Field Posts

Two young producers, from Texas and Iowa, reflect on farming grains, livestock, and families in 2021, the harvest, and what comes next.  Since 2005, DTN Progressive Farmer has been selecting two farmers every year from various parts of the country to participate in their annual View from the Cab Project. These farmers spend a full year getting to know DTN’s Pamela Smith as they work through  weekl...

Bryce Anderson started his ag meteorology career with DTN Progressive farmer in 1991, and since then has been keeping an eye on the weather on behalf of the ag community, carefully following trends both here in the US and around the world. After more than 30 years of forecasting, Bryce is transitioning to the role of DTN Meteorologist Emeretis, and he joins us today to reflect on his career, discu...

On Friday, August 13th, DTN analysts wrapped up the findings of the 2021 digital yield tour powered by Gro Intelligence, whose satellite mapping technology is revealing a potentially bin busting crop in the fields across the Midwest. Today we’ll check in DTN Business Editor Katie Dehlinger for the results from the big ten corn and soybeans states, including North Dakota for the first time, and dis...

The August WASDE dropped Thursday, August 12th, and proved to be one of the more surprising reports in recent months.  DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to unpack some bullish wheat and corn numbers and discuss how weather around the world continues to drive markets. We’ll talk more about shifting demand, the uncertainty in USDA predictions as harvest approaches, and what factors from harvest wetn...

For nearly two decades, the renewable fuel standard has helped make the ethanol and biofuels industries major destinations for US crops. But for corn markets in the last few years, uncertainty has run rampant, as high demand gave way to excess supplies, made worse by unreliable biofuel policies. And now, at the end of 2022, the big reset is looming. Today, DTN Staff reporter Todd Neeley and Progre...

DTN’s 4th annual digital yield tour is just around the corner-- taking place August 9th through August 14th.    And with the latest county and national level yield forecasts from gro intelligence informing the tour, it’s bound to be an insightful week for anyone hoping to understand the bigger picture in advance of harvest 2021.  Today, DTN Farm Business Editor Katie Dehlinger joins us for a previ...

So far, 2021 has been one of the best years for grain prices in the last decades. Farmers have taken notice and worked hard to capitalize on the opportunity, despite severe weather and trade risks that have arisen in the meantime. But is there more that producers can do to make sure they're positioned well, not just for today’s opportunity, but for tomorrow’s too? Today, DTN Farm Business Edi...

The July WASDE dropped Monday, July 12th, taking into account both the June 30th acreage report updates as well as looming weather factors.  DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to unpack the bullish-ness news and discuss how the market is reacting, to this report and to factors well outside its scope. We’ll talk more about the decline in soybean prices over recent weeks, and what that could mean for...

Indiana and Illinois farmer Scott Wallis made the switch to 20 inch rows all the way back in 2001, and since then has made some significant transitions in his operation. Today, he joins us to talk about what went into the decision, how he’s managed the risks, and how shifting agronomic decisions have affected everything from labor demands to fertility and pest protection on his farm. We’ll dig int...

Lawmakers here in the Nation’s capital seem to be coming close to an agreement on a vast infrastructure plan that includes funds to invest not only in roads, bridges, levees and dams throughout the country, but also in rural broadband and green energy. Farmers and rural communities are paying close attention to how these talks play out, and what the final package might mean for everything from mar...

David Horsager is the CEO of the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, and has been a rockstar at multiple DTN Ag Summits in recent years. In the ag sector, where discussion often focus on practices, tools, and the physical realities of the business, conversations about the intangibles, like the importance of relationship and trust can be thin on the ground. But not any more. This week, we’ll listen in...

Since the Tyson Holbolm Fire of 2019, the spread between the prices received for boxed beef by US packers and those received by live cattle producers have diverged. Market shocks from the global pandemic created more havoc in the markets, and over the intervening months, concern from lawmakers, USDA officials, and cattle producers have grown. Today, we’re joined by DTN Ag policy editor Chris Claty...

