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Recapping the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Recapping the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Nov 19, 2025 | 2:00am
“We are just a couple of weeks away from the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season,” — Nov. 30, to be exact, according to USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey. Usually, those final weeks of the hurricane season are quiet. On occasion, a late November system turns into a tropical storm. It may come as a […]
Farm Gate Receipts are Down, Farm Lending is Up

Farm Gate Receipts are Down, Farm Lending is Up

Nov 19, 2025 | 2:00am
Third quarter financials continue to reflect the bleak picture in farm country this year. Joe Mahon, Regional Outreach Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said their third quarter survey of agricultural bankers in the Fed’s Ninth District show cash flow is down. “Lenders told us that farm incomes decreased relative to a year […]
Cattle Market Volatility Indicates a ‘Broken System’

Cattle Market Volatility Indicates a ‘Broken System’

Nov 19, 2025 | 2:00am
Recent comments from the Trump administration about the beef industry and its goal to lower consumer beef prices have had a major impact on the cattle markets. R-CALF United Stock Growers of America CEO Bill Bullard explains the market’s reaction. “What that indicated to us, what was a clear indication, was that the marketplace is […]
Silencing Phone Scams in Rural America

Silencing Phone Scams in Rural America

Nov 18, 2025 | 2:00am
Silencing phone scams is a big job because four billion robocalls are made to Americans every month, and the average individual receives 14 calls each week. In addition to being annoying and time-consuming, the constant ringing of the phone can be outright dangerous. Sean Voskuhl, director of the AARP in Oklahoma, said phone calls and text messages […]
Brooks Schaffer Market Report for Tuesday, Nov. 18th

Brooks Schaffer Market Report for Tuesday, Nov. 18th

Nov 18, 2025 | 2:00am
This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. Friday’s catch-up USDA report did not offer a lot for the bulls. USDA did lower corn yield, but not nearly as much as the market was hoping. It dropped corn yield seven-tenths of a bushel to 186.0 […]
U.S. Escapes a Hurricane Landfall for First Time in a Decade

U.S. Escapes a Hurricane Landfall for First Time in a Decade

Nov 17, 2025 | 2:00am
With just two weeks left in the 2025 hurricane season, it appears the East Coast, and especially the Southeast, escaped the impact of a landfalling hurricane for the first time in a decade. Alex DaSilva, Lead Hurricane Expert with AccuWeather, says steering mechanisms like the Bermuda High played a role in sparing the Continental US. […]
H-2A Program Still Needs More Fixes to Be Affordable

H-2A Program Still Needs More Fixes to Be Affordable

Nov 17, 2025 | 2:00am
The cry for H-2A reform can be heard all around agriculture, and the recent adjustments to calculating the Adverse Effect Wage Rate are a step in the right direction. But Enrique Gastelum, CEO of the Worker and Farmer Labor Association, says the AEWR is not the program’s only problem that needs to be addressed. “The […]
This NC plant eats bugs for breakfast — and looks beautiful doing it

This NC plant eats bugs for breakfast — and looks beautiful doing it

Nov 16, 2025 | 11:22am
Most of us have seen or have some knowledge of the most iconic plant in the world: It’s the “Venus Flytrap”, which is native to a small area of southeastern North Carolina. One of its cousins, also a native to the “Tar Heel State”, is the venerable “Pitcher Plant”. It is also carnivorous and has an equally insatiable appetite for insects. This is another plant I don’t have in my landscape. I do need one after seeing the crop of the Purple Pitcher Plant at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill.
Trump scraps tariffs on beef, coffee and tropical fruit in a push to lower grocery store prices

Trump scraps tariffs on beef, coffee and tropical fruit in a push to lower grocery store prices

Nov 15, 2025 | 12:03am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has announced the removal of U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and other commodities. This move comes amid pressure to address high consumer prices. Trump had focused on tariffs to boost domestic production and the U.S. economy. However, recent off-year elections showed economic concerns as a top issue, with Democrats gaining wins. Inflation remains a challenge despite Trump’s claims to have vanquished it. The administration insists tariffs weren’t a major factor in rising grocery prices. Democrats and industry groups argue this move acknowledges the impact of Trump’s tariffs on consumers. “We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” Trump said later Friday night.