ACRYLIC ACID: Via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Låkril Technologies has appointed Justin Brown as Chief Executive Officer to position the company to win licensing agreements within the global chemical industry. Supported in part by Minesota Corn, Låkril offers a groundbreaking process to produce bio-based acrylic acid, a key monomer used in such products as paints, coatings, adhesives, and superabsorbent polymers (diapers). This $12 billion industrial space could be a major new market for American corn.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/46WzfVA (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
A BUSY WEEK FOR AG
SNOW: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Farmers in the Upper Midwest are digging out from a weekend blizzard. Brent Mohn farms south of Minneapolis and says more than a foot of snow has accumulated since Sunday morning.” MOHN: “Tough to tell other than kind of judging by the snow piles in the yard. But it blew pretty much the entire storm, its kind of calmed down this morning. Sun is back out, so we’re cleaning up yards and moving snow around getting our yard opened back up.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/40zsRA6
VIETNAM: Via Ag Management Solutions, VERBATIM: “A delegation representing Northern Soy Marketing (NSM), including Houston, Minn. farmer Glen Groth, is traveling March 16-20 to Vietnam to tout the advantages of buying northern-grown soy. ’I’m excited to learn more about their market, understand what our customers need and how our soymeal can best fit their needs,’ said Groth, who also serves as NSM Chair. ’Vietnam is a growing market, so we want to make sure we maintain a presence there.’ A collaboration of farmer leaders from Minnesota and South Dakota, NSM promotes the quality, consistency and reliability of northern-grown soybeans and soymeal by working with respected researchers to provide a more accurate picture of soybean feeding quality.”
WAR: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Minnesota farmers are closely watching price shifts for commodities such as fertilizer and fuel, which are climbing nationwide due to supply disruptions in the Middle East. The price surge stems from a virtual halt in barge traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S. and Israel continue strikes against Iran.” QUOTE: “I think most people are just thinking, ‘Hopefully this doesn’t go on a whole lot longer,’” Minnesota Farm Bureau President Dan Glessing said. “Hopefully, the Strait of Hormuz will open up, and this was just a little blurb on the radar, but the longer it goes on, it could be significant.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sMK9FK
MORE: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Brad Carlson, an educator with the University of Minnesota extension, said he’d heard from a fertilizer salesman who’d seen prices nearing 85 cents per pound for nitrogen-heavy urea fertilizer at a farm supply store near Sauk Rapids. ‘I’ve never seen anything remotely that expensive,’ Carlson said. ‘I’m a soil scientist, not an economist, but obviously I’m concerned.’ Wesley Beck, the president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, said farmers are facing the widest spread they have ‘ever had’ between the price of corn and cost of fertilizer.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sMVe9O
MEAT: Via KEYC-TV, VERBATIM: “Sen. Rich Draheim (R- Madison Lake) has introduced a bill for the 2026 legislative session, which would introduce a new local labelling system for meats developed from cell cultures. Sen. Draheim says that while cell cultivated meat is a relatively new industry and no companies in Minnesota currently have any products on the market, he thinks the bill is a good idea as a precaution.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4luZHM9
PROCESSOR: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “About 3,800 workers at one of the nation’s largest meatpacking plants went on strike Monday in Colorado in what union representatives said was the first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades. Hundreds of strikers picketed in front of the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, owned by JBS USA, as the sun rose Monday. They walked back in forth in the morning cold, bundled in blankets as some yelled ‘huelga!; — Spanish for ‘strike.’ Others carried signs saying ‘please don’t patronize JBS,’ written in both English and Spanish.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bnSSXW
MORE: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Live and feeder cattle futures opened higher on Monday morning. Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says there are a couple of reasons why the market ignored the strike and the biggest are the higher equity markets and lower crude oil. However, he says it is also tied to the fact the strike news was already priced into the market.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NqtpoI
PORK: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The vice president of the National Pork Board says he’s optimistic about consumer demand in 2026. Chad Groves, a producer from Kansas, says shifts in diet trends last year could continue to have an impact.” GROVES: “You have the introduction of GLP-1 drugs. Doctors have put a significant focus on protein and protein consumption and maintaining that protein consumption. But also as we got into the back-half of the year, we had the inversion of the food pyramid with protein back at the top.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4uwHm5n
HEADWINDS
BANKRUPTCIES: Via Harvest Public Media, VERBATIM: “Farm bankruptcies across the country are climbing. In 2025, farmers filed 315 bankruptcy cases, which is higher than the previous four years, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation report. These are Chapter 12 bankruptcies, which are designed for ‘family farmers’ according to the U.S. court definition. Economists say the increase in filings is due to a combination of rising operational costs on the farm, such as fertilizer and machinery, and low crop prices that are putting pressure on farmers. Farm bankruptcy filings are typically a lagging indicator that farmers are facing financial distress.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lzzsE7
