CNH Industrial Announces agreement with Electric Tractor Company

Dan Economy, Technology

CNH Industrial announced last week an agreement with Monarch tractor, a U.S.-based company specializing in electric autonomous tractors. The license agreement foresees the launch of a scalable, modular electrification platform focusing on low horsepower tractors. The tractors will be developed across multiple product families in the coming years, using a process that continuously gathers farmers’ input to meet customer needs. …

There Is No Cow Tax in New Legislation

Dan Alabama, Cattle, Economy

There has been some misinformation floating around, especially on social media, that the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by the House last Friday and by the Senate back in August, nor the reconciliation bill working its way through Congress, has language in it saying farmers will be taxed for each cow. This is simply false. And Alabama Cattlemen’s Association (ACA) Executive Vice President Erin …

New Promotional Opportunity for Agritourism Venues

Dan Economy

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture is looking for orchards, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and more to showcase on a new app. The American Farm trail app is dedicated to connecting consumers with agritourism venues. Created by the Farm Bureau Foundation and sponsored by Corteva, the app allows farmers, ranchers and farm attraction managers to sign up for free …

Ag Economy Barometer: Farmer Sentiment Weakens

Dan Economy

For the third month in a row, agricultural producer sentiment weakened. The October Ag Economy Barometer declined to 121, three points lower than a month earlier. The modest decline occurred as a result of producers weaker perceptions regarding both current and future conditions in the production agriculture sector. Recent weakness in farmer sentiment appears to be driven by a wide …

NMPF’s Bjerga Discusses Opportunity in Reconciliation

Dan Dairy, Economy, Legislative

We are hearing a lot about the budget reconciliation legislation, otherwise known as the Build Back Better Act, being discussed in Congress. During a recent interview on RFD-TV, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Senior Vice President of Communications, Alan Bjerga, talked about some of the opportunities for dairy that’s currently in that legislation. The legislation also includes $27 billion in a once-in-a-generation …

USDA Provides $1.8 Billion to Offset Market Fluctuations

Dan Economy, USDA-FSA

Farmers Can Now Make Elections, Enroll in Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Programs (WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2021) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the process of issuing $1.8 billion in payments to agricultural producers who enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2020 crop year.  These payments provide critical support …

Crops Sector Received 65% of PPP Loans for Agriculture in 2020

Dan Economy, USDA-ERS

Information updated by USDA’s Economic Research Service Wednesday shows 65 percent of Paycheck Protection Program 2020 agriculture funds went crop farms, with the rest for livestock. Last year, farmers and ranchers could use forgivable loans from the program to help keep employees on payroll and offset some of their operating costs. The maximum PPP loan amount was 2.5 times the …

Citrus Industry Seeks to Maintain Funding, Eyes Research

Dan Citrus, Economy, Research

Despite a predicted drop in citrus production across Florida, orange juice sales are tracking up. And according to the News Service of Florida, the industry wants lawmakers to maintain current amounts of state marketing and research funding next fiscal year. Meanwhile, efforts to combat citrus greening disease could soon lead to a new University of Florida-backed variety of citrus on …