March 7, 2025

Soybeans were mixed, with nearby contracts ending week modestly lower. It was an up and down day for beans, eventually falling into bear spreading. The trade’s watching harvest weather in Argentina and Brazil and while some firms have trimmed estimates, combined production is going to put a lot of beans and products on the export […] The post Quiet end to a volatile week for grains and oilseeds appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection has narrowed the applicants down to Grande Cheese Company food scientist Allison Foster of Waupun; ag journalist Michelle Stangler of Watertown; farmer, educator, and cross-country coach Mikayla Flyte from Coloma; farmer and social media coordinator Natalie Roe of Monticello; livestock producer and ag educator for the Viroqua […] The post Six finalists named for next Alice in Dairyland appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

A U.S. Representative from Iowa says President Trump has been strategic in his recent tariff actions. “He’s playing chess, not checkers,” Republican Ashley Hinson said Friday. Hinson tells Brownfield there could be some short-term uncertainty, but, “President Trump’s overall goal is to protect American workers and American trade to bring back more opportunity, better bridges, […] The post Rep. Hinson says tariffs are part of Trump’s “long game” approach appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

Cenex fuel sign photo taken by Brent Barnett/Brownfield A district manager of lubricants for Cenex says farmers should consider equipment maintenance in their spring planting checklist. Scot Hermanson tells Brownfield tractors and planters need to be cleaned and lubricated. “We want to make sure things get greased up in the right areas of the tractor […] The post Cenex’s spring equipment checklist appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The president of the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association says a recent trip to Capitol Hill doesn’t leave him optimistic for a 2025 farm bill. KJ Johnson says Congress has a full agenda. “There’s a lot of conversation about the farm bill, but when does it actually happen?”  He says, “The biggest thing most people […] The post Not optimistic for a 2025 farm bill appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

A company has developed new technology that can treat seeds with light to unlock desirable traits.  BioLumic founder and Chief Science Officer Jason Wargent tells Brownfield they found it was possible to have plants express desirable traits without genetically modifying them, with very positive results. “We see these initially staggering gains in yield. We really […] The post Ultraviolet light helps seeds express desirable traits appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

What is Digital farming? Libby Rens, U.S. Technical Agronomy Manager for BASF Digital Farming, who leads a team that works on trialing and validation of digital farming models, explained this data-driven approach to farming. Rens tells Brownfield Digital farming is important to BASF because it offers farmers a smart, cost effective and sustainable approach to […] The post Digital tools help farmer’s efficiency appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

Cash dairy prices were mostly lower except butter Friday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.    Dry whey was unchanged at $0.49.  No sales were recorded.  Forty-pound cheese block prices were down $0.0050 at $1.6225.  Seven sales were recorded, ranging from $1.61 to $1.6225.  Cheese barrels were down $0.0250 at $1.63.  One sale was recorded at that […] The post Cash dairy prices mostly lower Friday appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story