
Farmers are learning their conservation payments are frozen because those contracts were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The White House has frozen IRA dollars across the...
Oil crude futures closed mixed on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed new sanctions on Iranian oil trade.
USDA's first net farm income forecast for 2025 shows much better income prospects, but it's due to a factor of government payments, not...
Blogger Jennifer Campbell says we could all learn something from a dog's ability to wind down and nap the non-productive, winter days away.
Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton has been writing and editing for DTN/The Progressive Farmer since 2005 after working more than seven years as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald.
Chris has been recognized as writer of the year by the American Agricultural Editors' Association and won story of the year multiple times from the organization. He also has won the Glenn Cunningham Agricultural Journalist of the Year Award from the North American Agricultural Journalists and served as the group's president in 2012-13. The National Farmers Union and American Coalition for Ethanol also each have named Chris communicator of the year.
Chris graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1993 with a degree in journalism. He has worked for news organizations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Nebraska. Chris lives in Glenwood, Iowa, with his wife and children.Farmers are learning their conservation payments are frozen because those contracts were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The White House has frozen IRA dollars across the...
Farmers are learning their conservation payments are frozen because those contracts were funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The White House has frozen IRA dollars across the...
Farmers representing several major commodity groups and farm organizations had a unified plea on Wednesday as they told U.S. senators that they are losing money and the current farm bill doesn't provide the support they need...
President Donald Trump came to terms with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday afternoon after reaching a deal with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier in the day. The deals will delay tariffs for at least one...
A quick deal announced Monday by President Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum means there will be no immediate tariffs for now. Meanwhile, the Canadian government on Sunday released a list of products to be subject to...
President Donald Trump signed three executive orders Saturday imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China. By Sunday, Canadians were vowing to pull American liquor off shelves, and Mexico was looking at...
Grain, dairy and oil markets all reacted negatively Friday to news Trump would place 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as soon as Saturday. The White House press secretary confirmed tariffs on trading partners would begin...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in his confirmation hearings this week, emphasized the increase in chronic diseases across America and advocated for incentives to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. Kennedy argued that...
In an interview, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, talked about the federal freeze on loans and grants, as well as other policy issues that Farm Bureau delegates added to the group's policy book.
After confusion, the White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday issued a clarification saying funds for small businesses and farmers would not be affected by a freeze on federal loans and grants. Programs for...
The World Food Prize Foundation is naming former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as its new CEO at the beginning of March. In an interview, Vilsack stressed the importance of addressing global food security to protecting national...
Speaking to members of the American Farm Bureau Federation, House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, R-Pa., and Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., expressed optimism about passing a farm bill this year, but they also...
Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told his members Sunday that Congress will have to respond this year to the various issues affecting farmers. Duvall pressed for action on the farm bill, agricultural...
Agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins' confirmation hearing with the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday was congenial and bipartisan, but senators raised concerns about the potential impacts of President Donald...
The Treasury Department will not require businesses to continue filing Beneficial Ownership Information reports even though the Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a Texas court's ruling to block the law.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is set to hold a confirmation hearing for Brooke Rollins on Thursday morning. Ahead of the hearing, the president's team released some of her priorities, which include quickly getting economic and...
The potential settlement comes in a case led by a collection of companies that buy large volumes of turkey products. They filed a lawsuit initially in 2019 against major turkey producers. Cargill, which controls about 20% of turkey...
President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders after his inauguration Monday. Among those were provisions allowing year-round E15. Trump also told reporters he would put tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting in February.
President Donald Trump, 78, highlighted several immediate executive orders he is signing on immigration, energy, trade and government bureaucracy. He wants to bring down fuel prices while cutting off illegal immigration and ending...
Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted that the administration is finalizing its third regulation under the Packers and Stockyards Act to provide more fairness to producers. The last rule from the Biden...
The Land Investment Expo this week in Des Moines, Iowa, highlighted 2025 investment trends, emphasizing natural gas growth, U.S.-China tensions and global risks. Speakers spotlighted overall U.S. economic strength, infrastructure...
Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager from South Carolina, faced an array of questions in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. The fate of the 2017 tax cuts were a major focus, but Bessent was...
On Wednesday, 427 agricultural groups from a broad spectrum of commodities and organizations wrote leaders of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee calling for swift confirmation of Brooke Rollins as President-elect Donald Trump's...
Pushing back on some criticisms last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released an interim technical rule for how corn, soybeans and sorghum producers could measure and lower their carbon-intensity scores on the farm. The...
