E15: From Minnesota Corn via Instagram, VERBATIM: “One month ago, Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation sent a clear signal on year-round E15. All eight members of the delegation voted in favor of H.R. 1346, bipartisan legislation that would permanently authorize year-round sales of the biofuel blend . . . We look forward to working with members of the U.S. Senate to make year-round E15 a reality.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3SBMWoo (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
EL NINO FORECAST
FED ADVISORY: Via NOAA, VERBATIM: “NOAA’s National Weather Service announced today that El Nino has developed in the tropical Pacific, and issued an El Nino Advisory. El Nino, the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is predicted to intensify to a moderate or strong level this fall. Forecasters predict a 63% chance of sea surface temperatures exceeding 2.0°C in the Nino-monitored region of the Pacific. If this threshold is surpassed, NOAA considers the event a ‘very strong’ El Nino.”
“During a typical El Nino winter, the jet stream over the north Pacific Ocean tends to shift southward, bringing the storm track over the southern tier of the U.S. The southward shift in the storm track also leads to drier conditions over the Northern Rockies and Ohio and Tennessee valleys. For temperatures, El Nino often leads to a warmer than usual winter over the northern U.S.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vLfKt0
MORE: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Even with NOAA’s declaration, [Nutrien Ag Solutions senior science fellow Eric Snodgrass] says farmers shouldn’t assume El Niño will be the primary driver of weather during the heart of the growing season.” SNODGRASS: “Historically, the correlations with El Niño and summer weather patterns are weak. It’s not as strong as we’d like,” he says. “I wish it was the most dominant factor in summer because then I’d be really good at my job. But the reality is summer is defined by thunderstorm complexes. It’s defined by very weak boundaries. It’s defined by heat. As a result, predicting it days and weeks in advance is difficult.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SDMwxN
DROUGHT: The latest Drought Monitor reflecting data as of Tuesday shows Minnesota’s situation got worse – 32% of the state is in formal drought status, up from 14% a week earlier. An area in southwest Minnesota is now considered to be in extreme drought. MAP: https://fluence-media.co/3PP2Kzy
MORE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “In far southwestern Minnesota, in Rock County, Wednesday’s storms missed cattle rancher and farmer Peter Bakken’s land altogether, and he told Morning Edition the lingering drought has him worried about the health of his crops and cows.” QUOTE: “We’re right at a critical spot where we need to have timely rains,” Bakken said. “We don’t have any recharge in the ground, so my big concern at the moment is I’m a beef farmer and we’re trying to get cows on grass and the grass is not growing.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4aMDGEa
STORMS: Via Agweek, VERBATIM: “Severe storms continued to pop up and wreak havoc on farms in the region of central Minnesota this week. The Deer Creek and Wadena area saw a bout of hailstones up to golf ball-sized hit that area at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10. Ron Schertler, an agronomist with Leaf River Ag, said the damage was localized to an area about a mile wide and 10 miles long, mostly coming from southwest of Wadena before striking a large part of the city of Wadena. He was out Thursday morning surveying the damage on fields, which included an estimated 1,000 acres, with about 5,000-6,000 plants lost per acre in the hardest hit spots.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43woc3q
HEAT: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Summer heat can reduce pork productivity. Chuck Woods with KENT Nutrition says heat stress can occur all along the swine production chain.” WOODS: “Whether you’re trying to keep sows hydrated and eating through, especially in late gestation when those sows, their internal body temperatures can get really hot. We’ve seen it there, we’ve seen it even in finishing pigs.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4asszQG
SOLAR FLARE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Hurricanes get names, even The Weather Channel nicknames bad winter storms, but how about a huge solar flare? We’d never heard of it, either, until the Gannon Storm of 2024 caused Corn Belt farmers more than a billion dollars in productivity . . . While scientists at Colorado’s Space Weather Prediction Center warned the airline and utility sectors about how bad the inbound solar energy would be for major infrastructure (including on mandated conference calls), they weren’t aware of the impact on farmers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Smd2vw
PROUD TO CHAMPION ATHLETES EVERYWHERE: Minnesota’s 24,000 family corn farmers may come from different fields than the athletes participating in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, which are set for June 20-26 in Minnesota. But they share the same values, including dedication, hard work, and perseverance. This summer, Minnesota Corn salutes the talented athletes participating in the games. We’ll be cheering them on from our fields as they shine in yours. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
HEADWINDS
MARKETS: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Cattle and hogs were lower early Friday with grain markets slightly higher. Live and feeder cattle futures were lower on Friday with some profit taking after a strong week but also running into chart resistance. Additionally, Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the market is trading headlines that a JBS beef slaughter plant in Pennsylvania was closing.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4usGb5D
