FARM BILL: From Minnesota Corn via Facebook, VERBATIM: “Farm Bill 2.0 would help ensure the resilience, productivity, and global competitiveness of American agriculture, as well as the strength of rural communities nationwide. Meanwhile, year-round E15 would provide much-needed certainty for all fuel supply chain participants while helping to diversify energy supplies, promote domestic energy security, and expand markets for agricultural commodities.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/4d30S1A (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
DC + AG
TOMORROW: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson says he expects the full U.S. House to pass its farm bill on Thursday. ‘With any degree of luck, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 will be passed out of the House by noon (Thursday).’ Speaking with farm broadcasters at the NAFB’s 2026 Washington Watch on Wednesday morning, he said E15 will be voted on as a standalone bill.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4uiOjGm
CROP PROTECTION: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The president of the American Soybean Association says a key farm bill provision could impact the future availability of crop protection products. Ohio farmer Scott Metzger says the proposed legislation would prevent state governments from mandating pesticide labeling requirements that differ from EPA’s guidance.” METZGER: “We need to have access to all of the tools in the toolbox,” he says. “We need to make sure that it is labeled for all 50 states, but the baseline can’t be changed. It needs to stand with the scientific proven facts from the EPA.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4mZZ3qp
E15: Via MN Bio-Fuels, VERBATIM: “As policymakers at the federal level continue to consider expanding access to E15, the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels) led a letter signed by over 30 state biofuel and agriculture organizations urging Congress to include a bipartisan amendment allowing year-round E15 in the House Farm Bill (H.R. 7567). Legislative text agreed to by members of the E15 Rural Domestic Energy Council was introduced last week as an amendment to the House Farm Bill. The bipartisan amendment, which is being considered in the House Rules Committee this week, would permanently allow retail gas stations nationwide the option to sell E15 year-round.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uk2haR LETTER: https://fluence-media.co/4ufKbXr
MORE: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley suggests the fate of nationwide year-round E15 is in the hands of the Speaker of the House. The Iowa Republican tells Brownfield Speaker Mike Johnson made a promise to Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra, who chairs the Rural Domestic Energy Council.” GRASSLEY: “That he is going to deliver E15, and based upon the power of the Speaker, which is much greater than the power of Senate Majority Leader, it ought to be done. And I hope that Speaker Johnson can soon deliver on that promise.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4eXpXNE
PRODUCTIVE FARMS, STEWARDSHIP GO HAND IN HAND. via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Corn farmers are demonstrating that productive agriculture and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. Through widespread adoption of practices such as reduced tillage, cover crops, crop rotations, and targeted nutrient management, farmers have improved soil health, reduced erosion, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and protected water quality across millions of acres in Minnesota. That’s all while implementing advances in seed genetics, fertility management, and precision technology that have improved on-farm productivity.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4stHjG5 (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
FARM FINANCES
INPUTS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Megan Horsager is not looking forward to buying more fuel for her farm. She’s got a large, white, cylindrical fuel tank that sits in the middle of her family’s row-crop farm in Montevideo. While she buys her fertilizer and other planting needs in the fall, ahead of planting season, she opts to buy fuel whenever her tank needs a top-up . . . The prices of key agricultural necessities such as diesel and nitrogen fertilizer have soared since the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade passageway, has largely been choked off amid the war in Iran. While Horsager didn’t book enough diesel in advance, she is set with fertilizer. However, not everyone is.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4tok7J7
MORE: Via MoneyWise, VERBATIM: “Increased operating costs, including elevated fuel and fertilizer costs, have made turning a profit more difficult. Times are so tough, some farmers in Minnesota are deciding instead to lease their land for money. ‘The neighbor will pay me $300 an acre and I can just take the year off,’ Steve Zenk, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture representative, told the local CBS News affiliate. It’s basic math. Minnesota farmers are spending $900 per acre to plant corn, Zenk said. But they’re only seeing an $800 return per acre. Even cattle farmers are thinking twice about raising cows and investing in feed lots, amid higher prices.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Qw7NJ1
FERTILIZER PRICES: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Concerns are growing about how fertilizer prices are set, with USDA officials pointing to limited competition in key segments of the market. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden says the issue comes down to price discovery.” VADEN: “The way price discovery generally works is you have multiple competitors in the marketplace, and it’s through their competition we find what the appropriate market price is, and consumers generally rely on that.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4eBi0hl
