After rains and wet fields stretched planting season from April through early July, summer brought some areas of locally heavy rains, but farmers and agronomists say the crop still has a lot of potential.

In mid-June, farmers in western Iowa were looking for just enough rain to keep their spirits up.

Crops in Illinois have withstood erratic rainfall and are looking good at the midpoint of the growing season. Plenty of moisture has been a boon, although there are concerns about too much in some places.

Ever since the pandemic began, shortages have become commonplace with significant effects in nearly every sector, including agriculture.

Many rural communities in Missouri continue to work through localized spikes in COVID-19 cases and the ongoing effort to get people vaccinated.

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Emerging carbon credit markets offer the chance for farmers to get paid to — in many cases — do the right thing, but it is important to understand the risks and read the fine print.

May produced a record-breaking month for beef and pork export values.

BARABOO, Wis. – Aron and Laura McReynolds and their family five years ago opened New Life Lavender and Cherry Farm near Baraboo. In every one of those years – in addition to three years prior to opening New Life – they’ve added a new feature to their 40-acre farm. Those features, which represent a lot of creativity and hard work, bring the family a sense of accomplishment. And those features – combined with more than 14,000 lavender plants – attract throngs of visitors from June through October each year.

The summer heat is kicking in, and with forecasts calling for dry weather, markets are jumping higher.

Executive summary

OPINION  The United Food and Commercial Workers, the union for 250,000 meatpacking and food-processing workers, is applauding the introduction of the Farm System Reform Act, introduced in Congress this week by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and U.S. Rep. Rohit Khanna, D-17-California. Joining the union in supporting the legislation is Family Farm Action, a national advocacy group, calling the bill an important step to empower America’s workers and farmers while transforming the power, policy and financial structures that underpin the U.S. meat- and dairy-production systems.

“It has been a love for the business and a love for Angus cows.”

MOUNT HOREB, Wis. – Wisconsin Women in Conservation’s conservation educators met July 14 for a "happy hour" and networking event at Brix Cider in Mount Horeb. The group brings together women landowners to connect and learn about conservation practices, resources and funding opportunities.

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series featuring women who are serving as conservation coaches for Wisconsin Women in Conservation. 

Recent advancements in technology have made their way into precision agriculture, with emphasis placed on using new technologies to increase crop yields and profitability, while simultaneously lowering levels of inputs needed like water, fertilizer and herbicides. Although widely used in row-crop production, precision agriculture is only just beginning to move into the ranching world.

Growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics is one of the biggest threats the world faces. As common bacteria such as strep and salmonella become resistant to medications, what once were easily treatable infections can now pose difficult medical challenges. New research from the University of Georgia shows there may be more antimicrobial-resistant salmonella in food animals than scientists previously thought.

Kevin Whalen recently was hired to serve as the coordinator for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s District 4. It is comprised of Buffalo, Eau Claire, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Trempealeau counties.

Recently I was fortunate to be “behind the scenes” as a guest while I listened to Tenzin Botsford tell the story of how he and his wife, Stacey, came to be owners of Red Door Farm near Athens, Wisconsin. Botsford’s talk was part of the Marathon County Historical Society’s oral-history project.

Sales of sexed dairy semen in the United Kingdom have doubled in the past two years, according to a recent Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board survey of breeding companies. In the 12 months leading to March 2021 sales of sexed semen represented 63.5 percent of all dairy semen sales. That’s an increase from 31.9 percent in 2019. The increase reflects sharp growth since 2017 when sales were just 17.9 percent, the United Kingdom board reported.

Over the last 25 years, when there’s been a major water conflict on the vast Snake River Plain, Lynn Tominaga has been there defending farmers, ranchers, big dairies and major businesses like Anheuser- Busch, McCain Foods and Jerome Cheese through his leadership as executive director of the Idaho Ground Water Appropriators.

In many rural communities, certain events bring to mind certain seasons, and familiar routines and traditions fill different parts of the calendar, whether it is graduation in the spring, local fairs in the summer or community Christmas celebrations.

Typically in town festivals, people are honored for the work they’ve done in the community. In Readlyn, Iowa, they honor a grump.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — The lowly horseradish — packaged in small, nondescript jars and confined to back shelves of supermarkets — doesn’t get a lot of attention in most places. But it is celebrated in a big way here.