Industry News

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- Spring crop insurance guarantees for corn and soybeans will be $4.58 and $11.87 per bushel, respectively, increases of $0.70 and $2.70 from last year.

For corn, it's the highest spring guarantee since 2014; it's the highest since 2013 for soybeans.

OMAHA (DTN) -- Agricultural trade barriers were frequent areas of discussion with senators asking Katherine Tia on Thursday how the Biden administration would expand trade markets if Tai is confirmed as U.S. trade ambassador.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in his first day on the job, also told reporters the current high sales to China have benefited farmers, but it's still important for agriculture to diversify markets.

OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA needs to ensure its coronavirus aid to farmers is equitable as the Biden administration is using the department in several ways to focus on President Joe Biden's goal to contain the coronavirus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday.

With that, USDA will extend enrollment for the latest round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for Additional Assistance, dubbed CFAP-AA. Signup will continue, though payments under the program remain frozen.

OMAHA (DTN) -- As Tom Vilsack was sworn in Wednesday afternoon as Agriculture secretary, he already faces a request from his home-state congressional delegation asking to expand COVID-19 relief aid to include custom cattle feeders.

He will also face some calls to unfreeze some aid to producers and also to push for states to vaccinate various workers in agricultural and food sectors of the economy.

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (DTN) -- A coalition of 35 agriculture groups is urging Congress to work with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure farm partnerships and limited liability corporations have the same access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that's granted to sole proprietors.

Playing the role of fortune-teller, Syngenta's head of global seeds research might foresee an exciting future for crop varieties and traits thanks to big advances in plant breeding.

"Looking into the future, transgenic technology will be accelerated by the new innovation that is happening in biotech areas, such as genome editing," Gusui Wu said. "We believe gene-editing technology will have a big impact in the years to come."

By DTN Staff

When the price for one bull hits the $900,000 mark, it creates a lot of interest anywhere, but especially in a town like Scotia, Nebraska.

Local news outlets reported a 1-year-old bull from Poss Angus Ranch hit that impressive price mark in the ranch's annual bull sale. The bull's name? Poss Deadwood.

OMAHA (DTN) -- The EPA is changing course on small-refinery exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard, announcing Monday it agrees with a court of appeals decision last year that the agency had mismanaged the program under the Trump administration.

OMAHA (DTN) -- Tom Vilsack received a strong vote of confidence in the U.S. Senate from Republicans as President Joe Biden's pick for agriculture secretary was confirmed with a 92-7 vote on Tuesday.

Vilsack, 70, received strong bi-partisan support in his confirmation vote even as his nomination drew criticism in some progressive circles. Among the GOP backers were Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

OMAHA (DTN) -- Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the USDA Midwest Climate Hub have drought in focus for much of the central region of the United States through the spring season. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center seasonal drought outlook, which runs through the end of May, calls for drought to remain in western Iowa, and to either remain or develop over all but the southeastern portion of the Plains.