October 8, 2025

An agriculture leader says the government shutdown is preventing trade opportunities from being finalized. National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles says his trip to Japan last week with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture ended before it even began. “It costs us time,” he says. “It misses an opportunity for us to finally, finally get a […] The post Shutdown delaying key U.S. agriculture trade activities   appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

An ag economist at Ohio State University says a recent study shows on-farm storage could be more expensive than prior years. Professor emeritus Carl Zulauf says changes in interest rates have contributed to an uptick in storage costs.  “Soybeans are 2.5 times the price of corn, so there’s a higher price per bushel,” he says. “In […] The post Corn and soybean storage could cost farmers more in 2025 appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The outreach agronomist with the Illinois Soybean Association says farmers are seeing a wide range of variability in this year’s harvest results. Stephanie Porter tells Brownfield, “I think that a lot of that is attributed to weather, but also genetics as well.”  She says, “In corn, I’ve been hearing some pretty good yields, but I’m […] The post Illinois Agronomist: Weather and genetics driving wide harvest variability appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

An agronomist with Beck’s Hybrids says farmers who applied fungicide this year are seeing significantly higher corn yields.   “They’re learning a lot what about southern rust can do as a disease, and what fungicides can provide to them.” Trey Stephens covers 18 counties in southeast Nebraska and says yields have been below expectations. “We […] The post Fungicide applications show ROI in corn yields appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The U.S. Senate has confirmed two USDA appointments amid the government shutdown. Devon Westhill is the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights. Michael Boren is the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the USDA. In a statement on X, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins praised the confirmations. She said “the team is coming […] The post Two more USDA appointments confirmed appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

The outlook on the rebuild of the U.S. cattle herd looks different across the Midwest. Josh Worthington, a cattle producer in Dade County, Missouri, says the conversations are happening in southern Missouri. “I don’t know if there are people out there just looking to buy big, huge groups of cows right now, but I do […] The post Midwest cattle producers remain cautious on herd rebuilding appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

A west central Minnesota farmer is looking for ways to improve margins for next year. Noah Hultgren grows corn, soybeans, sugarbeets, edible beans, and alfalfa near Raymond in Kandiyohi County. “We’re real tight with some of the inputs that we’re looking to put in. Even with some of the promises from some of the coops […] The post Minnesota farmer tightens input costs to boost margins appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story

U.S. ethanol production surged last week as many operations wrapped up seasonal maintenance. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 1.071 million barrels per day, an increase of 76,000 on the week and 33,000 on the year, due in part to the rising supply of corn as harvest advances. Iowa State University’s Center for […] The post Ethanol output rises as corn harvest advances appeared first on Brownfield Ag News. View Full Story