is our emergency response hotline or agri -stress helpline. That’s probably the most important one.”

Texas AgriLife Extension, including Disaster Assessment and Recovery agents and County Extension Agents, also mobilized over the weekend to support Kerr County.

The devastation comes as Texas farmers and ranchers are still recovering from one of the largest wildfires in U.S. history just a little more than a year ago.

When Farmers Can Expect the Next Round of American Relief Act Payments

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 13:51:10 GMT

USDA is currently in the trenches of issuing the nearly $31 billion in total disaster and emergency relief aid to farmers and ranchers in four stages. That money was appropriated by Congress as part of the American Relief Act, which was passed in December of 2024. In an exclusive interview with Farm Journal on Monday, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Brooke Appleton said the next round of disaster aid payments could be coming the first full week of July.

USDA began issuing the $1 billion in emergency livestock relief program payments last week, which is the latest in a series of disaster and emergency relief. Appleton told Farm Journal that instead of holding the money and issuing it all at once, USDA decided to issue the payments in four phases, as USDA wanted to get assistance out to producers as quickly as possible.

“We had ECAP (Emergency Commodity Assistance Program) , we now have the Emergency Livestock Relief Program, we’re going to have supplemental disaster relief, and then we’re going to have another emergency livestock relief program to cover the flood losses that we saw in ‘23 and ’24,” Appleton said. “So, we’re kind of doing it in stages, it should stream out all through the summer really, and so I’m hoping that that kind of can relieve some of that financial stress.”

Appleton said USDA has issued $7.7 billion out of the appropriated $10 billion in direct payments under ECAP so far, which was the first stage of payments. Sign-ups for that program began in March. USDA initially issued 85% of a producer’s projected payment, with the remaining 15% expected after sign-ups close on Aug. 15.

Just last week, USDA announced the details surrounding $1 billion in Emergency Livestock Relief Program payments , which is the second phase of the American Relief Act. Those payments are being dispersed now, and it covers grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events that happened in 2023 and 2024. That round of the program doesn’t require producers to sign up, as USDA is using existing information. Since the program was announced on May 29, USDA says it’s dispersed more than $641 million in payments to livestock producers who suffered grazing losses during that time.

“FSA is leveraging existing livestock forage disaster program data to streamline these payments and calculations to expedite that relief. So this was unlike most of our programs, farmers and ranchers didn’t have to go into the office to sign up,” Appleton said. “We already have the information. So those emergency relief payments were automatically issued to producers who had already had their data into their FSA office. And those payments started going out in earnest last week, so May 30.”

The next round of American Relief Act disaster aid payments is the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which is the larger amount appropriated by Congress. Appleton told Farm Journal details surrounding those payments are being prepared now, and USDA expects to issue those payments next month. The amount of money that will go out during the next round isn’t known at this time, as a USDA official says the agency is still “working diligently to balance the needs with the available funding.”

“The larger supplemental disaster program that is part of that is making its way through the process right now at USDA and other government agencies,” Appleton said. “The timeline for that, we’re targeting to sign up farmers by the first full week in July, so maybe the week of July 7. That will be literally every crop production loss that has happened for ‘23 and ’24, and that’s just additional disaster assistance that was legislated by Congress.”

Once those payments are released, USDA’s final phase of the American Relief Act will be another emergency livestock relief program, but this covers flood losses producers saw in 2023 and 2024.

Appleton says that’s been the most difficult program to outline and detail, as USDA has never administered a disaster program for livestock that covered losses due to flooding.

“We’ve never had a disaster program for livestock that triggered on flooding, so that piece of it is going to take us a little bit longer,” she said. “And that’s something that’s another piece of this larger disaster package. It’s going to roll out later this summer, but as these programs are ready to go and ready to roll out, we’re focused on doing it as soon as we can, rather than holding them all and doing it all at once. We want to make sure as soon is the assistance is ready to go, we are getting it out and we’re getting it to the folks who need it.”

Congress earmarked $2 billion for livestock losses due to droughts, wildfires and floods. The first livestock disaster aid announced last week totaled $1 billion, which means another $1 billion should be dispersed through the livestock disaster payments that cover losses due to flooding.

USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked.

Record Prevent Plant Acres Cause Devastation for Southern Farmers

Fri, 30 May 2025 19:11:25 GMT

Farm Journal first reported on the somber situation in the South in April . The financial pain of growing cotton this year created a bleak outlook. At that time, National Cotton Council’s Gary Adams said, “We’ve gone beyond just losing money now that we’re to the point of losing the farm.”

Since then, the situation has grown even worse for farmers in the mid-South. It’s turned into a nightmare, with relentless rains causing devastation and preventing farmers from planting crops this year.

Wettest Spring in 133 Years

“It’s been a challenge,” says Franklin Fogleman, who farms in Marion, Ark., just across the bridge from Memphis, Tenn. “Not only have we been facing economic challenges, but we seem to have faced rain since the 1st of April that is unprecedented.”

The wettest spring in 133 years is wreaking havoc on farm fields, after what farmers thought was a strong and early start to planting.

“We got off to a very good start. The last 10 days or so of March, we had a very good run. We were in a very good position with an early start to the crop. It was dry, crops were coming up and looked good,” he says. “We received a rain around the 1st of April that wound up totaling 13" over a couple of days. We lost a substantial amount of crop at that time to flooding.”

That water stuck around for two to three weeks. They got back in the field just before Easter, before getting rained out again for a month.

“Then we received approximately 5" of rain over four days, and we’re back to having about 1,000 acres of the farm underwater that was planted and had small crops that probably won’t survive,” Fogleman says.

Farming Legacies on the Line

Fogleman’s family has been farming here since 1849. And this year, not only is it the acres he won’t be able to plant, but also the growing number of acres that need to be replanted. He’s running out of time to do both.

“We probably have 1,500 acres of rice, and I’m down to about 200 acres of beans to plant for the first time. I will probably have another 700 — maybe 800 — acres of things to replant again,” he says. “But the thing that’s tricky about that math is the roughly 1,500 acres of rice that we haven’t gotten planted, we won’t plant a crop on.”

Fogleman says once the water finally recedes on those acres — which could take days — it’s too late to plant rice. They’ve looked into planting soybeans instead, but the economics don’t support it.

“The window has basically closed on us in the last couple of days,” he says.

But the thing that’s tricky about that math is the roughly 1,500 acres of rice that we haven’t gotten planted, we won’t plant a crop on.

Franklin Fogleman, Arkansas

Farmers Face Historic Prevent Plant Acreage Numbers

That’s the reality for farmers from southern Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

“The weather has just been terrible,” says Robert Agostinelli, who farms in Coahoma and Quitman Counties in Mississippi. ”We’ve attempted to plant four or five times, and every time we got rain within 24 hours. So, out of about 2,300 acres of cotton, we got about 550 acres planted. That’s all.”

Just 24% of his crop. That’s all this Mississippi farmer got planted this year, which marks a first.

“This has never happened before. I’ve been farming for 41 years, and this has never happened. It was just unheard of,” he says.

You can hear the devastation in farmers’ voices. What’s even more gut wrenching is Agostinelli took out 60% crop insurance coverage with ECO on top, but the ECO doesn’t cover prevent plant.

“Looking back on it, if we would have thought this was a possibility, we probably would have taken out different insurance or something,” he adds.

This has never happened before. I’ve been farming for 41 years, and this has never happened. It was just unheard of.

Robert Agostinelli, Mississippi

That’s the story for farmer after farmer. Crop insurance will help, but it’s not even coming close to making them whole.

“It helps, it’s better than not having it. But the truth is it’s like putting a band-aid somewhere that you need stitches. It’s not enough, it just enough to survive, if that,” Fogleman says.

“Farmers Are Hurting... They’re Hurting Bad”

Andy Graves, a crop consultant in Clarksdale, Miss., adds, “These guys are hurting. They’re hurting bad, and this isn’t what we needed.”

Graves owns Graves Agronomy Service. Even through this rain, he’s up early walking fields and doesn’t like what he sees: flooded out fields, suffocated crops that are barely hanging on and fields overgrown with weeds.

“I don’t know what’s fixing to happen with what’s going on up here right now because it’s as close to disaster as I’ve ever seen on the cotton side, anyway,” Graves says.

We needed a home run, and we’re not going to get it.

Andy Graves, Mississippi

Graves is in the middle of cotton country. It’s a big cotton area with seven gins within 30 miles. Even before the wet weather hit, cotton was facing a mountain of challenges, the main one being price.

“It’s not good. It is more of disbelief, honestly,” Graves says. “I get up every day, and I can’t believe this has happened. We’ve had two record crop years the past two years. And most everybody has not shown a profit, so it was bleak. It was a really rough winter trying to talk to some people about what we’re going to do this year. We needed a home run and we’re not going to get it.”

Today, about 65% of the cotton in Graves’ area is planted.

“A big majority of that just went in and got 6" of rain behind it,” Graves says. “I’m hoping for the best, but it’s cold and wet right now. I’ve never seen a spring like this.”

Cotton Isn’t the Only Crop Swamped By Heavy Rains and Low Prices

It’s not just cotton that farmers are battling. Soybeans are also struggling in the ground, and the corn is wind whipped or battered by hail and sand.

“We’ve had everything. It’s a mess,” Graves says.

Even if the rain stops, the other battle for farmers in the area is the weeds that are already too tall to effectively control.

