The U.S. Department of Agriculture has now sharply lowered its 2025 farm income outlook by $25 billion, reinforcing that this downturn is deeper and more persistent than many anticipated.

AgriNews and Beck’s are proud to announce the Poynter Family of Putnam County as the 2026 Indiana Farm Family of the Year.

Giving lollipops to all the students at La Salle-Peru High School is just one of many activities planned for National FFA Week by the members of the La Salle-Peru FFA Chapter.

Case IH launched its all-new Puma series tractor, available in 155, 165 and 185 horsepower models, with a full vehicle redesign, configured for unmatched performance, reliability and efficiency.

Growing winter forage can improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, add organic matter, break up compaction and provide livestock feed.

Join University of Illinois Extension for a series, “Pasture Improvement: The Basics and Beyond,” that will focus on management strategies to improve pasture productivity and resilience.

The U.S. cattle and beef industry enters 2026 with strong but volatile market conditions, as historically tight cattle supplies, record-setting beef demand and elevated policy and weather uncertainty continue to support prices, even as markets appear to near cyclical highs.

Now is the time to reform regulations that have hindered conservation efforts, strengthen protections against the spread of New World screwworm, expand foreign market access for U.S. beef and advance science-based policies that keep beef at the center of the plate.

I just returned from a quick trip to CattleCon, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s annual meeting and trade show. The industry is rapidly growing with technology.

The shop has been getting a workout with all the fix-it projects we had stacked up and the weather has been motivation to move most work indoors.

We got our annual dose of bad winter weather and it has just now left us, as the warmup finally has gotten here and the snowpack has finally all but melted away.

While winter grazing can work, understanding the physiological stress it places on forage plants — and planning for recovery — is critical to long-term pasture health.

One way to make more money with beef cows is to save some money.

Smith Family Farms focuses on meeting environmental goals with a cow herd, cover crops and no-till planting.

Enhancing cattle herds with trusted genetics can strengthen beef operations. Get started by attending the annual Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale at 11 a.m. on Feb. 19 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

Western Illinois University’s Livestock Judging Team earned national recognition this season, placing in the top five at the Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City and being named the 2026 National Western Stock Show Senior College Champion Team in Denver.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has opened applications for summer 2026 semester internships in the association’s headquarters in Colorado and office in Washington, D.C.

Agricultural economic conditions are largely unchanged from mid-November through early January, according to surveys conducted across Federal Reserve Districts in the Corn Belt.

More than 100 Indiana FFA students traveled to the Statehouse to meet with lawmakers, participate in policy discussions and learn firsthand how state government works at the 2026 Advocacy Day.

Isn’t it time that consumers be allowed to choose the best beef in the world produced under the best of conditions?

The Illinois Agri-Women organization has awarded four scholarships for females studying agriculture.

Better health begins on your plate — the Dietary Guidelines for Americans offer a flexible, affordable and attainable framework meant to guide better choices, not dictate exact meals or drain a budget.

Many of the changes in the new food guidelines issued recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services were red meat to farmers and ranchers.

The Illinois Beef Expo is back Feb. 19-22 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

Parasites are a hidden drain on cattle performance, quietly stealing productivity and profit from herds across the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency announced the appointment of five leaders in agriculture to serve on the Illinois FSA state committee.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed a memorandum to establish priorities for this year’s research and development activities funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Managing an adaptive grazing management system is a thinking person’s game.

We hope this new push for healthy red meat will convince more folks to go find out that good food is good medicine.

This year will mark the 10th anniversary of R-CALF USA’s successful legal effort to reform, albeit partially, the government-mandated beef checkoff program.

With cattle herds at historic lows and input costs high, Jim Henry predicts beef prices will remain elevated for the foreseeable future.

Dairy calves are an investment in the future of the dairy operation and the treatment they receive early in life impacts their future milk production.

A documentary called “The Beck Family: A Home-Grown Legacy” has officially premiered and is available to watch for free online.

2025 was great for high cattle prices, but the risk and uncertainty of the cattle business is still there and I know many of us remain cautious about what the future holds.

My dry erase board in the office now has 15 projects listed for winter and spring and space for some more as they come up. It is just part of the continuous quest to leave the land and this place better than when my family landed here back in 1951.

The fact that it takes time to build a cow herd is reality and that reality is playing out in the cattle market.

The outlook for the four pieces of the demand pies that drive corn and soybean prices is anticipated to include some growth and a wild card in 2026.

One of the most under-reported stories of 2025 — the departure of more than 20,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture employees — finally surfaced just before the quietest, most unwatched news periods of any year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

At the 2025 Indiana Ag Gathering held at the French Lick Springs Resort, the Indiana Farm Bureau delegate body reelected INFB Vice President Kendell Culp of Jasper County.

Farmers say they are grateful to President Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for providing resources that, for many, could make the difference between staying in business to plant another crop, or shuttering a family farm.

The Illinois Beef Association hosted a Cattlemen’s Gala celebration to raise money and mark the 10th anniversary of the Illinois Beef Foundation.

Winter weather isn’t just tough on producers — it’s tough on cattle, too.

These were the most read stories on the AgriNews website in 2025.

The marketplace, from the cattle producer all the way to the consumer, is fundamentally broken, and the only time it functions properly is when it is confronted with a significant market shock.

Agricultural conditions remained strained but slightly improved over the last six weeks, according to a survey across the Corn Belt’s Federal Reserve Districts.

Farmer Tyler Everett had the ultimate “seat at the table” with President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the United States and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation.

Merck Animal Health announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted a conditional approval for Exzolt Cattle-CA1 fluralaner topical solution.

Take advantage of these long nights to get rested up for spring. That’s our God-given advantage at this latitude.

It’s time to come inside and learn something. The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition will be sponsoring several webinars this winter.