A state senator in the Iowa Legislature is introducing a bill that would allow Iowa to buy the bottom nine counties of Minnesota. In Indiana, the House speaker announced he wants 33 eastern Illinois counties to consider joining Indiana.
Documents about the company provided an overview of sales and business dealings by Smithfield and WH Group in recent years. The country's largest pork producer, Smithfield, had $14.46 billion in annual sales of packaged meat in...
Tensions escalate in U.S. trade relations with Canada and Mexico as Trump proposes significant tariffs. Farmers and trade experts raise concerns about economic impacts, jeopardizing the USMCA agreement and key agricultural...
The attorneys general for 25 states are asking the Supreme Court to keep in place a court injunction blocking the federal government from requiring businesses to file Beneficial Ownership Information with the Department of...
As President-elect Donald Trump talks more about U.S. expansion, he highlights the need for the U.S. to control the Panama Canal. Overall, more than 70% of all cargo going through the Panama Canal is coming from U.S. ports or...
A report released Monday by Rabobank's research arm looked at the impact of a new tariff war on U.S. soybeans. The report suggests as much as a $2 drop in prices and 5 million fewer soybean acres.
DTN/Progressive Farmer writers were asked to think back on their year and choose a favorite story they wrote. DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton shares how writing a story about a convent and conservation inspired and reminded...
The Biden administration has allocated $306 million to bolster the response to H5N1 avian influenza, focusing on hospital preparedness, research and local monitoring. USDA is also tightening biosecurity standards for poultry farms...
The University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) offers one look at how $10 billion in economic aid breaks down by state and crop.
The No. 1 story on DTN's list of the Top 10 Ag Stories of the Year is Congress failing to pass a new farm bill.
In an interview with DTN earlier this month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talked about the complications that come up when USDA looks to trim its budget. Often Congress responds negatively, even when Congress forces those cuts.
In a wide-ranging interview with DTN this month, Vilsack talking about what he sees as historic investments in rural America during the Biden administration and why he thinks the country's approach to farm policy fails most American...
The same federal appeals court that reinstated the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting rule under the Corporate Transparency Act on Monday has now reversed itself. The Fifth Circuit instead reinstated a nationwide...
No. 3 on DTN's list of the Top 10 Ag Stories of the Year focuses on the wild election season, its twists and turns, and the eventual re-election of Donald Trump as president.
A federal appeals court on Monday reinstated Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting rules under the Corporate Transparency Act. This requires businesses, including farms, to disclose ownership details to the Treasury...
Congress left several items out of the final continuing resolution funding bill at the end of last week. That includes cutting out year-round E15 and dropping several farm bill programs that do not have permanent funding...
The House of Representatives and Senate both voted Friday evening to approve year-end legislation to keep the federal government operating. The legislation also includes more than $100 billion...
The House of Representatives voted Friday evening to approve year-end legislation to keep the federal government operating. The legislation also includes more than $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in economic aid to...
A dispute panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) gave U.S. corn growers a win on Friday by rejecting all of Mexico's arguments for trying to ban biotech corn imports. Mexico is the largest importer of U.S. corn...
The House on Thursday evening voted down a continuing resolution, or CR, that still includes a major disaster aid package. The new version of the bill maintains $30.78 billion in aid to farmers for both natural disasters and economic...
A $31 billion aid package for farmers faces collapse, as President-elect Donald Trump, JD Vance and Elon Musk oppose it, citing overspending. GOP infighting, Democratic opposition and looming...
The year-end funding bill congressional leaders released late Tuesday includes nearly $21 billion to help farmers recovering from natural disasters and another $10 billion in economic aid to crop producers.
While congressional leaders announced that a deal had been reached on a short-term funding bill for the government and $100 billion in aid for natural disasters, the actual bill text had not been released by late afternoon on...
Financial aid for farmers became a major sticking point over the weekend as lawmakers from both parties said they would not support a new funding bill without including some economic support for farmers facing low prices.
Farm groups nationally are urging Congress to resolve the impasse on economic aid for farmers in a year-end funding package. Agricultural leaders in Congress are blaming the other party for the breakdown in talks.
Republican leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees early Saturday released a joint statement blaming Democratic leaders in Congress for rejecting a $12 billion package for farmers. Their complaints come after...
Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, along with farm-state allies, are trying to craft a plan that would provide payments to producers who are suffering from low prices. Democrats came up with nearly $10 billion...
Farmers could face an $8.9 billion tax hike if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act isn't extended, with increased tax rates, reduced deductions, and estate tax changes significantly impacting costs, particularly for moderate-sized farms...
Congress is set for final passage of the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2024, advancing billions for new major water infrastructure projects. The bill prioritizes port deepening, flood risk management, inland...