MORE: Via DTN, VERBATIM: “Highlighting a coordinated push across the Trump administration on fertilizer challenges, [Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins] on Tuesday held a press conference with three other Cabinet members, a White House economic adviser and members of Congress to lay out plans to increase access to fertilizer and lower prices.” ROLLINS: “This (is an) all-of-government approach, and obviously, as a Reagan conservative, I cringe a little bit about saying, ‘The government is here to help you.’ But in this instance, this is an instance where there is a massive gap in the market. ... The national security implications of this are real.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ug3UGm
MORE: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Federal officials are linking fertilizer supply challenges directly to broader national security concerns. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum emphasized the critical role agriculture plays beyond food production.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4tGPwqP
ADVOCATE: Via Minnesota Women’s Press, VERBATIM: “Farming advocate Friendly Vang-Johnson describes herself as “farmer-adjacent.” With a background in public policy, she is the government affairs director of the Minnesota Farmers’ Market Association and a Minnesota Farm Advocate specializing in assisting emerging farmers with their needs — including assessing land damages, coordinating supply chain values, and helping farmers apply for grants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4w5OrL8
VOLUNTEERS: Via WDIO-TV, VERBATIM: “Grassroots organization Farm Buds connects volunteers with local farms, giving growers some extra sets of hands and locals a chance to see where their food comes from. The program received a grant to expand into Northeastern Minnesota.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3OSwYVq
MARKETS & MORE
GRAINS: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Wheat futures were leading the gains again with new contract highs in hard red winter and hard red spring wheat contracts, which was pulling up soft red winter wheat. Mark Knight with Farmer’s Keeper Financial says wheat continues to add weather premium with the drought conditions hitting the HRW production areas and deteriorating crop conditions . . . Knight says the wheat market is also adding risk premium tied to the prolonged Iran war and crude oil prices going back above $100 with the Strait of Hormuz still closed. This is also adding to the fertilizer crunch and record price push that is driving global production concerns.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48Z2x6U
EXPORTS: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an expanded partnership with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to increase domestic agricultural production and exports, while reducing the agricultural trade deficit. Alongside this partnership, USDA is formally launching the Financial Assurance to Revitalize Markets, or FARM, Initiative, a comprehensive effort to strengthen and modernize its export credit guarantee program in support of U.S. agricultural competitiveness.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4edVhri
SUGARBEETS: Via Agweek, VERBATIM: “Sugarbeet farmers in the southern Red River Valley had made some headway into the 2026 planting season as the end April approached, but further north fields were still too wet to seed. Sugarbeet farmers in the American Crystal Sugar Co. Moorhead, Minnesota, factory district had planted 8,500 acres as of April 24, 2026, said Steve Rosenau, American Crystal Sugar vice president of agriculture. Planting progress in the company’s factory districts further north — Hillsboro, North Dakota, East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Crookston, Minnesota, and Drayton, North Dakota — was minimal.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4w1eVxa
CROP ROTATION: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A farmer in west-central Minnesota suggests the implications of rising fertilizer prices won’t be apparent this spring. Noah Hultgren grows corn, sugarbeets, soybeans, kidney beans, and alfalfa in Kandiyohi County and says the conflict in the Middle East raises concerns about input costs . . . he tells Brownfield rotation changes could occur if fertilizer prices remain elevated.” HULTGREN: “Yet to be determined I guess for 2027 and going forward, if that matters enough or not. I’d like to think that we get to a point where we’re not always wondering is the Strait of Hormuz open or not.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/42oGVNP
NEXTGEN: Via Farm Progress, VERBATIM: “Liv Vander Kooi put pen to paper at the recent Minnesota State FFA Convention to help her achieve her goal of becoming an agricultural education teacher. Vander Kooi, a Worthington High School senior, joined 17 other FFA members at a ceremony during the convention, where they signed ‘Commitment to Teach Ag’ certificates, signifying their intent of attending a college or university to pursue a degree in agricultural education.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42CHKm1
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
EAB: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has confirmed emerald ash borer (EAB) in Todd County for the first time. There are now 60 counties in the state, including Todd, with EAB.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Pe2lKl
CROP TOOL: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “Struggling to pinpoint what’s causing issues in your fields? @UMNExt’s Digital Crop Doc is a free, easy-to-use tool that helps growers get fast, reliable disease ID in corn, soybeans, small grains, and sugar beets.” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/48zcMi5
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