2025 Top Ag Stories: Best of Rest - 2

By DTN Staff

OMAHA (DTN) -- From New World screwworm threatening the U.S. livestock industry, to the Trump administration's mass firings at USDA and canceling grants, financial losses and labor fears testing America's farmers, and the One Big Beautiful Bill redefining taxes and farm policy, 2025 was another memorable year for agriculture.

During the past two weeks, DTN has revisited these and other big stories in our annual Top 10 Ag Stories of Year series. (See the No. 1 story, along with links to all 10, at https://www.dtnpf.com/…. Later this week, also check out a Reporter's Notebook video on them at https://www.dtnpf.com/… and Field Posts Podcast at https://www.dtnpf.com/….)

But those stories were just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond the major events that dominated the headlines were numerous other stories that, though they may not have gotten as much attention, had a significant impact on the farming and ranching community and rural America.

In recognition of the importance of these stories to agriculture, we're presenting some of them here as part of our annual "Best of the Rest" list, in no particular order -- but this year in two parts, appearing on DTN Jan. 1-2. (See Best of the Rest - 1 here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….)

Welcome to Best of the Rest - 2: EPA Insecticide Strategy; Railroads File for Merger; Agridime Settles Ponzi Scheme Case; Monette Farms Ordered to Pay Fee; SD Farmers Seek Pipeline Damages; ILA, USMX Reach Tentative Agreement; Solar Flares Trigger GPS Alerts.

**

EPA Plan Outlines Requirements for Insecticide Use

In late April, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final Insecticide Strategy, the latest step in the agency's plan to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Insecticide Strategy joined the Herbicide Strategy and Rodenticide Strategy, both finalized in 2024, as the guiding plans for the agency as it seeks to protect more than 900 threatened and endangered species from pesticides. The strategy identified mitigations to reduce spray drift and runoff and erosion potential for insecticides.

EPA made changes from the draft strategy to the final strategy to provide greater flexibility for farmers while ensuring protections for endangered species and their critical habitat. This included adding additional mitigation options.

Commodity and other agricultural organizations credited EPA for making pragmatic changes to the strategy that would allow pesticide applicators to implement it. Environmentalists lamented stronger protections for endangered species.

The next piece in the pesticide protection puzzle is the Fungicide Strategy, a draft of which is expected to be released in the spring of 2026.

For more, visit https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern File for Merger

On July 24, the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) released statements on their websites that the two companies were discussing a merger.

Following the announcement, many agricultural and other railroad shippers expressed concern that further consolidation in the industry would result in diminished competition among railroads. This could result in increased rates and diminished service.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) confirmed on July 30, 2025, that it received a "notice of intent regarding a proposed merger that would result in the combination of Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) Class I railroads."

On Nov. 14, 99.5% of votes cast by UP shareholders and nearly 99% of votes cast by NS shareholders were in favor of issuing new shares to approve the two railroads' previously announced transaction to merge.

On Dec. 19, the STB announced on its website that it received a major merger application from Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The board further announced that comments on the completeness of that application were due by Dec. 29, 2025.

Following the comment and reply period, the STB will determine the completeness of the application, either accepting the application as complete or rejecting it as incomplete.

The bottom line is that it will take 12 to 18 months for the STB to review the application, along with comments from outside groups. And, of course, the Department of Justice will most likely be involved in any acquisition discussions, along with members of Congress and other elected officials.

For more, see https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

Agridime Settles Ponzi Scheme Case

Agridime LLC, a Texas-based online beef and cattle marketing company tied up in a court-ordered receivership, was forced to pay nearly $103 million in restitution to customers who believed they were trading in cattle or cattle futures, DTN reported on June 16, 2025.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) brought the case against Agridime and its owners in 2024 and issued an order handed down in early June 2025 by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Agridime and its owners agreed to a consent order handed down by the CFTC. The CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) each had alleged Agridime engaged in a Ponzi scheme by defrauding customers through soliciting investors to pay off other customers and investors.

The order included a permanent injunction that bans Agridime from engaging in any contract or sale of commodities for interstate commerce. The order also required Agridime to pay restitution of $102,936,904 that was to follow rules set by the SEC action against Agridime with payments made by the company's court-appointed receiver.

Read more about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

Canada's Monette Farms Ordered to Pay $12M Fee on Ranch Deal

One of the largest farming operations in Canada was ordered by the Supreme Court of British Columbia to pay $12 million in fees to a consultant who introduced the company's owner, Darrel Monette, to the owners of several ranches in B.C., DTN reported in April.

Monette Farms, a 350,000-acre farming and ranching operation in Canada and the United States, and its owner, Monette, had disputed that they owed fees to Vancouver Island businessman David Dutcyvich.

Dutcyvich introduced Monette to the owners of Blue Goose Cattle Company (BGCattle). Blue Goose Capital (BGCapital), which has substantial ranching interests in B.C., owned the shares of BGCattle; it sold them in 16 separate ranches in 21 locations in the B.C. interior to Monette in 2021. Dutcyvich claimed he helped Monette purchase those BGCattle shares.

