Minnesota

A Minnesota sugarbeet farmer wants consumers and legislators to know that sugar is an all-natural product.  Tim Deal responded to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr., who said “sugar is poison” back in April.   “Sugar is po...

The ball is now in the Senate’s court on the Trump tax and spending bill.  And the fight over taxes, SNAP cuts, and tariffs is heating up quickly.  Majority Leader John Thune recently said it's ‘full speed ahead’ on the president’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” while slamming Democrats for vowing to fight against extending the 2017 tax cuts with 'everything they’ve got'.   “They are going to be votin

Oregon Department of Forestry firefighters were sent out of state Friday, to help other regions battling wildfires.  ODF's Jessica Neujahr said the state has various two-way agreements.   "Both of these types of agreements are great because they basically create a reciprocal cache of resources and create a larger, more comprehensive fire management system."   ODF ...

The historically bipartisan Farm Bill turned political this week as majority Ag Republicans turned back every Democratic amendment and sent their Farm Bill budget to the House on a party-line vote.  It wasn’t just SNAP spending reforms Democrats went after, but Trump actions like tariffs, staff cuts, and USDA grant freezes.   “From ...

Across rural America, farmers, regardless of commodity, are sending a clear message to Congress: pass a five-year farm bill now, before it’s too late.   Congress hasn’t updated the farm bill since 2018.  Instead, it’s patched together a pair of year-long extensions that do not address the current economic realities of farming in the U.S.  Fourth-generation Minnesota ...

As we get closer to the conclusion of sugar beet plantings, nationally 91% of the crop is in the ground.   “ is  far ahead of the five-year average of 69% and slightly ahead of last year's 90%," noted USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "Sugar beet p...

Top House Ag Democrat Angie Craig said her farmers claim Farm Service Agency offices are way understaffed, despite USDA Secretary Rollins’ vow to keep all FSA offices open.  Craig was asked if Secretary Rollins could keep all FSA offices open when 11-hundred FSA staffers have taken deferred resignation buyouts.   “I had...

Last week, senators John Thune, of South Dakota, and Minnesota’s Tina Smith reintroduced the Strengthening Local Processing Act.  They said the bipartisan legislation would provide support to America’s small meat and poultry processors to strengthen and upgrade their operations.   The bil...

Bayer announced it is leaving the seed treatment equipment business in the U.S. to help bolster the company’s finances.  Reuters says a spokesman confirmed in an email that Bayer was exiting the business, which makes equipment designed to help treat seeds with products like fungicides and insecticides before the seeds are planted to protect crop yields.  An email...

While it’s just by the slightest of margins, the national planting progress when it comes to sugarbeets is officially past the 1/5 mark.  The latest numbers from USDA have plantings nationwide at 21%, which is slightly ahead of the five-year-average for this time of year at 20%, but behind last year’s 23%.   “Idaho has h...