The Small Business Administration’s free nationwide mentorship program has the potential to support more agricultural entrepreneurs.
Iowa ag banker Don Frazer tells Brownfield he’s been volunteering with SCORE since retiring a few years ago.
“I was blessed in my banking career to have some great mentors,” he shares. “I just kind of realized that they truly were a mentor after the fact looking back at my relationships with them. To me, this is just a way to pay it forward.”
Frazer says he’s the only mentor in his region with agricultural experience and often is paired with beginning farmers or ag start-ups.
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An ag economist says he’s concerned about the weakening farm economy.
Ernie Goss with Creighton University says, “The communities out there in this part of the nation that depend heavily on what’s going on in agriculture and energy, they’re of course not as strong. We’re talking about housing, we’re talking about retail sales still not as strong as what we saw a couple of years ago.”
He tells Brownfield higher interest rates are challenge, but a decrease in U.S.
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The president of the Midwest Food Products Association says the U.S. has become a net importer of food, and it’s hurting processors and farmers.
Jason Culotta tells Brownfield the recent announcements of ConAgra’s Bird’s Eye frozen foods plant in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and the Del Monte canning plant in Markesan, Wisconsin are not the only planned shutdowns. “We have another canning plant that’s being closed in Washington state. A large ooperation in Delaware as well.”
Culotta says the industry is seeing some slower times, and on the canning side, the real issue has been the cost of the metal can...
Farmers made corn and soybean planting progress over the past week, despite cooler, wetter weather in some key growing areas.
The USDA says 12% of corn has been planted as of Sunday, compared to 12% a year ago and the five-year average of 10%, with 3% emerged, compared to 2% on average.
8% of soybeans are planted, compared to 8% last year and 4% on average.
50% of winter wheat is rated good to excellent, a drop of 5% from the previous week, but still significantly better than a year ago, with 17% headed, compared to the normal rate of 13%.
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Cattle placements came in below pre-report expectations in the USDA’s latest On Feed report.
University of Missouri’s Scott Brown says it was a matter of time. “January and February were both tough,” he says. “January was cold. We ended up below what we would have maybe thought placements were. We made up for that in February. Now, March gives us a better feel of where that placement number is heading going forward.”
He tells Brownfield the placements number will be critical in the coming months.
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The Environmental Protection Agency is issuing an emergency waiver to allow E15 to be sold this summer.
The waiver will go into effect May 1 so retail stations can start selling E15 on June 1.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan says allowing E15 sales during the summer driving season increases fuel supplies, supports American farmers and strengthens the nation’s energy security.
Biofuel groups are responding positively. The American Coalition for Ethanol says it’s grateful the EPA has responded to their requests for the emergency waiver.
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