An Iowan who served nearly three years in the Trump Administration is heading home. Bill Northey resigned as Iowa Ag Secretary in March of 2018 to become Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It'll be different waking up now every day not … [Read more...]
Biden touts Vilsack’s ‘deep experience’ at U.S.D.A.
President-elect Joe Biden says he had to do a bit of persuading to convince former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to agree to serve again as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Biden introduced Vilsack and four other members of his domestic policy team today, three of whom served in the Obama … [Read more...]
ISU expert says corn and beans still have room to move up in price
Farmers have seen a boost in corn and soybean prices since harvest finished and an Iowa State University Extension specialist says indications are the upward trends will continue. Chad Hart says a couple of things have impacted prices. "We saw sort of the combination of the drought and the … [Read more...]
Railway traffic patterns show good signs for Iowa’s economy
A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Transportation is seeing some good trends in rail and other transportation areas for the state's economy. The DOT's Stuart Anderson gave a report on the issue to the Transportation Commission. "It's flattened out a bit -- but if you diver deeper into the … [Read more...]
Federal farm payments doubled in 2020, net farm income up 43%
The USDA is forecasting net farm income for 2020 will jump 43% over last year, reaching a seven-year high of nearly $120 billion. "I would summarize this as an update of a pretty dramatic upswing in the farm economy," said ag economist David Widmar of the consulting firm Agricultural Economic … [Read more...]
Grassley on Heitkamp, Vilsack as US ag secretary nominees
Senator Chuck Grassley predicts Joe Biden's pick to be the next U.S. treasury secretary will get a favorable review in the U.S. Finance Committee. Grassley is currently chair of the panel. "Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve, to be secretary of the treasury's one that seems to have … [Read more...]
Economist predicts ’21 a good year for ag sector
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says this year's increase in farm income is leading to an increase in farmland prices. "Farmers are out there and they're feeling better about the economy, but unfortunately we're not seeing it in the businesses on what we call 'Rural Mainstreet,'" Goss … [Read more...]
Final field work wrapping up across Iowa
Farmers took advantage of good weather last week to wrap up some of the remaining harvest work. The U.S.D.A. crop report out Monday shows only scattered cornfields remain to be harvested across the state -- amounting to about two percent of the crop. Some of the derecho damaged cornfields … [Read more...]
Corn and bean harvest both down to final fields
The corn and bean harvests are down to the final days. The U.S.D.A. crop report shows just six percent of the corn crop remains in the fields. The most work remains in south-central Iowa -- where they still have more than 15% to be picked. All the rest of the state has less than five percent of … [Read more...]
Study finds seeds made to withstand drought do best in good weather
A new Stanford University study finds drought-tolerant seeds, soil management practices and other high-tech tools help most when the weather is good. Study leader, David Lobell, analyzed soil properties and crop yields in Iowa and eight other corn belt states and says farmers can’t count on … [Read more...]