INPUTS: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The conflict in the Middle East has renewed scrutiny over transparency in agricultural input pricing. Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue tells Brownfield fertilizer costs have been volatile and the latest geopolitical tensions are raising more concerns.” QUOTE: “We just wonder if there is price gouging,” McHargue said. “I think the importance of having a good relationship with your vendor whether [it’s] where you buy fuel from or the co-op you’re dealing with that maybe would help that.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cWeqgV
EQUIPMENT: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The senior vice president with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) says the latest equipment sales figures are continuing to reflect overall sluggishness in the ag economy. Curt Blades says factors like ongoing trade disruptions and geopolitical upheaval continue to weigh on the market.” BLADES: “Certainty is what drives the market, and we’ve been uncertain for quite some time.” He says, “The #1 indicator of tractor sales tends to be corn prices and net farm income, and we still have some question marks around those two factors right now.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4lArzhQ
AG RESOURCES
CROP DECISIONS: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “USDA’s early projections indicated nearly 5 million fewer acres of corn in the U.S. this year and 4 million more acres of soybeans. However, with fertilizer prices spiking and questions about supplies, how much will that change farmers’ plans and this spring’s acreage mix? In 2025, Northwest Corn Belt farmers planted 2.4 million more acres of corn. Chris Kolstoe, director of agronomy operations with CHS, says early seed sales in North Dakota are leaning that way again.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uxLm5B
REPORT: Via farm management analyst Kent Thiesse, VERBATIM: “The March 10 USDA World Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report did not include any significant changes from other recent WASDE reports. The 2025-26 ending stocks in the March WASDE report for corn, soybeans, and wheat remained the same as the estimates a month earlier. The 2025-26 projected corn carryout level is considerably higher than the final ending stocks for 2024-25. The expected 2025-26 market year average (MYA) prices for corn and wheat are expected to be lower than a year earlier, while the projected MYA soybean price for the current marketing year is expected to increase slightly compared to the final 2024-25 MYA price.” READ:
WEDNESDAY: Via MFU, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Farmers Union Foundation (MFUF) will host a webinar to present the findings of its ‘Cooperative Development and Climate Resilience’ report and discuss why the cooperative model remains a powerful tool for strengthening rural economies and advancing climate resilience. The webinar, Farmer-Led Solutions: Investing in Cooperatives for a Changing Climate, is from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. March 18.”
MORE: Via MFU, the report. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3Nwh6qW
WEDNESDAY: Via Marshall Independent, VERBATIM: “The [Minnesota Farmers Union] (MFU) hosts a People’s Town Hall at Sleepy Eye Brewing Wednesday, March 18 . . . With the farm bill still pending and uncertainty surrounding its future, MFU invites members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to attend. Redwood County Farmers Union Vice President Paul Sobocinski talked about other issues farmers are dealing with now. ‘Gasoline and fertilizer prices are going sky high because of tariffs and now the war. Things are going out of wack fast,’ he said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47NMWq5
MARCH 31: Via Morning Ag Clips, VERBATIM: “Network with agricultural leaders at the 28th annual Women’s Agricultural Leadership Conference (WALC) on Tuesday, March 31 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. This year’s WALC theme, ‘Local Leadership: Global Impact,’ will focus on developing and uplifting women in agriculture and giving them tools to deal with an ever-changing industry.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uMWpYS
NEXTGEN
PROCESSING: Via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “‘When am I ever going to use this?’ is a question countless students have asked teachers about a given subject matter for generations. But it’s not a question that came up during a recent afternoon at the Battle Lake High School’s food sciences class, where ag education teacher Dan Ukkelberg was leading more than a dozen students through the process of making sausage. The group was broken into three groups, each tasked with slicing, grinding and mixing pork and beef into a different recipe.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lucKgE
GARDENING: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “It was a great day for Minnesota Ag in the Classroom’s School Garden Conference today! The @mnarboretum was the perfect place for 200 school garden champions to get inspired.” PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/4rvnFIl
FFA: From MDA Commissioner Thom Petersen via X, VERBATIM: “Honored to be inducted into the Minnesota FFA Hall of Fame this year with some wonderful people, including my former veterinarian Dr Mary Olson.” PHOTO: https://fluence-media.co/4bcfXy2
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
SULFUR: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “As more farmers push to plant soybeans early, one nutrient is emerging as a valuable difference-maker in the crop: sulfur. The macronutrient is helping deliver some of the largest yield responses Shaun Casteel says he has seen in recent field trials. ‘Never would you think you’d see double-digit results, let alone 20-bushel numbers in soybean yield from one treatment,’ says Casteel, Purdue University agronomist and Extension soybean specialist. Yet that’s exactly what he has documented in some Indiana fields where supplemental sulfur was applied, especially in early planted soybean fields.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cMugup
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