MCGA BOARD: From Minnesota Corn via Instagram, VERBATIM: “Today, we spotlight new board member Mark Enninga, who partners with his parents, Spencer and Leann, with the family farm in Fulda growing and marketing corn, soybeans, and beef. He’s pictured here with his son, Jack. Mark said he fell in love with farming as a young boy who was deeply involved in the family farm.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/4tUsZrk (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
DC + AG
FARM BILL: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Farm Bureau President Dan Glessing says the new farm bill text is very similar to what was voted on in the House Agriculture Committee just over a year ago.” GLESSING: “We had GT (House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson) on with the 50 state presidents in our monthly call and he’s got the 23rd, 24th, and 25th of February slated for markup in committee.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3MpxUzz
HEMP: Via Marijuana Moment, VERBATIM: “The proposed 2026 Farm Bill released on Friday by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) would maintain the industrial hemp program at a time when the cannabinoid industry finds itself threatened by a pending recriminalization of most consumable cannabinoid products under separate legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last year. But for farmers growing hemp for industrial purposes such as fiber and grain, the latest iteration of the Farm Bill is being pitched as a source of industry relief, with policies allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as states and tribes, to ‘reduce or eliminate testing requirements and background checks for producers,’ for example.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kHOHuk
(DISCLOSURE: Plift Beverages is a client of Fluence Advisory)
WORKFORCE: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Minnesota farmers are worried they won’t have enough hands to tend livestock and manage crops this year, a consequence of ongoing federal immigration enforcement in the state targeting undocumented workers from Latin America who keep U.S. agriculture churning. While the thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who’ve descended on Minnesota have focused on the Twin Cities, rural communities are feeling their presence, too. ICE has recently raided dairy farms, according to farmers and industry leaders, and crop growers are worried they won’t have enough temporary visa holders to work the fields come spring.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ak6vrU
COLLAPSE: Via Money Wise, VERBATIM: “Far from the showdowns between protesters and ICE agents in urban centers like Minneapolis, farmers in rural Minnesota find themselves embroiled in a different sort of battle. It’s a fight against rising agricultural costs, surplus crops dragging revenues down and the fallout of an international tariff war that threatens, as a February 3 letter from concerned U.S. agriculture experts put it, a ‘widespread collapse’ of farms and rural communities.” QUOTE: “There are few tragedies greater than the loss of a family farm,” the letter, addressed to the House Agriculture Committee — including Minnesota lawmakers Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Angie Craig — states. “We need to honestly acknowledge these impacts to rural America and engage in serious deliberations with the farm community to develop real, long-term solutions.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/46TYZBL
ASSISTANCE: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $1 billion in Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers (ASCF) Program assistance for specialty crops and sugar, commodities not covered through the previously announced Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program. These one-time bridge payments will help address market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation, and market losses from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impede exports.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cx3p5g
AG FINANCE
EXPORTS: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Corn prices continue to be supported by export demand. Compeer Financial ag economist Megan Roberts says U.S. corn exports were strong in 2025 and that momentum has carried into the new year.” ROBERTS: “I know those corn prices aren’t where we want them to be, but I think that they would be lower if we weren’t seeing some of this really strong export demand.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4qB4yvZ
(DISCLOSURE: Compeer is a Fluence sponsor)
FARM INCOME: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Upper Midwest farm incomes fell in late 2025, even as national crop production was strong. The Minneapolis Federal Reserve surveys the same farm lenders in Minnesota, Montana, both Dakotas and Wisconsin each quarter. Those bankers said that in the fourth quarter of 2025, farm incomes and investment declined. Joe Mahon, a regional outreach director at the Minneapolis Fed, said high production levels are a ‘double-edged sword.’” MAHON: “Even though that means a higher volume of commodities to sell, that’s going to have the effect of putting downward pressure on those commodity prices.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4rwRQj2
