The USDA’s latest Farm Labor Report reveals that the national wage rate for field and livestock workers is now $18.12 an hour, a +3.2% increase from last year. According to Samantha Ayoub, Farm Bureau Associate Economist, “no one realistically pays the national wage, so regionally, there was an average about a +4.5% increase in regional …
Thanksgiving is probably going to look different for a lot of folks this year, for obvious reasons. One thing that probably won’t change for a lot of families in America is the menu. Some people are planning to scale things back to serve fewer people this year, but most I’ve talked to are dead set …
The History Behind Our Favorite Thanksgiving Foods Read More »
***LIMITED SERVICE – The staff and I will be taking off for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will be no report on either Thursday or Friday. Full-coverage will resume Monday morning. From our families to yours, we wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Dunkin Donuts is an American institution that has spawned an untold number of copycats over the years. Since its creation in 1948, the company has grown from one shop in Massachusetts to over 11,000 locations across 37 countries. It was all the brainchild of an 8th-grade dropout named William Rosenberg who noticed that Americans really …
From Eighth-Grade Dropout to Donut King….the Story of Dunkin Donuts Read More »
Grind up rocks, throw them on your farmland, and you’ll boost yields while also saving the planet. At least, that’s the message being sold by proponents of “enhanced rock weathering” (ERW), who claim that adding rock dust to soils enhances fertility and removes CO2 from the air. But what exactly is it and what are …
What You Need to Know About “Enhanced Rock Weathering” Read More »
PitchBook agtech analyst Alex Frederick says that it’s premature to declare a full recovery, “cautious optimism is warranted.” Several factors are driving the uptick in VC funding in agtech, including “stabilizing valuations after the market volatility of recent years, allowing investors and founders to find common ground; a focus on larger investments in companies with …
A new incentive program born of a collaboration between McDonald’s, Syngenta, and Lopez Foods will pay cattle producers to use a special corn designed to reduce gaseous emissions. Syngenta says its “Enogen” corn improves overall feed efficiency and helps cattle put on weight faster, and can even enhance ethanol production. Under the new collaboration, McDonald’s …
The chorus of voices that want to bring radical change to the way American farmers farm seems to be growing louder as they seek to sway sympathetic ears in Washington. Campaigns against pesticide use in particular threaten not only U.S. agricultural output but vital Farm Bill programs that support the ag economy. Pesticides are …
What the Loss of Glyphosate Would Cost American Farmers Read More »
The US rural population continues to grow, according to USDA’s 2024 edition of “Rural America at a Glance.” Population gains between 2020 to 2023 occurred in almost all county types regardless of degree of rurality. In total, around 46 million people lived in rural counties in 2023, comprising about 14% of the U.S. population. The …
Rural America at a Glance 2024 Edition: Population Rebound Continues Read More »
Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” because it literally has over 14,000 bodies of fresh water within its borders. The northernmost contiguous state in the union is also an agricultural powerhouse, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold. A large producer of corn and soybeans, Minnesota claims to …