MORE AID: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Additional farm aid may be on the horizon. During Wednesday’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Chairman John Boozman said lawmakers are discussing support beyond the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program and specialty crop assistance.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vqlcC1
GRAZING: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the distribution of a comprehensive directive to all U.S. Forest Service employees from the Office of the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment (NRE). These actions advance implementation of the Advancing Grazing on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lands Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the USDA–Department of the Interior Grazing Action Plan, delivering on the Trump Administration’s commitment to strengthen American ranching, restore multiple-use management on federal lands, and combat regulatory lawfare against producers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Qm9OaJ
SCREWWORM: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The head of Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture is concerned the arrival of New World screwworm in the southern U.S. could have trade ramifications. Commissioner Thom Petersen tells Brownfield.” PETERSEN: “This isn’t new for Minnesota, dealing with high-path avian influenza for quite a while (and) having trade stipulations put on. So we’re very familiar with that.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4omMztE
EAB: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “University of Minnesota researchers have finally found a worthy opponent for the emerald ash borer. Actually, they’ve discovered a few worthy opponents, all derived from fungi. And wouldn’t that be fun? Because these beetles definitely aren’t. Native to Asia, the emerald ash borer, known by its scientific name, Agrilus planipennis, and by the acronym EAB, found its way across the ocean more than a decade ago, quickly becoming the primary threat to one of the most important trees in Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4oxpaGg
NEXT STEPS
SURVEY: Via Minnesota State, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota State Southern Agricultural Center of Excellence (SACE) has released results from its 2025-2026 Minnesota Farm Transition Survey, highlighting a growing need for practical farm succession planning resources and support for producers across the state. The survey gathered responses from more than 75 producers representing 29 counties across southern and central Minnesota. Findings show that while more than 90 percent of respondents intend to transfer their farm operations to the next generation or another successor, many are still early in the planning process or have not yet started.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43xZ38k
DRYDOWN: Via Ag Web, VERBATIM: “Desiccating your soybeans can provide timely, uniform drydown of your crop for harvest up to 15 days earlier than normal, keep weeds in check and prepare your fields for planting the next crop in your rotation. But there can be agronomic and economic downsides, too.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/444pMth
INPUTS: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “An official with the nation’s largest ag cooperative is pleased with the movement of crop inputs so far this season. CHS senior vice president Mike Johnston says logistically it’s been a smooth start.” JOHNSTON: “We’ve had good moves of fertilizer up the river, or via unit train, however we’re receiving it across our territory. And so we haven’t run into shortages and we’ve been able to deliver on time for our growers.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4vDuxGa
EQUIPMENT LEASING: Via Compeer, VERBATIM: “Compeer Financial is teaming up with PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) and other industry partners to offer a pilot leasing program for strip-till equipment, helping offset upfront financial costs for farmers implementing soil conservation practices on their farms. Through RegenLend, Compeer Financial will lease the equipment to farmers, and PepsiCo will cover two annual lease payments to share the cost of investment with farmers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xxzmCL
(DISCLOSURE: Compeer is a Fluence sponsor)
NEXT YEAR: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture invites farmers, educators, researchers, and advocates to submit session proposals and speaker suggestions for the 2027 Minnesota Organic Conference, set for January 7-8, 2027, at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, MN.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4w6gR6X
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
BARN QUILTS: Via The Bemidji Pioneer, VERBATIM: “Thanks to a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Cindy Haffner of rural Rose City, Minnesota, was finally able to launch the new barn quilt trail in Douglas County. On Monday, June 1, Painted Pathways officially opened to the public. But what exactly is a barn quilt? It is a board that has been hand-painted with a single quilt pattern and then attached to a barn, some other type of building or can be free-standing. The pattern can represent something meaningful to the owner, be taken from a family quilt, represent the property’s history or even be a whimsical pattern created by family and friends.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49YFz0i
CULVER’S: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “An iconic blue barn erected by a Midwest fast food favorite is no more after strong storms toppled the building over on Wednesday. The Culver’s Blue Barn, emblazoned with the words ‘Thank You Farmers’ stood off US-151 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Multiple people shared photos of the damage on social media, showing the barn crumpled over.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4uqZMmF
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