Rural

RSS

Ag policy veteran and current National Council of Farmer Cooperatives leader Chuck Conner announced Monday he will retire in December 2025, initiating the search for a new CEO.

Indiana farmer and retired Army Col. Joe Ricker was recognized by the American Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Credit for his work supporting veterans through agriculture. 

Animal veterinarians are pushing USDA to move quickly in testing milk nationwide to get a handle on where the H5N1 virus is located so it can be controlled.

Dry weather has helped speed Midwestern and Southern farmers through most of this fall’s corn and soybean harvest while also limiting the amount of grain they could send down the Mississippi River. As many park their combines for the year, they are hoping rain storms can replenish soils parched and waterways shrunk by months of drought.

Generation and transmission cooperatives that supply the nation's rural electric cooperatives are moving forward with carbon capture projects, but officials question whether meeting EPA's new standards is achievable. There are wildly varying estimates in the power industry about the cost of using the technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Soil conservation has always been the foundation of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which for nearly 60 years was known as the Soil Conservation Service. But NRCS is having trouble finding candidates with the right set of qualifications to fill its ranks.

The fourth installment of a five-part series, “Getting Grounded,” that examines the nation's conservation delivery system and the challenges facing farmers in getting the advice they need to select, plan and implement new practices. University efforts to craft classes and degree programs that appeal to a wider range of students may be making it harder for USDA to hire the soil conservationists needed to help farmers.

The Southern Farmers Financial Association is being established by the Biden administration to help small farmers in high-poverty areas of the South get access to capital.

Hurricane Milton caused widespread destruction to Florida’s nursery infrastructure and crops, including damaged poinsettia plants that could lead to holiday season shortages. 

Kenneth Bader, longtime head of the American Soybean Association, died Saturday in Chesterfield, Missouri. He was 90.