February 13, 2025

The president of National FFA says members are celebrating ag education. Thaddeus Bergschneider from Illinois says more than one million members are participating in National FFA Week activities.  “It’s not only about the members that we have an FFA right now, it’s the hundreds of thousands of FFA alumni we have,” he says. “All the people […] The post National FFA Week is an opportunity to celebrate ag education appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Brooke Rollins as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Department of Health and Human Services. Agriculture organizations say there’s a lot of work ahead at USDA now that Rollins has been confirmed. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says he […] The post U.S. Senate confirms secretaries at USDA, Health and Human Services appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

A federal foreign food aid program may have new life, thanks to legislation introduced in Congress this week. Is passed, Food for Peace would be moved to the USDA from the shuttered U.S. Agency for International Development. Virginia Houston, director of government affairs for the American Soybean Association tells Brownfield continuing the program is crucial. […] The post Legislation introduced to move Food for Peace program to USDA appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza for the first time in Monroe County near the Ohio border. State offials say the backyard flock is the first detection of the virus in the county since 2022 and the sixth case in the state reported since the beginning of […] The post Monroe County backyard poultry HPAI positive  appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The deputy executive director of the Missouri Soybean Association says farmers are concerned about this year’s expiration of several provisions of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017. Casey Wasser tells Brownfield bonus depreciation, stepped-up basis, and sensible estate taxes are key tools in farm succession. “We want to make sure through the tax […] The post Farmers take tax concerns to Congress appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

U.S. pork demand continues to be boosted by exports. National Pork Board senior vice president of market growth David Newman tells Brownfield 2024 was another banner year for pork exports. “And again, we continue to be the shining star globally on both volume and value of exports. So that’s roughly 30 percent of our production, […] The post Exports continue to boost U.S. pork demand appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The Ohio State Legislature has passed a bill that would create more native plant habitats across the state. Mary Turocy, with the Nature Conservancy in Ohio, says the legislation allows organizations to restore over-run invasive land by planting native seeds across the state. “There isn’t really much of a market for locally sourced native seeds, so this […] The post New Ohio legislation would create more native plant habitats appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

An ag economist says the outlook for fertilizer prices isn’t favorable for farmers. University of Missouri’s Ben Brown says, “My general bias here is that fertilizer prices are going to move higher as we get closer to spring. I think there’s certain product categories that are going to see more of a rally than others, […] The post Fertilizer prices could jump soon, economist says appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story