BUSINESS
Close to half the corn crop in Wisconsin and other corn-producing states is in poor to very poor condition, the U. S. Department of Agriculture said Monday, as one of the nation’s worst-ever droughts continues to turn the growing season into a nightmare for many. In Wisconsin, 43% of the corn crop is in very poor to poor condition, the report said. About a third of the state’s corn - 31% - is considered to be in good or excellent condition by the USDA, and 26% of the state’s corn crop is in fair condition.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program provided assistance to farmers who delayed silage harvest to help the rare birds.
Coalition wants farm bill to continue cost-share program to help upgrade equipment, decrease emissions and address federal air quality regulations.
Joe Trumm took over his family farm years ago, despite a warning from his father that there was no future in farming.
Board says current plans for the high-speed rail system represent an imminent threat to productive farmland.
Much of Ohio has slipped officially into drought, creating economic and wildfire concerns for emergency-management officials, as well as for agriculture and farmers statewide. A drought-assessment committee led by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency will meet Friday to begin to plan for the state’s response to the drought. Potential agricultural responses include mandatory water conservation, emergency livestock-feed distribution, and emergency payments and loans to producers who lose property or production.
Corn up 5% over last year; Soybean acreage is third largest on record.
Total costs, excluding labor and management, are running about $17.63/cwt for tie stall herds and right at $16 for midsized freestall operations.
Influx of younger dairy farmers bodes well for the economy and environment.
Fifty-seven counties produce 50% of all Federal Order and California milk, down from 62 counties just five years ago.
New web resource maps USDA support for local and regional food projects, highlights business opportunities for farmers, ranchers and growers.
If manure smells like money -- and in February 2012 the commodity markets say it does -- then Sioux County is one of the wealthiest places in America.Truckloads of cows and pigs rumble south every day on Highway 75 on their way to slaughterhouses in Omaha and Dakota City, Neb. Profit flows back into the towns of Rock Valley, Hull, Sioux Center and Orange City.
2009 underscored the fact that a minimum Current Ratio is not sufficient for most businesses to continue to pay current obligations,
The needed level of cash flow depends on levels of income generated, expense incurred and whether or not the farm manager can sleep at night.
Spending time with Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh and their five children on their Dharma Lea dairyfarm can make life here appear enviable.Sure, the work is hard and the days are long. But the Van Amburghs get to spend time together and they enjoy a close relationship with the land and their animals.But that’s the pastoral version of life on a small family farm. And the Van Amburghs, now in their fifth year, know that farming -- dairyfarming, especially -- is mainly about survival.
By not allowing states to increase their vehicle weight limits, dairy coalition says safety of nation’s roads are in jeopardy, additional costs are imposed on businesses.
Canadian cars are stealing from the mouths of pigs and cattle, according to a new study on the impact of blending ethanol with gasoline.The competition between food and fuel is squeezing the size of the province’s livestock sector, says the study - a squeeze that could get even worse if the amount of ethanol used in gasoline increases.
The Pennsylvana all-milk price could average $2 less than last year, accoring to current dairy futures prices.
This allows managers to plan for various contingencies and better manage the situation as compared to having to react to surprising developments.
Nationally known veterinarian will be allowed to testify for the Utah dairy farmers.
WESLACO - When a swarm of Africanized honeybees infiltrated the U.S.-Mexico border in 1990, it was detected, destroyed and studied by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists at the Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center.When Hurricane Alice and a subsequent tropical depression sent floodwaters coursing down the Rio Grande in the historic flood of 2010, it was planes operated by the center that allowed officials to track the river’s swelling.
Tigner estimates feed costs alone per hundredweight of milk sold is $13.63 for 24K herds compared to $15.20 for 20K herds.
Open interest in dairy futures and options is up nearly 70%, with Class III options leading the way with more than 84,000 positions.
November 2011 budgets show that tiestall barns producing 20,000 lb. of milk per cow were losing $1.81/cwt. when all costs were included.
In November, $6.5 million of members’ capital retain investment was distributed. This month’s payment of $3.5 million is a result of previously allocated earnings.
An affiliate of Dairy Solutionz (NZ) Ltd. in New Zealand has teamed with partners and investors to establish an initial 1,000-cow farm by 2013 on Hawaii island and help rebuild Hawaii’s local milk supply.
The shock waves from the collapse of commodities trading firm MF Global Inc. are hitting hard across rural America, where farmers, ranchers and agricultural business owners are nervously waiting to learn how much money they’ve lost.
The town of Seymour, Iowa, has lost one-third of its population over the past three decades, and John Flood, who manages a local grain elevator, figures that one of the causes was a federal program that took large swaths of Wayne County cropland out of production. “You had all that land idled and no one doing anything with it,” he said.