Hogs - General

Mid-June Deadline: The Senate’s High-Stakes Race to Markup the Farm Bill

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:48:34 GMT

It’s an “interesting time” in Washington, D.C., says Kyle Garner , manager of congressional affairs for the National Pork Producers Council.

“Senate Republicans want a farm bill,” Garner says. “Senate Democrats want a farm bill, but they want specific things in a farm bill. In the Senate, you need 60 votes. I think there’s roughly 54 Republicans in the Senate, so they know with certainty they will rely on support from the other side of the aisle to get anything accomplished.”

The Senate Democrats are asking for changes to be made to the SNAP cost share requirement that was enacted through the One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025.

“At NPPC, we don’t have policy on SNAP, but you have to recognize if that’s what it takes to get a farm bill passed, then you need to take that into consideration,” Garner explains. “It seems that Senate Ag Committee Chairman Boozman is not fond of addressing SNAP through the Senate version of the farm bill that he’s working on. This raises the question of the viability of a farm bill making it out the Senate. If you’re not willing to consider that, what’s the alternative?”

What is the Next Step to Get the Farm Bill Passed?

Garner says the next few months are critical for farm bill passage.

“The timeline we’ve been given says the text of the Senate farm bill will come out mid-June,” he says. “Then, a markup in the Senate Ag Committee will occur at the end of June or early July. I think the text is more realistic and will come out in June. I think a markup in the committee happening at the end of June is not as realistic. I think that will be further into July.”

He says the short time frame is a challenge with Congress taking a recess in August and October. That basically leaves June, July and September to get the work done.

“They need to work fast, and they know that,” Garner adds. “I think they’re committed to that, but they also know they need to get the votes, and that’s taking longer than expected.”

Although NPPC remains optimistic, Garner can’t deny the challenges that exist.

“Despite the fact that the Senate chairman has expressed publicly that Prop 12 won’t be in there, we are trying to change his mind on that,” Garner says. “Regardless, there is still an opportunity to get it addressed through a farm bill. If the Senate passes it and it’s not included, then their version will be different than the House’s version. That means the next step would be the House and the Senate going into conference to reconcile the differences between their two bills.”

A Patchwork of Regulations Won’t Work

With some states considering similar legislation to California’s Prop 12, he says getting a fix in the farm bill is critical. For example, animal extremist groups in Oklahoma are pushing a ballot initiative that would be similar to Prop 12, but would require a different amount of square footage.

“The ability to comply with all these states’ laws is difficult, and it’s a costly measure for a producer,” Garner says. “It creates inconsistency. We have producers that have converted to comply with Prop 12, but then they would be out of compliance to access Oklahoma’s market should that ballot measure pass.”

He says the biggest concern is a 50-state patchwork of regulations.

“That leads to a point where the pork industry continues to suffer, and we could see a day where pork isn’t on the tables of American families,” Garner says. “We see Congress wanting to address the patchwork of regulations in other spaces such as AI, cybersecurity and kids’ online safety where states have different laws in those spaces. Congress wants to bring some solution to that.”

Although it’s pork today, he says it could be beef or dairy tomorrow.

“Not every state has a huge pork presence,” he says. “A lot of states consume pork, but not every state has huge numbers in production.”

The No. 1 thing he wants pork producers to hear is the importance of their voice.

“I meet with their staff on a daily basis, but there is nothing that resonates more with them than the voice of a producer, the voice of a constituent,” Garner says. “We need and rely heavily on producers to get involved and use their voice to spread that message. That’s how we can get this farm bill accomplished.”

What You Missed at World Pork Expo 2026: 7 Behind-the-Scenes Moments

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:52:28 GMT

For most of my life, the first week of June has meant one thing: World Pork Expo. Driving home on Thursday night, my mind was a whirlwind of new research and stories to write. It’s impossible to neatly wrap up the countless handshakes and laughs that make World Pork Expo a must-attend event, but my camera roll usually tells the real story.

While I’m usually sprinting between interviews, I managed to capture a few moments that show why this industry is so special.

The legendary Iowa Twinkie: bacon-wrapped, pork-stuffed, and worth every calorie.

1. The “Iowa Twinkie” and a Few Laughs

I found my favorite treat of the week at the Boehringer Ingelheim tent: the Iowa Twinkie by Whatcha Smokin’ BBQ + Brew. This photo isn’t just about the bacon-wrapped jalapeño stuffed with pulled pork, sweet corn, cream cheese and ranch seasoning —it’s a memory of a rare five minutes spent sitting down and laughing with my Farm Journal colleagues while we refueled.

Loved catching up with Matt Kerns and Garrett Gourley of BarnTools. It’s inspiring to see ‘farm boys’ returning to the industry with tech designed specifically to make the producer’s life easier.

2. Innovation with an Iowa Zip Code

I spent a lot of time discussing new technology this week from smart ear tags to new vaccines (you can read the deep dives on PorkBusiness.com), but this shot of Matt Kerns and Garrett Gourley from BarnTools is a favorite. Why? It captures two Iowa farm boys turned innovators. It’s a visual reminder that every piece of tech in that building started with a simple goal: making life better for the producer.

Trading the Zoom screen for the headset! There’s an energy in live interviews that you just can’t replicate digitally.

3. Breaking the Zoom Habit: The PORK Podcast

Most of my days are spent looking at a screen, so being in person to record two episodes of The PORK Podcast was a highlight. I love these shots from taping episode 49 with David Newman, CEO of the National Pork Board, and Glynn Tonsor, ag economist at Kansas State University; and the 50th (cue the confetti) episode with Iowa pig farmer Mike Paustian. If you haven’t been following The PORK Podcast, check it out here or anywhere podcasts are found — then let us know what you think. My goal is to “tell the story behind the story” in each episode so you can go away with a little more knowledge, but most importantly a little more appreciation for the people who make this industry great.

Seeing this ‘sea of purple’ honor a man who has spent his career pointing the spotlight at others was easily one of the most moving highlights of the Expo.

4. A Sea of Purple for Dr. Bob Goodband

When United Animal Health’s Matt Ritter asked former students of Bob Goodband to stand during the John B. Swisher Award presentation, the room turned into a sea of K-State purple. This photo captures a mentor who always points the spotlight toward others finally being the one in the glow. It was an incredible reminder of the impact we can have on others when we put their needs above our own. We can achieve greater results for the industry together.

Maria Zieba of NPPC officially won the Expo fashion game with these custom ‘Team Pork’ Nikes.

5. High-Fashion Swag: Maria Zieba’s Nikes

The “Coolest Shoes Award” goes to Maria Zieba, vice president of government affairs at NPPC. Her customized “Team Pork” Nike Airs stole the spotlight during the NPPC Policy Panel. They perfectly match her high-speed, high-energy approach to serving U.S. pork producers. I caught up with her for a few minutes to discuss the latest efforts surrounding USMCA .

The heart of the industry is its people. Caught a quick hug and a chat with my fellow Washington, Iowa, natives Rob and Char Brenneman.

6. Familiar Faces: Rob and Char Brenneman

Rob Brenneman’s face was everywhere this year as NPPC president, but one photo I’ll always treasure is a candid with him and his wife, Char. I’ve known the Brennemans since I was a kid in Washington, Iowa. Despite his schedule, he always has time for a hug and a conversation that comes directly from the heart. To me, this photo represents the “reunion” aspect of Expo.

Flipping the script! It was a privilege to sit on the other side of the mic with Tracy Sellers for the CLEAR Conversations podcast.

(Farm Journal’s Pork)

7. New Perspectives: CLEAR Conversations

I wrapped up the week by sitting on the other side of the mic with Tracy Sellers for the CLEAR Conversations podcast. We share a passion to help tell stories of the people who devote their life to feeding the world. This final photo of the week captures a great dialogue about farming, food and sustainability—a perfect note to end on.

At first glance, my World Pork Expo camera roll might look like a mix of BBQ, high-tech gadgets, and old friends, but really, it’s so much more. It showcases an industry that is constantly evolving while staying focused on it’s most important resource – it’s people. I can’t wait to do this all over again in 2027!

Why USMCA is More Than a Trade Agreement to the Pork Industry

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:15:21 GMT

Without the framework of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), nearly one-third of U.S. pork exports would be in immediate jeopardy. As negotiators met in Mexico City last week, the message from the ground was clear: this agreement is bigger than trade—it is the foundation of a $2.8-Billion relationship with Mexico and a $750-Million relationship with Canada that the U.S. cannot afford to lose.

USMCA, which went into effect in July 2020, requires that the three countries meet on July 1, 2026, to review the agreement. All three countries must agree on a path forward, which could mean extending the agreement for another 16 years, terminating the agreement or entering a period of annual consultations.

Why Being ‘On the Ground’ Makes a Difference

Although agriculture wasn’t formally on the agenda, Maria Zieba, NPPC vice president of government affairs for the National Pork Producers Council, was one of the few stakeholders allowed to travel to Mexico to meet with the negotiators.

“Essentially, they were negotiating in the morning, and giving us a briefing at night,” Zieba says.

One of the most valuable opportunities for the pork industry was Zieba’s conversations with U.S. and Mexico negotiators.

“We can stress the importance of the agreement and the things that we like in USMCA,” she explains. “We can talk about things that may need tweaking, too. Having the ability to be ‘on the ground’ and answer questions as they come up is very helpful and puts us at the top of the list towards being able to ensure that we get what we need for our producers.”

Animal Diseases Don’t Care About Borders

Producers need to talk to their members of Congress, their neighbors, and everybody about how good USMCA has been for U.S. pork, Zieba urges.

“If we were in a universe where USMCA didn’t exist, a third of our exports would be in jeopardy,” she says. “We have seen our markets increase to both Canada and Mexico. Mexico is our largest export market at $2.8 billion in 2025.”

However, this agreement isn’t just about U.S. pork exports. Not only is the supply chain more integrated now, but the three countries have been able to collaborate on a number of animal health issues, she says.

“This agreement is also about collaborating on animal health standards,” She says. “Foreign animal diseases don’t have borders. We have two really long borders between Canada and Mexico, but what we have learned over the past few years is that diseases cross over when we don’t want them to.”

Zieba credits the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for building a strong foundation years ago.

“It’s important to be playing by the same rules and to have that trust between the three nations,” she says. “That really wouldn’t not have been achieved without the trust that was built on NAFTA, now USMCA.”

North American Ag Unites

Nearly 160 organizations representing the American, Canadian and Mexican food and agricultural value chains sent a joint letter on June 1 to the trade representatives of their three countries urging them to renew and strengthen the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement as the required six-year joint review approaches.

The letter was sent to Ambassador Jamieson Greer, with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Canada-U.S. Trade Representative Dominic LeBlanc and Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy Marcelo Ebrard.

Advocacy groups across sectors say to be globally competitive, continuing the efficient and seamless integration between the three countries is crucial. They argue that USMCA represents one of the largest trading blocs in the world, with over 500 million people, a $30 trillion-dollar GDP and a trade volume of $1.7 trillion.

