RESEARCH: From Minnesota Corn via Facebook, VERBATIM: “Each year, Minnesota Corn invests checkoff funds in University of Minnesota research projects that aim to increase the productivity and efficiency of corn farming while developing new markets for corn-based products. Yesterday, we partnered with the university on an event that highlighted these project[s] to state lawmakers.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/3R1cZVR (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
OUTSIDE IMPACTS
DC SITUATION: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Congress returns to Washington today after a two-week recess. Over the next month, lawmakers will need to move forward on Farm Bill 2.0, a farm assistance package and year-round E-15. Without action, those issues will be punted to the lame duck session after the November 3 elections.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/44trnZZ
WORKFORCE: Via RFD-TV, VERBATIM: “Agricultural leaders are again calling on Congress to modernize the H-2A guest worker program, saying rising labor costs and workforce shortages continue to strain farm finances. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says a reliable workforce is essential to producing the nation’s food, fuel and fiber, but argues the current H-2A program no longer meets agriculture’s needs.” QUOTE: “A reliable workforce is essential to producing the food, fuel, and fiber Americans depend on every day,” Duvall said. “Yet many farmers struggle to find the workforce they need, and the current H-2A program does not fully meet the needs of agriculture.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vDiBny
INTERSTATE COMMERCE: Via Iowa Farm Bureau, VERBATIM: “Iowa Farm Bureau Vice President Brian Feldpausch and other livestock farmers urged Congress to pass legislation protecting interstate commerce at a press conference last week with Rep. Ashley Hinson (IA-02). Hinson sponsored the Save Our Bacon Act in the U.S. House of Representatives to protect access to interstate commerce for Iowa farmers and lower grocery prices for consumers by prohibiting state and local governments from interfering with the production of livestock in other states.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/450dHWB
TURKEYS: Via West Central Tribune, VERBATIM: “After about four years of fighting back against disease, producers on the roughly 600 turkey farms in Minnesota are feeling relief under the currently quiet part of the season . . . While it may look like producers could let down their guard under the summer sun, they know better. At the recent Minnesota Turkey Growers Summer Summit in Alexandria, vendors continue to push the latest technologies like lasers that can scare wild birds off. Producers continue to talk about added windbreaks around their farms that can help limit the spread of airborne disease. And the desire to implement vaccines is being pushed more aggressively than ever. The group was also abuzz over research that shows how diseases could be confirmed in wastewater, even before the birds start to show any symptoms.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vwYuY2
FARM ECONOMY: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Trouble in farm country is spelling trouble for the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress as a loyal GOP constituency faces increased financial turmoil. Farm bankruptcies in the nation, and especially in Midwestern states like Minnesota, are on the rise and expected to continue to climb. Economic analyses, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Sector Income Forecast, show why farm failures are on the rise. The USDA predicts farm income will drop by $1.2 billion this year, even with the increased revenue from the only healthy sector of the farm economy – the beef cattle industry.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4yaYsrc
LONG TERM: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “The concern extends far beyond one growing season. After several years of tight or negative margins, many economists believe row crop agriculture could remain under pressure for years.” QUOTE: “I think sometimes these cycles take a bit,” says Krista Swanson, chief economist for NCGA. “We’re really already in the fourth year for a lot of commodities, certainly across the row crop sector, of what I would say is a downturn or low margins, tight margins, negative margins. The possibility of it taking a few more years to get out of this cycle is really frustrating and makes things really difficult for farmers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wBXkeL
TRADE
INDIA: From U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council via Facebook, VERBATIM: “USGBC Regional Director for South Asia Reece Cannady (leftmost) recently led a delegation of Indian grain buyers on a tour of the U.S. corn co-product value chain in Illinois, Minnesota, South Carolina and Georgia.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/4wFHLCz
SUGAR: Via UPI, VERBATIM: “Mexico announced the United States will begin to restore Mexican sugar’s access to its market, a measure that could significantly increase exports during the 2026-2027 season and boost income for about 170,000 sugarcane producers. Mexico’s presidency said in a statement released Friday that the measure is the result of talks with U.S. authorities led by President Claudia Sheinbaum since November 2025.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vouqxx
