Midwest

Have you ever seen a forest outside of a forest? You probably have if you are familiar with windbreaks found, in many cases, on farms. "And usually those purposes can be thought of as either a conservation purpose, such as reducing wind speed to reduce wind erosion of soil, or for a production point of view such as improving crop yield or reducing crop damage as a result of wind and the soi

It’s not a shortage, but there is a tight supply of potatoes on the open market. Chris Voigt Executive Director of the Washington state Potato Commission says the shortage to start 2020 started during last year’s harvest. He said a bizarre fall storm in late September dumped a lot of rain, and in some cases, snow on potato growing regions across eastern Idaho, the upper Midwest and southern Cana

Last year the USDA dedicated $2 million dollars for each of four regional projects looking to help farmers and those in agriculture struggling with mental health issues.  Now, according to Politico, leaders are exploring best ways to help farmers in need, whether through hotlines and resource directories, as well as financial and legal consulting.  Th...

States that border the Missouri River are forecast to experience an elevated flood risk this spring. The National Weather Service says those conditions will only be made worse by already saturated soils and a lot of snow to melt.   The NWS issued its first Spring Flood Outlook last week, saying Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and eastern North and South Dakota all face an above-average flooding

Record flooding in 2019 added a lot of money to federal crop insurance payouts last year.   To date, $6.4 billion has been paid out to growers, most of which farm in the Midwest.  It marks the costliest payout on record. Most of the money is tied directly to spring and summer flooding in states like North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois.   “...

Farm bankruptcies jumped by almost 20% last year.  That is the big takeaway from court data put together by the American Farm Bureau Federation.  Overall, there were almost 600 Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies in 2019, up from almost 100 filings the previous year.   ...

The same weather system that brought rains and tornadoes to the southeastern U.S. dumped snow on the middle Mississippi valley and lower Midwest leaving many fields a mess.  USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey said Midwest farmers still have about 7% or 8% of their corn crops in the field   “And it's gonna be a long time before anybody in the Midwest is able to get back into the fields for any remainin

Amid the fallout of an eight-day CN Rail strike, Canada is facing similar propane woes as seen in the Midwest United States. Agriculture groups, along with the Canadian Propane Association, are asking for their products to take priority above other shipments as the railway works to get trains moving...

The phrase climate change can spur strong emotions in the farming and ranching world.  But if you take the politics of cause out of the discussion, there are few in rural America that will argue that the weather is getting weird.  Wildfires, droughts, massive rain events, hurricanes all have farmers, scientists, policy makers and others paying close attention.   ...

When it comes to the national winter wheat crop, USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said planting is nearly complete, with 95% of the crop in the ground.  He said that's very close to the five-year average.  Rippey noted there are weather issues that could impact producers, especially in the Midwest.   ...