Farm & Agricultural News Headlines

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited Nebraska recently to outline the Trump administration's "Farmers First" initiative, focused on supporting small farmers through USDA reforms. Key priorities include reorganizing USDA to better serve producers-potentially moving some operations out of Washington, D....

Deere & Company reported a second-quarter net income of $1.8 billion, down from $2.3 billion in the same quarter last year. Despite the decline, results have still beat market expectations. Net sales for production and precision agriculture fell 21%, driven by reduced global demand and mounting tariff-related costs...

A recent Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis survey showed farm income continues to decline across the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota, the Dakotas, and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. A regional economist said farmers are facing a pessimistic spring outlook due to persistently low crop prices. As a result, produce...

North Dakota soybean farmers, are adapting to ongoing trade tensions with China by finding alternative markets and investing in local infrastructure. While China remains a critical customer-receiving two-thirds of North Dakota's soybean exports-new soybean crushing plants in Spiritwood and Casselton have reduced relian...

The House Budget Committee narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill that increases farm program spending by $60 billion over 10 years while cutting the SNAP program by $300 billion. The vote, held during a rare Sunday night session, passed 17-16 after four Republican members switched their votes to "present,&q...

Former North Dakota Republican state senator Tom Campbell has been appointed as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development state director. Campbell, who helped build his family's potato farming business near Grafton and has experience in real estate and banking, served in the state Senate from 2013 to 2018 an...

A South Dakota farming and ranching family has had their criminal charges dropped by the Trump administration. Charles and Heather Maude were in D.C. for the announcement on Wednesday. The family was alerted by the U.S. Forest Service that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo gap national grasslands....

Mark Watne has announced he will not seek a thirteenth term as North Dakota Farmers Union president after leading the organization since 2013. During his tenure, Watne also headed Farmers Union Insurance and Farmers Union Service Association. In a written statement, he spoke about the importance of developing new leade...

North Dakota's relatively snow-free winter has helped reduce stress during calving season despite raising drought concerns, according to Monica Fitterer, NDSU Extension agent for Kidder County. "This year's calving season has been pretty nice. We didn't have a lot of storms," said Fitterer. The state's calvin...

North Dakota farmers are feeling a sense of unease about Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement, which targets seed oils like sunflower and canola oils-key agricultural products in the state. During a Fargo roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins last w...

If you're seeing more organic products on store shelves, you're right. Government figures show certified organic farming has boomed nationwide over the last decade. From 2011 to 2021, certified organic cropland acres jumped nearly 80 percent, with the number of organic farms also rising sharply. "Organic" mea...

North Dakota canola planting is expected to decrease this spring after March price drops prompted farmers to switch crops. U.S. Canola Association President Tim Mickelson reports some regions may see 25% reductions despite recent price recovery from $600 to $680 per ton. The USDA forecasts 2.56 million acres nationwide...

North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong has signed Senate Bill 2177, which redirects a portion of state sales and use taxes from animal agriculture development to fund local infrastructure projects. The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate, will take effect August 1 of this year. Brenda Elmer, Executive Di...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins met with farm groups during a roundtable discussion at NDSU yesterday (Tuesday). Matt Perdue of the North Dakota Farmers Union expressed concerns about USDA staff cuts affecting farmers' access to federal loans, noting a dramatic increase in farm loan webinar attendance from 17...

Minnesota's fifth annual Ag-Urban Partnership Forum brought together 60 experts Tuesday to discuss nitrogen management in agriculture. University of Minnesota educator Brad Carlson explained that most nitrogen loss occurs when soil organic matter releases nitrogen after harvest, not from fertilizer misapplication. Nort...

A new study offers a potential financial boost for struggling farmers. Researcher Jake Stid, analyzing 25 years of California farm data, found that integrating small solar panel arrays onto parts of their land makes farmers more financially secure per acre. His research, published in Nature Sustainability, shows this a...

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has identified easing restrictions for noncitizen farmworkers as a critical priority amid nationwide labor shortages. The Trump administration aims to finalize more lenient H-2A visa program guidelines before harvest season. President Trump recently indicated he may relax immigratio...

North Dakota's Department of Environmental Quality has opened public comments until June 2nd on Riverview Dairy's proposed 25,000-cow operation in Traill County. If approved, "Herberg Dairy" would become the state's largest dairy farm, requiring 700,000 gallons of water daily and producing 170,000 gallons of ...

Concerns about how tariffs will affect farmers have been ramping up through the month of April. Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha joined officials from five other states on Wednesday, warning that the new 10% tariffs on all imports has the potential to devastate farmers as countries retaliate. Blaha cautioned that th...

The North Dakota Senate approved a bill with a $30 million incentive funding package for large agricultural developments on Wednesday, including an emergency clause to make it effectively immediately after the governor signs it, instead of in August. The bill initially passed in late March, but went through reconsidera...