After a generally wet, humid growing season in the Midwest led to significant crop disease issues in 2025, plant pathologists are hopeful this year will be a return to lower disease levels.
- Photos by Kristin Danley Greiner, Benjamin Herrold and Tim Kenyon
Staffers spent time out in the field capturing photos of cattle during National Beef Month in May. Below are some of the pictures they snapped.
- Crystal Reed
Type of pathogen can influence whether a crop disease can be treated in-season — managed — or whether it will have to be taken care of before the next growing season — prevented.
- Tim Kenyon
Editor’s note: This is part of series visiting farm museums throughout the Midwest.
- Tim Kenyon
AMES, Iowa — Wesley Everman derives job satisfaction from helping farmers solve annoying and expensive weedy crop problems.
- Crystal Reed
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture represents all 50 states and four territories, with members focused on bridging the gap between the farm and farm policy.
- By Craig Moss, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association
Droughts, border closures, New World Screwworm, Argentina beef imports, wildfires, packing plant slowdowns and a 75-year low in the U.S. cattle inventory. Those aren’t just headlines. They are the realities cattle producers are working through every day.
Editor’s note: The following was written by Warren Rusche, assistant professor and South Dakota State University Extension feedlot management specialist, for the university’s website April 21.
- Benjamin Herrold
When it comes to spring calving or fall calving, cattle producers have a variety of factors to consider.
- Tim Kenyon
OAKLAND, Iowa — The farm keeps the family strong, and the family strengthens the farm.
- Benjamin Herrold
Spring is a time for optimism for cattle producers, with grass greening up and growing, and spring calves arriving.
Mark and Jodi Berhow sheltered in their basement before an EF-1 tornado touched down — shattering a living room window and scattering rain and glass inside — near their home in southeast Iowa April 17.
- Tim Kenyon
Editor’s note: The stories on this page are part of series featuring regional conservation partnerships for Soil and Water Conservation Week April 28 through May 5.
- Crystal Reed
For Illinois Beef Association President Shannon Welsh, a sixth-generation beef producer based in McDonough County, Illinois, the beauty of the business is the variety.
As planting season ramps up, uncertainty around the season does as well. Wyffels Hybrids has introduced a free, online tool that can help take some of the guess-work out of spring field work.
AMES, Iowa — Drones are beginning to play a role in Iowa agriculture, particularly for crop monitoring and pesticide application, but most farmers remain uncertain about the technology’s advantages and limitations, according to results from the 2025 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, an annual s…
Editor’s note: The following was written by Russell Shaffer, University of Nebraska communications specialist.
The accelerating demand for protein-rich foods is opening new doors for U.S. dairy producers, as major food manufacturers increasingly turn to dairy-based ingredients to meet evolving consumer protein preferences.
Editor’s note: The following was written by Matheus Ribeiro, Jenny Brhel, Adam Leise, Travis J. Prochaska, David S. Wangila, Dylan Mangel and Justin McMechan, University of Nebraska Extension specialists, for the university’s Crop Watch website April 9.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture is bringing together women landowners at in-person gatherings in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas this year.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Although many farms are starting the planting season with bulk tanks full of sub-$3-per-gallon diesel purchased over the winter, the first refill this spring could cost $1.50-plus per gallon more than farmers paid for the last delivery.
- Benjamin Herrold
Editor’s note: This story is part of series highlighting regional conservation partnerships for Soil and Water Conservation Week April 28 through May 5.
- Tim Kenyon
BRIGHTON, Iowa — Talk around a farmer’s dinner table these days can lead to a touch of spring fever.