Developed by the Czech firm Roboton, the “Roboton Farmer” represents a milestone in agtech. This isn’t a prototype built in a lab or a concept video rendered in CGI. This is a field-tested, solar-powered, battery-charged robot-type device with the practical ambition to handle full seasons of work in row crops without constant supervision. And it’s …
“Robo Fleets” and Autonomous… Coming Sooner Than We Think Read More »
US cropland values for 2025 averaged $5,830 per acre, an increase of +$260 per acre from last year, according to the USDA’s latest “Land Values” report. This follows a +4.7% increase in cropland values in 2024 and a more than +8% gain in 2023. The average pasture value was $1,920/acre, up +$90 (+4.9%) from 2024, …
Bayer has taken the initial steps to bring a new herbicide to market, “Icafolin-methyl,” which the company describes as agriculture’s first new mode of action for post-emergent weed control for broadacre crops in over 30 years. Bayer has already filed registration applications in four major agricultural regions: the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and the EU. Bayer …
Bayer to Introduce First New Weed-Killing Chemistry in Over 30 Years Read More »
Two of the largest US railroads, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, announced on Tuesday a plan to combine in a $72 billion deal that would create America’s first transcontinental freight railroad. The stock and cash deal would be the largest ever in a sector that has already massively consolidated in recent decades. The deal still …
How a UP–NS Merger Could Reshape Rail and Row Crop Logistics Read More »
The debate over selling public lands in the American West has reached a fever pitch, with a Republican-led Senate proposal targeting up to 3.3 million acres of federal land across 11 states for sale to address housing shortages and generate revenue. This plan, embedded in broader budget legislation, would require the Bureau of Land Management …
The Fight Over the Future of America’s Public Lands Read More »
American farmers have increasingly embraced the “H-2A” visa program which allows eligible employers to hire foreign workers for temporary jobs in agriculture. Since 2010, the number of workers hired through the program has increased +300%, reflecting the lack of available farm labor in the U.S. The H-2A visa program allows farm employers in the United …
What You Might Not Know About the “H-2A” Visa Program Read More »
The good folks over at Agricultural Economic Insights (AEI.ag) have managed to answer a question that is weighing more heavily on rural communities with each passing year – how much of America’s farmland has been converted to solar production? The answer is approximately 302,000 acres, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the …
How Much U.S. Farmland Has Been Converted to Solar? Read More »
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently hosted a “Make America Healthy Again” roundtable where they discussed various aspects of the effort with agricultural stakeholders. The roundtable follows the release of the first MAHA report by Kennedy’s agency that didn’t go over well with many in the …
MAHA Roundtable Focuses on Soil Health, Touts “Regenerative” Agriculture Read More »
The debate over “high-fructose corn syrup” (HFCS) has been back in the headlines the past couple of weeks as Coca Cola moves to start offering Coke with natural sugar in the U.S. The sugar replacement has long been blamed for America’s obesity problem and corresponding health issues, such as diabetes and heart disease. That’s despite …
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Back in the Health Debate Crosshairs Read More »
James Dyson, renowned for transforming household technology with high-performance vacuum cleaners and innovative fans, has quietly taken a bold step into the world of agriculture. In 2013, his company acquired farmland in the English countryside, a venture few expected from the inventor behind rollicking machines. But Dyson’s leap into vertical farming is far from whimsical. It …
From Vacuums to Vertical Farms: James Dyson’s Agricultural Revolution Read More »
