Hog Outlook: Production, price estimates bearish for meats
USDA's January production and price estimates were bullish for grains and bearish for meats. Friday's USDA supply and demand estimates changed the forecast for 2013 pork production from down 1.7 percent compared to last year to up 0.2 percent.
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Succession planning workshops set for Indiana
Purdue University Extension is offering a series of farm succession planning workshops this winter in 10 locations throughout Indiana. The workshops are designed to provide current and incoming farm business owners with legal, accounting, and communication assistance related to estate and farm planning.
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60 percent of country locked in drought
Three-fifths of the nation remains locked in intense drought, and though wetter weather systems are providing relief for some in the south, the vast majority of the country isn’t as lucky.
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Illinois allows driving licenses for illegal immigrants
Illinois will become the fourth U.S. state to allow illegal immigrants to drive, after the state House of Representatives on Tuesday approved temporary licenses and Governor Pat Quinn said he would sign the measure into law.
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Farm bill failure means predictable 2013 and unknown future
Andrew Novakovic, an expert on the farm bill and professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University, commented on Congress’ failure to produce a new long-term farm bill and its “fiscal cliff” compromise to extend the current farm bill through 2013.
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Rains to ease drought in U.S. Delta; cold snap for Plains
Heavy rains in the U.S. Delta and southeast over the next week will provide some relief from the worst drought in over 50 years while a cold snap early next week is posing a threat to the struggling wheat crop in the U.S. Plains States, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday.
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OSU to discuss ways to adapt ag to extreme weather
From the record drought that covered much of the nation last year to Superstorm Sandy that caused an estimated $50 billion or more in damage in the Northeast and Midwest, extreme weather events plagued growers nationwide throughout 2012 — and experts anticipate more in the future.
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USDA to begin noon-time crop reports on Jan. 11
The USDA reminds data users that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will begin issuing several major USDA statistical reports at 12:00 p.m. EDT beginning on Jan. 11.
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Minnesota farmland prices on the rise
As farmland prices around the state of Minnesota have continued to increase over the past 20 years, it has left many farmers wondering if and when the farmland bubble may burst.
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Flu activity increases nationwide
Influenza activity continues to increase in the United States which is now experiencing high levels of influenza-like-illness (ILI). And, even though the flu season is now in full force, the National Pork Board (NPB) still recommends producers, farm personnel and others who have contact with pigs get the seasonal flu vaccination.
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Overview and impacts of proposed changes in the 2012 Farm Bill
The main issue shaping the political debate around the 2012 Farm Bill is the desire to cut spending for deficit reduction. While farm programs do not represent the biggest piece of the Farm Bill pie, they are the main targets for program modifications and reductions in overall support as they become more difficult to justify with farm incomes reaching record levels.
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