Editors' Notebook

As the holidays approach and the year that was 2025 winds down, it's again time to take stock of that year that was. And what a year.

In the coming days, we will start our annual review of what we think were the top 10 issues and events that influenced agriculture in 2025. Those articles run from Dec. 18-31, with our "best of the rest" pieces to follow. There will be some obvious subjects, and a few not-so-obvious ones.

We saw the return of Donald Trump to the presidency, with his "2.0" term, as many political pundits call it, much more tightly wound and focused on specific goals. We watched those goals be driven by a cabinet of unusual, almost antithetical, members who do excel at one thing, and that's adroitly following the Trump script of focused actions.

In that vein, we saw Phd-toting economists, folks who have certainly read a thing or two about economic theory, taxes, and international trade, wholeheartedly support the rather, shall we say unique, view of what tariff taxes are, how they function and what they mean for the economy. All said with unwaveringly straight faces.

The tariffs themselves have been the subject of so many stories and social media posts and coffee shop conversations. I'd nominate that word, tariff, as the Word of the Year due to its sheer usage alone, if the good folks at Webster's Dictionary are listening.

There were weather scares and real weather issues, falling commodity prices and steadily increasing costs of machinery and crop inputs. The U.S. cattle herd continued to shrink, and our leaders began to turn to foreign beef sources as a proposed way to cut costs to U.S. consumers.

There were cuts across the federal bureaucracy, particularly to USDA, and the longest government shutdown in history.

Through it all, we produced surprisingly large crops, sent our sons and daughters off to school each day, welcomed new folks into the agricultural family, and lost a few members as well.

Closer to home, the DTN/Progressive Farmer newsroom covered it all, as quickly and as accurately as humanly possible. We won more than our fair share of awards for that effort, by the way.

We hope this annual rundown helps put the year in perspective, creates some conversation, and sets the stage as we roll into 2026.

We hope you enjoy them, and we wish everyone in agriculture a safe, renewing holiday season filled with family and friends.

Greg D. Horstmeier can be reached at greg.horstmeier@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @greghorstmeier

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