…ranchers, including our friends in the cotton industry who are in need of immediate assistance. “These are challenging times in agriculture, but we can rest assured Sec. Perdue will be…
Agri View: Modern Farming Machines
…grow 100 pounds of cotton. It also required a mule, couple of plows and of course the mule drawn cultivator. Then it had to be picked by hand. Well today…
Agri View: Farmers Losses to Thieves
…to thieves in my part of the country. My part of the country. It wasn’t about the bale of cotton or a cow. Thieves have gone big time. Tractors, tillage…
Agri View: Migrant Labor Shortage
…of whom are here illegally, farmers can go back to cotton, corn and soybeans. Not just Mexicans. They come from all over Latin America to harvest crops that grow even…
Organic Farmers Push for Welfare Standards Implementation
Organic dairy and livestock farmers are pushing for Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to let animal welfare standards formed at the end of the Obama Administration to go into effect. Politico’s…
TPP Nations Meet in Canada to Discuss Future of Pact
Bloomberg reports Canada is hosting what it calls an “exploratory” round of talks regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Senior trade officials from the remaining countries in the pact are in talks…
Monsanto Terminates Sale of Precision Planting to John Deere
The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that John Deere and Monsanto had terminated their attempted sale of Precision Planting, LLC., from Monsanto to John Deere. The department filed…
Ag Lender Survey: Farm Profitability Down, Commodity Prices Top Concern
ABA and Farmer Mac release first biannual survey of agricultural lenders Nearly 90 percent of agricultural lenders have seen an overall decline in farm profitability in the last 12 months,…
Ag Producer Sentiment Inches Higher in April
By Jim Mintert, David Widmar and Michael Langemeier Purdue University/CME Group Figure 1. Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. October 2015 to April 2017. Producer sentiment inched higher during April as…
2017 P.I.E. Program Tour Dates Set
The National Cotton Council (NCC) has scheduled tour dates and locations for the 2017 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) Program. The P.I.E. program’s goal is helping U.S. cotton producers maximize production…
Brazil Looking at Tariffs on U.S. Ethanol Imports
Reuters says the Brazilian Ag Minister is asking the country’s Foreign Trade Council to impose tariffs on U.S. ethanol imports after a recent surge in shipments coming in from America….
Canada/Mexico Doing NAFTA Renegotiations “Together”
The relationship between Mexico and Canada amid the upcoming North American Free Trade (NAFTA) negotiations is said by both countries to be more important than ever. The Canadian Broadcasting Company…
Groups Want Checkoff Reform
Over 80 organizations recently sent letters to both the Senate and House of Representatives, calling on lawmakers to fix the government’s “failed commodity tax support programs.” The 80 organizations represent…
New Spending Bill’s Impact on Agriculture
…billion above last year’s spending levels. Unfortunately for agriculture, provisions that would trigger addition subsidies for the cotton and dairy industries didn’t make it into the spending bill. Instead, there’s…