A Roadmap to Better Decision Making

A new Rabobank report projects that China’s soybean imports will slow down and eventually decline through 2030 as a result of slower livestock production growth and continuous improvement in farming practices. More importantly, China's inclusion rate of soymeal in feed rations is projected to drop, prompting a slowdown and eventual reduction in the country's soybean imports that will have profound ...
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American chestnut trees were once one of the most important trees in eastern US forests. Some of these trees reached heights of over 100 feet with trunk diameters up to 14 feet. Billions of American chestnuts once stretched from Georgia and Alabama to Michigan and Maine before disease nearly wiped out the trees, which are now considered to be “functionally ...
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In 1903, Goodyear secured a patent for the world's first tubeless automobile tire, a business that grew exponentially alongside America's burgeoning car industry. As vehicles have changed through the years, Goodyear's ability to innovate and willingness to shift in step with changing customer demand has kept it among the top tire manufacturers in the world. With vehicle makers now working ...
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China has been investing billions of dollars into massive high-rise hog-raising facilities popularly known as "hog hotels" in the last few years with the trend starting out as just two and three-story facilities. But it quickly escalated into monolithic structures of over 10 levels, with tens of thousands of animals raised on each and now, Zhongxin Kaiwei Modern Farming, a ...
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I always wondered how and when they started growing Pineapples on the island of Hawaii. From what I had learned, the pineapple was indigenous to South America and is said to originate from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is believed that the natives of southern Brazil and Paraguay spread the pineapple throughout South America, and it eventually ...
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When the American Revolutionary War ended in 1783, only a small sliver of the country's vast expanses had been established as part of the new Union. But before the young country had even completed its Constitution, a group of enterprising war veterans formed a new company to buy up land in what now forms the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, ...
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As ranchers continue to battle severe drought conditions, the US cattle heard is expected to continue shrinking into 2023. As a result, US beef imports are expected to increase next year with Australia seen playing a starring role. That would mark a change from the last few years where several factors have depressed US beef imports from Australia while substantially ...
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After being suspended in December of 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture "Cost of Pollination" survey has now been reinstated. For producers that regularly need to rent bees, it probably comes as no surprise that pollination costs have skyrocketed over the last few years, with prices up well more than +30% in many cases. In total, farmers paid $440.7 ...
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Avian influenza, aka "bird flu," absolutely ravaged US poultry flocks in 2022 with almost 58 million birds in commercial poultry operations lost to the disease. The losses are now greater than the last major outbreak in 2014-15 that wiped out 50.5 million US poultry birds. Interestingly, California ranked 13th among US states for total number of bird losses at around ...
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At long last, farmers and ranchers have gained the "right-to-repair" their expensive John Deere equipment thanks to an agreement with the American Farm Bureau Federation. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that requires John Deere to provide farmers and independent repair facilities with access to the company’s tools, software, and documentation to make repairs to the company's ...
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