The Illinois River holds an important place in American agriculture history and the development of the Midwest. Stretching 273 miles across the state of Illinois, the river served as a critical transportation and trade route long before modern highways and railroads transformed the region. The river begins at the meeting point of the Des Plaines River and the Kankakee River …
As growers continue to plant this year’s crops, USDA has released the Crop Planting Progress Report across the country. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey provided the update starting with corn. “Looking at our 18 production states listed in the USDA NAS table, we saw progress greater than 20% planted during the week in six of those states, led by North Dakota, a …
Well, it’s peanut planting time. Peanut farmers are waiting for the area that has not received any rain to get a rain to get this peanut crop in the ground. What’s going to happen now? Waiting on USDA to give us an estimate on how many peanuts have been planted before any contracts are going to be sealed. The first estimate was that this …
Precious metals not all that precious as they were even two weeks ago. Inflation back on the front burner heading into the memorial holiday and precious metals certainly feeling the effects. Still six more days of trade in the month of May after today, but so far for the month gold down over two percent to near 4500 dollars an ounce. That’s the lowest …
For generations, the Colorado River has shaped the landscape, economy, and agricultural success of the American West. Stretching across rugged mountains, deep canyons, and desert valleys, the river is far more than a scenic natural wonder — it is one of the most important water sources in North America. According to American Agriculture History Minute host Mark Oppold, the Colorado …
The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced in a post on X the outcomes from President Trump’s Summit in China last week. Secretary Rollins highlighted the outcomes saying, “$17B in NEW purchase commitments, in addition to the 25MMT soybean commitment; U.S. poultry will be back on the table in China, as they are resuming U.S. imports; U.S. beef is …
The US Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry held a hearing last week to determine solutions to strengthen the fertilizer supply chain and to address agricultural input affordability. Witnesses that provided testimony for the hearing included Andy Green with Center Market Strategies, Trent Kubik with South Dakota Corn Growers, Eddie Melton with Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Corey Rosenbusch with …
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has released a statement on the recent trade developments between the United States and China. According to USMEF, “China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) has granted a five-year registration extension to 425 overdue U.S. beef establishments in China’s Food Import Food Establishment (CIFER) system. Additionally, 77 new U.S. beef establishment registrations have been added …
Expanded daily trading limits for live cattle and feeder cattle futures could make the convergence on the June futures very interesting about a month from now. CME announced late week that daily limits for live cattle will increase to $8.50 starting June 1st, $10.75 for feeder cattle on the same day. June live cattle started the week yesterday about $10 below the current cash …
Life on the Farm Before Electricity As late as the mid-1930s, nearly nine out of every ten rural homes in America still lived without electric service. While cities across the nation were rapidly modernizing with electric lights, appliances, and industrial growth, much of rural America remained in conditions that had changed little for generations. Farm families depended on manual labor …
