Top Agriculture News

Asheville, NC, March 7, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins surveyed natural disaster damage and met with U.S. Forest Service members in Western North Carolina yesterday, where recent wildfires and hurricanes have caused significant destruction. During her visit, Secretary Rollins toured the Blue Ridge Parkway to witness the devastation left by Hurricane Helene. She […]

March comes in like a lion, and it sure was a moody lion at that. Corey Davis, the Assistant State Climatologist for North Carolina, what a week or so that we have had. I’m going to let you recap it, because I can’t even keep track of it. You need a scorecard to keep track […]

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. A well used trading adage is escalator up and elevator down. In around 8 trading sessions, the market erased the gains it took more than 3 months to gain. We really did not need a reminder about […]

A monthly survey of bank CEOs in 10 Midwestern states shows a dismal outlook. The report shows the February score fell to 38 on a zero to 100 scale, where 50 is growth neutral. Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss is author of the report. “The numbers were not good, falling below growth neutral for […]

There’s been a lot of turnover at local USDA offices around rural America. Dr. Amy Hagerman, an agricultural and food policy specialist for Oklahoma State University Extension, says farmers will see some of the consequences of those changes. “So, this administration came in with a stated intention of decreasing the footprint of the federal government […]

Artificial intelligence is making its way into U.S. agriculture. Doug Johnson of Johnson Ag Outlook talks about how AI fits into production agriculture. “What I’m talking about here is we have to be careful on what we expect out of it. Right now, if you go and do AI for just searching information, it’ll give […]

Tariffs are officially in effect on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. There’s also an additional ten percent tariff on Chinese imports, bringing the total to 20 percent. Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX, says there’s a lot of uncertainty right now, which may not be unintentional. “There is, and it […]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators appear to be closing in on legislation to provide more funds to help the mountains recover from Hurricane Helene. A measure advanced by Senate Republicans on Tuesday would spend another $533 million for Helene relief. The House passed a bill last week to spend $500 million. But the Senate measure provides even more funds to address lingering home construction projects from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, as well as relief from other disasters in 2024. House and Senate leaders say a final supplemental bill could reach Gov. Josh Stein’s desk very soon. Legislators already have appropriated $1.1 billion for Helene relief since October.

Washington, D.C., Mar. 3, 2025—The U.S. Forest Service is actively responding to multiple wildfires reported over the weekend in North Carolina and South Carolina following a Red Flag Warning issued across the region. Dry conditions and downed timber from past storms have elevated wildfire risk, and response teams are engaging in initial containment efforts at […]

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. The selloff in the grains started with a shift in the weather in South America a couple weeks ago. Areas that were too dry in Argentina started getting rain and the areas of Brazil that were too […]