“We’re going to throw everything we can at it and do the best we can to knock it back, but losing dicamba is going to hurt in the soybean crop. A lot of my cotton up here is Enlist cotton, so I still do have the Enlist technology. We can probably clean a lot of this up with combinations of Liberty, Roundup and Enlist, but it’s going to cost a fortune to do this.”

Farmers on the Brink of Going Under

Graves has been a crop consultant for nearly 30 years. He says without any disaster aid or help, he doesn’t know if some of these Mississippi farmers will survive.

“We have some really strong farmers up here, really strong,” Graves says. “They got that way because they farm very efficient, very smart and don’t make any dumb moves. We’ve had two record yields up here with cotton, soybeans and corn the last couple of years, but they’re financial losses. Now the prices are lower this year, and we’re faced with what we got now with weather. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Devastation Hits Infrastructure and Industries Farming Supports

The devastation isn’t just impacting farms. It’s the infrastructure and industries farming supports.

“It rolls downhill,” Graves says. “I mean, if they’re out of business, I’m out of the business. We’ve got gins, airports, chemical applicators — we have a community. It’s a tough deal to be looking at right now, and it’s not just here. I’ve talked to some people in Arkansas all the way up to Missouri in the past week. It’s all over the place.”

“This is Worse Than a Drought”

Farmers know how emotionally and mentally challenging it can be to cope with a drought. But with this relentless rain this spring, farmers can’t even get their crops in the ground, and that makes it worse than dealing with drought.

“In our area of the Delta, we have irrigation. So, when it’s dry, we can cure that problem,” Fogleman says. “It can be an expensive solution, but it is a solution that’s better than nothing. When your crops are underwater, when it is too wet to get into fields to fertilize or when it’s too wet get into the fields to spray, there’s really nothing that you can do.”

Agostinelli says for cotton, it was in the red any way he looked at it this year.

“This is the kicker. The price is so low that if we farmed it, we will lose even more money. That’s how bad it is,” he says. “It’s very stressful and if there’s no assistance coming, I can just see a lot of farmers going out this year.”

Fogleman adds, “Farmers are pretty resilient and they have a lot of fight, but I have to admit, as I talk to my friends, as I talk my neighbors, these are trying times and people are feeling the impacts of it.”

This is the kicker. The price is so low that if we farmed it, we will lose even more money. That’s how bad it is. It’s very stressful and if there’s no assistance coming, I can just see a lot of farmers going out this year.

Robert Agostinelli, Mississippi

Your Next Read: Cotton Farmers Describe Somber Situation: ‘We’ve Gone Beyond Losing Money to Now Losing the Farm’

Unexpected Impact From Illinois Dust Storm Hits Corn, Soybeans

Wed, 28 May 2025 17:45:12 GMT

It was bad enough Illinois farmers affected by the May 16 dust storm saw priceless topsoil blow off their fields and into the hinterlands. Adding insult to injury, many corn and soybean growers now face not only damaged or destroyed crops but will need to reapply fertilizer and herbicide products in some scenarios, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

“If you ever tried to imagine what the Dust Bowl was like in the 1930s all you had to do was be in central Illinois that Friday afternoon,” Ferrie says. “You didn’t need your imagination to experience the Dust Bowl, you got to live it. Now, granted, it was only a few hours long. But it blew soil, it blew residue, it blew trees over, did property damage in some areas, and some of our most precious, McLean County soil was deposited in Lake Michigan.”

On Friday, May 16, 2025, an NOAA satellite captured images of a dust storm that pushed across northern Illinois, northern Indiana and the metropolitan area of Chicago. The dust storm was driven by strong winds, gusting over 60 mph at times.

(NOAA)

Not only McLean County topsoil went north to Chicago and beyond. Ferrie is concerned recent surface-applied herbicides and nitrogen were likely blown away with the soil and residue, too.

“Some of these fields that were sprayed that did not receive a rain to move it into the soil and get it activated are at risk now,” he explains. “We’ll need to keep an eye on these fields for weed escapes and the loss of nitrogen. We can make some estimates on the nitrogen losses with nitrate testing, but herbicide losses will only show up in weed escapes.”

Additional Consequences From The Storm
Ferrie, who is based just south of Bloomington, Ill., reports the dust storm generated a number of farmer requests, calls asking him to come inspect fields for crop damage. He notes that affected cornfields looked like they received a hard frost. With soybeans, some fields had plants sheared off at the ground level.

“In most cases with corn, I saw mainly cosmetic damage, and the corn will bounce back,” Ferrie says. “But in cases where the corn was covered up by dust, the crop will not come back, and it’ll need to be replanted. This occurred mainly where grass strips worked like a snow fence and the dirt piled up on the corn. In some areas buried in residue, we may need to burn that off the field before we can replant.”

Farmers who want to apply fertilizer or herbicides will benefit from holding off making any spray applications until affected crops show signs of a robust recovery, primarily in the form of new growth, he adds.

“Growth out of the whorl tells you that things are getting back on track,” Ferrie says. “We e do want to apply [herbicides] based on weed height, but this would be one time where I would put a pause on it and let this corn recover before we come back in with our post applications.”

Third Consecutive Year Of Spring Dust Storms In Illinois
Rains totaling 1” to 3” in the days following the storm, helped replenish soil moisture levels and start the recovery process in some affected corn and soybean crops.

But Ferrie points out that the dust storm marked the third year in a row such an event has swept through parts of Illinois, and the storms have cast a bad light on production agriculture in the region.

“Guys, we need to step back and take a minute to evaluate what we just witnessed,” Ferrie says. “Our soil went a quarter mile in the air, blew all the way to Chicago, closing roads and causing accidents.”

Such risks and consequences from dust storms are garnering more critical attention from the general public and scientists.

A 10-year study done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published by the American Meteorological Society in 2023, found a total of 232 deaths occurred from windblown dust events between 2007 through 2017.

“We found that dust events caused life losses comparable to events like hurricanes and wildfires in some years,” says Daniel Tong, research scientist at NOAA and an associate professor of Atmospheric Oceanic and Earth Sciences at George Mason University, in a news release. “Greater awareness could reduce crashes and possibly save lives.”

Haboobs, another term for intense dust storms, can occur anywhere in the U.S., but are most common in the Southwest , according to the National Weather Service. El Paso, Texas, has seen 10 in 2025 alone, reports Inside Climate News .

El Paso, Texas, has been hit by 10 dust storms so far this year.

(Tom Gill)

Two other recent examples of severe dust storms include:

March 3 – a crash involving 11 vehicles on Interstate 10 occurred near Albuquerque, N.M., left three people dead. Authorities there say heavy dust storms contributed to the crash by severely limiting visibility.

March 14 – Kansas Highway Patrol officials reported eight fatality victims from an Interstate 71-vehicle pileup that occurred during a dust storm.

Fortunately, no fatalities were reported as a result of the Illinois dust storm that occurred May 16.

Calls For Action To Reduce Dust Storm Numbers
A number of individuals and organizations in Illinois are calling for agronomic practices that will prevent or limit such events in the future. One of those is Robert Hirschfeld, Director of Water Policy at Prairie Rivers Network, an independent, state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation

“These are man-made ecological disasters, driven by a form of agriculture that exploits and depletes the land, leaving millions of acres of soil exposed and eroding for half the year,” Hirschfeld said in a statement distributed three days after the Illinois storm. “We can’t keep farming this way.”

Hirschfeld wants the issue to be addressed formally via legislative action: “If we want real change, we have to move beyond voluntary conservation and start requiring practices that keep soil in place and pollution out of our water.”

Steps Farmers Can Take
While no one can control the weather, farmers can adjust their management practices to reduce the risk of dust storms, according to Illinois Extension. A logical first step is to reduce the number of tillage passes, especially in fields adjacent to busy highways, to begin moving toward conservation tillage.

Additionally, increased soil productivity can be achieved through reduced erosion, enhanced water infiltration, and decreased water evaporation during dry periods, according to the USDA Managing Crop Residues in Corn and Soybeans research report.

Ferrie says many of the farmers he works with are “great stewards of their land and are able to keep their soils in place.”

He advocates using a systems approach in production agriculture that will protect vulnerable soils and other resources (see A System for Every Soil) .

“There are many tools in the toolbox we can use to accomplish this,” he says. “We can work together to implement practices that will eliminate [dust storms] from happening in the future.”

Check out Ferrie’s latest Boots In The Field podcast to hear his specific recommendations and additional insights.

Use Corn Stand Counts To Ease The Stress In Making Replant Decisions

Mon, 19 May 2025 21:48:54 GMT

Moisture availability this week is a tale of two extremes across the Corn Belt. Farmers are reporting they either have too little, or they have way too much.

Kenneth Hartman Jr. is in the latter camp on his southern Illinois farm.

“It’s one of the worst springs I’ve seen in a long time, when it comes to water,” says Hartman, who’s based 25 miles south of St. Louis.

In April, Hartman’s area received record rainfall amounts that saturated the ground. “It’s still so wet there’s water coming up out of the ground in spots,” he says.

While Hartman is usually done with corn planting by now, he estimates he had only 30% of the 2025 crop in the ground as of Thursday.

“We’ve also got a few hundred acres of soybeans planted, but it’s just been challenging,” he told Chip Flory on AgriTalk.

A Belt Of Wet Soil Goes Across The Midwest
Hartman, president of the National Corn Growers Association, heard from a wide swath of farmers this week on what’s playing out in their fields across the country.

“I think if you look at Interstate 70 all the way across, you see this [excess moisture] goes across a big area,” Hartman says. “I know some folks in Indiana are having a lot of issues. Ohio is having a lot of issues. I know some folks in Missouri that’ve hardly started planting any corn. So, it’s pretty challenging in parts of the United States.”

