From progress on the farm bill to new trade agreements and growing momentum for year-round E15, there’s been meaningful movement that shows agriculture’s priorities are being heard.

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson must not be a superstitious man. If he were, he would not have introduced the biggest bill of his congressional career, the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026,” on Friday the 13th.

The blue jacket isn’t just something I talk about. It’s something I’ve lived.

Improving farm drainage tiles in Illinois can be very challenging because most farmland is owned by absentee landowners rather than by the farmer.

For people in agriculture and rural communities, take heed: We work outside where ticks thrive, and one small bite can create a life-changing food allergy.

More than 4,000 farmer and rancher Farm Bureau members gathered for the 107th American Farm Bureau Federation Convention, held earlier this month in Anaheim, California.

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.

Farmers and ranchers have been promised a “new” farm bill every year since before the “old” law expired Sept. 30, 2023.

My grandfather taught me that if something has been good to you, it’s your responsibility to give back to it and leave things better than you found them.

From conferences to company visits, the Illinois FFA major state officers have stayed very busy over the past month.

If growing corn is a religion among Midwestern farmers, its Vatican is somewhere in central Iowa.

One of the things I’ve learned over my years in Farm Bureau is that policy doesn’t move forward on its own. It moves because people show up, build relationships and take the time to share their stories.

Agriculture has never been just about acres, animals, or equipment. It’s about people. It’s about families, partnerships, neighbors and communities whose lives are tied to the land and to each other.

To any farmer who feels these frustrations, I want to begin my term as Indiana Corn Growers Association president by offering a hand of help and hope. You are not alone.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced payment rates for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, but there are still some gaps.

For many farm families in Indiana, the farm represents both legacy and livelihood. Protecting valuable assets through insurance is essential, but high input costs and low commodity prices are adding strain to already tight farm budgets.

If your sadness ever becomes too heavy and you feel unsafe, overwhelmed, or find yourself thinking about harming yourself, please don’t carry that alone.

China, the White House’s biggest tariff punching bag last year, purchased its promised 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans more than 45 days ahead of its agreed-upon deadline.

Indiana pork farmers are concerned about House Bill 1137, which would move our state toward food regulations similar to those used in Europe.

As farmers, we’re proud of the role we play in feeding America. All we ask is that nutrition policy recognizes the full picture — and that lawmakers remember you can’t build a healthy diet without a strong farm economy to support it.

This year is the International Year of the Woman Farmer, and Farm Bureau has been working for months to champion and celebrate the occasion.

A word of caution: Do not get between reality and political forces in Congress when Republicans and Democrats agree to spend more money on farm programs rather than reform the very programs that are failing farmers and rural America.

When farmers and ranchers come together, they don’t just talk about challenges — they get to work finding solutions.

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.

Today’s rock-bottom feed prices cancel out payments that would otherwise help us get through the struggles that too-low milk prices bring with them.

Draining excess water from farm fields in Illinois is vital to food and renewable fuel production. However, the lack of adequate farm drainage is a serious problem.

Fresh from the farm. American grown. Those words bring to mind quality and value, thanks to the hardworking men and women across this country who are proud to be called farmers.

With lower grain prices, higher interest rates and increased production costs, some farms are facing a challenging financial situation.

The president didn’t return much affection to rural voters in 2025. Farm inputs, health care and food costs continued to rise; yo-yo tariff policies sliced ag exports; and cuts to several federal farm and rural programs clipped rural communities.

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.

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.

Clean water is essential for every farmer and rancher; we depend on it every day. That’s why we’re encouraged to see the new proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.

The long days, unpredictable weather, volatile markets and rising input costs rarely factor into conversations at the grocery store or the checkout line.

The best action we could take in the coming year to better serve all Americans — farmers, ranchers and every food buyer — is to simply stop digging the deepening hole we’re already in.

It’s fair to say that 2025 has been a year of meaningful progress for agriculture, on top of some very big challenges. Farm Bureau helped farmers and ranchers across the country navigate the roller coaster ride.

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.

Biofuels remain a cornerstone of U.S. agriculture, supporting crop prices, rural jobs and energy security.

Farmers can deduct the residual fertility value on newly purchased or inherited land. A soil analysis and records of past treatments are needed to claim the deduction.

There’s something magical about Christmas on the farm. The stars in the sky reflecting off of a snowy field, the quiet hum of a heater in the barn office and that sense of peace that comes from being surrounded by open space and loved ones.

This Christmas column, first published in 1994, remains the most-requested column ever written by Alan Guebert. Maybe that’s because its lesson is both timely and timeless or perhaps it’s just a warm tale well told.

If people invested even a fraction of the money they pour into massive animal “rights” organizations into helping children in this country, the impact could be nothing short of transformative.

To truly experience the Trump tariff rollercoaster, hop on the ear-popping ride American cattlemen, meatpackers and U.S. beef eaters have been on over the past few months.

A longtime Idaho rancher suggested this week’s segment. We’ll start with this quote from an unknown author: “Truth is, great things take time. So, either you wait or you settle for less.”

Each year during the holiday season, I sit down and make a list of things for which I am truly thankful. Some entries never change. These constants anchor my list, reminding me of the steady gifts that shape my life.

There was so much blarney and puffery flying around the Cabinet Room during the White House farmer and rancher gathering Dec. 8 that it became impossible to tell fact from fiction.

Farm families need lasting certainty, and we appreciate our partners in Washington for taking this important first step by delivering a $12 billion package. But the need is far greater.

On the southern Illinois dairy farm of my youth, we marked seasons by the work more than by the month.

Financial stress is severe and persistent across farm country, according to a new Market Intel report from the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Biofuels, like E15, are boosting farm businesses, improving the environment and reducing costs at the pump.