University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s corn, soybean, and wheat crop budgets for 2016 include highly productive cropland in northern and central Illinois—land that may yield 20% or more above the national average (Schnitkey, 2016). Considering the current costs of production, budgets show revenues will be high enough to provide a return to land; however, profits will not fully cover the costs of average cash rent. [node:read-more:link]

Since 2009, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), run by NIFA, provides grants to organizations for education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers or ranchers. [node:read-more:link]

As the 2012 Census of Agriculture data has shown us, to the extent that returns have been high relative to other sectors of the economy, they have not reversed the decline in the number of beginning farms. However, there is some evidence of success by young beginning farmers, including through their expansion in farm size, relative to older beginning farmers (Ahearn, 2013; Katchova and Ahearn, 2015). [node:read-more:link]

With crop insurance's popularity rising in rural America and on Capitol Hill, and with the policy's budget outlays falling, we're guessing one of its harshest critics, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), is running out of believable critiques. So now it's resorted to pure fiction.  The EWG sounded an alarm bell in an article earlier this week, warning, "Billionaire Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah could be raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The meat and poultry industry agrees that animal care and handling is a complex issue, however according to Jason McAlister, animal welfare manager at Triumph Foods, St. Joseph, Mo., there are five steps any company can follow that will make the process a little more simple. [node:read-more:link]

The state overstated by about fourfold the impact that a carbon tax ballot measure would have on the price of electricity in 2020. The mistake has now been corrected. The measure imposes an escalating tax on fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas used to generate electricity, and also includes reductions in the state sales tax and business and occupation tax as well as an up to $1,500 tax credit for some 460,000 low-income families. [node:read-more:link]

A company with coal mines in Wyoming and Montana has begun exporting fuel to Asia through a Canadian port - a rare bit of a positive news for an industry that's been in a prolonged tailspin. Utah-based Lighthouse Resources had been seeking approval since 2011 for two coal export terminals in Oregon and Washington. It's faced strong opposition from environmentalists, American Indian tribes and some state officials. [node:read-more:link]

Survey Results at a Glance: • For a 13th straight month, the Rural Mainstreet Index fell below growth neutral.   Almost 4 of 5 bank CEOs indicated restructuring farm loans due to weak farm income. Farmland prices remained below growth neutral for the 34th consecutive month. Almost one-fifth of bankers reported increasing rejection rates on agricultural loans due to weak farm income. [node:read-more:link]

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing several enhancements to the Renewable Fuel Standard and related fuel regulations "to support market growth of ethanol and other renewable fuels in the U.S."  One of the key actions proposed is an update to fuel regulations to expand the "availability of high ethanol fuel blends for use in flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs)," said EPA in their proposal found on the agency's rulemaking website. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice have filed a complaint against NGL Crude Logistics, LLC and Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC and a $6 million settlement with Western Dubuque to address alleged violations of the Renewable Fuel Standard. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Iowa in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, alleges that NGL entered into a series of transactions with Western Dubuque in 2011 that resulted in the generation of approximately 36 million invalid Renewable Identification Numbers. [node:read-more:link]