Following Hartman’s line of thought, a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows that moisture levels for the most part appear adequate along the I-70 corridor, which runs east to west, until you reach Kansas. Sections of central, western and southwest Kansas are dry. Then, from central Colorado and into Utah, drought conditions appear to prevail.

A look at the route I-70 takes across the country can give you an idea of where farmers are getting rain, until it reaches central Kansas. From there and to the west, soil conditions turn dry.

(Google Maps)

The U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday reports 22% of the corn production area is in some level of drought, while 17% of the total soybean production is experiencing some level of drought.

Parts of the upper Midwest and the Southeast have had excess moisture in recent weeks. One Indiana farmer told Farm Journal recently, “this is the wettest drought I’ve ever seen.”

(U.S. Drought Monitor)

Some Farmers Are Restarting Their Corn Planters
Shell Rock, Iowa, farmer Jeff Reints says 98% of the corn crop in his part of northeast Iowa is planted, and he anticipates only a small percentage needs to be replanted.

“About 85% of our corn acres here are just perfect. Another 10% may not be the best but is still a keeper. And 5% of my customers are having to tear it up and replant,” says Reints who sells seed for Wyffels Hybrids, in addition to farming.

Tim Burrack says he is having to replant some corn acres, and adds that what is already emerged is causing him concerns.

“It’s highly uneven, very uneven. It just sat in the ground too long, and it was too wet,” says Burrack, who’s based in northeast Iowa, near Arlington.

Keep A Level Head To Make Replant Decisions
Whether to replant can be an emotionally charged decision this season, given the low commodity prices. Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and co-owner of B&M Crop Consulting in south-central Michigan, is telling her customers to lean on the numbers to guide decisions.

“You need to know how good your corn stands are, because all the decisions we make the rest of the season are based on those numbers and how uniform the crop is,” she says. “Say you have 33,000 plants out there, how uniform are they? The uniformity can help us decide where to invest available dollars on inputs moving forward.”

In the process of doing stand counts, Bauer says to also take into consideration hybrid type.

“If it’s a real fixed ear that needs a lot of population, then maybe your trigger to replant is going to be a little bit higher of a number where you’ve got to have more final stand out there than if it was a hybrid that flexes a lot and can really add ear length under less population,” she explains. “With this second one, maybe I can let the numbers go down a little before I’d pull that replant decision in the corn.”

Be Proactive In Scouting Fields
At this point in the season, the important thing is to be proactive in evaluating stands, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill. Ferrie recommends using a drone to fly over fields, which could speed up the scouting process.

“With corn, take the entire stand out and then replace it,” he advises. “Do not attempt to thicken up old corn stands.”

“If you can’t bring yourself to tear it out, your stand is good enough,” he adds. “Don’t let the coffee shop tell you how to handle your replant decisions. This is not a decision where the majority rules. Each field needs to be called on its own.”

Ferrie offers a replant calculator online to help Illinois farmers make replant decisions. You can access Ferrie’s online calculator here .

Bauer adds that most university Extension agronomists also provide corn and soybean replant charts online.

Next Steps To Consider If You Keep The Crop
Ferrie says to be aware that fields pounded by rains will likely benefit from being hoed to help the crop with emergence.

“If you don’t have a hoe, use your planter,” Ferrie advises. “Set it the same way that we do when we use our planters to row fresh. Use the most shallow depth setting you can to get pressure off your closing wheels. Use your row cleaners with downforce to break that crust,” he adds.

Michelle Rook and Tyne Morgan contributed interviews for this article.

Your next read: Big, Beautiful Bill: What’s in it for Agriculture?

Rollins Says USDA Will Announce Application Process for $21 Billion in Disaster Aid Within Days

Wed, 07 May 2025 21:41:51 GMT

In her first hearing on Capitol Hill since the confirmation process earlier this year, Secretary Brooke Rollins faced the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, fielding questions on everything from USDA’s bold budget cuts and frozen funding to the fate of the nearly $21 billion in disaster aid.

Rollins fiercely defended the cuts, continuing to argue that it is a way to make USDA more effective and more efficient. She also told the committee that farmers will be able to sign up for the disaster aid by the end of May.

Congress approved the disaster aid on Dec. 21, 2024. While the $10 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) was passed the same day, it was separate and came with a clear deadline on when USDA had to disperse those funds. In the hearing this week, Rollins admitted the disaster aid program has been more complicated to roll out.

“That one’s a little more complicated than the ECAP, the disaster or the emergency relief payments, but we’re really close and within a matter of days or weeks, certainly by the end of this month, that money will begin moving,” Rollins said on Tuesday.

The nearly $21 billion in disaster aid targets agricultural losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, which includes:

Droughts
Hurricanes
Floods
Wildfires
And other extreme weather events.

Of those funds, $2 billion is earmarked for livestock losses attributed to droughts wildfires and floods. There is also an allocation of $220 million that will be distributed through block grants to smaller agricultural states with limited farm income and acreage.

“We are within days of announcing the application process,” Rollins said. “Of course, that’s a little more complicated because we don’t have the specifics, and it isn’t, as [Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.] mentioned, in North Dakota, 15,794 of your farmers and ranchers have received money through that first tranche, through the first $10 billion, the emergency aid. On the weather-related programs, that application opens in the next week or two. And we will be moving very, very quickly.”

.@SecRollins testifies before Congress: "When farmers prosper, rural America prospers." pic.twitter.com/rXwV12JPDD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 6, 2025

According to Pro Farmer, the disaster aid is intended to cover losses in revenue, production quality, and infrastructure for crops, livestock and timber. And most of the aid is expected to be administered through USDA’s Emergency Relief Program (ERP), which has been used for similar disaster relief in previous years. However, USDA has indicated the new program will be more farmer-friendly than the Biden administration’s implementation of the last ag disaster funds.

Rollins says the rollout of the disaster aid funds is “a long time coming,” bacause it is related to disasters that happened as long as two years ago.

“And so ensuring that we get that out as quickly as we possibly can with the team that we have in place,” Rollins said. “I’m really proud of, I believe, how efficiently and how quickly the team moved out that first tranche. And I believe that you’ll see the same sort of efficiency and effectiveness with the second tranche, so it’s within the coming weeks.”

Rollins Fiercely Defends Cuts at USDA

Also in the hearing, Rollins defended recent budget and DOGE cuts, saying her team is eliminating what she called wasteful DEI spending, fraud and abuse in all USDA programs. She argued the plan is to rebuild USDA to put farmers first.

Rollins also discussed some frozen funds at the agency and when a review of them will be completed.

“We are working around the clock, going line by line, we’re down to the final 5 billion out of, I believe, almost 20 billion of frozen funds, but $5 billion is a lot of money,” Rollins said. “And when you think about that in terms of grant or contract and moving that out quickly, we’re very helpful to keep moving through that very, very quickly and have that done very soon.”

Rollins was also asked about the 15,000 USDA employees who have taken buyout offers from the federal government . Reports show that accounts for nearly USDA’s total workforece, and impacts farmer-facing agencies such as Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency.

“The 15,000 number, it is less than 15% of our total workforce,” Rollins said. “I realize that’s still a very, very big number. But I think it’s important to realize in the context that every year USDA, through attrition loses between 8,000 and 10,000 employees. So, it’s a massive government agency, but they’re refilled. Well, and that’s what we are looking to refill. The front liners, that’s I was talking about right now. So whether it’s FSA, APHIS, the Wildland Firefighters, those are through a memorandum I just signed, we are actively looking and recruiting to fill those positions that are integral to the efforts and the key front line.”

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., followed up and asked, “So, you let people go, and you’re looking for new people to fill the positions that they had experienced in?”

“We’re having those discussions right now,” Rollins said. “We are working with all of you around the country, in your states. We believe our firefighters are operationally ready for wildfire season. Our FSA offices, we are making things more efficient, but bringing on new people that could potentially be a game changer in those offices.”

The workforce reduction is part of the federal government’s current Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), which is the voluntary program that allows eligible federal employees to resign in advance while continuing to receive pay and benefits until Sept. 30.

Rollins then clarified and explained the 15,000 USDA employees who accepted the buyouts, weren’t employees who were fired, they were resignations.

“None of those people were fired,” she added. “So, if they want to come back, and if they were in a key position, then we would love to have that conversation.”

Rollins said the latest round of DRPs, which happened in April, USDA didn’t accept some of the resignations, specifically if those employees were in what Rollins called “key positions,” which includes APHIS, FSA, etc.

“We are very intentionally approaching this,” she said. “Have we done it perfectly? No. Any type of whole scale change, and big effort to basically realign an entire government agency is difficult. And we know that, and we know it hasn’t been perfect, but we’re working every day to solve for a lot of this, and I think we’re making a lot of really good progress.”

USDA Spends $400 Million a Day on Food Assistance Programs

The other hot button topic during the hearing was food assistance. The secretary pointed out USDA spends more than $400 million a day on food assistance programs and said ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t mean defunding food assistance.

You can listen to her pointed comments in the video below.

USDA alone spends $400+ MILLION each day on food assistance programs.

Ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t defund food assistance. It ensures we’re good stewards of taxpayer dollars. pic.twitter.com/3lT7Fu6or9
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 6, 2025

Is The Planting Light Red, Green Or Yellow?

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:37:18 GMT

When the race to plant crops gets underway in your area this spring, take care to not stumble at the starting gate, advises Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

One way to start strong is to evaluate weather and soil conditions to determine whether they’re signaling you have a red, green or yellow light for field work and planting.

