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Beef on dairy remains profitable
A cattle consultant says the outlook for profiting from beef on dairy operations remains strong. Brady Hicks is the manager of Simplot Animal Sciences, and he says, “It has been surprisingly high and has been really good for the dairy sector.” Hicks tells Brownfield when looking for beef bulls to cross with dairy cows, look…
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CME cash dairy prices mixed in very light trading Friday
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange had a very quiet marketing day between the 4th of July and the weekend. Cash dairy prices were mixed. Dry whey was up $0.0025 at $0.4925. One sale was made at that price. Forty-pound cheese blocks remained unchanged at $1.90. No sales were recorded. Cheese barrels were unchanged at $1.9025. No sales were recorded. Butter was…
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Illinois Stewardship Alliance organizing policy platform
The deputy director of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance (ISA) says the organization is taking the next step in ag advocacy. Molly Pickering tells Brownfield ISA’s celebrating its 50th anniversary by crafting the group’s first policy platform. “That’s going to help us have a big picture idea of all the policies that are surrounding food and…
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Climate resilience research focuses on new system approaches
Michigan State University’s new Agricultural Climate Resilience Program is starting to research how farmers can better adapt to extreme weather conditions. Michigan State University’s Nikki Rothwell tells Brownfield the changing climate and increase pest and disease issues have made it difficult to profitably grow cherries. “We really didn’t have an issue with fire blight in…
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A July weather outlook
An ag meteorologist says normal to above normal temperatures are expected for much of the Corn Belt in July and the heat shouldn’t cause crop damage. Drew Lerner with World Weather Incorporated tells Brownfield the next week will have mild temperatures for much of the Corn Belt and then conditions will get warmer. “Most of…
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More rains coming to Delta
A meteorologist says hyperactive tropical weather is expected to bring more moisture to the Delta in the next week. Greg Soulje tells Brownfield “likely there’s more flooding/rainfall coming to the Delta and some of the tropical moisture could work its way outside of the Delta into the worst areas on the U.S. Drought Monitor.” He…
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Analyst: U.S. corn and soybeans not perfect
An analyst says the U.S. corn and soybean crops are looking good, but not perfect as July begins. “Good news for crops, but bad news for prices.” Michael Cordonnier with Corn and Soybean Advisor says he’s expecting corn yields to fall below USDA’s trendline due to wet conditions, but nothing major because there’s no heat…
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Michigan’s wheat faces wet harvest
Michigan’s wheat harvest is starting in pockets across the state. Michigan State University’s Marty Chilvers tells Brownfield farmers should take the crop at higher moisture levels to stay ahead of quality issues. “Last year, we did get an awful lot of rain and what we ended up seeing was quite a bit of fungal saprophytes…
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Vital Farms plans Seymour, IN expansion
Vital Farms, based in Austin, Texas, is expanding its operations in Seymour, Indiana. President and CEO Russell Diez-Canseco says the company will utilize a newly created egg washing and packing facility. “We bring eggs in from hundreds of small family farms,” he says. “What’s exciting about this facility is that it will support up to 165…
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Chevron REG calls for higher RVO levels
A biofuels market specialist says demand has been increasing for biomass-based diesel. Paul Nees, general manager of global supply and trading with Chevron Renewable Energy Group, says new production capacity has been coming online. “So much so that we’re actually starting to see some compression of margins as the production of the fuels has outpaced…