Congress is set to pass the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2024, advancing billions for new major water infrastructure projects. The bill prioritizes port deepening, flood risk management, inland waterways, and...
The House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of roughly 40 GOP members, late Wednesday released a statement opposing a nearly $100 billion disaster supplemental bill. Other Republicans in both the House and Senate have called on lawmakers to...
An injunction issued Tuesday in the U.S District Court of Eastern Texas granted a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Treasury Department from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act's Beneficial Ownership Information...
U.S. farmer optimism hit a two-year high in November, despite major layoffs and lower profits by companies such as Cargill, Tyson and ADM. While farmers foresee better finances and less regulation ahead, concerns about trade risks...
Smithfield had announced plans to cut its ownership of U.S. hog production by as much as 20%. The shift in ownership of 150,000 sows in North Carolina to Murphy Family Ventures would likely achieve much of that goal. Smithfield's...
Congress faces a Dec. 20 deadline to pass a funding resolution, disaster aid, and a farm bill extension. On Monday, Republican governors pressed Congress to pass a farm bill now rather than wait until 2025 as well.
USDA on Tuesday released its latest update of U.S. agricultural trade. The report showed a slight bump in exports to $170 billion for fiscal year 2025. Imports are expected to grow, reaching $215.5 billion.
Agricultural commodity prices slipped slightly Tuesday in morning trade following President-elect Donald Trump's vow to impose 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on products from China.
While President-elect Donald Trump has picked an agriculture secretary, his transition team remains stalled in learning about some of the key issues at USDA and other federal agencies because Trump's team has not signed key...
U.S. agriculture will need to remain at the climate negotiating table under the Trump administration because of all the investments that have been made to reduce emissions and build resiliency on farms, Agriculture Secretary Tom...
President-elect Donald Trump has named Brooke L. Rollins as the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. A native Texan with deep agricultural roots, Rollins will oversee USDA programs, advise on the upcoming farm bill and lead rural...
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on Monday dropped her proposal for a new farm bill that she hopes Congress will take up in a lame-duck session of Congress. The farm bill is now likely on a back...
David Wilcox was the president of Global Processing Inc., a buyer and exporter of non-GMO and organic soybeans. A federal indictment alleges the company withheld payments from farmers for Wilcox's personal benefit.
Rod Snyder, former EPA adviser, emphasized agriculture's critical role in addressing climate change during the Sustainable Agriculture Summit. He highlighted private-sector commitments will likely continue even as the new president...
Rod Snyder, former EPA adviser, emphasized agriculture's critical role in addressing climate change during the Sustainable Agriculture Summit. He highlighted private-sector commitments will likely continue even as the new president...
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing with officials from multiple federal agencies dealing with disasters. The hearing comes just days after the White House proposed a nearly $100 billion disaster package that...
Different groups are assessing what to expect under the Trump administration when it comes to farm labor and what the impacts of mass deportations could mean. A former adviser for agricultural labor in the first Trump term...
For USDA, President Biden proposed $23.5 billion in aid overall, the lion's share of which would go to help farmers and ranchers who have suffered livestock or crop losses due to hurricanes, drought and wildfires.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on Monday dropped her proposal for a new farm bill she hopes Congress will take up in a lame-duck session. The farm bill is likely on the backburner until a new Congress is convened early in 2025.
John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, urges equitable agricultural policies, timely credit access, and unity among farmers. He talked about credit issues at the national Agricultural Bankers Conference. He...
Congress' lame-duck session may address a new farm bill and disaster aid, but priorities are unclear. With budget deadlines and aid requests from recent disasters, lawmakers face pressure to act.
President-elect Donald Trump's tax policies and influence on the Federal Reserve could impact interest rates, deficits, and economic stability, with experts highlighting potential constraints, risks, and market reactions.
A decline in producer profitability overall concerns bankers, though that varies by region and commodities. Lenders to livestock producers are more optimistic than bankers lending to crop producers. Overall, lenders also are...
The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging Congress to prioritize a disaster and economic aid package for farmers over passing a new farm bill, citing urgent financial needs and expected delays in policy implementation.
The Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota highlighted the state of farm finances Tuesday as the American Bankers Association kicked off its annual Agricultural Bankers Conference. The numbers...
Congress' lame-duck session may address a new farm bill and disaster aid, but priorities are unclear. With budget deadlines and aid requests from recent disasters, lawmakers face pressure to act.
USDA's mandate for electronic identification (EID) eartags in interstate cattle movement took effect Tuesday. In response, R-CALF USA and allied groups filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule, arguing it exceeds USDA's...