“We don’t let the calendar, the coffee shop or neighbors dictate when we go to the field,” Ferrie says. “We do our own investigating and check all soil types, especially those in the lower topography parts of the field.”

Here are four considerations as you prepare for #planting2025:

1. Do The Ribbon Test
Jumping the gun with spring tillage and planting is costly. Ferrie points out that 80% of the compaction service calls he goes on each year can trace their roots back to the first pass the farmer made in the spring.

“Compaction put in by a field cultivator is a bad gift that keeps on giving all year long. You can’t take this gift back and get a redo,” he says.

Before you take off with spring tillage or plant, he advises checking conditions just under your tillage depth. It’s a practice that he calls making a soil ribbon.

Here are three simple steps to make a Soil Ribbon:

a. If you usually run a tillage tool 4” deep, take a shovel and dig down under that to about 5” deep.

b. Collect some soil in your hand and attempt to ball it up. If the soil is wet, it will readily ball up.

c. Once you get the soil balled up, squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger to see if you can make a ribbon about 1½” long.

“If you can make a ribbon, your tillage will not only put in a density change, but it will also put in a compaction layer. That’s a red light,” Ferrie says. “If you decide to move forward with tillage and planting, you probably will need to adjust your yield expectations later in the season as well as your marketing plan.”

Ferrie adds he has known growers who spent a lot of money and time the previous fall with deep tillage that got wiped out by one bad tillage pass the following spring. Don’t be that farmer this season.

2. Know the germ quality of your soybean and corn seed.

That can help you determine planting order or whether you need to check in with your seed supplier about making a product switch, notes Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, based in south-central Michigan, near Coldwater.

Bauer says farmers are finding soybean seed is a mixed bag quality-wise this season, because of dry weather conditions that hammered much of the Midwest in 2024.

“Some of the seed that was harvested for soybeans last fall was under pretty dry conditions, 8%, 9% moisture, things like that,” she reports. “So, the seed quality this year has just been real up and down. We’ve had beans that are just awesome seed quality. And then we get another batch that comes in that’s got issues.”

For growers who might not have tested their soybean seed, she would say see what the cold germ scores are, because of the variation in quality.

“If you’re going to plant early, you want to know it can handle germinating in cold conditions, so we really encourage guys get seed tested,” she says.

With seed corn, if you have seed that tests on the lower end of saturated cold score ranges, Ferrie says to plant that seed once conditions will enable the crop to emerge in five to six days.

“You guys putting starter in-furrow, keep in mind that severe pericarp damage scores tend to lead to more starter burn issues,” he adds. “When it comes to corn stands, many issues are solved when we plant corn based on soil conditions and not the calendar. This could be your highest-yielding corn crop of your career. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot before we start.”

Here are some additional thoughts on how to Test Your Seed Before Planting To Avoid Quality Issues

3. Avoid Corn Seed Chilling

To avoid seed chilling, Ferrie advises farmers to plant corn only under two conditions. First, check to see that the soil temperature is 50 degrees F or higher, and second, you want a promising weather forecast in the days following planting.

“One of the challenges of planting in soils that are 45° or lower is seed chilling,” Ferrie says. “When the corn seed imbibes moisture, the temperature of the water it takes in has an effect on the seed itself. Water under 50° means that when swelling takes place the cells aren’t as elastic and they tear, which can cause disoriented mesocotyl, no sprouting, etc. It might not kill the plant completely but effects could show up in ear count.”

Corn requires approximately 120 accumulated growing degree days (GDDs) to emerge, under ideal conditions. To calculate GDDs, you can use this equation: GDD = (Daily Maximum Air Temperature + Daily Minimum Temperature)/2 – 50.

He says the first 48 hours after planting corn are most critical. Seed that is subject to cold during that period of time is most vulnerable to chilling. When that occurs, the metabolic reactions necessary for emergence don’t take place in a timely manner.

“Cold seed corn is unable to swell in the ground with the same elasticity as it’s able to achieve with soil temperatures at 50° F or warmer,” Ferrie explains.

When corn emergence isn’t timely, yield potential is docked and you won’t get it back.

“Chilling can eliminate between 10% and 20% of your yield potential,” says Ferrie “You’ll never see that loss driving down the road, but you will if you stretch a tape measure for ear counts.”

4. Plant Soybeans Ahead Of Corn
If your weather conditions and soil temperatures turn unfavorable for corn, consider whether you can plant soybeans.
If the ground is fit, Ferrie would give farmers a green light to plant their full-season soybeans. Ferrie says Group 4s, mid-Group 3 and late-Group 3 soybeans need about 950 growing degree days (GDDs) pre-solstice. Early to mid-Group 3 soybeans need about 810 GDDs.

“We try to get those fuller season beans planted here by April 18,” he says. “With those earlier Group 3s and later Group 2s, maybe shoot for the planting timeframe of April 25 to May 4.”

For more insights on picking the right maturity for your soybean planting window, Ferrie recommends checking out the information from Crop-Tech Consulting Agronomist Matt Duesterhaus. You can find his recommendations here .

Your next read: 300-Bu. Corn Has a Big Appetite for N, P and K

60% Drought Risk? The Latest Forecast For The 2025 Growing Season

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:57:27 GMT

Spring has officially sprung and that means heavy rains are on the way, specifically from eastern Texas into Ohio this week. Any fieldwork and planting will come to a halt, and Nutrien’s principal atmospheric scientist Eric Snodgrass warns of significant flooding risk.

“We’ve got a swath of the country that could pick up anywhere between 5” to upward of 12” of rainfall,” he told “AgriTalk” host Chip Flory on Tuesday. “In the Ohio River and in the lower Mississippi River, there’s going to be a major flood trend.”

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says there’s a chance for even higher totals in some areas.

“There are some indications we could see totals up in the 18" range likely across Arkansas on into parts of northwestern or northern Kentucky before this is all said and done,” Rippey told AgDay’s Michelle Rook.

Meteorologists have been warning of drought conditions for months now, so this type of weather system should have a positive impact, right? Wrong – Snodgrass explains this is the wrong time, wrong place.

“This is not a place where we’re missing out on moisture. This is the place we saw flood back in early March and even in parts of February,” he says.

The good news is snow is in the forecast for some areas in need of moisture, such as parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota. But unfortunately, it likely won’t be enough.

“The central United States is at about a 60% drought risk. Some of the best weather forecast models we have out there are trying to put the epicenter of that drought somewhere between Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and southern Minnesota by the time we get into July and August,” Snodgrass says. “When you think about those particular states, developing drought from spring to summer in any year is somewhere in the neighborhood of 28% to 38%. Essentially, the risk is doubled this year.”

Snodgrass explains the canary in the coalmine for a drought will come from a combination of the Gulf of Alaska ocean temperatures and the Bermuda high, which is an area of high pressure that can influence weather patterns and tropical systems. If the Gulf of Alaska ocean temperatures begin dropping this summer, it’s a bad sign.

“If in June we start to watch the Gulf of Alaska ocean temperatures drop, that’s actually symptomatic of the atmosphere losing momentum. And if it loses momentum, there’s nothing to keep the Bermuda high over Bermuda,” he says.

What It Means For Planting
With flooding in the East and drought in the West, Snodgrass plans to use the Mississippi River as his main moisture boundary this year.

“If you’re east of it, I think spring is super tight. If you’re west of it, we have got to return moisture to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska in order to beat back any sort of risk of drought going forward,” he says. “I really just think it’s West versus East this year on who’s got the favorable conditions early versus the risk in the middle of the season.

Taking a closer look at that outlook for a wet spring in the East, Snodgrass specifically says the month of April is shaping up to be one week on and then one week off.

“Right now, we’re week on with heavy rains. Next week, we get cooler and drier. Week three in April goes right back into an active pattern,” he explains. “What I want to know is if week four of April brings in cold conditions right after Easter. If that occurs, we just threw the brakes on any early planting hopes. Right now though, it appears that most of spring would favor tighter windows in the East.”

Despite the current outlook, a challenging spring and dry summer doesn’t mean game over.

“Any sort of problem we thought we saw will be gone in a heartbeat with good July rainfall. We are not settled. There’s a lot to understand and change with this pattern,” Snodgrass says. “Let’s say we do have drought, but you don’t have the heat stress. We can make a huge crop in drought conditions, so don’t forget that.”

Your Next Read: Planter Calibration Sets Up Your Season For High Corn Yields

A Warming Trend Is On The Way For Early March

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:56:41 GMT

If early March weather rolls out the way some ag industry experts are predicting, farmers might be tempted to break out their shorts and sunscreen.

“It’s going to be warm, very warm for most of March,” Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Services said on the latest Moving Iron podcast, with Host Casey Seymore.

Above average temperatures for much of the U.S. are in the forecast for March 2-6, 2025.

(NOAA)

What’s at play currently, Hackett said, is a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event that could take temperatures a notch higher than usual during the next few weeks.

Hackett said the polar stratosphere is in the middle stages of developing what he called “one of the top five strongest sudden stratospheric warming events” he’s ever seen going into early March.

“The stratosphere, which normally is super cold, gets displaced and you get this extreme warming above the North Pole. When that happens, then the entire stratosphere gets unstable and starts to lose its cohesiveness,” explained Hackett, whose interest in the weather is fueled by what it can mean to grain markets.

His hope, in fact, is that the weather in early March could be a positive catalyst for grain markets. “It could offer a tremendous cash selling opportunity not only for the old crop but maybe even for the new crop that’s coming along,” Hackett said.

