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Conservation vs. Profitability on U.S. Farms
Farmers weighing conservation practices face measurable tradeoffs between soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and per‑acre net returns. Decision tools that score soil health and carbon intensity can quantify changes from adjustments in tillage, rotations and cover crop use, but those environmen...
ADM and Hill's expand regenerative agriculture
ADM announced a partnership with Hill's Pet Nutrition to accelerate adoption of regenerative agriculture across corn and soybean acres in Illinois and Minnesota and to extend practices into Europe. The collaboration targets a wide swath of row-crop acres tied to the pet food ingredient supply cha...
Texas Shrimpers Seek More H-2B Visas Amid Shortage
Texas shrimpers at Port Isabel say a persistent labor shortage is putting pressure on the Gulf shrimp fleet and prompting calls for more temporary visas to staff boats and processing operations. The Texas Shrimp Association says the industry needs 100 additional H-2B visas this y...
Trump delays move to lower beef import tariffs
The administration has delayed executive orders that would have lowered tariffs on imported beef, according to reporting in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The measures were intended to expand imports and ease consumer beef prices as part of broader efforts to address food-cost concerns. <...
Taiwan Says U.S. Citrus Won't Hurt Local Growers
Taiwan's government is pushing back against concerns that lower tariffs on U.S. mandarins will damage its local citrus industry. Officials say a new trade agreement that reduces duties on American mandarins is unlikely to disrupt domestic markets because U.S. shipments are small relative to local...
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Illinois farmland values show 2026 volatility
Illinois farmland sales in 2026 remain unpredictable as weak on-farm returns and rising costs push buyers and sellers into a cautious stance. University of Illinois farmdoc corn and soybean budgets are showing losses for crop enterprises, placing pressure on operator balance sheets. Negat... -
Schiff backs Prop 12, sets 2026 farm bill priorities
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released an outline of his priorities for the 2026 Farm Bill, explicitly opposing language he says would preempt California’s Proposition 12. Schiff on Senate Ag Committee he noted, is the first California senator on the Agriculture Committee in m... -
Pseudorabies returns: What U.S. hog producers need to know
Biosecurity is back at the top of the checklist for U.S. hog producers after routine testing detected antibodies to pseudorabies virus in a small Iowa commercial swine herd in late April. Antibodies found in Iowa was the trigger for an APHIS trace that identified the source of fi... -
Lawmakers Push for Export Guarantees Ahead of Beijing Summit
President Donald Trump is preparing for a summit in Beijing that U.S. farm groups and lawmakers expect will put agriculture at the center of talks. Delegations already in China have been pressing for concrete purchase commitments on U.S. commodities as negotiators discuss a possible extension of ... -
Firm to Farm: Guide for Organic Growers
USDA's organic label continues to carry strong consumer trust, but the bar for entering that market has risen. The Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule has expanded oversight across the supply chain and made fraud-prevention measures a core compliance obligation. New and transitioning growers m... -
Recent Rains Ease Drought in Texas, Deep South
Widespread soaking rains over the past week brought relief to parts of Texas and the Deep South but left large areas still stressed by long-running dryness. The precipitation reduced drought extent across portions of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Tennessee Valley, even as Se... -
World Pork Expo 2026 Seminars Deliver Practical Insight
World Pork Expo 2026 returns to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and runs June 3–4 , bringing seminars, panel discussions and the industry's largest pork trade show together in one venue. The National Pork Producers Council frames the programming to give p... -
Drought Headlines 2026 Hard Winter Wheat Tour
The Wheat Quality Council’s Hard Winter Wheat Tour will cross Kansas May 12–14 as the crop faces widespread moisture stress and an early-May freeze in the western third of the state. Participants will drive set routes to evaluate crop condition and measure potential yields across historic wheat a... -
U.S. pork cuts safe amid Mexico PRV limits
Confirmed pseudorabies detections in two small U.S. swine herds have prompted precautionary import limits from Mexico, but officials emphasize commercial pork remains safe for consumers. Pork muscle cuts unaffected by Mexico’s current restrictions, the U.S. Meat Export Federation... -
House Passes 2026 Farm Bill; Prop 12 Wins, E15 Misses
The U.S. House passed the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 on April 30, moving the $390 billion measure to the Senate after a 224-200 vote in the House. $390 billion and 224-200 vote capture the scale and margin of the action, but the Senate has not y... -
Grain Shipper Challenges Railroad Rates, Routing
A High Plains grain elevator has asked the Surface Transportation Board to weigh in on two disputes that it says are blocking a lower-cost western outlet for wheat, sorghum and corn. Weskan Grain filed separate cases arguing that a short line railroad’s lease terms and freight levels are effectiv... -
Former USDA Economist: Geopolitics Driving U.S. Ag Markets
Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute, told attendees at the Sosland Purchasing Seminar in Kansas City that geopolitics has moved to the forefront of agricultural markets. He said the current disruption of shipping routes in the Middle...
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