A year ago I found a farm that was participating in a worldwide cooperative organic farming program. I worked and stayed on the farm for nearly a week where I would assist on all the farm activities, managing irrigation, manure application, as well as watering and feeding animals. In return, the farm provided a place…
This time of the year the fields in Iowa begin to turn into seas of green corn and soybeans. In the last few years some Iowans, in the familiar pioneer spirit have begun bringing the sea to consumers in Iowa and surrounding states. Aquaculture appears to be a growing endeavor in Iowa and neighboring states.
The U.S. is the number one broiler producer in the world followed by Brazil, China, and the European Union (EU). In 2016, U.S. production of broiler meat was up 1.6% to 18.262 million metric tons ready-to-cook equivalent (MT RTC) compared with 2015 (17.971 million MT RTC) reaching a new record high.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is a regulatory framework adopted by California to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state. The program encourages the use and production of a variety of low-carbon and renewable alternatives such ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel, which contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and replace higher…
The water quality trend is correlated with many factors, such as weather conditions, land use, and government policy. In this article, we examined nitrate concentration levels (mg/l) in the Raccoon River in Iowa from 1980 to 2015. We wanted to find out the trend in nitrate concentration in the river and the factors driving the…
Based on the most recent data on world egg production available from FAOSTAT, Statistic Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2014 the United States was the second largest egg producer (100.879 billion eggs) after China.
The lack of rain has caused Iowa's corn crop to continue to decline. As of the August 7th USDA/NASS Crop Progress and Condition Report, Iowa's corn crop was rated 64% Good/Excellent, 26% Fair, and 10% Poor/Very Poor. 95% of Iowa's corn crop is currently silking, and 42% is in the dough stage.
Agriculture research has driven major increases in input/output margins since the late 1940's. These increases have been clear to many farmers strictly looking at crop yields and revenue statements. However, it is economic data that provides quantifiable evidence of the value of scientific and technological advancements in agriculture.
USDA data indicates that from January to June 2017 the United States exported 22.8 percent of its pork production compared with 20.9 percent during the same period last year. U.S. total pork production rose 2.9 percent from 5.531 million MT CWE during the first half of 2016 to 5.691 million MT CWE in 2017 (January…
Ten years ago two partners formed a new company to leverage their financial modeling and decision support skills. Sterling Liddell and Spence Parkinson were both working in the Research and Commodities department at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF). They had developed some highly sophisticated methods for financial modeling and risk analysis.
