According to new data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans receive over half their calories via “ultra-processed” foods (UPFs), though that share has declined slightly in recent years. Food in this category has been singled out by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda …
What You Need to Know About the “Ultra-Processed” Foods Debate Read More »
There’s a ton of debate right now about how the US soybean crop will play out. The USDA is currently forecasting a record yield of 52.5 bushels per acre, but many inside the trade think it could end up even higher, and we may challenge total record US production at +4.5 million bushels. Keep in …
How Soybeans Finally Became a Major Crop in America Read More »
Gary Lezak and his team at Weather 20/20 have done an amazing job this year! When everybody else in the industry was forecasting that the drought was going to spread and take a deeper bite, I was calling and checking with Gary, and he was assuring me that the drought was going to lose its …
I Wanted to Share… “Weather 20/20 Intelligence Report” Read More »
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 »
