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Voters chose to send Donald Trump, who served his first term as U.S. president from 2016 to 2020, back to the White House in the Nov. 5 national election.

A constructed wetland designed to receive tile drainage water from 73 acres of corn and soybeans is doing its job of removing nitrates.

ILSoyAdvisor Soy Envoys recapped the top agronomic challenges of 2024 and what potentially lies ahead for 2025 in an Illinois Soybean Association Field Advisor podcast.

If you’re waiting for water, then the weather outlook headed into the first weeks of November will be good news. But if you’re ready to break out the cold weather gear, you may have to wait a while.

While the extended dry, warm fall has made harvest of corn and soybeans smoother for farmers, it also means farmers might have to put the brakes on when it comes to fall fertilizer applications.

Soybean farmers have benefited from decades of checkoff-funded research that’s pushed yields, and now a program is taking those efforts to the next level.

Moderate to severe drought conditions across the Corn Belt provided ideal conditions for fast harvest, but it also draws questions about fall fertilizer strategies and tillage if the weather trend continues.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $1.5 billion investment for 92 partner-driven conservation projects, including one in Illinois and Indiana, through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

Examples of typical and not-so-common cover crops used in corn and soybean rotations were featured in a recent plot tour on the Farm Progress Show grounds.

Agricultural economic activity has been flat to down modestly since early September, with some crop prices remaining unprofitably low.

As the cropping year winds down in his part of Illinois, Eric Miller looked back on his two decades of farming in the central part of the state with gratitude.

We are making good progress on harvest. Obviously, it’s been sunny and dry and warm. I would say soybeans are 98% done in the area and corn harvest is maybe 50% complete.

We are in that tough phase between decent residue grazing and great stockpile grazing. It is the hardest time of the year for grazing management.

What a great harvest we had, huge crop and great weather to harvest in. Aside from the dusty road conditions, I do not recall an easier harvest ever.

Once again, no shortage of things to do on the farm and couple that with the planning and office work that continues to be done, there won’t be much time for rest or slacking.

Mark Seib, a grain farmer in southern Indiana, has finished soybean harvest and is closing in on corn.

As stewards of farms and ranches, we know the benefits of each season for growing crops and raising livestock. Those four distinct seasons help us learn to live in the moment. Every year, we only get a few months of each one.

Harvest is on pace for the Rahn family to finish earlier in 2024 than they have in many years.

Warm, dry weather is helping farmers in northern Illinois to quickly harvest corn and soybeans with little need to run the crops through a dryer prior to storage.

With the current crises we face on all fronts, foreign and domestic, we need a strong leader and God’s help to get us through.

I asked my wife, “What have I done in the last 30 days?” She said, “Praying for rain, moving sheep and praying for rain.” I’m still praying for rain.

We hosted a farm and mill tour as part of our county’s Farm Stroll. The local University of Illinois Extension office coordinates the day with small farms and more in Boone County participating.

Low rainfall levels throughout the Midwest in the late summer and early autumn have caused water levels on the upper and lower Mississippi, as well as the Illinois, Missouri and Ohio rivers, to drop.

The focus at Schoepp Farms LLC is to keep soil and nutrients on the land.

Getting a jump-start on fieldwork in preparation for next year’s planting season can set you up for success, according to AgriGold Agronomist Jacob Gehrls.

The devastation across the South right now is heartbreaking. I know I speak for the whole Farm Bureau family when I say we are lifting our neighbors up in prayer, across the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.

Between harvest and preparing for the state corn-husking competition, From the Fields contributor Clay Geyer has a busy October ahead of him.

Will we someday return to a more diversified Midwest agriculture economy incorporating livestock into row crop operations?

We have all but finished our harvest for the year. Corn chopping went extremely smooth with no rain delays and to my recollection only one truck needing pulled all season long — surely a record.

Who would have thought that hurricanes would impact Illinois weather so much, but that is what has happened. Not just one, but two of those storms made their way to southern Illinois with ample amounts of rain.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced up to $7.7 billion in assistance for fiscal year 2025 to help agricultural and forestry producers adopt conservation practices on working lands.

Like farmers and ranchers, veterinarians love to pour concrete. Many build customized facilities dedicated to their animal health mission: examination rooms, operating theaters, cattle chutes, holding pens, loading docks.

We harvested my two corn test plots. Technically, this is a corn-on-soybean plot because we broke the cycle of corn-on-corn last year. Both of my companies — LG Seeds and Golden Harvest — are helping.

As you make your way through another busy harvest, it’s important to record your field observations in order to make informed decisions for next year’s product selections.

Farmers should consider stalk quality as they decide which cornfields to harvest first.

Harvest is in full swing for Mark Seib, a grain farmer from Posey County in the southwestern corner of Indiana.

AgriGold agronomist Brett Leahr is concerned crown rot will be widespread in the Corn Belt this fall, especially in his territory that stretches from northern Missouri to central Illinois.

The water level of the Mississippi River is unusually low for the third straight year, forcing barge companies to put limits on how much cargo they can carry and cutting into farm profits.

In an episode of Purdue Agriculture’s “Managing Strategic Risks on Your Farm” podcast series, agricultural economists discussed how you can position your farm to not only survive, but actually thrive in a risky world.

As you make your way through another busy harvest, it’s important to record your field observations in order to make informed decisions for next year’s product selections.

Corn harvest started on the Rahn farm at the middle of September, which is typical for them.

A late-summer drought across much of the Midwest certainly altered the landscape. The cows are moving slowly, single file as they often do, coming from a pasture to get a drink from the automatic waterers.

The mill is buzzing with activity to prepare some of our fiber for sale and complete customer orders. We make felted batts from our Scottish Blackface wool.

We’ve gone more than a month now without any rain and none in our forecast, so the pastures are thirsty. In spite of that, the cover crops on our wheat stubble are looking surprisingly well.

Beef production spans generations in the Hanson and Kuipers family in Iroquois County where they operate a forage-based program utilizing a paddock grazing system along with growing corn, soybeans and wheat.

Every day, rain or shine, farmers rise to do their jobs. Whether we’re tired or stressed, we press on. If we disagree with a family member, we find a way forward. We don’t stall on planting or harvesting or caring for our animals.

I think the very earliest planted corn is getting close, but with the dry forecast, producers are probably taking advantage of in-field drying to get the moisture down so there’s not much drying expense.

Rain at the end of August was good timing for the double-crop soybeans growing in northern Illinois.

I think we’re going to be better than last year for corn and soybean yields. I don’t have super high expectations, but it’s going to be good.

Sometimes, life is heavy. Trying to balance my career, household duties and helping on the farm quickly became overwhelming. To put it lightly, I was exhausted.