With markets back open today after yesterday’s holiday, Mark Oppold has a look at what is happening with the crude oil market. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Track Record Well Received By LegislatorsJanuary 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Supports Beef Education and Promotion ProgramsJanuary 23, 2026Florida Cattle Producers Proactive In Research Efforts Funded by the Florida Cattle Enhancement BoardJanuary 16, …
USDA to Measure Financial Well-Being of Farmers and Ranchers
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will spend the next few months gathering information about land ownership income, expense, debt, asset, demographic and other landlord characteristics to provide detailed information from agricultural landowners. The Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey will ask producers to provide in-depth information about their operating revenues, production costs, and household characteristics. “TOTAL will …
Richard Fordyce Appointed Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation
Richard Fordyce has been appointed as the Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, marking his return to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Fordyce, a Missouri farmer, previously served in the Trump administration as the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency. His new role will oversee key agencies that directly serve farmers and ranchers, including the Farm Service Agency (FSA), …
American Agriculture History Minute: Mechanical Corn Shellers Introduced
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Corn has always been an important part of American agriculture history, but shelling it – usually by hand – was a difficult one for families, and the process normally was a community affair, family and friends gathering together for a shelling bee. Mechanical corn shellers were introduced in the 1800s as …
More 2024 Crop Production Numbers
Last week, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released updated crop production numbers for last year’s crops. Tyron Spearman runs through more of those numbers. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Track Record Well Received By LegislatorsJanuary 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Supports Beef Education and Promotion ProgramsJanuary 23, 2026Florida Cattle Producers Proactive In Research Efforts Funded by the Florida Cattle Enhancement BoardJanuary …
Looking Ahead at Annual Cattle Inventory Report
Coming at the end of the month will be USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report, something that many in the industry are looking forward to seeing. Rusty Halvorson has the story. Later this month, on Thursday, Jan. 31, USDA will release its yearly Cattle Inventory report. Last year, the report revealed the beef cowherd at the start of 2024 stood at a …
Reviewing Agricultural Commodities
With markets closed today, Mark Oppold takes time to look at where certain agricultural commodities currently stand so far this year. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Track Record Well Received By LegislatorsJanuary 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Supports Beef Education and Promotion ProgramsJanuary 23, 2026Florida Cattle Producers Proactive In Research Efforts Funded by the Florida Cattle Enhancement BoardJanuary 16, 2026Florida …
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Ag Land Increases Between 2022-2023
The latest report on foreign ownership of U.S. ag land shows that 45.85 million acres of U.S. farmland were held by foreign investors in 2023. That represents 3.61 percent of total privately-held agricultural land in the U.S. This marks a 1.58-million-acre, or 3.6 percent, increase from 2022 and a five-million-acre (12.2 percent) rise since the American Farm Bureau’s last analysis …
Beagle Brigade Secures the Nation’s Agricultural Gateways
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beagle Brigade continues to play a pivotal role in safeguarding the country’s farms and crops from invasive pests. Deployed at major airports, border crossings, and postal facilities, these highly trained detection dogs work in tandem with their human handlers to pinpoint unauthorized fruits, vegetables, and meat items that could harbor harmful organisms. Beagles are chosen …
American Agriculture History Minute: Beginning of Land Stewardship
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. Significant areas of farmland were abandoned during the Great Depression and incorporated into national forests. And that began more land stewardship with farmers and ranchers, and, reversed a decades-long trend of destruction of land that really can be traced to 1942. When farmers and ranchers were encouraged to plant all possible …