“Without this trade agreement, North America is more vulnerable to countries that employ trade-restrictive policies that negatively impact the movement of food from areas of surplus to deficit,” the letter said. “[USMCA] is key to maintaining a competitive global advantage that reduces reliance on distant supply chains and encourages investment across the region.”

5 Leadership Flaws That Sabotage Success

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:39:05 GMT

In my work with growth and turnaround situations, I’ve seen five leadership impediments repeatedly show up: pride, abusive behavior, gossip, greed and dysfunction around authority. Any one of them can slow growth. Together, they can turn a promising company into a museum of missed opportunities.

1. Pride

Pride may be the most common growth killer, because it often dresses itself up as confidence. The proud leader stops listening to customers, employees, board members and sometimes reality itself. Pride creates the “not invented here” disease: the belief that the best ideas must come from the leader, the leadership team or the industry’s traditional playbook.

The cure is not humiliation; it is facts, trusted counsel and a clear demonstration of what pride is costing the business. Sometimes the quickest path to humility is showing the leader how much money, growth, talent and customer goodwill are being left on the table.

2. Abusive behavior

Abuse in leadership is not limited to scandalous conduct. It also includes demeaning people, mocking departments, belittling skill sets, disrespecting backgrounds or creating a culture where employees feel controlled rather than led. A leader who casually refers to salespeople as loafers or finance people as “numbers geeks” should not be shocked when silos harden like concrete.

The solution requires direct confrontation, human resources where appropriate and sometimes intervention from a higher authority. Respected managers may also have to make it clear that they will not quietly tolerate behavior that damages the organization.

3. Gossip

Gossip is corporate poison with a smile on its face. Even when the negative report is true, passing it to people who have no responsibility for the matter is destructive. It damages trust, reputations, morale and eventually performance.

One of the strongest cultural moves a leader can make is to refuse to participate. Walk away from backbiting. Redirect complaints to the proper person. Build a “good report” culture where problems are addressed directly, not traded like gossip currency in the hallway.

4. Greed

Greed shows up in unfair compensation, undeserved rewards, self-dealing or squeezing others while the top protects itself. In privately held companies, employees often see this faster than owners think they do. Once people think the leader is taking unfairly, discretionary effort disappears. The company may still function, but it stops surging.

The practical answer is to confront greed in business terms: morale, productivity, retention, customer service and profit. Greed is not only a moral problem; it is an operating drag.

5. Dysfunctions around authority structure

Companies need clear authority, but not tyranny. The five common failures are:

Lack of clear authority, where no one knows who decides.
Disrespect for the chain of command, where people bypass proper channels or leaders confuse open communication with chaos.
No safe appeal process, where employees cannot raise legitimate concerns without fear of retaliation.
Lack of checks and balances, where the leader operates without meaningful board, adviser or customer accountability.
Refusal to submit to higher authority, where the top leader becomes uncoachable and resists correction.

Healthy authority requires clear roles, open communication, legitimate appeals and real accountability. Even the top leader needs a board, adviser, customer discipline or some structure that says, “No one here is above correction.”

The deeper solution beneath all five dysfunctions is humility. Humility is not weakness; it is the operating system of learning, the sire of all virtue. The humble leader asks for blind spots, listens without excuse-making and acts on what is heard. That practice alone can transform trust, innovation and growth.

As I wrote in my books: “Turning around a company is first about turning around the people, and the first turnaround is you.”

Mark Faust (513-621-8000, mark@em1990.com) works with owners, CEOs and sales managers who want to grow their businesses. You can schedule a free profit improvement session with Mark by visiting calendly.com/markfaust . Read more ideas from him here .

Beyond the Honey Wagon: Refining Manure Into High-Value Fertilizer

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:56:44 GMT

Every pork operation has its own distinct challenges. They also share common challenges, and one keeps getting bigger: What to do with all the manure.

“Anybody who raises hogs knows manure has gotten to be a real pain,” says Tork Whisler, an Iowa pork producer . “The cost of application, the window to apply it and not having enough land to apply it are all issues we have.”

Turning a Waste Product Into a Gold Mine

Whisler has a dream of turning this challenge into a gold mine by breaking down the manure into nutrients he can sell as fertilizer. When completed, he plans to have a closed-loop system in which he processes manure in real time to create a solid product that can be applied with a strip-till grid.

The remaining liquid would be further processed using vacuum distillation, which separates the components with less energy and heat than standard distillation. Phosphorus and nitrogen fall out of the solution at different rates, allowing Whisler to create two brines with different nutrient values. His own soil tests are high enough he doesn’t need the nutrients, which leaves him products he can sell.

“Those two products are the oil that makes this system work because they’re valuable enough it makes the economics work for the system we’re building,” he shared during a panel discussion at World Pork Expo on ways to turn manure from a waste product into a revenue driver. “If you can make those nutrients into a saleable product that’s actually profitable and move it to somebody who actually wants it, it’s a game changer for our industry. It’s a game changer for the animal industry in general.”

Once Whisler’s separation system is operational, he will process about 15,000 gallons of manure per day, which will result in:

2.5 to 3 tons of dry matter
3,500 gallons of nutrient-rich brine product
8,000 to 9,000 gallons of clean water

The water will be pasteurized and used for drinking water for pigs. The system will allow Whisler to haul manure based on crop needs and weather conditions, rather than storage needs. It will reduce the amount of water his operation uses.

Addressing Regional Nutrient Saturation

Selling nutrients isn’t the right goal for everyone, says Kurt Grimm, CEO of NutraDrip, a company that supplies advanced portable nutrient separation trailers. For some, separating the solids from the liquid manure is the goal, and they have no need to go further.

The need for advanced manure separation is greatest in areas of the country “oversaturated” with livestock, causing manure to have to be transported for application, Grimm says.

Nine counties in Iowa are close to that situation – they produce more than 80% of nutrient needs for local crops from livestock manure today, says Dan Andersen, Iowa State University associate professor and manure Extension specialist. As those counties reach manure application capacity, producers will have to come up with ways to export those nutrients.

Today, the crop sector in Iowa can source 25% of its nutrient needs from livestock, and that’s about how much of the nutrient demand is being supplied by manure, he says.

“The truth is, if we were managing and treating manure like a true fertilizer, we could get up to 40% or 50% of our needs,” Andersen says. “We’re doing good, but there’s a lot of opportunity for margin.”

Iowa pork producer and corn grower Greg Popkes dreams of American-branded fertilizer created from the livestock manure. In addition to the economic benefits, producers would gain efficiencies because they could precisely apply nutrients.

“It would be huge to be able to use our own product, plus it’s a better product,” says Popkes, who raises crops on 120 acres in northwest Iowa and has a 2,400-head finishing site. “If we could apply it at the right times when we’re sidedressing, then we can use less of it too. We can sell it and make money.”

Finding the Economic Tipping Point

How far an operation goes in the separation process depends on its business needs and goals. For an operation that can use its own manure, simple separation is the least expensive step, Whisler says.

“By far, the cheapest way to go is to just separate the solids. I wouldn’t even worry about drying it. I would take that liquid and apply it,” he says. “The biggest return for us is that we need to do something to get rid of those salts because otherwise our soil tests are going to get too high. We’re actually going to profit per pig space by taking it all the way to the end.”

Producers need to consider multiple factors to decide how complex of a manure management system they want to develop, Grimm says. For example, a dairy farmer-customer in Wisconsin says the cost of electricity to operate his separation system is six-tenths of a cent per gallon.

“If you could get rid of manure for less than six-tenths of a cent per gallon, then it doesn’t cost out,” Grimm says. “There will be tipping points where it does and doesn’t make sense.”

Developing these systems provides opportunities that have never been available for producers, Andersen says. He agrees that identifying the problem is the first step to creating a process that makes economic sense for each farm.

“Know what your problem is and what you’re trying to accomplish,” he says. “Is it removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium? We are at a point where these things are really starting to make sense, and it’s nice to see a successful example of getting some of those nutrients to separate.”

Expert Panel Discusses How Strategic Advocacy Delivers for Pork Producers

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 21:41:02 GMT

Advocacy experts from the National Pork Producers Council explained how targeted strategies deliver policy wins, beneficial regulatory reforms, and better market access for producers during a live panel discussion at the 2026 World Pork Expo today.

From Washington, D.C., to our states’ capitals, the panel unpacked how policy work gets done in support of the pork industry, with the backdrop of regulatory and legislative issues affecting pork production at the federal and state levels.

“Times are changing, and we are seeing pressure on our industry like we have not seen before. It takes a strong and respected voice to cut through the noise and ensure policymakers and regulators understand how their decisions impact our farms,” said Rob Brenneman, NPPC president and Iowa pork producer. “NPPC stands up for what producers need back home by combatting misinformation, ensuring legislative and regulatory decisions are grounded in science, and sharing transparent, factual information about agriculture.”

Brenneman was joined by Bryan Humphreys, NPPC chief executive officer; Maria C. Zieba, vice president of government affairs; and Pat McGonegle, Iowa Pork Producers Association CEO, to share insights about effective, strategic advocacy at every level of government.

Zieba offered a behind-the-scenes look at advocacy, underscoring how NPPC has successfully secured a seat at the table where key issues are being discussed to ensure producers’ voices are heard.

“Timely engagement is important if we want to succeed. We are engaged—in many cases—well before legislation and regulations are formally proposed, ensuring producer perspectives are considered early—and often,” Zieba said.

Zieba singled out the One Big Beautiful Bill as an example of how NPPC utilizes its position to proactively remain ahead of ever-evolving issues.

“Congress made a lot of cuts in the reconciliation bill, but when it came to animal health, they preserved the necessary funding NPPC requested,” she said. “This funding is an investment for the health and safety of animals and rural America, and Congress saw the value in this.”

Additional topics included the 2026 Farm Bill, California Proposition 12, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, animal health preparedness, and more.

As the pork industry’s largest annual event, World Pork Expo brings together more than 10,000 U.S. producers, global visitors, and industry professionals, making it an ideal forum for discussing pressing policy challenges and opportunities.

Strength Beyond Grit: Why Your Mental Well-Being is Your Operation's Greatest Asset

Thu, 28 May 2026 13:43:27 GMT

Raising livestock isn’t for the faint of heart. When you aren’t riding the market roller coaster, you’re likely battling disease in the barn—or worse, fighting both at the same time. While physical safety is a standard part of barn protocol, Darrell Hemker, associate director of safety for The Maschhoffs, says being open and honest about the internal struggles of the job is one of the most productive things you can do for your operation.

A “People First” Mandate

In the swine industry, the We Care ethical principles serve as the foundation for daily operations. While these principles cover animal care and environment, they explicitly prioritize the well-being of the people in the barns.

“The inclusion of ‘Our People’ in the six We Care Ethical Principles is the pork industry’s way of saying that we value the people who work in our barns,” says Heather Fowler, VMD and director of producer and public health at the National Pork Board. “Without them, we could not produce pork. We are committed to providing the information and resources they need to live and work safely.”

Fowler emphasizes that mental health isn’t just a personal matter; it is a fundamental component of worker safety and operational success.

