Farm Progress

While the overall good-to-excellent ratings for corn quality trended one point lower in USDA’s latest crop progress report, out Monday afternoon and covering the week through June 28, crops rated “good” shifted three points lower while crops rated “excellent” shifted two points higher. Soybean quality ratings also slid a point lower this past week, bucking analyst expectations. And winter wheat harvest progress didn’t see as much momentum as the trade was expecting.

It may cost more for farmers to grow corn this year than the market is willing to pay for it. Purdue’s latest cost analysis shows breakeven prices are higher than the expected returns for corn agriculture across the Corn Belt right now. Corn futures have hovered around $4.10 per bushel, but most growers receive less than that at the elevator once basis is accounted for. In many Corn Belt markets, that puts cash prices closer to $3.80 to $3.90.

Weather is the obvious culprit for volatility in the grain market around Independence Day — if conditions threaten corn pollination or the outlook for soybean success. Still, in some years impacts from heat and drought are a dud, but prices rocket higher anyway. The cause for unexpected price swings: Overlooked updates to acreage and grain stocks reports USDA publishes at the end of June.

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major victory for the crop protection industry Thursday, ruling that Bayer cannot be sued in state courts for failing to include cancer warnings on Roundup labels. In a 7-2 decision, the court determined that when the EPA reviewed glyphosate and decided no cancer warning was needed, that federal determination is final. State juries cannot override it. "The EPA's label is the federal standard, period," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority.

Heifer management strategies begin even before conception. Effective herd managers understand how many heifers are needed to maintain or grow herd size, and they adjust their approach based on the farm’s long-term goals. While most managers are familiar with their herd’s replacement rate, they may not fully understand how many calves successfully develop into productive members of the milking herd.

From southern Ohio's frost-damaged wheat fields to western New York's waterlogged corn ground, the 2026 growing season has tested farmers' resilience at every turn. Six weeks into summer, agronomists and Extension experts report a patchwork of conditions across major production states — some promising, many concerning, such as tar spot in Western Illinois — and all running behind normal as July approaches. Here’s what Farm Progress editors have to report on 2026 crop progress as of June 25.

This is Part 1 of a series on H-2A and H-2B guest worker regulations and processes, and the legal obligations of U.S. farm employers. The U.S. agricultural sector faces critical labor challenges, relying on approximately 2 million foreign-born ag workers each year that make up 80% of the nation’s ag workforce. It is also estimated that 92% of these workers are from Mexico.

Riverview LLP has cleared one hurdle on its way to realizing the expansion of its West River Dairy facility near Morris, Minn. The proposed expansion would take West River Dairy’s capacity from 7,855 Jersey-Holstein crossbred cows to 18,855 cows. After thoroughly reviewing comments received during the public comment period and in accordance with Minnesota state law, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency determined that an environmental impact study is not required.

Curt Arens,senior editor of Nebraska Farmer,Nebraska Farmer On-farm marriage proposals, like staff writer Elizabeth Hodges and her fiancé, Isaac, had in the garden, are simple and memorable, laying the groundwork for a lifetime together. LaylaBird/Getty Images If you are an avid reader of our articles written by staff writer Elizabeth Hodges, and especially her popular Gen Z Aggie column every month, you know that she recently had a unique experience in the garden.

Remember getting your report card in high school? Were you eager to review your grades and find your class rank? Or did you stuff the card into the bottom of your backpack and pray your parents wouldn’t ask to see it? Hopefully, the latter isn’t how you react to your corn tissue test results, which Purdue University Extension corn specialist Dan Quinn explained are the report cards of your cornfields and give you something to pay attention to for next year.