Maybe A Short-Lived Weather Pattern?
But don’t expect higher temperatures to persist beyond the next few weeks. There will likely be colder conditions coming in right behind them by late March to early April, according to Ag Meteorologist Drew Lerner, founder and owner of World Weather, Inc.

Lerner told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory earlier this week he believes two things will come out of the current weather pattern and then go through spring.

First, Lerner believes the moisture availability in the upper Midwest and parts of the western Corn Belt will continue to be lighter than normal, which will encourage farmers to plant.

Second, he believes the risk of late-season frost and freeze across corn and soybean country will be much higher in 2025 than it has been in recent past years.

“We may see a period like right now, where we warm up nicely, and crops will take advantage of that and really get going aggressively. Then, we could turn around and bring a cold wave in and knock those crops down,” Lerner told Flory. “That’s one of my biggest concerns for spring, besides the dryness we already mentioned in the western Corn Belt.

Conditions in the West, Southwest and portions of the Midwest are going to continue to be dry, as March gets underway.

(Eric Snodgrass, U.S. Meterologist)

“I do think, though, with that aside, we will see aggressive planting this spring in the western and central parts of the Midwest, because I don’t think we’re going to have so much moisture around that we can’t be that way,” Lerner added.

Beware Of Frost And Freeze
Hackett’s prediction for April weather coincides with Lerner’s concerns. Going back to his prediction for a sudden stratospheric warming in early March, Hackett said that what often follows an SSW about 45 days later is a cooling off trend.

“You have the potential for some very cold, wintry type of weather that can easily bring in a hard freeze. That should create a considerable amount of unfavorable planting season, either delayed planting or planting that gets done and gets frozen over and replanting winter wheat that gets frost as it comes out of dormancy,” Hackett said.

Ken Ferrie recalls farmers in western Illinois were planting early soybeans by March 21 in 2024. He encouraged farmers who want to plant early to exercise some caution.

“An important consideration is whether you have crop insurance,” said Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

For farmers in the Eastern Corn Belt, Lerner said he doesn’t believe they will be able to plant as quickly as their western brethren because of excess moisture the region has received through the Ohio Valley and is likely to continue to get this spring.

Expect Temperatures To ‘Bounce Around’
As for temperatures, Lerner believes they will average close to normal but will bounce around this spring. “So we’ll be warm, and then we’ll get cold, and we’ll go back into warm again,” he said.

Flory asked Lerner whether he would put some odds on the potential for drought conditions this summer.

“I’d say that we probably have a 25% to 30% chance that we could have a more serious dryness problem in the West. But I am being conservative with that, possibly. I really want to see what happens over these next three to four weeks,” Lerner said.

“There’s no meteorologist out there that I know of that’s ever predicted a bad drought in the summer this far in advance, and I’m not going to be the first one,” Lerner added. “I’ll leave that up for somebody else.”

You can hear Lerner’s conversation with Chip Flory here:

'Stay Tuned, We'll Be Right Back With Your Forecast'

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 22:24:20 GMT

What if you could know the timing of significant weather events for your area during the next six months with 91% accuracy?

Now you can, according to Gary Lezak, a former meteorologist with KSHB-TV in Kansas City turned weather entrepreneur.

Lezak’s business, Weather 20/20, provides weather-based data analytics on a global basis to its customers, who range from farmers to retailers to general consumers.

Eighty Years In The Making
Lezak learned in the mid-1980s that a weather cycle exists, an insight he attributes to Jerome Namais, who first addressed the concept in the 1940s. Namais, a renowned American meteorologist, was Chief of the United States Weather Bureau’s Extended Forecast Section in Washington, D.C. from 1941 to 1971.

“What it’s all about is the weather pattern above us – the river of air that goes across North America through the westerly belt, across to Europe, Asia, and then back around across the Pacific. That jet stream flow, that river of air above us, has an order to it,” Lezak told Andrew McCrea, host of the Farming The Countryside podcast, during a recent conversation.

For the next 20 years Lezak continued to study the weather cycling concept, refining what he learned as he went along.

By the early 2000s, Lezak was blogging about what he had learned, eventually calling the concept he developed the Lezak Recurring Cycle (LRC). He founded Weather 20/20 in 2008.

“The LRC is all about the cycle,” Lezak says. “After many years of practicing it, 20 to 30 years of using it, we are able to predict when and where and a little bit of the what,” with regard to weather, he told McCrea.

The core tenet of the LRC is that a unique weather pattern establishes itself every year. It starts to set up in early October, with develpment continuing through early January. By then, Lezak says the pattern can be identified and predictions of every day’s weather around the world can be produced.

Based on the LRC, Lezak says he can predict with a 91% accuracy level when and where there will be major weather events – from snowstorms to hurricanes to droughts – for the next seven to eight months in the U.S.

“That (timing) is the sweet spot of the LRC and fits agriculture perfectly,” Lezak says.

He adds that Mother Nature still creates weather disruptions he can’t predict 9% of the time, based on influences such as El Nino, La Nina and the Arctic Oscillation.

Lezak’s take on the accuracy of weather forecasts differs from what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports, though an apples-to-apples comparison is not available.

The NOAA says a seven-day forecast can accurately predict the weather about 80 percent of the time and a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather approximately 90 percent of the time. However, a 10-day—or longer—forecast is only right about half the time.

Agriculture Takes Notice
As Lezak was honing the development of the LRC in the early 2000s, fellow meteorologist, Dean Wysocki, then based in Nebraska, learned of it and reached out to Lezak for more details.

Wysocki started using the information he learned during his broadcasts, noting that Nebraska farmers were hungry for more accurate weather insights and predictions.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s a game changer. That’s the easiest way to put it,” says Wysocki, who joined Lezak on the podcast.

Wysocki, now based in Fargo, N.D., got LRC certified and began telling farmers in the Dakotas and Minnesota about its benefits.

“It’s a major piece of long-term weather forecasting, and the accuracy on it has just been amazing,” Wysocki says. “We’ve signed up between about 50 to 100 in our ag community and we’ve got nothing but positive feedback. Is it 100% correct? No, nothing is, but it’s a great tool to have on your tool belt.”

The Weather Outlook Ahead
During the conversation with McCrea, Lezak and Wysocki shared some of their weather predictions for late winter and early spring 2025, based on information the LRC has provided. Here are three of their predictions:

1. Lezak says a La Nina, which is the cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean, has a grip currently on parts of the western and upper Corn Belt areas, but he expects that to ease up.

“That grip that it has tends to shift precipitation patterns to the eastern Corn Belt. That’s not good for Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota,” Lezak says. “It shifts precipitation patterns to the East, but that grip we think is going to be let loose by March.”

2. Wysocki says he foresees a wetter spring, in March and April, for most of the Dakotas.

“We’ll get our moisture that we need in March and more than likely into the first part of April, and that should be good for planting season,” he says. “I’m still concerned about the western Dakotas into areas of Montana and Wyoming, worried that they’ll remain dry.”

3. With regard to drought, Lezak encourages farmers to keep an eye on the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, as he says droughts are constantly either shrinking or expanding.

“It appears that over the last year or so that areas of drought, as we look at the entire nation, have begun to decrease,” he says. “This one has been shrinking for weeks, and that is a good sign. The likelihood of that trend continuing is high.”

Wysocki and Lezak offered additional weather insights during their conversation with McCrea. You can hear more of those specifics on the podcast, available here:

Your next read: With More Arctic Air Set to Blast the U.S., Why This Winter Could Be Remembered for Its Extremes

Drone Rescue as Farmers Find Helene Victims and Deliver Supplies

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 20:52:53 GMT

In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on the western regions of North Carolina, an unexpected group of heroes emerged. American farmers were among the first to respond, arriving on scene with drones in tow.

Seventy miles east of Asheville, in Hickory, N.C., Russell Hedrick and his father cleared fallen trees on their operation, working to open roads and access their rows. Compelled to do more beyond their land, they repurposed their agricultural drones for disaster relief.

By Sept. 30, their team had mobilized. Hedrick loaded his drone trailer with pallets of water and food, heading towards Asheville to assist stranded individuals. His efforts quickly expanded to cover both the Asheville and Marion areas, with a supply drop-off point established in Marion.

Technology Meets Compassion

Using a DJI T40 drone, Hedrick delivered a chain of drone relief. Additionally, he flew a DJI Mavic 3M drone at night, using thermal imagery to pinpoint survivors for emergency services.

“These weren’t just any farmers,” says Cody Jarvis. “They came from North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Wisconsin, stepping away from their crops to offer their assistance and equipment free of charge.

(Photo by Soil Regen)

The use of drone technology was a game-changer. As Cody Jarvis, a friend of Hedrick who joined the relief efforts, describes, “I got to experience a whole new level of helping others with the innovative technology of drones. Drones flown by some of America’s best farmers.”

“These weren’t just any farmers,” Jarvis continues. “They came from North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Wisconsin, stepping away from their crops to offer their assistance and equipment free of charge. Using thermal imaging, they located stranded individuals, delivered supplies to inaccessible areas, and helped family members reconnect with their loved ones.”

Relief

The relief efforts caught the attention of the wider community. Soil Regen partnered with Green America and the Soil Climate Initiative to create a fund: DRONES TO THE RESCUE - HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF . Within days, $13,000 was raised, with all proceeds going towards purchasing supplies for hurricane victims.

Support was widespread. Three hundred miles west in Tennessee, Bryan Petersen of Whitaker farms loaded 4 pallets of water and bought $1000 worth of beef jerky to contribute to the effort. Jeremy Slack from Ohio connected with his church community to coordinate the donation and delivery of 4 semi-loads of water and blankets to Hedrick’s barn for distribution.