“It’s something that you have to work on doing well,” she explains. “Finding the things that bring you peace or help you calm down when you’re stressed is vital. It’s about learning how to stop and reflect so that uncontrolled stress doesn’t lead to issues later.”

(Source: FarmStateOfMind.org)

Breaking the Stigma of the “Strong, Silent” Farmer

A significant barrier to seeking help in agriculture is the long-standing perception that mental health struggles are a sign of weakness. The industry is working to flip that script,reframing the act of asking for help as a sign of bravery.

“Some folks aren’t comfortable asking for help because they feel it’s a sign of weakness—but it’s not. We’re all human,” Fowler says.

She notes that it is entirely normal to experience joy and sadness simultaneously, especially when dealing with factors outside of a producer’s control. This is why she champions “ag-literate” resources like the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Farm State of Mind campaign .

“It helps to normalize and destigmatize mental health services in a way that is ag-literate, so our producers can access and implement their teachings easily,” Fowler points out. These programs offer peer-to-peer connections, allowing farmers to talk to others who truly understand the unique pressures of farm life.

When the Toll Becomes Too Heavy

The emotional weight of the job is often heaviest during a health crisis. Farm owners and managers must recognize the specific mental stress that comes with caring for sick animals.

“When a disease wipes out all the progress and the great things you’ve done, it certainly takes a toll,” Hemker says. “Seeing the death loss and increased mortalities—those are whole new risks.”

Hemker believes leadership plays a crucial role in normalizing these conversations. By being transparent about the pressures of the job, leaders can encourage staff to utilize Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and support networks before a crisis peaks.

“Take your time and ask for help,” Hemker says. “The strongest person is the one willing to step up and say, ‘I need help.’ There’s no shame in that.”

Handling Unpredictable Livestock Safely: Lessons from the "Cow on Campus"

Wed, 27 May 2026 15:53:49 GMT

Key Takeaways: Safe Livestock Handling

The Instinct: Animals use “fight-or-flight” when threatened; recognize that a charging animal is often a scared animal.
The Strategy: Use sort boards as physical barriers and never try to “out-muscle” an animal.
The Mindset: Stay calm—animals sense handler frustration, which increases the risk of injury.
The Pause: Always “Take Five” to assess training, tools and risks before starting a task.

Animals can be unpredictable. They can turn on a dime when you least expect it or come right at you. The “cow on campus” made national news when she escaped from a trailer at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

There’s no question the cow was scared and threatened as she attempted to navigate unfamiliar surroundings—asphalt streets, cars, and loud noises. While viral videos of the cow charging toward students became the brunt of memes, the situation highlighted a serious reality for agricultural workers: livestock instincts are powerful.

Why is the fight-or-flight response dangerous in livestock?

When animals perceive danger, their fight-or-flight response triggers a chemical cascade designed for physical action. According to Science Direct , this instinctive reaction can lead an animal to flee or, if they feel cornered, enter “fight mode.”

Darrell Hemker, associate director of safety for The Maschhoffs, says it’s important to know when to just let it go. “When an animal spins and comes at you, step away,” Hemker advises. “You won’t win against the animal more times than not. Move out of the way, and as long as the doors are closed or a gate’s open, the pig will go right back in.”

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

What are the best practices for safe animal handling?

It takes time to become an expert in animal behavior. Hemker, who brings 16 years of safety leadership to his role, emphasizes that the strongest handlers are those willing to ask for help.

He offers these five essential reminders for safe livestock handling:

Recognize that all animals are different.
For example, market hogs, sows, gilts and boars all require different approaches. For example, sows moving slowly with litters require more patience, while boars can be more aggressive. Understand the “flight zone” (the animal’s personal space bubble) to direct traffic effectively.
Always use a sort board.
When moving pigs, a sort board acts as a vital physical barrier to prevent knee and leg injuries. Maintain a balanced, bent-kneed position and keep the board between you and the animal at all times.
Stay out of the animal’s blind spot.
Pigs need to see you to respond to your cue s. Allow them time to explore their surroundings while limiting distractions or loud noises that might cause them to balk.
Prioritize barn ventilation.
Proper ventilation prevents dampness and slick floors, reducing the risk of slips, trips and falls for both the handler and the animal.
Foster positive human-animal interactions.
Animals have long-term “fear memories.” According to Steve Tonn at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, yelling and rough handling make animals more difficult to manage in the future. Calm handling creates a safer environment for everyone. https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/industry/low-stress-livestock-handling-people-and-livestock

How does the “Take Five for Safety” rule prevent injuries?

One of the most effective ways to prevent farm accidents is the “Take Five” philosophy. Hemker recommends pausing anywhere from 5 seconds to 5 minutes to think through a task.

Before starting, ask yourself these six questions:

Am I properly trained for this specific task?
Do I know what the potential risks are?
How can I prevent getting hurt in this situation?
Do I have the right tools for the job?
Do I have the correct PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)?
Do I need extra protection, such as knee pads?

“A lot of times, just jumping into something gets us into trouble,” Hemker says. “It often results in some type of an injury. Pause and think about what you are about to do. Many accidents can be prevented by just doing that simple pause.”

New 800 Million Pound Market Opportunity Opens for American Protein Producers

Wed, 27 May 2026 12:15:46 GMT

Animal protein has never been more valuable, but for many American producers, the under-utilized portions of the animal—drumsticks, medium eggs and hams—often face volatile export markets or price suppression.

Jeff Simmons , CEO of Elanco and chairman of HATCH, wants to change that. On the eve of World Hunger Day, Simmons announced the Coalition to Close the Protein Gap, a $40 million public-private initiative led by a coalition of farmers, protein producers, hunger advocates and more, to bridge the 800-million-pound annual protein deficit in the U.S. charitable food system.

For producers, this isn’t just a feel-good story; it’s the creation of a massive, sustainable domestic market.

Scaling Up: The Goal for 3 Billion Meals

Currently, only 14% of the food in the U.S. food bank system is animal protein. The Coalition aims to push that to over 20% within three years, delivering 3 billion protein-rich meals annually.

“Your product has never mattered more,” Simmons says to U.S. animal protein producers. “We have moved from ‘this is hunger’ to ‘this is healthcare and well-being.’ The most demanded product in food today is the food from American protein producers. We are creating a new market that is going to change lives and create 3 billion more meals and create a new market for animal protein.”

The strategy is simple: redirect high-value, lower-demand items—like ground pork, hams and poultry leg quarters—away from inconsistent export channels and into a stable, domestic supply chain. By investing $40 million into specialized processing lines, cold storage and distribution support, the coalition is building the infrastructure that allows a packing plant to bag frozen drumsticks or package medium eggs specifically for food pantries.

A Self-Sustaining Market, Not a Handout

The most critical takeaway for livestock producers is that this is not a traditional charity model. It utilizes the proven HATCH model, which has operated on a “cost-plus” basis for a decade.

“This is a sustainable, value-driven system,” Simmons explains. “HATCH sources protein directly from U.S. farmers without reliance on ongoing donations. It’s a self-sustaining model where farmers can make a profit on their lower-demanded protein, and food banks get a consistent supply way under their typical budget. Everybody wins.”

By providing a “cost-plus” market, the program offers producers a floor for products that might otherwise be sold at a loss or dumped during supply gluts.

“We’re going to change dietary habits through this initiative,” Simmons says. “We know what protein does to communities, to education, to healthcare – it is going to make it more accessible for them. Farmers will have a market for their less-demanded protein, and for USDA, that does $400 million a day of programs, this program becomes sustainable.”

High-Level Backing

The initiative has garnered unprecedented support from both the public and private sectors, including:

Government:
$15 million in combined support from the USDA and HHS.
Industry Giants:
Support from Elanco, Tyson Foods, Cargill, Perdue Farms, Hilmar Cheese, Rose Acre Farms and major checkoff organizations like the National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and American Egg Board.
Advocacy:
Support from hunger advocates, like Tony Robbins and Simmons among others.

“Millions of American families are going without the protein they need, and our farmers are already raising it. The protein gap shouldn’t exist,” says Tony Robbins, hunger advocate and leader of the 100 Billion Meals initiative.

The CDC Foundation, in partnership with HATCH, is launching The Missing Piece, a nationwide crowdfunding campaign with a simple ask: Be the Missing Piece in closing the protein gap. Donations will help build the infrastructure needed to move more high-quality protein through HATCH’s nationwide distribution network.

“A decade of operations taught us one thing: supply alone doesn’t close the gap, and infrastructure alone doesn’t close the gap,” says Daniel Leckie, CEO of HATCH. “They must move together. The supply exists, and HATCH consistently and reliably gets it where it needs to go. The Coalition will align supply and infrastructure at a scale that finally makes closing the gap possible.”

Improving access to wholesome, nutritious protein to ensure Americans can Eat Real Food has meaningful implications for public health, healthcare costs and economic stability.

“What fires me up is kids won’t be eating Pop-Tarts in the morning, they’ll be able to have sausage, eggs and milk,” Simmons says. “Then, their day changes because they get a consistent supply of animal protein that they don’t get today.”

The Long-Term Vision

In five years, the coalition intends for the “meat case” in food pantries to be a permanent fixture, supported by a robust infrastructure of freezers and transportation. For the producer, this means a more reliable domestic market.

“The protein industry has the supply, the scale, and the will,” Simmons says. “What it has needed is the right infrastructure to connect that supply to the families who need it.”

To learn more about the infrastructure build-out or how to participate in the HATCH distribution network, visit closetheproteingap.org .

“This is a monumental moment to create lasting change that will impact Americans for generations,” Simmons says. “It’s the most meaningful alignment between government, agriculture and the hunger community I have seen in my career.”

The 1% Rule: How 14 Minutes a Day Can Help Future-Proof Your Farm

Tue, 26 May 2026 20:37:50 GMT

When Angie Traetow’s father returned to his South Dakota roots to farm in 1984, the U.S. agricultural economy was crumbling. He survived the brutal decade through a combination of grit, hard labor and a good dose of deliberate, intentional planning. Decades later, it’s a lesson Traetow is sharing with the wider agricultural community as she urges today’s farmers to dedicate just 14 minutes a day — exactly 1% of every 24 hours — to strategic thinking and planning.

“When you actually do the math, it’s crazy,” Traetow shared during a recent episode of The Dirt podcast. “Fourteen minutes a day equals 98 minutes a week... that totals to over two working weeks a year.”

As the senior manager of North American learning and development for Nutrien, Traetow challenges growers to step away from daily practices and distractions and repurpose 14 minutes daily toward big-picture planning and decisions that can help support long-term viability.

Tackling Volatility And Other ‘Tough Stuff’

In an industry defined by unpredictable variables, proactive planning is a critical need. Traetow notes that dedicating this daily sliver of time allows growers to focus on things like developing grain marketing plans to mitigate financial risk.

Beyond market logistics, the 1% rule can also help farmers tackle the emotionally charged hurdles that many choose to avoid or are putting off, such as succession planning. For multi-generational operations, the sheer scale of this task can cause paralysis. Traetow suggests using those 14 daily minutes to break massive decisions into manageable, “bite-sized” pieces.

