Some combines finally emerged slowly out of storage sheds last week. While harvest progress was extremely limited, at least a few initial crop reports were fairly positive despite extreme crop variability. Massac County farmer Marc Bremer harvested corn four consecutive days last week and was pleasantly surprised with yields slightly above average from a field … Read More

Agriculture leaders want to remind farmers about the dangers of anhydrous ammonia. “Anhydrous ammonia is a compressed liquid gas with a nitrogen source. A liquid fertilizer we’ll call it,” said Ag-Land FS Operations Manager Eric Long. “You want to take precautions. Number one you want to have the proper protective equipment. Gloves, goggles is minimum,” … Read More

When Illinois’ new law legalizing recreational marijuana takes effect Jan. 1, growers will face some of the strongest energy efficiency and reporting requirements in the country. Marijuana can be an energy intensive crop. The new electricity load to power lighting, heating and ventilation for indoor grow facilities has strained the grid and even caused blackouts … Read More

House Democrats are considering a stopgap spending bill that could prevent or slow delivery of President Trump’s trade aid payments to farmers after the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., has proposed to deny a request from the White House to include a provision in the continuing resolution keeping the … Read More

Farmers are confused by the trade aid distribution method for damages caused by the ongoing trade war with China, according to a Reuters report released on Friday. The report notes that a Texas cotton farmer is receiving $145 an acre for financial damages while Betsy Jensen, a soybean farmer in Minnesota is receiving $35 an acre. Soybean … Read More

There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for U.S. dairy farmers who’ve absorbed a multiyear run of poor margins. Higher domestic dairy consumption and increased export values drove a slight uptick in USDA’s latest dairy price forecast. It pegged the all-milk price forecast for 2019 at $18.30 per hundredweight, up a … Read More

The debate over whether Illinois should change its flat income tax to a structure taxing higher rates for higher earners is expected to be expensive as groups on both sides of the issue prepare for November 2020 election. Supporters have said the progressive income tax proposal will bring the state an additional $3.2 billion in … Read More

Congress “ought to take action early this fall” on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) so the trade pact can take effect before the end of the year, said Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley this week. Grassley told reporters that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expects to reach agreement this month with House Democrats on modification … Read More

President Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday night that he would delay by two weeks the next increase in tariffs on Chinese goods as a “gesture of good will” to advance trade talks. The president acted several hours after a conciliatory Chinese move to grant 16 U.S. products a one-year exemption from Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs. … Read More

The Trump administration is expected to announce today its final repeal of the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States rule, which cemented pollution protections for small streams and wetlands after two muddled Supreme Court decisions. The rollback is just the first step in a two-step process that aims to restrict the reach of the … Read More