Monette eventually finalized a $63 million deal for 45,000 acres in B.C., but denied that he owed a consulting fee to Dutcyvich.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice said in the ruling that it was "appropriate" for Dutcyvich to request a fee for what amounted to consulting services done by Dutcyvich's company that he owns, 3L Developments Inc.

Read more about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

South Dakota Farmers Seek Damages From Summit

Brown County, South Dakota, farmers Jared and Tara Bossly asked a state court in October to award damages for trespassing, nuisance and other violations that they allege Summit Carbon Solutions caused while conducting surveys for a proposed carbon pipeline on their land in 2023.

The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled in recent years that state law "authorizes only minimally invasive superficial inspections that, at most, cause minor soil disturbances."

In a lawsuit filed in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court in Brown County in late October, the Bosslys, who farm the same land that has been in the family for more than 100 years, alleged Summit workers conducted geotechnical deep drilling on their farm.

The state court's previous ruling found that such activities would constitute unconstitutional "takings."

The family asked the court to set a jury trial to determine damages, according to the lawsuit.

The Bossly family has been vocal critics of the Summit project that would include building a 2,500-mile pipeline across several states and connecting it to more than 50 ethanol plants to capture and store carbon.

Read more about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

ILA, USMX Reach Tentative Agreement on 6-Year Contract, Averting East Coast Port Strike

The start of 2025 saw a victory for ag groups and container shippers, as the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), after cutting off contract talks in mid-November 2024, reached a tentative agreement late on Jan. 8, 2025, on all items for a new six-year master contract with United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).

Prior to that, talks broke down in November 2024 when USMX introduced "their intent to implement semi-automation, a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured us that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table. They claimed their focus was on modernization, not automation," said the ILA. "For over 13 years, our position has been clear: we embrace technologies that improve safety and efficiency, but only when a human being remains at the helm. Automation, whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historical work functions we've fought hard to protect."

The signed agreement on Jan. 8 was called a "historic" six-year master contract agreement with ILA longshore workers on Atlantic and Gulf coasts receiving a record increase in wages and benefits. The contract will be effective until September 2030.

Prior to the signed agreement, railroads and container shippers had already begun to take precautions in the event a strike took place. When the negotiations fell apart in November 2024, the ILA could have called for another strike like the three-day strike at 36 East Coast and Gulf ports that took place in October 2024, causing ships to stack up unable to dock and unload their containers. Also, loaded containers were stuck waiting to be loaded and ag shippers were unable to load and then ship IP soybeans and beef and pork products.

Agricultural groups and other container shippers, all breathed a sigh of relief once both sides came to the final agreement.

Read more about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

**

Severe Solar Storms Triggered Alerts for GPS Impact

The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) on Nov. 11 issued a very rare G4 severe geomagnetic storm watch. This was the fourth G4 watch issued during the 11-year solar cycle, which began in December 2019 and is still considered in its maximum phase. On June 1-2, 2025, there was also a G4 watch issued.

The fall one was the result of several coronal mass ejections (CME) of solar material and strong magnetic fields that took place Nov. 9-10. On the morning of Nov. 11, there was a X5.1 solar flare (an eruption of energy) that is rarely of this magnitude, but not necessarily unusual, stated SWPC.

U.S. and Canadian farmers were warned that satellite navigation could be degraded or inoperable for hours, affecting GPS on their equipment.

It was noted that "solar flares of this magnitude can be impulsive (meaning quick to rise and decrease) lasting some minutes or lasting a few hours." SWPC said users of HF radio signals could experience loss of contact or major disruptions for several minutes to a couple of hours in affected areas.

Space.com reported the November flare was the strongest of 2025, and "most intense since October 2024." The site added, "The blast triggered strong (R3-level) radio blackouts across Africa and Europe, disrupting high-frequency radio communications on the sunlit side of Earth."

U.S. and Canadian farmers were fortunate the 2025 storms didn't reach the intensity of a May 2024 powerful geomagnetic storm that occurred while they were planting.

The Kansas State University Research and Extension News Service said in a later news release about that May 2024 event that it caused "mass global navigation satellite system outages ... leading to an assumed $565 million in losses for Midwestern crop producers." K-State added that there could still be geomagnetic disturbances for the solar cycle even into spring 2026.

The G4 geomagnetic storms in 2025 also meant that people in the northern half of the U.S. were able to see northern lights, and there were aurora reports as far south as Alabama, northern California and Texas.

Read more about it here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

DTN/Progressive Farmer Content Manager Anthony Greder, DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton, DTN Cash Grains Analyst Mary Kennedy, DTN Environmental Editor Todd Neeley, DTN Crops Editor Jason Jenkins and DTN/Progressive Farmer Associate Content Manager Elaine Shein contributed to this article.

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.