She points to her own father’s success as a prime example of this micro-planning in action. By being intentional and communicating clearly, over time he ensured a seamless transition for the fifth generation of their family farm.

“He’s been very intentional with his succession plan to the point where he has communicated to all of us kids, even those that are off the farm, what that succession plan is, so there are no surprises,” Traetow says.

Breaking The ‘Always Done It This Way’ Cycle

Traetow believes embracing strategic planning and management also requires a fundamental mindset shift regarding technology and tradition. Being intentional means adopting modern tools to maximize every acre, rather than relying on legacy methods just for tradition’s sake.

“Don’t just do what’s always been done,” she encourages. “Utilize technology... to work smarter, not harder.”

Thinking outside the box often requires structural creativity, too. Traetow notes that her husband applies this exact philosophy to their own business. “We know we have to diversify our operation to make our farm work,” she says. “He partners with another farmer, and we also do a lot of custom work to help with that.”

Moving Beyond The Farm Gate

Ultimately, the 1% philosophy extends beyond business logistics. Traetow notes that trading 14 minutes of aimless social media scrolling for personal reflection, reading market reports, or simply being fully present with family can yield massive personal dividends.

It’s a small investment with a compounding return.

“I’d like to challenge our farmers and our customers to take 1%, or 14 minutes, of their day and be more strategic and think about the big picture of their operation and their business,” Traetow says. “The results will follow.”

You can hear the The Dirt podcast featuring Traetow here .

Heat Stress on the Farm: Signs & Prevention

Tue, 26 May 2026 19:15:24 GMT

Key Takeaways:

The Risk: Farmers are 35x more likely to die from heat than other workers.
The Signs: Dizziness, dark urine, muscle cramps, and “not acting like yourself.”
The Fix: Prioritize hydration, wear protective clothing, and monitor coworkers.

Agricultural workers are up to 35 times more likely to die from heat-related illnesses than workers in other industries, reports the National Institute of Health.

Darrell Hemker, associate director of safety for The Maschhoffs, believes farmers and caretakers understand the hazards of their line of work, especially in the summer when temperatures rise.

“But sometimes their dedication and passion for getting the job done overtakes them once in a while and they put themselves at risk,” says Hemker, who brings 16 years of safety leadership at The Maschhoffs to these recommendations.

What are the early warning signs of heat stress?

It’s easy to lose track of time in the barn. Just as you are wrapping up one job, something else needs your attention. Hemker says little things like not stopping to take a drink of water can turn into a problem fast on hot summer days.

“Before you know it, you may have some signs of heat stress,” Hemker says.

Recognizing early symptoms of heat stress is vital as temperatures fluctuate. One way to tell if you are not getting enough water is to check your urine, he adds.

“As a kid, we’re always taught if our urine is really dark, we’re not drinking enough water,” Hemker says. “It’s really that simple. Being able to recognize your current state and if you have any of those symptoms is important.”

Common symptoms of heat illness on the farm include:

Headache and dizziness
Dark-colored urine (a sign of dehydration)
Muscle cramping or weakness
Hot, dry skin or excessive sweating
Irritability or confusion

How can you identify heat exhaustion in your coworkers?

It’s also important to keep an eye on your coworkers in the barn to see if they are exhibiting any of those signs of heat stress, Hemker says. Continuous strenuous activity significantly elevates core body temperatures which makes barnworkers at high risk.

“If you notice something, pull them aside and remind them to get some water and move to a cooler area,” he urges.

Dizziness or excessive sweatiness can put everyone in the barn at risk, especially when using tools or equipment.

When any of these symptoms are present, promptly provide first aid, recommends the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) . Do not try to diagnose which illness is occurring. Diagnosis is often difficult because symptoms of multiple heat-related illnesses can occur together. Time is of the essence. These conditions can worsen quickly and result in fatalities.

Grab a Hat Before You Go Outside

Beyond hydration, physical protection is the best defense against UV radiation. Hemker recommends four primary strategies:

1. Wear the right gear.

Choose light-colored, loose-fitting clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.

2. Apply sunscreen.

Take an extra minute to apply sunscreen before heading outside and reapply during the day, especially during peak afternoon hours.

3. Time your tasks.

Avoid peak UV hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) for heavy outdoor labor when possible.

4. Check your medications.

Be aware that common farm-used drugs like Tetracycline or Ibuprofen can increase sun sensitivity. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the drugs that can increase sensitivity to sunlight and the risk of getting sunburn here.

“Remember what the physical hazards can be when working in a hot environment,” he says. “We’ve been getting some roller coaster weather, so it’s a perfect timing to remind our fellow producers about heat stress. Hopefully we can put that seed of thought in somebody’s mind to make them think twice about working in those environments and what they need to do to stay safe.”

Access the full Pork Industry Safety & Health Resources here.

Cargill Initiates Lockout at Fort Morgan Beef Plant After Contract Rejection

Wed, 20 May 2026 19:25:59 GMT

A spokesperson for Cargill confirms the company initiated a lockout on May 20, 2026, at its Fort Morgan, Colo., beef facility following months of bargaining and an employee vote against the latest contract offer.

The Fort Morgan plant has not been harvesting since April 23 due to these ongoing labor negotiations with Teamsters Local 455 and the concern of a potential work stoppage. Beef processing involves live animals and highly coordinate operations. Cargill explains a sudden stoppage during production could create risks related to food safety, animals welfare and could result in extensive food waste.

“This was a difficult decision and not the outcome we wanted,” the Cargill spokesperson says. “The lockout was initiated because continued uncertainty around a potential work stoppage creates challenges for operating safely, responsibly and reliably. We respect employees’ right to vote and remain committed to reaching a ratified agreement with the union.”

Cargill reports the halt in processing in Fort Morgan is not impacting its weekly harvest numbers, just shifting production to other plants. At full capacity, Fort Morgan harvests 4,700 per day; prior to the halt it was averaging 4,000 head.

“We believe our proposal is fair and competitive, representing an estimated $33.4 million investment over five years,” the spokesperson stresses. “While negotiations continue, our focus remains on maintaining safety, managing operations responsibly and using Cargill’s broader supply chain network to continue serving customers. Under our current plans, we do not expect material impacts to producers or customers.”

Breaking Down Cargill’s Offer

Cargill’s proposal included additional economic value for employees, including bonuses and a five-year agreement designed to provide stability and predictable wage increases.

Like other beef operations, Fort Morgan is operating in a challenging economic environment, with costs currently exceeding returns. “That context does not change our respect for employees or our commitment to bargaining in good faith, but it underscores the importance of reaching an agreement that is sustainable for employees and the facility over the long term,” the company says on its website .

Since 2018, Cargill has made meaningful investments in Fort Morgan employee pay:

Base wages have increased from $15.35 to $23.50
Average wages have increased from $16.22 to $24.78, an increase of approximately 53%
Annual payroll has increased by approximately $32.6 million, from about $64.5 million to $97.1 million

Cargill has also made broader investments in Fort Morgan in support of our employees and the community, including housing initiatives near the plant and facility improvements.

Teamsters Asking For “Fair Deal”

On social media , a union leader says: “The members at Cargill have spoken loud and clear — by an overwhelming 85% vote, the company’s offer was rejected. Unity and solidarity sent a strong message that the membership deserves better.”

According to Teamsters , more than 1,700 teamsters were locked out after months of fighting for a new collective bargaining agreement.

“Shame on this company for shutting out our members. Cargill can afford to give these workers a fair deal that reflects their hard work and dedication,” says Dean Modecker, Teamsters Local 455 secretary-treasurer. “This was a disgraceful move by a company that has long taken its workers for granted. We won’t stand for it.”

Next Steps

On Thursday, a Cargill spokesperson says union workers were picketing.

“We are ready to talk and negotiate. Our goal remains to reach an agreement that allows the facility to return to normal operations safely and productively as soon as possible,” the spokesperson stresses. “In the meantime, we are using our broader supply chain network to help minimize disruption and continue serving customers.”

Your Next Read:

Cargill Invests in Beef Business and Employees

Red Meat Exports Add Over $3 Billion in Value to U.S. Corn and Soybeans in 2025

Fri, 15 May 2026 20:05:40 GMT

U.S. red meat exports emerged as a multi-billion dollar engine for domestic grain producers in 2025, adding more than $3 billion in combined market value to corn and soybean crops. According to a new study by the Juday Group and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), the global demand for American beef and pork accounted for over 600 million bushels of grain usage, effectively boosting the price of corn by $0.58 per bushel and soybeans by $1.05 per bushel.

“Red meat exports bring significant value to corn and soybean producers by driving demand for feed,” says USMEF Chair-Elect Dave Bruntz, who raises corn, soybeans and cattle in south-central Nebraska. “This study shows that red meat exports accounted for more than 500 million bushels of corn usage and nearly 100 million bushels of soybeans in 2025.”

From a national perspective, U.S. beef and pork exports accounted for $2.18 billion in market value to corn producers in 2025, $1 billion to soybean producers and $375 million to distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), according to the study. U.S. beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 13.5% per bushel to the value of corn and 10.3% per bushel to soybeans in 2025.

“We initiate this study every year because it quantifies the value that beef and pork exports bring to the red meat supply chain. This added value is why a diverse range of ag industry sectors work together through USMEF to build global demand for U.S. red meat,” says USMEF Senior Vice President John Hinners.

Key findings from the study, which utilized 2025 statistics provided by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and data compiled by the Juday Group, include:

Exporting corn through U.S. beef and pork

Beef and pork exports accounted for 508.4 million bushels of U.S. corn usage, which equated to a market value of $2.18 billion (at an average 2025 corn price of $4.29 per bushel).
Beef and pork exports accounted for 2.68 million tons of DDGS usage, equating to $374.7 million (at an average price of $139.82 per ton in 2025).
Beef and pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 13.5%, or $0.58, of bushel value at an average price of $4.29 per bushel in 2025.

Exporting soybeans through U.S. pork

Pork exports accounted for 98.8 million bushels of U.S. soybean usage, which equated to a market value of $1 billion (at an average price of $10.17 per bushel in 2025).
Pork exports contributed an estimated total economic impact of 10.3% of bushel value, or $1.05, at an average price of $10.17 per bushel in 2025.

US House Passes Bill Allowing Year-Round Sales of E15 Gasoline

Thu, 14 May 2026 16:40:34 GMT

The U.S. House passed legislation on Wednesday that would allow nationwide year‑round sales of gasoline containing 15% ethanol, handing a major win to biofuel producers and farm groups while raising concerns among refiners about higher compliance costs.

The H.R. 1346 bill , or the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, approved by a vote of 218 to 203, would permit fuel retailers to offer E15 year‑round, removing seasonal restrictions linked to smog concerns.

The legislation would need to pass the Senate, where it needs 60% of votes, and get a signature from President Donald Trump to be enacted.

