A Roadmap to Better Decision Making

According to a study from the University of Colorado Boulder, the number of farms globally will shrink in half by 2100, as the size of the existing farms will double. Published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the study is the first to track the number and size of farms year-over-year, from the 1960s and projecting through 2100.Zia Mehrabi, assistant professor ...
Read More

Wild boar, wild pigs, feral hogs, razorbacks - call them what you will, these invasive pigs are a $2.5 billion problem for US crops, livestock, and forests. An estimated 6 million wild boar have made themselves at home in at least 35 states now. The beasts can grow to more than 200 pounds and come with razor-sharp tusks they use ...
Read More

This was sent my way the other day and I thought I would share. I did some digging and found it was written by Amanda Radke over at BEEF Daily the full article is titled "Hormones by the numbers: Stats to share with consumers". I encourage you to read the full blog post. Below is a brief excerpt along with ...
Read More

US cropland values for 2023 averaged $5,460 per acre, an increase of +$410 per acre, or +8.1%, from 2021, and +33% higher than the average of $4,100 in 2020. In fact, cropland values had been stuck at around $4,100 since 2014, before seeing the first significant gain (+7.8%) in 2021 and obviously making further gains the last two years. The ...
Read More

It is no secret that farm production expenses are at nosebleed levels and a new report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) puts some hard numbers to this cold truth. In its annual "Farm Production Expenditures" report, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) found that production costs in 2022 climbed to an estimated $452.7 billion, up +15.2% ...
Read More

Controversy surrounding the use of glyphosate in food production systems remains a hot topic of debate in the US and around the world. Consumers claim to want food free from "chemicals," policymakers continue to push for more "sustainable" farming practices, and special interest groups keep raising fears about health consequences, all of which have kept the world's most widely used ...
Read More

Today, the agricultural and aviation communities quietly celebrate the 102nd anniversary of the first use of the airplane for crop dusting. On this day in 1921, Army Air Corps pilot Lieutenant John A. Macready, piloting a specially modified Curtiss JN4 Jenny, spread lead arsenate over a six-acre grove of 6,000 catalpa trees at Postmaster Harry Carver’s farm in Troy, Ohio ...
Read More

Vietnam has approved the commercial use of two locally-made vaccines for African swine fever (ASF). The vaccines, both of which was developed in collaboration with researchers from the United States Agricultural Research Institute (ARS), are the first to ever be approved anywhere in the world for commercial use against the deadly pig virus.The vaccines include "NAVET-ASFVAC," co-developed by Navetco Central ...
Read More

State Fairs are kicking off the 2023 season across America! For so many families, there is just no better way to wrap up a long, hot summer than a couple of deep-fried Twinkies, a rickety carnival ride, and some dusty livestock pens! Below I've included a map with all of the dates for most all of the US state fairs ...
Read More

According to the USDA, Florida's orange production peaked in 1998 at 244 million boxes and has been on a precipitous decline ever since. A significant decline occurred after the historic 2004 hurricane season with production falling from 242 million boxes to 149.8 million, then dropped below 100 million boxes in 2015 for the first time in decades. The 2022-23 season ...
Read More