USMCA: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “The future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered a new phase earlier this month after the Trump administration declined to automatically renew the trade pact for another 16-year term. Instead, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the agreement will move into rolling annual reviews through its scheduled expiration in 2036, a move the administration says was needed rather than simply extending the current deal . . . For agriculture, the announcement raises new questions about long-term certainty, future investment and whether lingering trade disputes, especially dairy, can finally be resolved. But one policy expert says it’s important to remember USMCA is much bigger than dairy and there are other segments that need to be addressed.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4wHqaKJ
ELECTRIC: Via Agweek, VERBATIM: “Minnesota farmers have until Aug. 11 to apply for a new state grant that reimburses up to 75% of the cost of electric farm equipment, from tractors to feed pushers to irrigation pumps. The Electric Farm Equipment Grant, administered by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, has $6.6 million available. Individual awards range from $1,500 to $150,000, and applicants seeking the maximum award would need to spend $200,000 on equipment, since the state reimburses 75% of total project cost, said Michael Green, senior grants specialist at the Department of Agriculture and the program’s administrator.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aMngfk
WEEDING: Via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Hlee and Txongpao Lee grow a long list of vegetables on their 30-acre farm about 20 miles south of the Twin Cities. Other than the occasional help they get from their adult children and relatives, it’s their four hands doing all the work. Fortunately, they’ve found the right mechanical tools to rely on, mounted to a pair of International Farmall 140s and John Deere 950s. Two of each so they don’t have to waste time rotating parts.” QUOTE: “If it weren’t for these tractors, we wouldn’t be able to farm this many acres,” Hlee Lee said. “I always say to my husband, ‘we’ve got help from our grandma and grandpa right here,” Hlee said, pointing to the tractors.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hbp1GF
CROP UPDATES
CONDITIONS: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A technical service manager says variable crop conditions could impact fungicide applications for corn. Adam Byrne with FMC says a wide range of planting dates has created uneven development.” BYRNE: “If you have fields that are at tassel or just past tassel and have some disease risk that you want to control, now you’re talking about another return trip to spray these crops that are two, three, maybe even four stages behind,” he says. “If you have a disease creeping in or actually present in those fields that are ready now, it may be too risky to wait.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4fhDheA
REPORT: Via farm management analyst Kent Thiesse, VERBATIM: “The USDA World Supply and Demand (WASDE) Report released on July 10th projected a decrease in the projected 2026-27 corn ending stocks, based on reduced beginning stocks due to the better-than-expected corn demand for the current 2025-26 marketing year, which ends on August 31, 2026. The latest WASDE Report also showed much lower anticipated U.S. wheat production in 2026, which is expected to result in a significant reduction in the 2026-27 wheat carryover levels.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pgitbQ
DISEASES: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “An agronomist in eastern Iowa is seeing escalating disease pressure in corn. Kurt Maertens with BASF says there’s been ample moisture the past month.” MAERTENS: “Over the last 30 days we’ve had several big storm events come through, and each time one of those events has come through it has splashed that overwintering inoculant on that lower canopy. And so it’s not hard for me to find quite a bit of anthracnose in that lower canopy right now.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4h9ZNs7
LABELING: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced that ten additional meat and poultry companies have adopted USDA’s voluntary Product of USA label, marking continued momentum behind the Administration’s efforts to help consumers easily identify products that are truly born, raised, harvested, and processed in the United States.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3T20lq6
BERRIES: Via Harvest Public Media, VERBATIM: “On the bluffs of the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, Crystal Moore-Stevens and her family grow something you won’t find on most farms: serviceberries . . . Serviceberry enthusiasts like Higgerson and Moore-Stevens are part of a new push to expose more people to this largely unknown berry. Though the native fruit is commercially harvested in Canada, experts say building a U.S. market could be a challenge.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4wDguRc
WEATHER: From ND State Climatologist Daryl Ritchison via X, VERBATIM: “The @MNagriculture in cooperation with the @NDAWNmesonet just completed an installation near Vernon Center in central Blue Earth County, Minnesota.” PHOTO: https://fluence-media.co/4pgqD3U
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
MAZE: Via Sun Post, VERBATIM: “After hosting last year’s Twin Cities Harvest Festival without their iconic corn maze, the Bouwman family is planning a return to form with their new Brooklyn Park location. At a July 8 meeting, the Planning Commission unanimously approved an interim use permit for the Bouwmans to host the event at 8901 101st Ave. N.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3TdtWNl
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