Supporters say allowing year-round E15 sales would expand biofuel demand and help lower fuel prices that have spiked since the start of the Iran war. Critics argue it risks raising costs for refiners already facing higher compliance burdens under federal biofuel mandates.

Some lawmakers have also raised fiscal concerns, with Representative James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, saying the measure will add billions to U.S. debt.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would increase direct spending by $2.7 billion while raising revenues by $0.4 billion, resulting in a net deficit increase of about $2.3 billion between 2026 and 2036, based on an assumption that the legislation would take effect in August 2026.

High fuel prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, have become a major vulnerability for President Donald Trump and his Republican party ahead of the November midterm elections.

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Sonali Paul)

What the USDA’s FSIS Reorganization Means for Farmers and Producers

Wed, 13 May 2026 18:58:21 GMT

As USDA continues to move more jobs across the country, the organization expects fewer employees will turn down relocation offers this time around.

When USDA relocated hundreds of Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) positions to Kansas City in 2019, about 85% of impacted employees quit their jobs or retired, rather than relocate, reports Federal News Network .

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, representing USDA researchers, expects to see similar results this year, the article says. An internal survey found that 76% of its members have indicated they are not planning to relocate. AFGE Local 3403 said in a statement that these relocations, which are expected to go into effect by the end of the summer, will trigger a “brain drain” within the department.

The goal is to move research closer to the farmers, ranchers and rural communities who benefit from it, USDA points out.

What the FSIS Reorganization Means to You

USDA announced a reorganization of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on April 23 to modernize operations, streamline support functions and better align the agency with the nation’s agricultural landscape.

As part of this effort, USDA will establish a new National Food Safety Center (NFSC) in Urbandale, Iowa, which will serve as the primary hub for FSIS administrative, technical and support operations.

“This is about building a stronger, more resilient food safety system for the country,” says U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. “By establishing a National Food Safety Center in Iowa and expanding our scientific capabilities, USDA is ensuring that the Food Safety and Inspection Service is positioned where it can best support American agriculture and protect public health. These changes reflect our commitment to modernizing the department while staying focused on delivering results for the American people.”

Dwight Mogler, an Iowa pig farmer, believes this is a positive move for U.S. agriculture and is an efficient allocation of resources.

“I get pumped when we can highlight positive things that are going on in the U.S. pork industry,” Mogler says. “The closer farms are to government entities that regulate us, the more apt they are to not only serve us from a place of understanding, but also improve their agility to recognize and respond to a crisis in real time. Proximity matters.”

Deputy Secretary Stephen A. Vaden says this approach ensures that resources are used efficiently while maintaining the high standards the public expects from our food safety system.

A Central Hub for Food Safety Operations

FSIS plans to repurpose existing USDA space in Urbandale, Iowa, to establish the new National Food Safety Center (NFSC), which will become the agency’s largest office in the U.S. with approximately 200 employees.

The NFSC will serve as FSIS’ primary location for headquarters support functions, including resource management, training, food safety education, financial operations, information technology and administrative services. By consolidating these functions in a centrally located hub, FSIS will reduce duplication, improve coordination and expand access to career opportunities for employees across the country.

The establishment of the NFSC marks a significant shift in the agency’s operational footprint, placing key functions closer to the agricultural and food production systems that FSIS regulates and supports.

Who Does Relocation Impact?

FSIS will also establish a Science Center in Athens, Ga., building on its existing Eastern Field Services Laboratory and expanding its capabilities in microbiology, chemistry and epidemiology. FSIS will also establish a presence in Fort Collins, Colo., for staff supporting international activities, further aligning the agency with USDA’s broader geographic footprint, USDA reports.

Under the reorganization, FSIS will relocate approximately two-thirds of its National Capital Region workforce to mission-critical locations, including the National Food Safety Center in Iowa and the Science Center in Georgia. Approximately 200 positions will be relocated from Washington D.C., while roughly 100 positions will remain to support congressional engagement, policy development and interagency coordination.

The reorganization does not impact FSIS’ frontline inspection workforce, representing 85% of employees and operating across more than 6,800 regulated establishments.

“All food safety inspection activities and public health protections will continue without interruption, and the reorganization does not include any reduction in force. All FSIS employees will retain positions within the agency,” USDA says.

The Best Ordinary Tuesday: Finding Glimmers in the Grind

Tue, 12 May 2026 18:50:26 GMT

We are the people of the next. On a farm, the clock and the calendar are our masters, but they are also our greatest distractions. We wait all day for the end of the day so we can finally pull off our boots. We wait all year for the next year to come, hoping for better margins, better weather or a better balance of the markets. We spend entire lifetimes working for the prize 2-year-old, the record milk production or the bin-busting crop that finally justifies the sweat.

But if we are honest, when those records finally arrive, they often feel like a destination we reached while we were looking out the window at something else. Because the truth of the farm life — the goodness we praise God for — isn’t found in the record books; it’s found on an ordinary Tuesday.

The Success of the Seconds

Success on our 750-cow dairy is usually measured in pounds, percentages and bushels harvested. We track data points with precision, seeking logic in the chaos, but the real successes of a farming life don’t always happen in the margins. Sometimes they are the glimmering moments that we too often take for granted because they don’t come with a trophy or a line on a balance sheet.

Think about the last time you worked cattle together as a family. It’s a task that can easily descend into shouted directions and frayed nerves. But then, there’s that moment where it all just works. No one has to say a word; you move in a silent, practiced choreography passed down through generations. Your father knows exactly where you’re going to move the gate; your children anticipate the next cow in the chute. In that fleeting minute, the legacy isn’t a legal document or a transition plan — it’s a heartbeat.

It’s the five-minute window in between filling the planter when a football appears from the back of the truck. The dust is still settling, the sun is high and, for 60 seconds, you aren’t a manager or an operator; you’re a dad. You’re a kid again yourself. Those spirals thrown over the tongue of the planter are the things we actually long for, yet we often treat them as interruptions to the “real work.”

Community Covered in Plastic

We saw it last fall during the long stretch of chopping. The silage pile was growing, the weather was turning and the exhaustion was setting in. Then, the high school varsity football team showed up — a dozen young men with more energy than sense, ready to help pull the plastic and toss the tires.

In the grand scheme of the year’s production, that couple of hours of help was a small fraction of the labor. But in the grand scheme of life, it was everything. It was the community showing up when the always-on nature of the dairy felt like too much to carry alone. It was the realization that the farm doesn’t just produce milk; it produces the character of the town. If you didn’t stop to see the goodness in those dusty, laughing teenagers, you might have thought it was just another chore finished. But it was the best Tuesday of the month.

The Prize of the Return

Then there is the greatest glimmer of all: the conversation you didn’t dare to script. It happens in the cab of the truck or while walking back from the parlor. Your oldest son, the one you’ve watched grow up in the shadow of this barn, looks at the horizon and says he wants to do what Dad does for a living. After graduating from college this spring, he is planning to come back to the family farm.

In that moment, the low margin and crummy weather lose their power. The audacity and faith required to keep a 750-cow and 1,800-acre operation running are suddenly rewarded. Not with a record milk check, but with the knowledge that the soil you’ve tended and the cows you’ve bred have a future beyond your own hands.

Searching for the Glimmer

The thing about these moments is that they don’t happen for 24 consecutive hours. They don’t last for weeks or months. They are seconds. They are glimmers of hope that we have to actively search for.

If we aren’t careful, we can finish the day thinking it was just another grind — another ordinary Tuesday where the equipment broke or the labor was short. But if we adjust our sails and shift our gaze, we realize that the days we’ve been longing for are happening right in front of our eyes.

The prize isn’t the 2-year-old in the show ring; it’s the 2-year-old grandchild sitting on your lap in the tractor. The record crop isn’t just the bushels per acre; it’s the harvest of memories with family by your side being made while the work was being done.

Praise God for the goodness that being a farmer is — not because it is easy and not because it is always profitable, but because it gives us the eyes to see that an ordinary Tuesday can be the best day we have ever asked for. We just have to be brave enough to stop waiting for the “next” long enough to see the “now.”

The Uterine Capacity Crisis: Managing High Litter Sizes in Modern Sows

Thu, 07 May 2026 15:55:35 GMT

How many piglets can modern sows conceive and how many can their uteri actually support? That’s a question University of Kentucky reproductive biologist Jonathan Pasternak is seeking to understand as decades of aggressive genetic selection have pushed litter sizes to historic highs.

Top-performing producers average nearly 16 piglets per litter, the University of Kentucky reports , with ovulation rates in some genetic lines reaching 40 oocytes — the number of eggs before maturation. Although geneticists have successfully increased the number of embryos a sow produces, uterine capacity has remained stubbornly unchanged.

Pasternak is leading a four-year study to investigate this issue through a $650,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study the developmental impact of uterine crowding in the contemporary sow.

“Ovulation rate is exceptionally heritable, but uterine capacity can’t keep pace,” Pasternak points out. “We now have sows producing more piglets in a litter than they have nipples to nurse them.”

One of the Biggest Issues Facing the Swine Industry

The result is a condition known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in piglets. Unlike traditional runts, which reflect poor genetic potential, IUGR piglets carry the full genetic capacity for efficient growth but are starved of nutrients in the womb, he says. Disruption during this sensitive period has lifelong consequences.

IUGR piglets can represent up to 30% of a contemporary litter but account for the overwhelming majority of preweaning mortality. Survivors grow less efficiently and rarely reach market weight.

“From a pure reproductive standpoint, this is arguably the biggest issue facing the swine industry today,” Pasternak says.

His team will track fetal development at sequential stages of gestation, measuring how and when individual organ systems begin to diverge between crowded and uncrowded environments. In the end, they hope to identify the precise developmental windows during which crowding begins to decrease growth. They will also look into why a subset of piglets appears naturally resistant to the effects of crowding.

Pasternak says he is not trying to roll back decades of genetic progress but to inform it. If the researchers can identify genetic and physiological markers that make some piglets more resilient to crowding, producers may be able to select for animals someday that maintain high litter sizes without the welfare and economic costs of IUGR.

“We’re never going back on litter size,” Pasternak says. “The goal is to perhaps inform the geneticists of what the limits of uterine capacity really are and find ways to maintain litter size while avoiding these low-quality piglets that won’t perform as desired.”

Experts Warn Livestock Feed Additive Can Cause Fatal Heart Risks to Dogs

Wed, 06 May 2026 13:22:18 GMT

Ractopamine, a livestock feed additive commonly used to promote growth in cattle, swine and poultry, may pose a serious risk to dogs, say researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS).

Researchers report two cases of dogs treated at the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital that consumed ractopamine. This had not previously been described in the veterinary literature as a natural exposure in dogs.

While both dogs experienced similar clinical signs, their outcomes differed significantly, highlighting the importance of early recognition and treatment.

In one case, the dog’s owners realized their dog had consumed the feed additive and quickly induced vomiting shortly after ingestion. The dog later required hospitalization for cardiac monitoring and supportive care but ultimately recovered and returned to a normal life, the researchers say.

However, the second dog was found in critical condition after an unknown period of exposure on a rural property. Without early treatment, the dog developed severe cardiac complications and died despite intensive treatment.

