Nebraska

Five U.S. states have now officially banned lab-grown meat.   Last week, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product.  Earlier this week, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed a two-year ban into law, followed by strict labeling laws after the law expires.   “The ...

“The heading progress for winter wheat, nationally, 8% of the U.S. winter wheat crop headed by April 13th.  That's right on par with the five-year average, two points behind last year's 10%," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey recapping the latest numbers from the USDA’s crop progress report.  He noted that most ...

Earth Optics released the 2025 Predictive Ag Report.   “Earth Optics is the leader in soil analysis and understanding the physical, chemical, and biological profile of the soil, and we use that data to inform your crop plan for the next season," said Cam Norgate, co-founder and vice president of products at Earth Optics.  "So, usi...

Idaho senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo joined Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts Thursday in introducing the Securing American Agriculture Act.  They say the bill would secure critical agricultural supply chains and reduce America’s reliance on foreign adversaries like China.   “Allowing Communist China to seize control...

The nation's largest meatpacking company, JBS USA Food Company, will pay $4 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, in connection with the company's use of child labor at meatpacking plants across the country.  DOL said last week the funds would be used to "prevent illegal child labor" and support victims of child labor nationwide while prioritizing those effor

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association set the organization’s 2025 policy priorities at CattleCon 2025.  The focus, the organization said, will be on engaging with the Trump administration and Congress to expand opportunities for producer profitability.   “NCBA will a...

  On Wednesday, California Representative Doug LaMalfa, Chairman on the Congressional Western Caucus, announced Executive Committee Members for the 119th Congress, which included Oregon’s Cliff Bentz.    "As a Congressman from the state of Oregon, I am committed to addressing the challenges and advancing the opportunities we face every day in the West," Bentz noted.  "As Vice Chairs

Some of the numbers from USDA's latest look at irrigation and water management within agriculture.    “There were 212,714 farms and they irrigated 53 million acres.  It was down a little bit from 2018, where the survey showed that there were 231,000 farms with close to 56 million irrigated acres, so down 8% in total, farms irrigating and about 5% for acres irrigated,” noted Julie Weber with NASS. 

Steve Hanson, a rancher from Elsie, NE, was elected chair of the U.S. Meat Export Federation at the organization's Strategic Planning Conference in Tucson, AZ on Friday.  Hanson said a priority for him will be the partnerships with the various checkoffs that support the work of USMEF around the globe.   “...

According to the 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey, which was released Thursday, there were 212,714 farms with 53.1 million irrigated acres, which included 81 million acre-feet of water applied in the United States.  In 2018, the irrigation survey results showed that there were 231,474 farms with 55.9 million...