JOHN DEERE: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “After months of workforce reductions and sliding equipment sales, John Deere is reversing course, announcing it will bring 140 employees back to its Waterloo, Iowa, operations as demand ticks higher for its 8R and 9R tractors. The recall comes even as Deere forecasts the North American ag equipment market will decline another 15% to 20% in 2026, underscoring the push-and-pull shaping today’s farm economy. Large equipment sales remain under pressure from lower commodity prices and tighter margins, yet pockets of global demand are forcing Deere to recalibrate production in real time.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3MKaGEo
OPPORTUNITIES & ADVICE
TOMORROW: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “Our Outreach Veterinarians will be at the Central Livestock Association sale this Tuesday, February 17 in Albany. If you’re attending the livestock auction, stop by to say hi & pick up some resources on antibiotic stewardship & drug residue prevention!” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4cwLICQ
TOMORROW / NEXT WEEK: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “Celebrate Farm & Food Book Month (and National I Love to Read Month!) this Feb with MN Ag in the Classroom! Join us on Zoom with special guest readers Princess Kay of the (2/17, 9am) + MDA Commissioner Thom Petersen (Feb 23, 1pm).” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4qEbgS0
THIS WEEK: Via KARE-TV, VERBATIM: “National Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Week kicks off Sunday. This means it’s the perfect time to sign up for a 2026 CSA farm share. There are more than 90 Minnesota Grown farms statewide that offer a total of over 300 pick-up locations.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3MzDCyS
NEXT WEEK: Via St. Cloud Live, VERBATIM: “From its humble beginnings with booths lining Crossroads Center, the Central Minnesota Farm Show has grown steadily over the years, and its 59th event may be its biggest yet. This year, the show’s 280 booths sold out a month in advance, a sign of heightened interest among exhibitors, according to co-chairs Travis Theis and Al Brinkman.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cx43zI
CRP: Via farm management analyst Kent Thiesse, VERBATIM: “USDA has announced enrollment periods for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) at local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices. The sign-up period for landowners to enroll eligible farmland in the Continuous CRP program is February 12 through March 20, 2026. The current CRP sign-up period will be for renewing existing CRP contracts and adding farmland acres into the General CRP program begins on March 9 and continues until April 17. A 2026 sign-up period for the Grassland CRP program will be announced by USDA at a later date. The CRP program is a voluntary program through USDA that can be used as a tool by landowners and the agricultural community to invest in the long-term protection and well-being of their land and natural resources.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4tGblHq
TAX CREDIT: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Corn, soybean and sorghum growers could be a step closer to premiums for biofuel crops grown with a reduced carbon intensity, thanks to recently announced guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. For farmers delivering their crop directly to ethanol plants, it signals that long-anticipated financial opportunities tied to the 45Z tax credit might soon become a reality.” QUOTE: “How that crop is grown will count for how the final carbon intensity of the ethanol is calculated,” explains Chad Asmus, Sustainability Market Development Manager for BASF, unpacking the Feb. 4 Treasury guidance. “That’s the clarity the industry needs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4akX4Zd
URBAN AG: Via Morning Ag Clips, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) hosted its third annual Urban Ag Conference on February 14 at St. Paul College, bringing together urban farmers, professionals and community members for a day of connection, collaboration and learning.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Oit3Rk
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
PROCESSOR: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The president and CEO of Smithfield Foods says the company will be building a new, fresh pork and packaged meat processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Shane Smith says it will be the most modern plant of its kind in the United States.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kCDF9P
MILL: Via Agweek, VERBATIM: “The idea behind Green Acres Milling began not with a construction project, but with a question many farmers are asking: how to keep more of the value of what they grow in their own communities . . . For Landon Plagge, who, along with his wife Anne, of Latimer, Iowa, were selected as the 2025 Iowa Leopold Conservation Award winners, the answer was moving beyond the farm gate and further down the supply chain . . . That philosophy ultimately led to Green Acres Milling, a farmer-owned oat processing facility now under construction in Albert Lea. Plagge said the project grew from a desire among growers to market their crops differently and capture more of the value created after harvest.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4qIepAl
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