“Because this resulted from exposure to a common feed additive, one of the most important things, for us, is getting this information into the literature so it becomes something veterinarians can recognize and act on,” says Sophie Tippit, a VMBS DVM candidate.

The findings highlight the importance of keeping livestock additives out of reach of dogs to limit the possibility of accidental ingestion.

“Many owners don’t realize that these types of feed additives can be harmful to their companion animals,” Tippit adds.

Ractopamine Exposure

When the dogs were brought in, both were experiencing significant cardiovascular effects, including abnormal heart rhythms and elevated cardiac troponin levels, a blood marker that indicates damage to the heart muscle.

“These cases show us that this particular drug overstimulates the body’s fight-or-flight system, essentially putting the heart into overdrive,” says Dr. Sonya Wesselowski, associate professor of cardiology in VMBS’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. “When that happens excessively, it can cause direct damage to the heart muscle cells and trigger dangerous arrhythmias.”

The cases also exposed an important clinical consideration that standard treatments for certain heart rhythm disturbances were not effective in these patients.

“Typically, when we see ventricular arrhythmias, we reach for drugs like lidocaine first,” Tippit says. “But because of how ractopamine works, it wasn’t effective. Once we understood the mechanism, using beta blockers made much more sense and was more successful.”

Protect Your Farm and Ranch Dogs

Because these exposures can happen unintentionally, prevention is especially important for pet owners, the report notes.

“Wherever these products are stored, they need to be kept inaccessible to dogs,” Wesselowski says. “If there’s any concern about exposure, seeking veterinary care quickly can make a critical difference.”

Natural exposure to ractopamine in dogs had not previously been documented. If your dog experiences a possible toxin exposure on a farm or a ranch, this is something to consider, says Wesselowski.

“Veterinarians should consider ractopamine exposure in cases involving unexplained arrhythmias and initiate treatment quickly, including decontamination and cardiac monitoring,” Wesselowski points out.

ABA Launches Advanced Genomic & EPD System to Revolutionize Berkshire Swine Genetics

Fri, 01 May 2026 19:34:55 GMT

The American Berkshire Association (ABA) is ushering in a new era of swine genetics in the purebred industry with the launch of its Genomic and EPD System. This sophisticated platform is designed to provide breeders with real-time data, predictive mating tools, and a renewed focus on the premium meat quality traits that define the breed.

The ABA’s Genomic and EPD system is built on the Helical platform by Theta Solutions, centralizing genomics, pedigree data and Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) into one secure, automated portal. Breeders can now access real-time data, including individual animal percentile rankings, “Top 100" lists by trait, and visual graphics for easier data interpretation.

Predictive Mating

“The new system brings multiple data types together to allow a breeder to view it all in a simple format and easily understand the genetic merit of their animals in real time,” explains Ben Smith, ABA Board of Directors member and Breed Improvement Committee Co-Chair.

Breeders can now “test” a mating on screen before it ever happens in the barn. This allows breeders to see the genetic merit of potential matings prior to breeding and accelerates the timeline for genetic progress.

Accelerating Quality

In addition, this system allows the organization to integrate the data collected from the ABA Progeny Test into the breed’s genetic evaluation system. This will include the inclusion of meat quality and meat eating quality traits that Berkshires are well known for, Smith says.

“We have always been strong supporters of genetic evaluations within the breed throughout its history,” he says. “This move not only enhances the accessibility and quality of data to breeders but strengthens the ABA’s commitment to providing breeders with the most advanced genetic evaluation possible.”

This system combines multiple standalone platforms from past systems into a single system with enhanced analysis to see genetic merit and genomics on a single animal on the same page together.

This chart displays percentiles for each trait. Lower percentiles = bars extending RIGHT and above average performance relative to the reference population for that trait, e.g., percentile 18 = top 18%. Higher percentile numbers = bars extending LEFT and below average performance relative to the reference population for that trait, e.g., percentile 99 = bottom 1%. Note: Some traits perform best in the mid-range, and your breeding goals may prioritize different either high or low percentiles for different traits.

(American Berkshire Association)

“Our new system and the partnership has created a roadmap for the ABA’s genetic improvement plan to move forward to modern evaluation methods with full transparency to the breeders,” Smith says. “These methods will improve the accuracy of evaluations and help breeders increase their rate of genetic improvement.”

Why Now?

As the pork industry evolves to meet changing consumer demands, Smith believes this tool will allow Berkshire breeders to have an even bigger impact.

“The ABA is excited and proud to be the oldest independent swine registry in the world, and to be Helical’s first swine breed client,” Smith says. “As the ABA continues to expand and improve our genetic evaluation system, we look forward to setting the standard of excellence in swine genetic evaluations.”

Here is the public link for viewers.

Russian Firm Shuts Pig Farms Near Ukraine Border Due to Attack Risks

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:49:34 GMT

Russia’s biggest listed agricultural company Rusagro said on Friday it had shut down three pig farms in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and has been a target of frequent attacks during the conflict.

The company cited high risks for farm personnel as the reason for the decision.

The region is a major producer of meat, grain and sugar. The closure of the farms reduced Rusagro’s pork output by about 4% to 141,000 tons in the first quarter, the company said.

Rusagro bought the farms in 2024, seeking to boost its pork production and exports.

The deal was made under Rusagro’s founder, Vadim Moshkovich, who was charged with embezzlement last year in a case related to the company’s acquisition of a major oil and fat producer as part of its efforts to expand in that business.

(Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

From Defense to Offense: A New Rulebook for Livestock Emissions

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:40:31 GMT

For years, livestock producers have been characterized by global emission averages that often fail to account for the efficiencies of modern U.S. production. A new report released by The Meat Institute entitled, “Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Emissions Factors Brief,” provides the “rulebook” for producers to prove their actual footprint rather than being defined by generic estimates.

The report offers a closer and comprehensive look at how companies across the animal agriculture supply chain are measuring and reporting upstream greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a core component of the industry’s commitment to the Protein PACT, aiming for transparent and continuous improvement in sustainability.

“This report is intended as a practical resource for companies throughout the meat and poultry supply chain to better understand how emissions data are developed, to ask clearer questions of data providers, and to build strategies that reflect their operational realities,” says Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The report also outlines current knowledge gaps and points to where practical guidance and coordination could help improve alignment throughout the supply chain.”

The brief focuses on the Scope 3 emission factors (indirect emissions occurring in the supply chain) used for beef, pork and poultry, and highlights areas where approaches differ across data sources, system boundaries and calculation methods.

Key Takeaways

• Standardization of Metrics

Using uniform emission factors across the sector is needed in animal agriculture. This ensures that sustainability data is consistent, comparable and credible for stakeholders and consumers. Reported emission factor values span a wide range across proteins, often due to differences in functional units, geographic assumptions, and whether impacts such as land use change are included or reported separately.

• Transition to Primary Data

The Meat Institute encourages moving away from generic global averages in favor of high-quality, peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data that reflects specific regional and production practices.

• Alignment with Global Standards

Global statistics often penalize U.S. producers by grouping them with less efficient international systems. The industry is asking for more clarity and consistency—so reporting is easier to understand and supports better decisionmaking. The guidelines are designed to help member companies align their reporting with international frameworks, including the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This allows producers to use specific data to showcase how high-quality genetics, nutrition and management result in lower emissions per pound of meat produced.

• Closing the Data Gap

By providing clear methodology, The Meat Institute aims to help companies of all sizes overcome technical barriers to reporting, facilitating an industry-wide move toward “net zero” targets.

The Meat Institute is creating a new resource hub to help the industry—and everyone in its supply chains—tackle greenhouse gas reporting in a clearer, more practical way. This will allow the industry to move away from reacting to external criticism to setting the benchmark for what sustainable protein production looks like using peer-reviewed science.

Read the full report here: https://www.meatinstitute.org/sites/default/files/documents/Meat_Institute_Emissions_Factors_Brief.pdf

The New Survival Skill: Build Like a Polymath, Lead Like a CEO

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:15:55 GMT

Have you been concerned about jobs being eliminated because of artificial intelligence (AI)? My exhortation is that, now more than ever, if you want to protect your position in the market, your company and your role, you must become more innovative and entrepreneurial with and through AI.

To lead, not just survive but thrive, you must become an AI-driven entrepreneurial polymath.

Some entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to building and scaling a single enterprise, but the most impactful among them — entrepreneurial polymaths (or serial entrepreneurs) — never stop creating. They build multiple ventures, innovate across disciplines and contribute to both industry and society.

Polymath comes from the Greek “polymathēs” — “having learned much.” Historically, polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin applied mastery across multiple fields. In an entrepreneurial context, a polymath entrepreneur blends adaptability and insatiable curiosity with the commercial instincts to turn knowledge and innovation into enterprises.

Where the typical entrepreneur may invest all energy into one idea, the polymath entrepreneur has a restless drive to solve problems repeatedly. With AI, this isn’t just easier; it has become essential for survival.

The question for you is: Are you a maintainer, a one-venture wonder, or do you have the capacity for ongoing leadership and innovation across multiple pursuits?

Leverage for Leaders

Over my career I have interacted with thousands of CEOs, hundreds of whom have been clients and many who have become friends. The most fascinating and fruitful among them have always been the polymath entrepreneurs.

Whether they wear the title of CEO, founder or simply manager, they are the true engines of progress. They see opportunities others overlook, and in an age of technological disruption and AI, they often find it easy to reinvent industries.

But vision and creativity alone are not enough. As Peter Drucker reminds us, “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”

Entrepreneurs often have blind spots in the disciplines of management, strategy, innovation management, implementation, culture, resource allocation, productivity and sustainable value creation. Without these, even a polymath’s brilliance can stall.

One shortcut is leverage: Partner with external strategists who’ve implemented AI-driven innovations across many businesses, so you’re not learning everything the expensive way, through delays, misfires and internal politics.

When partnered with strong functional leadership, however, the polymath entrepreneur becomes nearly unstoppable. Their power multiplies when aligned with:

Operations leadership (chief operating officer/VP of operations) to translate vision into scalable systems.
Financial leadership (chief financial officer) to ensure disciplined capital allocation and risk management.
Specialized expertise (e.g., internal full-time or external consulting or fractional chief marketing officer, chief information officer or chief strategy officer) to deepen customer, technology or domain execution.

As Michael Porter taught: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” The polymath thrives because they can choose across domains, letting go of the old to seize the new. And as Joseph Schumpeter argued in “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy,” the entrepreneur is the true agent of “creative destruction.” The polymath entrepreneur embodies this, not just once, but repeatedly, breaking down old models and building new ones.

Unlike the myth that entrepreneurship is a product of personality or charisma, whether Steve Jobs at Apple, Richard Branson at Virgin or Elon Musk with his many ventures, Drucker insisted that entrepreneurship is a discipline. It can be studied, replicated and managed. What separates polymath entrepreneurs is their repeated ability to master this discipline across domains.

