Two big agricultural events featuring informative speakers and exhibits of all kinds of farming technology are coming soon. The Iowa Pork Congress will be held Jan. 22-25. The Iowa Ag Expo will be held Feb. 4-6. Both will be at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. And both will be ...
As we get close to saying goodbye to 2024, it is a perfect time to reflect on a year that brought challenges to both producers and the agri-business community. As is often the case, weather and trade seemed to make headlines regularly in Farm News. This issue of Farm News includes a 2024 Year ...
There’s more than corn and soybeans growing in Iowa’s rich soil. Iowa’s farmers grow staggering amounts of corn and soybeans, so it makes sense that those crops are the first ones many people associate with the state’s farms. But there is also a surprising amount of fruits and ...
Iowa’s rural landscape has changed drastically as farming has become less labor intensive in the last century. There was a time when the countryside was filled with the assorted buildings needed in the farm economy. Today’s larger farms have far fewer structures. If there is one ...
It is not too early to make plans to attend this year’s version of the annual Ag Show held by Farm News. CJ Bio America will present the 22nd annual Farm News Ag Show Dec. 6-7 at the Webster County Fairgrounds south of Fort Dodge at 22770 Old Highway 169. The show will run from 9 a.m. to ...
October has been designated National Pork Month. That makes it an especially good time to reflect on the importance of the pork industry to this state. It’s unlikely that anyone who lives in Iowa does not already know that pork production contributes mightily to the economic vitality of the ...
To the editor: David Kruse’s column (Farm News, Aug. 23, 2004) begins, “Capitalism can be brutal.” He says the downturn in grain prices may put some farmers out of business, but that’s just how the system works. The fact is he is not a defender of family farms and doesn’t know ...
Siloes and big barns are usually the first buildings someone spots when driving by a farm. But tucked somewhere in between them is the structure that is the real heart of any Iowa farm — the farmhouse. Farmhouses come in all shapes and sizes. Often, they are older buildings that have been ...
Nobody knows exactly how long humans have cultivated the soybean, but agricultural historians seem quite certain its domestication as a crop in China dates back three millennia. There are actually Chinese records documenting soybean growth as far back as the 11th century. There is some ...
In his latest rant (Aug. 9 issue) bemoaning Summit’s CO2 pipeline delay, David Kruse omitted key facts and pointed out a problem with Iowa’s eminent domain laws. As one of the “holdouts” who refuses to sign an easement, allow me to fill in the gaps. The Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) ...