As the days progressed, the team’s efforts intensified. They pushed further west, encountering mud slides and destroyed houses. The damage, as Hedrick describes, was “pretty sobering.”

Despite the challenges, the team’s spirit was strong. Hedrick shares a lighthearted moment: “My bright spot was at a farm where the lady came to the other side of the river and asked if the drones had cameras because she remembered to put her teeth in and bra on. We laughed pretty good at that one.”

Critical Needs

As of Oct. 3, the team had transitioned from McDowell to Fairview in Buncombe County, pushing into more desolate areas. They put out a call for side-by-sides to help navigate the difficult terrain. Bottled water, canned food, baby formula, and diapers were among the most needed items.

For more information, see the following from Soil Regen : “We have created a tax deductible donation link for those who wish to contribute to the effort. 100% of proceeds will be used to purchase supplies, such as fuel, water and food, for the victims. To donate, click here .”

Will the U.S. Corn Crop Bake In the July Heat? What You Need to Know About the July Forecast

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:29:13 GMT

The possibility of a hot summer has been advertised for months. As meteorologists watched the transition from El Niño to La Niña, the thought it would be a hot summer, but also dry in the southern tier of the U.S., dominated conversations.

Now that July is here, and the market is focused on the forecast, it’s been an extremely wet start for the heart of the Midwest, with flooding issues along both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. In fact, 18 gauges along the Upper Mississippi River are at major flood stage, and the Missouri River continues to swell with more heavy rainfall this week.

With eyes on the forecast for July, one ag meteorologist says it looks fairly favorable for much of the Midwest.

“I think we’ll make it through without really critical heat, that’s the way it looks to me, with a lot of heat staying west, south and east of the heart of the Corn Belt,” says Brad Rippey, USDA meteorologist. “One wild card will be the Atlantic Tropic basin — incredibly active already so early this season. That could infuse some moisture into the southern and eastern United States, possibly even the Midwest, as we move forward. As we know from past years, even dry year soybeans can benefit from late rain. So that’s something we’ll be keeping an eye on.”

Rain Chances in July

National Weather Service (NWS) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) recently released its 30-day precipitation and temperature outlook . NOAA is forecasting below normal precipitation in the Pacific Northwest and down really through the central and southern Plains, above normal in the upper Corn Belt and along the eastern seaboard.

Rippey says he agrees with NOAA’s 30-day outlook, especially considering the ridge parked across the country that will create more chances for rain.

“We’ve got this ridge that’s pretty well established. It’s going to move from day to day, but that is going to allow some Gulf and Atlantic moisture to work its way into these cold fronts. There’s also going to be a component where the ridge is strong enough that it doesn’t allow the cold fronts and moisture to reach into other areas. And so we are going to be seeing that drying trend across parts of the northern tier, Pacific Northwest, and on into the parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, little bit drier, but then there’s still should be plenty of moisture.”

Rippey says the active weather pattern will continue throughout early July.

“From the standpoint of the Upper Midwest, maybe a little bit of bad news, but for just about everybody else, there could be some good news in this July forecast with some scattered to widespread showers,” he says.

According to USDA’s weekly crop progress report, 11% of the nation’s corn crop is already silking, 5 points ahead of average. The crops need moisture but also not too high of heat. But Eric Snodgrass, science fellow and principal atmospheric scientist for Nutrien Ag, says some areas need a break from the wet weather right now, but they could also use some heat units.

“Honestly, if we can get a little bit of drier weather into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest after this, no one’s going to complain. And on top of that, we need some heat in that area, as well. So, some of the crops are behind in the North,” Snodgrass says.

Snodgrass points out the area he’s worried about the most is the southern Plains.

“If you take a look at that particular map, you notice I’ve got this dry bullseye somewhere around, Texas to Kansas, maybe back over toward Arkansas and parts of Missouri, and given the fact we’ve got such warm ocean temperatures in the North Pacific and in the North Atlantic, historically, that tends to anchor a ridge that sits right in that particular part of the country. So, it’s always a situation every summer of who’s stealing rain from someone else, right? When it comes to the way the pattern sets up, what I just worry is what if it gets stagnant at some point late July or to August? But overall, I think the CPC’s got a pretty good handle on what we think we might see for July.”

The July Heat

What about the heat? Much of the U.S. is expected to see above normal temperatures throughout July, according to NOAA’s 30-day outlook. However, Rippey thinks the core of the Corn Belt won’t bake like the map leads you to believe.

“You notice the little donut hole that is really focused across some major production areas of the Midwest. And that is, I think, the key to this July temperature outlook,” Rippey says. “If you picture the ridge of high pressure that’s been dominating this early summer, think of it as the top of a trampoline. Somebody jumping on that trampoline just kind of bouncing away. That would be the cold fronts trying to knock away the top of this ridge. The Climate Prediction Center thinks that it will be enough, bouncing on this ridge to keep temperatures down a little bit across the Upper Midwest, maybe extending on into other parts of the Corn Belt. That would be good news.”

30-day temperature outlook

(CPC )

Rippey says with 11% of the corn crop silking at the end of June, the early July forecast is a critical time for those crops.

“High probabilities above normal temperatures as you move into the western U.S. That is probably going to be true for the Deep South and parts of the East as well,” Rippey says. “So the real question becomes, how much can we keep this ridge knocked down during the critical month of July.”

Last summer was dry for much of the Midwest but also hot. However, the wildfire smoke provided a bit of a blanket to protect crops from the heat. Some agronomists and meteorologists argue last year’s weather proved the crops are more resilient to drought than they are heat.

This year, the West is already baking in consecutive days of triple-digit heat. Dallas-Fort Worth set a record this week for the highest minimum temperature with a reading of 83°F. That beat the previous record from 1998.

Snodgrass says those elevated nighttime temps are something to watch.

“That’s been a concern all season. We thought that this would be a year that was a hot summer, but a lot of that heat coming in overnight lows that were so very warm. If you can remember, when you keep the overnight lows so warm, you also pump out a bunch of moisture into this,” Snodgrass says.

He says the concern with the forecast is the lack of heat forecast for the Upper Midwest, including northern Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

“We had farmers in those areas who had to replant in late May, early June,” Snodgrass says. “The issue there is that if you plant like 105-day corn in late May, your first frost date runs into before you’ll be black layer. And so, there’s some concern in that area. We need some heat, but just keep us under 92°F, right? And that’s going to be the trick as this goes forward.”

How Pro Farmer's 2024 Yield Estimates Compare to USDA Expectations

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 19:41:02 GMT

For four days this past week, more than 100 crop scouts sampled 2,000 to 3,000 fields in seven Midwest states as part of the one-of-a-kind Pro Farmer Crop Tour . Building on the boots-on-the-ground data and observations, Pro Farmer considers crop maturity and historical differences in Crop Tour data versus USDA’s final yields to release its national production estimates.

“One of the major questions heading into Crop Tour was whether the corn and soybean crops could live up to the lofty expectations,” says Brian Grete, editor for Pro Farmer. “Of the two crops, I was more impressed with soybeans than corn, and the corn crop is stellar.”

Here are the 2024 Pro Farmer National Production Estimates.

Corn Yield Estimates

“The first two days of the tour all we did was move bushels from South Dakota and Nebraska to Ohio and Indiana compared with USDA estimates,” says Chip Flory, host of “AgriTalk.” “We had laid the groundwork for a really good crop in Iowa, but in northwest Iowa, we ran into problems, which we anticipated after too much rain during the planting season. In our final day running the routes, we’ve got a nice crop in Iowa, but Minnesota is another story.”

On the eastern side of the Corn Belt, Grete and fellow scouts found a strong corn crop.

“USDA put a record yield on corn for five of the seven states,” he says. “Ohio isn’t one of those — but if we weren’t talking about last year’s record crop in Ohio, this year would be up there. This year is comparing to last year’s gold standard.”

Indiana: Trouble spots are few and far between. The corn crop posted higher numbers across the board for ear count, grain length and the number of kernels around the cob compared to the 2023 crop.

Illinois: While scouts saw variability in Illinois, the high-yielding fields far exceeded those that fell short, and the state is holding a big crop . Plant health looks good, and even the lower leaves are still green.

Iowa: Yield potential looks promising , especially in the southeast corner, the garden spot, of the state. The corn in east-central Iowa looks good, but the variability is more noticeable in the northeast.

Minnesota: The corn crop in Minnesota doesn’t look too good from the road, and it seems to have ran out of gas . Record rainfall during planting hurt the crop out of the gate, causing drowned out spots and yellow corn, followed by a dry summer.

Nebraska: Despite hail damage and fewer ears, the Nebraska corn crop looks promising with better numbers for grain length and kernels around the cob compared with 2023. Some dryland corn looks as good as irrigated acres thanks to cooperative weather.

Ohio: Despite drought conditions this year (59% of Ohio is currently seeing some level of dryness), the corn crop is proving to be resilient .

South Dakota: Historic flooding that occurred right after Father’s Day in the southeast part of the state left its mark. Scouts found fields with fewer ears , but grain length was up compared with 2023. It’s obvious the corn crop had two very different planting dates, so there’s two very different crops growing in the state.

Soybean Yield Estimates

“Soybeans could be spectacular as long as there isn’t a weather event that derails the crop ahead of harvest,” Grete says. “Typically, there’s some concern with either the corn crop, soybean crop or both coming out of Crop Tour. There aren’t concerns this year.”

