Latest News From REGION

Experts are watching global dynamics to understand the input market’s longer-term outlook in the U.S. Among their top concerns are geopolitics, weather and low supply.

There was a total of nine reported incidents in the U.S. last year – the same number as 2022. Those nine explosions led to 12 injuries with no fatalities.

While resilient farmland prices were the theme in 2023 and farmers were in the driver's seat in most sales, Jim Rothermich with Iowa Appraisal has recently noticed a couple changes in the market.

In their January 2024 land values report, Farmers National Company shared that the sharp increase in farmland values has slowed, and values are holding strong.

The merger will be effective March 1, 2024.

Combined, the organizations have a reach of over 85,000 producers in eight states.

The availability of livestock workers was ranked as more limited than crop workers and finding long-term help seen as more difficult than temporary help due to the seasonal nature of the ag industry.

West Texas is the largest cotton production area in the country, but after battling drought and heat, area farmers say the dryland crop is a failure, and the irrigated acres are only yielding half of normal.

KFB will assist Alliance Ag and the Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship in the administration of this program – which will provide training and technical instruction to those hired. 

Peoples Company has released its fourth annual land values report with data broken into geographical regions across the U.S.

If approved during the member vote, the companies hope to complete the merger in early 2024.

While a few cotton fields flourished with yields to brag about at the gin, the majority of the region’s production suffered, from one weather extreme to another.

The data collected by the FS agronomists, including estimated yield and number of locations sampled, is uploaded to the FS Agronomy Yield Analyzer.

John Phipps says there are signs that water is the new oil as water rights turn into water fights across the western U.S. He thinks it's a battle that could only heat up in the coming years.

Drought is creating a dreary outlook for Missouri farmers, but it wasn’t until mid-July that some realized just how bad it was. Farmers in pockets of severe drought now say they have widespread pollination problems.

The Kremlin said there was no link between the attack and suspending the deal, which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea. Instead, it occurred over a failure to ease rules for food and fertilizer exports.

California farmers are facing another round of flooding, with fields still bearing scars from January’s floods. An area known for production of fresh berries and lettuce is expected to now have a larger losses.

Scenes across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas resemble the Dust Bowl after winds topping 100 mph ravaged the area. Growers are dealing with a dryland wheat crop that could already see abandonment as high as 80%.

After a week in Mato Grosso, the AgResource team estimates a final yield estimate of 60.3 bu. per acre, which is 8 bu. more than CONAB’s current forecast.

"The low water disruption will be felt not only by our U.S. producers of food, farm, and fiber but also by U.S. and international consumers as well," says Friedmann of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.

UNL says heavy rains across the nation this week may have eased the drought conditions in the short-term, but they won’t be enough for the long run.

Pay attention to the low-lying areas, sandier soils and no-till fields and scout soybeans to evaluate stands and determine final plant population, advises Missy Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

Experts say you don’t need to worry about the bright yellow, blue, black and red Joro spider — it's one of the few creatures that preys on a bug that attacks Southern crops.

Congratulations to Martin Angus, the 2022 recipient of the Tomorrow’s Top Producer Horizon Award. Take a virtual trip to their diversified operation nestled in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Congratulations to Todd, Louise and the Malecha family for being named the 2022 Top Producer of the Year. Pay a virtual visit to their dairy farm in Villard, Minn., to learn how they stay focused on goals and values.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows from North Dakota to Texas, all the way west to California, the most severe levels of drought didn’t ease across the U.S. this past week. 

Some areas received a shot of rain early in the week too. However, it’s been so dry in some places that farmers are cutting silage the earliest they have since the drought of 2012.

Fertilizer availability issues are creating a frenzy this spring. While various fertilizers are seeing limited availability, anhydrous ammonia is in the shortest supply, and supply issues for all fertilizer could linger through summer.

Farmers in the U.S. grew more soybeans in 2017 than ever before, according to USDA data. Nearly 89.5 million acres were planted this year, an increase of more than 25 million acres over the last decade.