Top Agriculture News

One way to maximize sales for U.S. dairy farmers is to give the end user some tasty variety. Marshall Reese, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Associated Milk Producers, Incorporated, says it starts with getting creative in making cheese, including using some Carolina pepper favorites. “What we are starting to see is that […]

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks swerved through another shaky day of trading, with uncertainty still high about just what President Donald Trump will announce about tariffs on his “Liberation Day.” The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Tuesday after roaring back from an early drop of 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by less than 0.1% after likewise pinging between gains and losses, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.9%. Treasury yields dropped in the bond market after a report said U.S. manufacturing contracted last month. Markets have been shaky in the run-up to Wednesday, when Trump will announce a sweeping set of tariffs.

Applications are now being accepted for the Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program that designates $200 million for farmers in Western NC and over $110 million for farmers in other areas of the state. The deadline to apply is May 4 and the program is open to farmers in all 100 counties.  

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. After all the hype and buildup, the USDA quarterly stocks report and prospective planting report were both very boring. But you will not hear one complaint from me. The corn bulls have been worried about this report […]

South Carolina Ag Commissioner Hugh Weathers, one of the things that I heard you say today, you were talking about the uncertainty that we’re in right now. As much as possible, I get the impression that we’re trying through the events that have taken place yesterday today, to provide a little bit of certainty moving […]

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. — The University of Mount Olive was buzzing with energy as more than 2,000 high school students, advisors, exhibitors, and volunteers from across North Carolina and parts of South Carolina recently gathered for the University’s 2025 AgFest event. The annual event, hosted by UMO’s Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center, spotlighted the diversity […]

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Around the world, plastics are finding their way into farm fields. Some farmers say agricultural plastic, already a necessity for many crops, is becoming even more necessary as climate change fuels extreme weather. And plastics from other industries end up in fields, too, and eventually the food grown there as well as waterways. Scientists, farmers and consumers all worry about how the plastics that enter the food supply affect health, and research is continuing to show that it’s ending up in human bodies. Researchers are looking for solutions, but industry experts say despite attempts to tackle the plastic problem, it’s difficult to know where plastic ends up or get rid of it completely, even with the best intentions of improving reuse and recycling programs.

Survey results showed U.S. farmers plan to plant more corn while cutting back on soybeans and wheat acres. For the fifth year in a row, Farmers Business Network (FBN) has published its Planting Intentions Report for major crops including corn, soybeans, and wheat. FBN’s estimates were derived from a survey of almost 1,000 U.S. farmers […]

(Washington, D.C., March 28, 2025) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins will visit six international markets in her first six months as Secretary to expand markets and boost American agricultural exports. At a time when the agricultural trade deficit is at nearly $50 billion following the previous administration’s little to no action in the international […]

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. Volume in the grain markets has been extremely low. It has the feel of a holiday market but there is no holiday. Harvest is over the hump in Brazil and getting rolling in Argentina with no major […]