Indiana: If soybeans can get a rain or two, yields should finish strong .

Illinois: Uniformity, heavily podded plants and good soil moisture — Illinois has all the ingredients for a big yield , which is a pleasant surprise. “For beans that don’t look that impressive, they certainly have a lot of pods on them,” says crop scout Mark Bernard.

Iowa: Soybean fields are consisten t and show minimal pest and weed pressure across the state, boasting big pod increases versus last year.

Minnesota: Soybeans seem to have handled the excess water better than the corn crop, but yield will be lucky to top 50 bu. per acre .

Nebraska: More pods and pods with three and four beans are good signs.

Ohio: The pod factory is still working. Plants are heavily podded and recent rains pumped moisture into the pods. The drought seems to have had little impact on yield potential.

South Dakota: Soybeans are inconsistent and could go either way this year. The crop is still filling out and has a ton of work to do to realize its potential, Flory says. If it doesn’t get it done, then it’s probably not going to be last year’s bean crop.

Tyne Morgan, host of “ U.S. Farm Report ,” sits down with Chip Flory and Brian Grete to recap the highlights and lowlights from the 32nd Pro Farmer Crop Tour.

Your Next Read — Take Our Poll: How Are Your Yields Shaping Up This Year?

How To Plan For Next Year's Crop With Extreme Weather In Mind

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 19:02:30 GMT

The 2024 planting and growing season hasn’t been one farmers are likely to forget. With each passing week, something new and even more disastrous seemed to be around the corner, ranging from flash flooding and derechos to drought and extreme heat indexes.

In the first half of the year, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had tracked 15 separate incidents of extreme weather that totaled over $1 billion in damage. Not too long ago in the 2010s, that was more than the average for the entire year.

Though weather has always been a big challenge for the ag industry, the severity and the damage are growing. Farmers are resilient and constantly prove their ability to adapt, so is there anything they can do to agronomically plan for the unpredictable? Two agronomists weigh in with strategies to decrease risk.

Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
Eric Wilson, a Wyffels agronomist in southeastern Iowa, says extreme weather is one reason he recommends diversifying your seed selection.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect hybrid,” he says. “The best thing against green snap might not be the best thing in terms of a high-yielding corn hybrid. Oftentimes, you have to give something up to get another thing right.”

Wilson says he would advise choosing at least three to four different hybrids that each play to a different strength.

“We have a product that does really well. It’s high yielding, cranks out bushels, and has a good disease package, but it has a wide green snap window,” he explains. “We need to build a package so that in the event one hybrid has a great year, you’re able to get in on it, but if we get a bunch of wind, it’s not across all of your acres.”

He recommends being aware of your seed’s weaknesses and adapting your management practices accordingly.

“Maybe the one that’s top in yield has an average disease package, but that’s OK because you put it on the field you typically spray anyway,” Wilson says.

At the same time, he says it’s important to not let last year’s weather play too strong of a role in your decision.

“Farmers are notorious for suffering from recency bias,” Wilson says. “If they have a bad windstorm in 2023, that’s all they’re thinking about in 2024 — I’m guilty of it myself. We always try and coach toward selecting a package of products that is going to work well regardless of what environment we get for the year.”

Acknowledge The Frequency, But Reject the Bias
Trey Stephens, Beck’s field agronomist in Nebraska, echoes Wilson’s caution for changing too many decisions based on one year’s conditions.

“You don’t want to let one year alter how you do things normally,” he says. “Just try to stick to what you know as far as your approach to planting, and control what you can.”

At the same time, Stephens says he noticed some weather trends in the area becoming more persistent.

“We’re in Nebraska, so there’s always been hail and wind, but in the past few years there’s been a consistency to it,” he says. “The past few years, we’ve had more severe weather in the later part of June into early July. Then July turns out pretty dry.”

Some of the severe conditions Stephens’ area experienced this growing season include unusually high levels of hail and rain, sometimes totaling 6" to 10" of precipitation overnight. This led to a significant number of fields needing to be replanted, and farmers in the area experimenting with new hybrids.

“Because of flooding, we had a lot of growers planting shorter maturity corn than they ever have — like 102 to 104 days,” he explains. “That was really unique for our area.”

Because of adaptations like this one, farmers will walk away from this year more resilient than before. And as Stephens reflects on what happened over the summer, he emphasizes the importance of planning ahead.

“A lot of people who planted early this year had a more established crop that was more likely to withstand some of the extreme events,” he says. “I advise growers to be prepared when you have the best weather possible and try to plant. Hopefully, you’ll get a crop that’s established enough to survive.”

Why Isn't Flooding And Hail Now Pushing Grain Prices Higher? Eric Snodgrass Goes Unscripted

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 13:04:10 GMT

Recent severe weather has swept across the country, with hailstorms damaging the Nebraska crop and Hurricane Beryl making a significant impact on North America. Yet, the grain markets seem unfazed by the possible crop damage across the Midwest.

Eric Snodgrass, Science Fellow and Principal Atmospheric Scientist at Nutrien Ag Solutions, joined “Unscripted” hosts Tyne Morgan and Clinton Griffiths to explore why these weather events have seemingly had little effect on the markets. It’s something he’s admittedly baffled by, as well.“2024 will be a year we remember as being one of the most active with severe weather” declares Snodgrass.

“Here’s one of our top producing states that just took a massive punch in the mouth, and to be honest, my biggest frustration was the lack of market reaction,” Snodgrass exclaims. “We just didn’t see the expected response when prime acres were wiped out.” Snodgrass, Griffiths, and Morgan discuss multiple weather events across the country that have not gathered the anticipated market responses.

Snodgrass thinks up to 500,000 acres of crops were damaged by last weekend’s hail storm.

Following the hail damage in the Midwest, another severe weather event, Hurricane Beryl, brought much-needed rain to the eastern corn belt, alleviating potential drought concerns in key areas.

Snodgrass describes the upper Midwest as a “brown ocean,” explaining that abundant moisture in the soil and vegetation can locally evaporate and fuel storms whenever conditions are conducive, a phenomenon likely to manifest over the coming days and weeks.

Additionally, Snodgrass clarifies the current weather patterns, stating, “There are a lot of folks attributing what’s going on to La Niña, but La Niña just isn’t there yet.”

After sharing tremendous insights throughout the entire podcast, the group playfully dubs Eric their go-to “phone-a-friend” for future trivia challenges and eagerly anticipates his forthcoming 75-minute meteorology video following him watching the new Twister’s movie.

Unscripted is a show where scripts take a back seat. Tyne and Clinton put down the teleprompters and let the conversations flow naturally. Each week, they bring in fellow Farm Journal hosts and editors and friends to share behind-the-scenes insights on the stories we’ve covered, giving you a chance to meet the personalities behind the personalities.

Flooding Across the Midwest May Have Wiped Out Up to 1 Million Acres of Crops, New Estimates Now Show

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 13:37:04 GMT

Portions of Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska are grappling with the aftermath of flooding, while continuing to fight a swollen river. The Mississippi River is facing flood threats, too. The high waters and flooding are suffocating fields, causing crop damage to key growing areas across the Midwest.

Crop consultant Michael Cordonnier, PhD, says there might be a half million to 1 million U.S. corn acres lost due to the flooding, according to Pro Farmer. He believes harvested acres will be 90.3% to 90.7% of plantings this year, down from an average of 91.3%. Corn acres won’t be replanted at this stage. He adds that planting soybeans this late would be “a risky proposition,” as they would flower while the crop is in early development, resulting in low yield potential.

The flooding isn’t over, either. Eighteen river gauges along the Mississippi River are at a major flood stage. And high river levels along the Missouri River remain a concern as more rain is in the forecast during the next 10 days.

What’s causing this almost tropical-like moisture that has been consuming parts of the Midwest since late June? According to USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, it’s a number of things.

“You can tie it to the fact that we’ve had a ridge of high pressure parked over the continental United States for a few days. We got some tropical moisture, including the remnants of tropical storm Alberto wrapping around that ridge, and then a couple of cold fronts pushing into that ridge from the northwest,” says Rippey. “All of those factors are coming together to unleash torrential rains in eastern South Dakota, northern Nebraska, all the way into the Great Lakes region, and sparking this regional flood event that continues to unfold as the waters work their way down into the main stem of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.”

There’s concern the region will continue to recycle local moisture over the next 10 days. And considering there’s still plenty of moisture in the Gulf, along with high heat in the West and South, there are chances for even more rain along those already swollen rivers.

“Into the near term the next 10 days, we’ve got plenty of evidence that the same flow pattern that Brad just mentioned is going to continue,” says Eric Snodgrass, Science Fellow and Principal Atmospheric Scientist for Nutrien Ag. “So what does that mean? You know, we’ve had an unbroken jet stream flow from Japan all the way to the West Coast. It’s ripped across, like almost right on the 49th parallel, right there at the U.S.-Canada border. And that’s where those fronts are coming from. So, as I look at the next 10 days, we’re going to be recycling local moisture. We still have plenty of Gulf moisture. And if there’s heat, it’s in the West or it’s in the South. And as a result, we just tend to get a better situation for more rainfall. Normally, if it was early July and I was saying that I’d have a lot of people happy with me. But given what the situation is with the flooded ground and the rivers, this is going to be a problem.”

Snodgrass says at the height of the flooding last week, he added up about 7 million acres that picked up more than 6 inches of rain during that time frame, which caused standing water in fields. He says the question now is whether or not those fields lost crops due to the standing water.

