Farming

Washington is putting serious green behind making more fertilizer at home. Whether that delivers cheaper nutrients before the next planting season is a different question. Money in the ground: USDA selected eight fertilizer manufacturing projects for about $573 million in proposed federal funding. With private and other investments included, the package totals more than $1.34 billion. Domestic capacity is the goal, not an immediate fertilizer clearance sale. Why now? Global s

Western farmers are learning that a water right can be written on paper and still leave a field painfully dry. Two cases in the Pacific Northwest are putting that problem before judges. First in line? Idaho growers Jerry and Valerie Bingham, who farm 1,000 acres near Blackfoot, are challenging restrictions that stopped them from pumping groundwater. Their right dates to 1950. They argue the state treated their claim unfairly while allowing certain newer users to keep drawing

A combine can draw a beautiful yield map, but it cannot tell you why one muddy corner behaved like it had personal grievances. That is where farmers are discovering the value of making their various datasets finally talk to one another. The detective work: In one recent field example, imagery revealed a soggy portion of a field beside clearly visible drainage-tile lines. By comparing maps instead of staring at one pretty image, the problem became easier to diagnose. Layer cak

Drones may look impressive swooping over soybean fields, but some diseases start in places a flying camera cannot easily see. If the problem is hiding beneath leaves, perhaps the solution needs wheels. Ground control: Engineers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale built a four-wheeled, battery-powered robot equipped with cameras aimed at the upper and lower portions of soybean plants. The target is frogeye leaf spot, a disease that can hide below the canopy before the f

America’s farm debt pile is getting big enough that it may need its own machine shed. By the numbers: Farm sector debt is forecast to increase 4.6% to $605.1B in 2026, while farm assets rise to $4.47T and equity to $3.86T. In inflation-adjusted terms, debt is still expected to climb 1.5%. That is not a barn fire, but it is definitely smoke coming from the operating loan folder. Where it pinches: Real estate debt is projected at $399B, and non-real estate debt at $206.1B. Solv

Farm childcare has entered the policy chat, which is overdue considering toddlers and PTO shafts have never been a recommended workplace pairing. The setup: New research briefs from the National Farm Families Childcare Survey put numbers behind a problem farm parents have been living for years. The survey reached 860 farm households with children under 18 across 47 states, and the findings tie childcare challenges to safety, farm business choices, finances and family well-bei

Corteva’s seed business just got its own company, and the legal paperwork arrived faster than a farm dog hearing a feed sack open. Split decision: Sixteen states and territories are suing Corteva and its new seeds and genetics spinoff, Vylor, claiming the new companyreceived valuable former DuPont assets without taking on PFAS liabilities. The suit seeks to unwind the transfer, which is not exactly the welcome basket most spinoffs dream about. Liability row: The complaint say

USDA is putting $180M into seeds, because apparently national security now starts with a packet and a prayer. Seed money: Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, announced the new Seed Sovereignty Initiative, a two-year push to sequence and characterize major crop collections held by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. The goal is to protect plant genetic resources and make them more useful for breeders, researchers and farmers. Gene pool party: The National Plant

California just gave E15 a much clearer lane to the pump, and corn growers have a reason to watch the fuel gauge. Green light: State regulators approved rules allowing voluntary sales of E15, a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol. The action follows legislation signed earlier this month that removed technical barriers to putting the blend into the market. California had already authorized year-round E15 sales, but the latest rules give fuel suppliers a more workable path to

A fight over drain tile in the Prairie Pothole Region is getting appropriately bogged down. Under the surface: Farmers with federal wetland easements can install drainage tile, but only if it does not drain protected wetlands. A 2024 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule standardized how setbacks are calculated between tile lines and easement wetlands, using factors such as soil, tile depth, diameter and topography. Where it pinches: Some farmers argue the setbacks reach farthe

Farmers have been saying fertilizer prices smell funny for a while. Now federal officials appear to be asking them to bring receipts, preferably not written on the back of a seed cap. The setup: U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden visited Ogden, Iowa, for a fertilizer listening session focused on alleged anti-competitive behavior, consolidation, and prices that have stuck around like mud on a pickup floor mat. Growers from several states shared examp

The harvest season has found a new way to be expensive, because apparently equipment fuel heard crop margins were feeling lonely. Fuelish timing: Diesel prices are hitting record highs right as combines, tractors, semis and grain dryers are asking for their seasonal buffet. That is lovely news for exactly no one, unless your business model is selling fuel while farmers mutter into the steering wheel. How we got here: Crude oil jumped as war-related disruptions complicated tan

Farmer-led research is waiting on USDA paperwork, which is the least charming kind of cover crop. Funding fog: $48 million in Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education funding has not been released yet, and supporters are nervous because the clock runs out at the end of September. Nothing says “innovation” like watching a deadline walk toward you holding a clipboard. What it funds: SARE backs farmer-driven research, demonstrations and education, often on practical ideas

Dropping into limp mode is fine if you are a golden retriever after a long walk. It is less charming when the combine decides harvest is a great time for a mechanical fainting couch. Limp mode mood: Proposed diesel-emissions reforms would change how selective catalytic reduction systems respond when diesel exhaust fluid runs dry or the system glitches. Instead of progressively choking engine power, the proposal would replace severe derates and speed limits with persistent aud

The U.S.-Canada trade fight is drifting from border drama into fertilizer anxiety, because apparently crop planning was not already enough of a trust fall with weather, input prices and machinery that beeps only when it wants money. Border nutrients: Canada’s retaliation list includes dairy products and agricultural equipment, and the bigger worry is that the fight could expand toward potash. The U.S. imports more than 80% of its potassium from the Elk Point Basin in Saskatch

Farmers can handle paperwork. They would just prefer the paperwork come with a human on the other end of the counter. Office hours: Staffing losses across USDA are making basic services harder to reach in parts of farm country, from loans and grants to conservation technical help. In one reported example, New Mexico farmers Mary and Zachariah Ben waited months for a USDA loan tied to a 47-acre expansion. Private financing helped fill the gap, which is a polite way of saying t

The rumor mill became a rulemaking mill, and corn country is once again standing near the blender with one eyebrow raised. Waiver math: EPA announced decisions on 34 small refinery exemption petitions for 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. The agency granted 18 full exemptions, 11 partial exemptions, denied three and found two ineligible. That is not a tiny paperwork shuffle. It is a stack of fuel policy receipts big enough to make ethanol plants start stress-chewing c

Biofuels had finally found a little tailwind, so naturally Washington grabbed the weather machine. The rumor mill: Reports that EPA may grant nearly double the expected number of small refinery exemptions from 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations have rattled biofuel groups. The concern is not tiny. If nearly all refinery requests get a pass, industry leaders say roughly 1 billion gallons of biofuel demand could disappear from the blend pile. Backstory barrel: EPA already

The U.S. and Canada are now doing that neighborly thing where everyone smiles at the mailbox while pricing out retaliatory tariffs. The list: Canada says counter-tariffs will take effect Sept. 8 on products covering $27.6 billion in U.S. imports, with rates of 15%, 25% and 50%. The targets include steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. Nothing says “stable trading partner” like making lawn mowers read customs law. Farm machinery mat

No deal, Deere: UAW members at John Deere voted down a proposed contract extension that would have stretched the current agreement through 2029. The offer included 4% annual wage increases, $3,000 yearly bonuses and no major changes to pensions or health care, which sounds tidy until workers remember job security also exists. Green machine tension: Shawn Fain, UAW president, said workers know their worth and want the company back at the table in 2027. Deere said it was disapp