Iowa State University Archives - Page 3 of 6

No way to duck crop insurance disaster

By Alan Guebert July 20, 2012

Many on Capitol Hill are quick to point out that “if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck.” What they never add is that this little blinding glimpse of the obvious has never stopped legislative quackery in the past, and it’s not stopping it now. For example, as

Crops, News, Weather

U.S. Corn Belt not ready to seed just yet

By Christine Stebbins March 23, 2012

Reuters / Shirt-sleeve weather across America’s central Grain Belt is tempting, but expensive seeds and worries about insurance covering any sudden cold snap have kept crop planters out of fields. “We’ve got a lot invested in this crop. We want to be careful,” said central Illinois farmer Tim Seifert, who doesn’t want to take the

Hogs, Livestock, News, Poultry

Icky to some, delicacy to others

By Allan Dawson March 14, 2012

The sight of a pretty Chinese girl preparing to gobble down a cooked chicken head might be a turn-off for North American meat eaters, but it represents a sexy new market for livestock producers. Asians are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of eating animal parts the industry can’t give away in domestic

Hogs, Livestock, Livestock Markets, News

THE ASIAN MARKET: Opportunities and risks

By Allan Dawson March 14, 2012

It could be a great time to be a North American hog producer, then again, it might not be. Either way grain farmers win, according to this year’s Kraft Lecturer. Asia needs a lot more meat. It’s cheaper to produce pork in North America, so North American pork exports should, in theory, increase, according to

Hogs, Livestock, News, Opinion

Economics versus culture

By Laura Rance-Unger March 14, 2012

Dermot Hayes, a respected livestock economist from Iowa State University, is admittedly flummoxed over the question of whether it will be grain producers or the livestock sector benefiting from the growing demand for protein in emerging economies. Hayes was in town last week delivering the annual Kraft Lecture, a memorial to the late University of

News, Opinion

Agriculture takes three of five “useless” college degrees

February 15, 2012

Internet news site Yahoo Education recently published an article titled “College Majors that are Useless.” Agriculture topped the list, followed by fashion design, theatre, animal science and horticulture. The Yahoo article’s rationale was largely based on the projected continuing decline in the numbers of farms in the U.S. “In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor

Hogs, Livestock

Better Times Ahead For Hog Producers?

By Bernie Peet November 3, 2011

So far this year, Canadian producers have had their best period of profitability in the last five years, a relief for those who survived a four-year period of unprecedented hardship, with low hog prices and high feed costs. With market hogs fetching up to $200 a head and sometimes more during the summer, the only

Crops

In World’s Breadbasket, Climate Change Feeds Some Worry

By Christine Stebbins September 15, 2011

It can t happen here, can it? The United States, the breadbasket and supplier of last resort for a hungry world, has been such an amazing food producer in the last half-century that most Americans take for granted annual bounteous harvests of grain, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and other crops. When horrific images of drought

Hogs, Livestock

Extending The Sow’s Productive Lifetime

By Bernie Peet September 8, 2011

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting Ltd. of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal. His columns will run every second week in the Manitoba Co-operator. While many producers use pigs per sow per year as the benchmark for success in the breeding herd, there is now much more focus on lifetime

Grain Markets

Bidding War Heats Up For Low U.S. Corn Supplies

By Julie Ingwersen June 2, 2011

Abidding war is heating up among users of corn in the United States as livestock feeders and ethanol makers scramble to lock in supplies before extremely low stocks run dry by this summer. And it could escalate even more with any delay in harvesting the crop in the flood-ravaged U.S. South, or if China steps

Daily Network News

Ukrainian grain exports curtailed by Russian attacks, union says

WTO chair rules out reform deal at next major meeting, document shows

Prairie forecast: First blizzard of the year, then quiet?

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