Recent Extreme Weather Events Make Nitrogen Stabilizers Even More Important

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 16:32:07 GMT

As farm budgets have tightened, many producers are looking for places to trim expenses. One area Tim Laatsch, Koch Agronomic Services director of agronomy for North America, warns against making cuts is in nitrogen stabilizers.

“There can be a temptation to cut stabilizers out of the mix, and I would tell you that’s a bad idea,” Laatsch says. “The consistent response we see with stabilizers means not only are we doing the right thing from an environmental stewardship standpoint by preventing nitrogen loss, but we’re also taking that retained nitrogen, getting it into the plant, and making yield with it. We’re generating a positive return on investment for these stabilizer products.”

Laatsch says Koch has found an average of 6 bu./acre increase on fall-applied anhydrous ammonia treated with its Centuro stabilizer compared to non-stabilized acres across a three-year study in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri.

“That’s potential bushels you’d be giving up if you make the short-sighted decision to not stabilize your ammonia,” he says.

Two Types Of Loss
While some operations may not have seen a need for stabilizer products in the past, there’s potential for that to change as the number of extreme weather events in the U.S. increase and bring the need for a change in management practices.

“When we have above average precipitation between the application and the time it’s used by the plant, you see a lot of nitrogen loss. But we can also lose a lot when it’s hot and dry due to volatilization with a surface application,” Laatsch says. “Adding a urease inhibitor will buy you time by slowing down the urea breakdown until you get an incorporating rainfall event to move it deeper into the soil.”

He explains warm, humid conditions can lead to a 30% to 40% loss of untreated urea applied above ground and below-ground losses due to leaching could add up to a 25% to 30% loss.

“Nitrogen is far too expensive of an input to just allow 30% to 40% of it to disappear in the first three days after you put it on the field,” Laatsch says. “I’ve seen enough of our data over the years to know a quality stabilizer will protect my nitrogen and also generate positive return on investment for my farm.”

Choose The Right Product
While using a stabilizer has potential to positively impact farmers’ bottom lines, Laatsch warns all products on the market are not created equal.

“You need to be able to answer two questions for the product,” he says. “No. 1: Does it have an active ingredient that is scientifically proven to have activity on the nitrogen loss you’re trying to manage? Oftentimes, that answer is yes, but the second question is tougher. Does it have enough of the active ingredient to actually be effective?”

Laatsch explains farmers should look for a urease inhibitor to control above-ground losses and a nitrification inhibitor to control leaching and denitrification. To decide if there’s enough active ingredient in the product, he recommends enlisting the help of an agronomist to dig into the label and compare pounds of active ingredient in a ton of finished fertilizer.

“Many products on the market fall short of what is actually needed to get the job done,” he says. “The worst-case scenario is selecting a low-quality product and investing money in an input that is not going to provide economic return.”

Double Trouble from Flooding and H5N1 hits Some Iowa Farms

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:17:15 GMT

Active flooding is still underway in parts of Iowa due to the more than 15 inches of rain that fell on parts of the state, particularly the northwest region, over the weekend, according to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

“There were folks literally being rescued off of rooftops and flown out of the flooded areas,” Naig told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday. “After a couple of days, we will be able to come in and start to get a sense of what the enormity of what’s happened is and the size of the impact on the ag landscape.”

The devastation led to a disaster proclamation from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the evacuation of thousands of Iowa residents from the area.

Naig said when he talked with Reynolds early Tuesday morning, she described the damage from the rains and flooding as “extensive.” The flooding is still underway, with rivers in north-central Iowa now starting to crest, according to the National Water Prediction Service.

Naig said state officials won’t have a full sense of the crop damage or number of livestock lost in the region until the flood waters recede.

“This was already a wet part of the state, where there were some challenges around planting and replanting. They’ve just been inundated with rain throughout the spring,” Naig said.

“What we’re hearing about, certainly, is damaged and destroyed equipment. There are livestock facilities that folks are having trouble getting feed to because of washed-out roads, and there are power outages and water outages. These are just some of the things that are really challenging.”

Added Stress On Dairies
For dairy producers in northwest Iowa, the floods arrived on top of challenges they already faced from dealing with cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) or efforts to prevent the occurrence of the disease.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our cases are in dairies up in that area,” Naig said. “Think of the added stress that those folks are experiencing right now.”

Naig said, in total, Iowa has confirmed 11 dairies and three poultry sites where H5N1 has been found.

“Don’t be surprised if you continue to hear about some additional cases in the state of Iowa, because here’s the point – we’re looking for it,” Naig said. “Our farmers are testing. Turns out, when you look for it, you can find it. I think this is a little wider spread than maybe what is just being confirmed.”

Naig said he commends the Iowa dairy industry for being proactive in reporting any positive cases. When cases are confirmed, he said the state can bring in a USDA epidemiological strike team to look for clues to how H5N1 is being transmitted.

“If we’re going to experience the pain of having positive cases, let’s learn as much as we can, so that we can craft biosecurity strategies to address those things that are found to be the cause of transmission,” he said.

Wide Range Of Symptoms And Outcomes
Naig added that the scope of H5N1 infections has varied between farms as well as in individual animals.

“I think maybe early on, folks said, ‘Oh, it’s really just a kind of a minimal milk production loss, and then everything gets back to normal.’ I don’t think it’s quite that way,” he said. “Some (producers) aren’t seeing clinical signs while others see acute infections and significant milk losses. We are also hearing about some cattle mortality, though it’s maybe because of a secondary infection or condition that actually causes that mortality.”

Naig told Flory he has asked USDA to provide compensation for animals that Iowa producers have had to cull or where death occurred.

“We continue to make that request because we are seeing some losses, but that’s still a work in progress,” he said. “And, of course, again, we’re trying to get research on the ground to determine how H5N1 is behaving. The other thing is we can’t treat this as a dairy disease. It is a dairy and a poultry issue. We’ve got to think about the larger livestock industry. That’s how we’re approaching it here.”

The conversation between Naig and Flory is available in its entirety below:

A Tale Of Two Crops: Farmers Struggle Against Flooding And Drought

Goodbye, El Niño. Hello, La Niña? The Big Transition to La Niña is Already Underway

Flood

Hawaii Farmers Face $31M in Damages After Devastating Kona Low Flooding

A Significant Blow to the Workforce

Legacy Crops Wiped Out

Long-Term Concerns for Food Security

Farmer Aid and Ways You Can Support

Early Planting Unlikely for Much of Eastern Corn Belt as Wet Pattern Dominates Spring Outlook

Flooding Concerns Already Building

Mid-March Cold Front Brings Another Shift

Active Storm Track Through March

El Niño Influence Builds Into Spring

Watching Frost and Moisture Into May

Bottom Line for Planting

Iowa Farmer Battles Today's Pests While Eyeing Tomorrow's 'Mean Sixteen' Threats

USDA Launches New Round of Disaster Aid: What Producers Need to Know to Sign Up

Stage 2 Designed for “Shallow Losses” and Quality Loss

Specialty Crops Expected to Be a Major Share of Applicants

Producers MUST Enroll in Person, Fordyce Urges Them to Prepare Now

Billions Already Distributed And Billions More to Come

What Farmers Need to Know

1. You must enroll in person at your FSA county office.

No prefilled applications will be mailed.

2. Stage 2 covers 2023 through 2024 weather-related losses.

3. Specialty crops likely benefit most.

4. Prepare documents in advance.

Market Loss Payments Still Being Debated, Prices at Harvest Are a Concern

Cotton Farmers and Other Struggling Commodities Are Part of the Conversation

Borrower Limits Remain a Roadblock

USDA Leadership Knows the Stakes

How Pro Farmer 2025 Crop Estimates Compare and Contrast With USDA Expectations

Crops vs. Foliar Diseases: A High-Stakes Race Underway in Midwest Fields

Gorgeous Corn Crop Masks A Tough Reality For Central Illinois Growers

Silver Linings: Farmers Share What’s Gone Right & Wrong This Season

Tight Tassel Wrap Is Affecting Pollination In Corn Across 4 States

Environmental Factors At Play

Farmers In Multiple States Affected

Steps Farmers Can Take Now

USDA Expedites $16 Billion in Disaster Aid Payments: What Crop Farmers Need to Know

Ag Commissioner Calls Deadly Flooding in Central Texas "Devastating"

When Farmers Can Expect the Next Round of American Relief Act Payments

Record Prevent Plant Acres Cause Devastation for Southern Farmers

Unexpected Impact From Illinois Dust Storm Hits Corn, Soybeans

Use Corn Stand Counts To Ease The Stress In Making Replant Decisions

Rollins Says USDA Will Announce Application Process for $21 Billion in Disaster Aid Within Days

Is The Planting Light Red, Green Or Yellow?

60% Drought Risk? The Latest Forecast For The 2025 Growing Season

A Warming Trend Is On The Way For Early March

'Stay Tuned, We'll Be Right Back With Your Forecast'

Drone Rescue as Farmers Find Helene Victims and Deliver Supplies

Will the U.S. Corn Crop Bake In the July Heat? What You Need to Know About the July Forecast

Rain Chances in July

How Pro Farmer's 2024 Yield Estimates Compare to USDA Expectations

How To Plan For Next Year's Crop With Extreme Weather In Mind

Why Isn't Flooding And Hail Now Pushing Grain Prices Higher? Eric Snodgrass Goes Unscripted

Flooding Across the Midwest May Have Wiped Out Up to 1 Million Acres of Crops, New Estimates Now Show

Recent Extreme Weather Events Make Nitrogen Stabilizers Even More Important

Double Trouble from Flooding and H5N1 hits Some Iowa Farms