April 30, 2025

The coordinator of the Illinois Agricultural Pest Survey says the invasive spotted lanternfly has made its home in the state. “We are seeing a small population up there. We have over wintering with egg masses.” Kelly Estes says the pest, which originates from China, can survive the Cook County winter and could be transported anywhere […] The post Spring brings increased spotted lanternfly surveillance appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The USDA has launched a portal for farmers, ranchers, and USDA customers to report complaints if they believe they have been targeted by unfair or politically motivated legal actions. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the announcement Wednesday morning. “We will work with our counterparts across the Trump government to address any other government overreach […] The post USDA launches lawfare complaint portal for farmers and ranchers appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The U.S. EPA says its included updates in the final Insecticide Strategy to make it easier for applicators and growers to comply with the Endangered Species Act. “We see a lot of improvements here.” Kyle Kunkler with the American Soybean Association says the improvements are across many different areas. “Everything from adding additional mitigations to […] The post A closer look at the EPA’s final insecticide strategy appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

An economist with the University of Missouri says the Trump administration’s waiver allowing sales of E15 fuel blends this summer isn’t a long-term solution. “Monday’s announcement of year-round E15 follows a similar pattern from the last couple years,” Ben Brown said. Brown says biofuel producers and fuel retailers have been frustrated with a lack of […] The post Economist: Farmers, biofuel producers, fuel retailers still seek E15 certainty appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The Trump administration has announced it is resuming payments to growers through the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says a second round of support up to $1.3 billion will be used to assist growers with rising input costs and to expand domestic markets. The assistance program was created at the end of […] The post Additional specialty crop funding released appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

An ag economist says demand has been strong for U.S. corn. Jim McCormick with AgMarket.Net says the corn market has been monitoring harvest in Argentina and second crop conditions in Brazil. “A big critical part is this safrinha corn crop,” he said. “From what I understand, they are getting the rain they need right now. […] The post Second crop corn conditions favorable in Brazil appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The Trump administration has dropped criminal charges against a South Dakota family accused of improperly using Forest Service land. Ethan Lane with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the Maude family was a victim of an egregious overreach of power. “The fact that the Trump administration heard those calls from us, from the Public Lands […] The post Criminal charges dropped against a South Dakota ranching family appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

Photo by Brownfield’s Erin Anderson. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says the USDA continues to evaluate job cuts within the agency. “We are very focused on ensuring that the front line of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whether it’s APHIS, whether it’s FSA, our rural development piece, whatever it is, that those positions are not rift […] The post Rollins comments on workforce reductions, says USDA working on government efficiency  appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

Using corn rootworm traits for too long can lead to a lower return on investment. In this episode of Managing for Profit, Purdue University entomologist Christian Krupke explains what farmers can do to save money and prevent corn rootworm resistance. The post An overuse of Bt corn traits can lead to a lower ROI appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story