Bottom line: The most successful will be those who will be applying the fast-evolving tools of AI to not just innovate and add new value through the optimization of your organization but also to create new solutions for your customer/market that innovate your industry — and often will create a new sustainable business faster and more value-creating than ever before.

Solar Panel Plague or Progress? Controversy Explodes as Farmland Disappears

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:55:53 GMT

Roughly 2,200 acres of prime farmland is vanishing under a blue blanket of glass, plastic, aluminum, and silicon in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. The disappearing act, increasingly common in rural America, is a sweet source of income for some farmers, but a bitter pill for many adjoining producers and landowners.

“Giant solar panels mean prime farmland gone forever and the ruin of rural life, not to mention a potential environmental mess,” says Kate Smit, whose farm sits close to the proposed solar facility.

Smit’s property will be the next-door recipient of 461,000 solar panels strung in 5,400 rows, much of it surrounded by 7’-high fencing.

Bill Peter, a homeowner adjacent to the incoming facility and former longtime employee of Liberty Farms, the same operation that leased the acres for a solar transformation, is opposed to the installation: “Don’t insult me by calling it a ‘solar farm.’ I’m not fooled. What’s happening is sick, and whether you live in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, or any other state, it’s coming to your backyard. Today here and tomorrow everywhere.”

Peter was fired by Liberty Farms on March 27, he claims, as a direct outcome of his opposition to the solar lease. “I don’t agree with the ‘tiny percent of overall farmland’ excuse,” he adds. “This is one of the saddest things I’ve seen in American agriculture in my lifetime. It ends with glass and metal covering millions of acres.”

Is Peter correct? How many solar acres are planned: 10 million by 2030? 20 million by 2040? Less? More?

Eyesore or Green Beauty?
Standing at the edge of her 97 acres of grain outside Richland Township, Kate Smit sweeps an arm toward the horizon. She soon will be surrounded by a sea of solar panels. Her property almost rubs nearby Liberty Farms—which leased 2,268 prime acres to Consumers Energy, the second largest electric utility in Michigan, for a solar facility with construction and operation scheduled in 2026.

Proposed coverage of the 2,268-acre solar panel site in Richland Township.

(Image by Consumers Energy)

“Our family farm dates back 100 years and now my kids will inherit our fields beside a sprawling, industrial mess,” Smit describes. “We’re an example of what’s going on all over Michigan and the U.S.”

(The Liberty Farms solar installation is not a done deal. The Richland Township planning commission has not yet approved Consumer Energy’s application.)

“Our area in Richland has gorgeous nature with abundant deer, ospreys, bald eagles, cranes, and you name it. We’re also a wonderful agriculture community, and it’s all the bigger shame because prime farmland is what they’re using for this solar project.”

According to a release, Consumers Energy “expects the Project to be in service for at least 35 years. Consumers Energy has worked diligently with nearby landowners and residents to minimize Project impacts on the surrounding community.”

“Are you kidding me? That farmland is lost way past 35 years or 50 years, or whatever ridiculous number they throw out,” Smit says. “No one wants solar panels here, and Consumers knows that. Our community is fighting this tooth and nail. Consumers came here hush-hush, did deals with MDOT, and suddenly our landscape is permanently destroyed.”

(Consumers Energy declined Agweb interview requests regarding the Richland solar installation.)

“We want to stall Consumers’ solar project until we can get a bill passed in our state senate to where townships and counties have to vote if a solar panel company wants in,” Smit continues.

Solar lease rates for agriculture land are significantly high.

(Graph by AFBF)

Two miles from Smit, Bill Peter, 70, who sits on the Richland Township board as a trustee, lives down a mile-and-a-half road dotted with seven homes. “I’m about to get circled by solar panels,” he says. “Literally, Consumers Energy is putting panels all the way around. They’ll take out the tillable ground and replace it with glass.”

Ironically, until March 2026, Peter was employed at Liberty Farms, the new landlord of Consumers Energy. “I’m not afraid to tell the truth and they fired me for it. That’s their choice,” he emphasizes. “I’m not sitting quietly while 450,000 solar panels permanently replace the best farm soil around.”

Generally, solar panels are made of 76% glass, 10% plastic, 8% aluminum, 5% silicon, and 1% copper.

“There’s nothing green about this green energy,” Peter contends. “They want to put glass, steel, aluminum, and plastic on top of a natural watershed area, and completely cut the ground off from photosynthesis, and then tell you it’s environmentally safe for 50 years, and won’t hurt the soil with contamination? What happens when a tornado or natural disaster tosses grinds all these panels to particles?”

“We’re all tired of this renewable energy talk,” he adds. “It funnels to tax dollars and tax breaks, and backroom deals and mandates. This Richland installation is rumored to be a $50-plus million contract, ultimately paid for by us in one way or another.”

“Wake up,” Smit echoes. “No matter where you’re at in the U.S., the land beside you or the land in your community could be next. How many panels will they put in if they can get away with it?”

Battle of the Pens
In 2021, President Biden (Executive Order 14057 ) mandated that the federal government reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A massive solar push was included in the plan. How much farmland was needed to reach the net-zero goal? Estimates ranged from 10 million to 26 million acres, with upper end projections of 50 million.

“We’re supposed to say nothing while solar panels and data centers explode, and we’re told about the wonders of green, renewable energy,” says Smit.

(Photo by iStock)

However, in 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14148 , revoking Biden’s mandate.

In 2024-2025, solar infrastructure covered approximately 1 million-plus acres of farmland, with roughly half of the acreage directly on cropland. Overall, the U.S. contains almost 880 million acres of farmland.

“It’s not that complicated to me,” says Ed Yelton, a cattle producer in Dearborn County , Indiana. “They’ll build as many as they can get away with. If you think it’s not a big deal because they’re only on a fraction of total farmland, wait till one pops up beside you. Who in the hell wants to see the monstrosity?”

“And if a different presidential administration comes in, they might pick up a pen and sign another executive order and we’ll be at 50 million acres before you know it. Let me be direct: Whatever number the government pushes, that tells me they want far, far more.”

A mile from Yelton’s pastures, Linea Energy has a lease on 1,200 acres of planned solar panels. “It’s beautiful farmland, or was,” Yelton says.

Prime agricultural land is popular for solar installations, partially because it’s often open, dry, and relatively flat. Construction costs for solar conversion on farmland are generally lower than on other types of ground.

The pressure from solar installations and data centers on rural landowners and communities is just beginning, Kate Smit says.

(Graph by AFBF)

“The energy people slipped in here and signed leases with people without nobody knowing it. These are the same people that tell you that solar isn’t permanent while they’re hauling in glass, fencing, and concrete. This is same story you see in North Carolina, New York, Kentucky, Oklahoma—it’s all over the place.”

“We’re pressuring our zoning board to do something,” Yelton exclaims. “That might be the solution in the future: Only allow solar panel installation beside the homes and properties of county officials and board members. Hell, that might sincerely stop some of this.”

Private Land v Public Choice?
Whose ox is gored? When millions of dollars in lease contracts are at stake, how does the right to use private land as a property owner sees fit weigh into the solar equation? Simply, solar pays tremendously well compared with corn, cotton, rice, or soybeans.

“It’s a tough one,” Yelton admits. “I believe a person should be able to do with their land whatever they want, but solar is something else. If you’re the next to get panels beside your land or house, you’ll be sick. The only solution to panels and AI data centers is to let a community decide.”

“The power companies and the government all know this is wrong. That’s why they call them ‘solar farms.’ They use words to trick and influence the public, but that’s an insult to anyone in agriculture. I’m sticking with common sense: Once you put glass, aluminum, and plastic all over a field, that’s no longer a farm.”

Well and Good
As of 2024, American Farm Bureau Federation estimates over 1.25 million acres of farmland has been covered by solar installations:

The ERS (Economic Research Service, USDA) approximates solar’s footprint as of 2020 at 336,000 acres of rural land based on the total solar production capacity installed in U.S. Census designated rural areas. As solar capacity has more than doubled since 2020 and is increasingly coming from utility-scale solar, this estimate is woefully out-of-date. Using SIEA’s current estimate of 200 GW of installed solar capacity, ERS’s estimate of 7.5 acres used per MW of production, and AFT’s estimate that 83% of solar installations are on farmland, we roughly estimate that 1.25 million acres of farmland have been converted for use in solar production. While that may be a startlingly high number to some, it would represent 0.14% of the 879 million acres of farmland in the United States.

“No matter where you’re at in the U.S., the land beside you or the land in your community could be next,” says Smit. “How many panels will they put in if they can get away with it?”

(Photo by iStock)

Whether eyesore and erasure, or energy godsend and income windfall, the pressure from solar installations and data centers on rural landowners and communities is just beginning, Kate Smit says.

“We’re supposed to say nothing while solar panels and data centers explode, and we’re told about the wonders of green, renewable energy,” she concludes. “If it’s all so well and good, then who wants one outside your bedroom window?”

For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer

Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust

Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing

Smithfield Launches New Premium Pork Brats Including PBR Variety

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 13:59:10 GMT

Smithfield is launching a new premium pork bratwurst lineup featuring three bold, flavor-packed varieties, including a limited-time Smithfield Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Brat, a Jalapeño and Cheddar Brat and a Chipotle and Cheddar Brat.

Designed for effortless summer entertaining, Smithfield says each brat is crafted to deliver big, satisfying flavor.

“The Smithfield Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Brat brings a nostalgic, all-American twist to the grill, pairing premium pork infused with the smooth taste of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for a juicy bite with a satisfying snap, perfect alongside potato salad, corn on the cob and an ice-cold can,” Smithfield says. “The Jalapeño and Cheddar Brat strikes a craveable balance of heat and creaminess and the Chipotle and Cheddar Brat layers smoky warmth with rich, cheesy flavor.”

Smithfield’s new bratwursts are available nationwide at Publix and select Walmart and Kroger stores.

“As the weather gets warmer, we know consumers are planning to gather over great food, and bold flavors are a must,” Marianne Radley, managing director of marketing for Smithfield Foods, said in a release. “This new bratwurst lineup, including the innovative Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Brat, delivers premium, crave-worthy options that are easy to prepare and made for sharing, bringing bold, grill-ready flavor and good times to every backyard get-together.”

All three varieties are ideal for grilling, pan-searing or simmering in beer for extra flavor, the company says.

“Beer and brats have always belonged together; we just teamed up with Smithfield to do it right with a seriously good brat,” Katherine Mata, director of culture marketing for Pabst Brewing Company, said in a release. “It’s an easy win for anyone who believes grilling should come with a cold beer.”

Smithfield encourages all backyard grillmasters to enter the Ultimate Backyard Bratluck Sweepstakes for a chance to win a complete backyard party kit, including a RTIC 72-quart cooler, a Weber Genesis Grill, a Solo Stove Yukon fire pit, custom cornhole set and more. From May 7 through July 6, fans can enter by visiting Smithfield.com .

Costco Fans Scramble for Rare "Hot Dog" Bourbon Release

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:39:06 GMT

A Costco store near Washington, D.C., sold out of its new single-barrel bourbon “I Got That Dog in Me” in under a day. Based on Costco’s famous $1.50 hot dog combo, this bottle of Rare Character bourbon was priced at $85.99 and limited to one per membership.