The June WASDE dropped Thursday, June 10th, representing an early season report without many changes from the May version.  Nevertheless, DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to break down the surprises we saw in supply and demand, and what may have prompted USDA’s update for stocks. We’ll take a closer look at the slightly weakening soybean basis, at what continued dryness means for wheat, and about...

It’s been a wild year for beef markets, whether you’re a cow-calf operator, a feedlot, or a packer. As the industry continues to work through the effects of a global pandemic, calls for restructuring have grown, and then a data breach at JBS has sent the sector reeling.  Today we’ll catch up with DTN Livestock Analyst Shayle Stewart, to learn more about the latest news and put all of these issues...

After a year without a crop tour, Progressive Farmer Crops Editor Matt Wilde made his way to the Southern plains with dozens of farmers, industry experts, and reporters to take part in the annual Hard Winter Wheat Tour. Today we’ll hear the latest numbers from the tour from Matt, and learn first hand what he saw out in the field from Oklahoma to Kansas. We’ll talk about crop development, weather r...

The May WASDE dropped Wednesday, May 12th. And though this report arrives early in the season, and so carries the uncertainty of being an early prediction, it offers valuable insight on what might be ahead for markets in the 2021 crop season.  DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to break down how the market is thinking about the old crop versus the new one, and whether USDA’s predictions for export...

Dicamba has been embroiled in regulatory and legal controversy for years at this point, and with the changing of the guard in Washington, label changes are adding complexity to what products farmers can use, including when and how they can use them. DTN staff reporter Emily Unglesbee joins us today for a deep dive on how dicamba products can be used this year, according to both the three updated f...

An unexpectedly hot farm equipment market, fueled by the months long rise in commodity prices, is colliding with some of the biggest commercial rollouts of autonomous farm implements in 2021. Technologies that have been discussed for years are finally making their way into farmer’s hands, and the industry is already looking ahead to the next iteration. Today, we’ll talk with Progress Farmer Senior...

After nearly one full year of podcast, here at Field Posts we’re taking some time to reflect on some of the many critical and exciting stories we’ve covered in the past 49 episodes. We’ve talked markets, weather, crops, diseases, laws, politics, livestock, equipment, and about the lived experiences of farmers in a time of tremendous upheaval. What we haven’t spent as much time diving into is anoth...

A bizarre spring variously brought unseasonably cold weather, dryness, and heat to different parts of the country, setting the stage for an unpredictable crop year, even as grain stocks remain tight across the board. We’ll talk with DTN’s Bryce Anderson about how spring conditions are continuing to impact planting, what they might mean for the mid-season in the US’s many growing regions, and what...

The April WASDE dropped Friday, April 9th. As usual, it was a relatively ho-hum report, but the market environment it was delivered into is anything but. DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to break down what the market was actually responding to (a clue: it wasn’t the report) and to speak more to what might be ahead from international markets beyond China. We’ll take a closer look specifically at h...

With a new administration finding their footing in Washington, a renewed and re-energized focus on alternative energy, and wind in particular, is elevating many community tensions around wind leases on farmland. Today, Progressive Farmer Crops Editor Matt Wilde joins us to share the specific story about farmers, wind energy and the community response in Madison County, Iowa, and how the fallout fr...

March’s dynamite prospective planting report dropped Wednesday, March 31st, and markets responded with surprise and worry to low acres. DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us today to break down that market reactions and to help shed some light on why the USDA, or producers themselves, might be underestimating what planting in the year to come. We’ll take a closer look at corn, soybean, and wheat plantings,...

As the current wheat season draws to a close, DTN Progressive Farmer is taking a deeper look at the winners of the 2020 National Wheat Yield Contest, awarded by the National Wheat Foundation. DTN staff reporter Emily Unglesbee joins us today to take a deep dive on how America’s most bin-busting wheat farmers achieve those top results. We’ll talk management styles and varieties, population and soil...

2020 was a wild ride for the US cattle market, and now with the first few months of 2021 under our belts, it looks like the uncertainty will continue. DTN’s Livestock analyst Shayle Stewart joins us today to take a deep dive on the cattle market in particular. We’ll talk boxed beef prices, COVID and demand shifts, exports, and the continuing impacts of a strong corn market. Plus a thoughtful look...