Beef

It is a new day for agriculture, said Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins.

President Donald Trump temporarily suspended across-the-board 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until April 2.

A visit to Washington provided a powerful glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of local farmers as they navigate unpredictable weather and global market conditions.

So far, this winter has been pretty friendly to the winter chores. We might be concerned about the lack of moisture for next spring’s crops, but right now dry is good.

Resource availability has a significant impact on optimizing genetics that fit into an environment to make a perfect cow.

Lawmakers and farmers mingled at the Indiana Statehouse to enjoy a bacon brunch and discuss farm policies.

The long-term downward spiral in the number of U.S. cattle farms and ranches informs us that our industry is in a severe crisis.

Cattle numbers are down in the United States and the cattle market is focused on providing incentives to cattlemen for herd rebuilding.

Cattlemen have several options to control brush or woody plants in pastures.

Members of Illinois Agri-Women gathered for their annual meeting to elect new officers, conduct association business and learn about several Illinois agricultural organizations.

The CattleFax Outlook Seminar, held as part of CattleCon 2025 in San Antonio, shared expert market and weather analysis.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Executive Committee approved the organization’s policy priorities at CattleCon 2025.

Tariffs will not curtail imports, but they will help to rebalance trade by leveling the economic playing field between domestic cattle producers and producers from countries who enjoy less stringent production standards and lower currency valuations.

Longer, more diverse rotations of crops fertilized with livestock manure have many environmental benefits, but carbon sequestration isn’t one of them, according to a new study led by Iowa State University researchers.

After a four-year run of substantial gains, agricultural land values in the Seventh Federal Reserve District saw a 1% annual decrease.

Here we go again. Because of the avian influenza, many hens have had to be culled, leaving fewer to produce eggs. Supply and demand being what it is, the price of eggs has jumped up again because there are fewer eggs.

Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. “Farming is for the girls,” she quips.

We shipped two loads of fat cattle this past week and will ship another this week. Two of these loads were sold cash, and for the first time ever, we sold cattle for more than $200 per hundredweight.

We have completed the shop renovation project we started a year ago and got the heaters installed. This overdue improvement is a game changer.

The weather hasn’t presented too many challenges this winter, so far, but we know better than to celebrate just yet. We are still in a near-desperation need for runoff rain.

Donald Prill, 92, of Platteville, Wisconsin, passed away Feb. 7. He married Nancy Dinelli in 1962. She recounted her life and adventures with “The Farmer” in a popular weekly column in AgriNews for over four decades, until she retired in 2018.

We need your help in convincing Congress and the administration to help reverse the decline of our nation’s cattle and sheep farms and ranches, and your calls and letters to Congress will certainly help.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has announced applications for two internship opportunities available for summer 2025.

The Hayden family of Hayden Grove Farms was honored as a finalist for the 2025 Indiana Farm Family of the Year Award.

The Warner Family Farm was honored as a finalist in this year’s Indiana Farm Family of the Year competition.

Harmful chemicals in sewage sludge that is spread on pasture land as fertilizer are causing cancer, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

Scott Halpin’s term as Illinois Farm Service Agency executive director concluded with the change of federal administrations.

Corteva Agriscience announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has registered NovaGraz herbicide.

It’s cold outside, so it must be meeting time. Besides the meetings I talked about last month there is the Northern Indiana Grazing Conference on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Michiana Event Center in beautiful Shipshewana, Indiana.

New equipment arrived recently at the Western Illinois University farm.

As a new year begins I realize that time is not waiting for me. Where did 24 years of this century go? I certainly can name milestone events during those 24 years, but the rest of the time, the majority, I seem to have little recollection.

We took a little break from the basketball season to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with a bunch of gatherings of family and friends. Cow work gets sandwiched in where a little time and help allows.

December was not very kind to us as we closed out the year. The last two to three weeks we started receiving those winter rains a few days apart and you know that quickly leads to muddy conditions.

By far the biggest lender to U.S. farmers, ranchers and rural businesses is the Farm Credit System whose four banks and 56 associations hold nearly 50% of all debt in rural America.

Florida agriculture suffered more than $190 million in losses from Hurricane Milton, making it the costliest for farmers and ranchers of three cyclones that pummeled the state in 2024, according to University of Florida researchers.

AgriNews has followed the Rahn family throughout the year. This is the last in a series of updates about the family members and the decisions they make on their farm.

Indiana Farm Bureau announced “Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book About Food and Farming” as the 2025 INFB Book of the Year.

The 2025 Indiana Farm Bureau Book of the Year educates children where the food they eat daily comes from in an informative and fun way.

Though growth in economic activity was generally small, expectations for growth rose moderately across most geographies and sectors across the Federal Reserve Districts.

Garrett Hawkins, a Waterloo farmer, was elected president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association for 2024-2025 at its recent reorganizational meeting.

Optimal cow and bull management will produce a uniform calf crop that is born in a 60-day window or less for most commercial herds.

An outbreak of often-fatal epizootic hemorrhagic disease afflicted more than 500 white-tailed deer in Indiana’s Allen, Porter and Wabash counties last summer.

Cattle and sheep graze on permanent pasture, cover crops and crop residue on Pasture Grazed Regenerative Farm in northern Illinois.

Cade Bushnell received the Randy Stauffer Stewardship Award, recognizing his farm conservation work through the Precision Conservation Management program.

For the first time since the end of 2019, farmland values in the 7th Federal Reserve District did not see a year-over-year increase.

This year’s Greater Peoria Farm Show will include a new Kubota Sidekick UTV giveaway and the new University of Illinois Extension seminar series.

CattleCon 2025 invites future agricultural leaders to San Antonio to experience the largest cattle industry event of the year, Feb. 4-6.

McDonald’s USA, Lopez Foods and Syngenta North America announced a collaboration that aims to increase feed efficiency and help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released per pound of meat produced.

Fall fieldwork is near completion for Berkeley Boehne after some much-needed rain slowed tillage for some of his fields.

Even amidst the ever-present challenges that are part of farming, we have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.