Costco’s food court hot dog and soda combo drew attention from both bourbon enthusiasts and Costco fans, reports Fox News . The bourbon was listed at 126.1 proof and aged 11 years and four months.

In 2021, Pablo Moix and Pete Nevenglosky joined forces to create Rare Character Whiskey Co . Rare Character is known for developing high-proof, limited-release bourbons and ryes that have gained a strong following among collectors.

Running to Stores
Costco customers are eager to get their hands on a bottle. According to a Reddit user tracking the release, bottles were restocked overnight and completely sold out by 9:45 am the next morning.

“Let’s be honest, we were all buying it for the label,” they wrote. Another added, “I’d buy it in a heartbeat.”

Other Reddit users said they would be “running” to buy the bourbon for their husband, while others said, “I don’t even drink alcohol and I want it!”

The bottle’s scarcity has added to the craze, with some people offering to buy the hot dog bourbon for prices way above retail, ranging from $500 to $1,000, Fox News reports.

“Got that dog in me” is slang often used to describe someone with grit and heart. Fox News says the product’s meme-driven branding helped fuel the frenzy, tapping into online culture and the company’s loyal fan base.

An iconic deal
Although Costco may be out of the hot dog bourbon for now, they aren’t out of hot dogs.

Costco’s CEO Ron Vachris recently reiterated that the hot dog combo will stay $1.50 as long as he’s around. The company’s food court staple (a hot dog and soda) has become a symbol for the brand. It has not changed in price since 1985.

Beyond the Blame Game: Navigate the Mental Toll of Modern Ag

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:55:09 GMT

When market pressures mount, it is easy to succumb to the “blame game.” Yet, the most resilient operations are those that anchor themselves in a mission larger than the current balance sheet. For leaders like James Burgum and Lamar Steiger, coping with stress isn’t just about managing the books, it’s about managing the mindset.

The Many Hats of the Modern Producer

James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes the first step in managing stress is acknowledging the sheer weight of the roles farmers play.

“One of the things I did when I stepped into my role is an exercise where I said to our team, ‘Help me understand all the hats on the farm – farmworker, agronomist, grain merchandiser, mechanic, truck driver, snow removal lead, banker, economist,’” Burgum said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “You start to go down the list, and its dozens and dozens of roles that an individual farmer plays.”

By recognizing the complexity of these roles, Burgum argues that producers can move toward servant leadership—prioritizing the team’s needs.

“There are things that are much more important and much bigger than the challenges we’re wrestling with on the job every day,” Burgum says. “It’s hard to juggle all the balls, but at the end of the day, we want everyone on our team to make sure they get home at night and be there for their families.”

Choosing Abundance Over Scarcity

Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, learned about stress through the lens of his father, a man who seemed to face every possible setback: health crises, financial downturns and missed market peaks.

The farm struggled during times of high interest rates in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and his father was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Guillain-Barre, that left him paralyzed for six months.

Still, his dad always had an attitude of abundance, not scarcity, Steiger says.

“With my brothers holding other obligations, I was left to milk the cows,” Steiger says. “We were so far behind, and all my dad would say is, ‘It could be worse.’”

Breaking the Silence

Eventually, his family lost the dairy. After hitting rock bottom and battling depression , Steiger realized that the “tough it out” mentality was a liability, not an asset.

“When the stresses pile up, you’ve got to find help,” Steiger says. “I wasn’t ‘man enough’ to step up and say, ‘Hey, something’s wrong here.’ I should have said, ‘Time out—this is not working.’”

Steiger’s advice for those feeling the weight of the current market is simple: Find your “who.” Whether it is a spouse, a neighbor or a professional, talking through the stress is the only way to separate your self-worth from the volatility of the markets.

“In agriculture, we’re so reliant on outside forces,” Steiger says. “You’ve got to have an attitude that it’s going to work out. As my Dad would say, ‘Well, we never missed a meal.’ That was his bottom line for ‘It’s okay.’”

From Constraints to Catalysts: How Ag Leaders Turn Hardships into Strategy

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:19:01 GMT

In an industry defined by “one-year-at-a-time” cycles, the greatest threat to a growing operation isn’t just a market downturn—it’s the inertia that comes with size. Farm Journal CEO Prescott Shibles argues that long-term survival requires a rare blend of faith and agility. To maintain an entrepreneurial mindset, leaders must lean into “conviction” as the core of a strategy that survives the lows.

Here is how four industry leaders are turning today’s constraints into tomorrow’s differentiators.

1. Build when times are hard.

When Brent Smith, president and CEO of NewLeaf Symbiotics, joined the company in 2023, the grain market was entering a significant down cycle. While some saw a risky time to lead a startup, he saw an opportunity.

“I learned in my first startup that the best time to build a business is in hard times,” Smith said said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “Because if you can’t withstand tough times, you’re not going to survive long term.”

For Smith, survival meant doubling down on the company’s core: science. Despite the pressure to cut costs, NewLeaf continues to spend half of its operating expenses on science.

“It would be very easy to peel that back,” he admits. “But we focused on projects that make the most impact the quickest, while keeping an eye on the long-term innovation in our pipeline.”

2. Control what you can control.

Farmers face the ultimate constraint every year: the weather. Scott Beck, president of Beck’s Hybrids, recalls the planting crisis of 2019 when constant rains kept tractors out of the fields well into May.

“I was concerned for our customers not being able to plant, but also for us not being able to plant our seed for the next year,” Beck says. “There was nothing that we could do to control the weather, but we could control how we interacted with our customers.”

Rather than retreating, the Beck’s team focused on transparency and empathy, using video series to connect with farmers and even forming small groups for prayer and support. Ultimately, they wanted farmers to know they cared and were there to support them however they could.

Despite the financial reality of what could happen if farmers didn’t plant and returned seed, Beck’s decided their course of action would not include employee layoffs. Instead, they prepared to sell land to protect their people.

“Fortunately, the weather broke and everybody was able to get planted,” he says. “Then the second miracle happened. We had the second warmest September on record, and that’s what brought the crop through to enable 2019 to not turn out as bad as it started.”

3. Turn disadvantages into advantages.

In 2014, Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, was tasked with a monumental challenge: helping Walmart reinvent its beef supply chain. At the time, the retail giant was at a disadvantage, forced to accept whatever the major meatpackers provided.

Steiger’s strategy was to turn that lack of control into a new kind of independence.

“I convinced the Walmart team to go around the traditional supply chain,” Steiger says. Today, Walmart sources 28% of its beef from its own “farm-to-table” supply chain.

There’s no question that decision was really good for Walmart. But Steiger says it was also really good for him personally.

“It reminded me that no matter how big you are, there are always challenges,” he says.

4. Create “white space” for the future.

When the day-to-day tasks of an operation become overwhelming, long-term strategy is often the first thing to go. James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes leaders must intentionally carve out “white space” for their teams.

“It’s important to find ways where people can actually spend their time working on the business, not just in the business,” he says.

By protecting time for team members to execute ideas that are three to five years out, Burgum manages the tension between short-term urgency and long-term viability.

“It’s hard to step away from the daily fires you’ll face in your operation, but it’s important,” he adds. “How we manage that tension of short term and long term is creating that white space and making sure that we consciously work on the business.

The Long Game

Ultimately, resilience in agriculture is about knowing when to push and when to pivot.

“You have to know when to put the gas down, and you need to know when to tap the brake,” Smith says. “And regardless of what you are doing, you need to stay focused on what you’re doing.”

Whether it is investing in science during a downturn or choosing customer empathy over the bottom line, these leaders say constraints don’t have to be roadblocks; they can be the very catalysts that drive an operation forward.

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1. The “Iowa Twinkie” and a Few Laughs

2. Innovation with an Iowa Zip Code

3. Breaking the Zoom Habit: The PORK Podcast

4. A Sea of Purple for Dr. Bob Goodband

5. High-Fashion Swag: Maria Zieba’s Nikes

6. Familiar Faces: Rob and Char Brenneman

7. New Perspectives: CLEAR Conversations

Why USMCA is More Than a Trade Agreement to the Pork Industry

Why Being ‘On the Ground’ Makes a Difference

Animal Diseases Don’t Care About Borders

North American Ag Unites

5 Leadership Flaws That Sabotage Success

1. Pride

2. Abusive behavior

3. Gossip

4. Greed

5. Dysfunctions around authority structure

Beyond the Honey Wagon: Refining Manure Into High-Value Fertilizer

Turning a Waste Product Into a Gold Mine

Addressing Regional Nutrient Saturation

Finding the Economic Tipping Point

Expert Panel Discusses How Strategic Advocacy Delivers for Pork Producers

Strength Beyond Grit: Why Your Mental Well-Being is Your Operation's Greatest Asset

A “People First” Mandate

Breaking the Stigma of the “Strong, Silent” Farmer

When the Toll Becomes Too Heavy

Handling Unpredictable Livestock Safely: Lessons from the "Cow on Campus"

Key Takeaways: Safe Livestock Handling

Why is the fight-or-flight response dangerous in livestock?

What are the best practices for safe animal handling?

Recognize that all animals are different.

Always use a sort board.

Stay out of the animal’s blind spot.

Prioritize barn ventilation.

Foster positive human-animal interactions.

How does the “Take Five for Safety” rule prevent injuries?

New 800 Million Pound Market Opportunity Opens for American Protein Producers

Scaling Up: The Goal for 3 Billion Meals

A Self-Sustaining Market, Not a Handout

High-Level Backing

Government:

Industry Giants:

Advocacy:

The Long-Term Vision

The 1% Rule: How 14 Minutes a Day Can Help Future-Proof Your Farm

Tackling Volatility And Other ‘Tough Stuff’

Breaking The ‘Always Done It This Way’ Cycle

Moving Beyond The Farm Gate

Heat Stress on the Farm: Signs & Prevention

Key Takeaways:

What are the early warning signs of heat stress?

How can you identify heat exhaustion in your coworkers?

Grab a Hat Before You Go Outside

1. Wear the right gear.

2. Apply sunscreen.

3. Time your tasks.

4. Check your medications.

Access the full Pork Industry Safety & Health Resources here.

Cargill Initiates Lockout at Fort Morgan Beef Plant After Contract Rejection

Breaking Down Cargill’s Offer

Teamsters Asking For “Fair Deal”

Next Steps

Red Meat Exports Add Over $3 Billion in Value to U.S. Corn and Soybeans in 2025

Exporting corn through U.S. beef and pork

Exporting soybeans through U.S. pork

US House Passes Bill Allowing Year-Round Sales of E15 Gasoline

What the USDA’s FSIS Reorganization Means for Farmers and Producers

What the FSIS Reorganization Means to You

A Central Hub for Food Safety Operations

Who Does Relocation Impact?

The Best Ordinary Tuesday: Finding Glimmers in the Grind

The Success of the Seconds

Community Covered in Plastic

The Prize of the Return

Searching for the Glimmer