Noah Rohlfing

How ‘Purchase Moore Hamann Bacon’ Became a Winning Ad Campaign for Iowa Pork Producers

In a virtual press conference, Mitchell Hora, CEO of Iowa-based soil health data intelligence company Continuum Ag, spoke to farmers for over an hour about the impact of the recently passed Big Beautiful Bill on 45Z for farmers, biofuel producers, and ag companies.

“Kicking the can down the road” impacts farmers who are waiting to sell 2024 crops and those trying to plan for selling 2025 crops, an ag economist said. Iowa farmers said the current trade policy has not helped make trade fair for producers.

Forty-two agricultural organizations sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday urging him to nominate a new Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as Trump warned that there would be “no extension” to the new Aug. 1 deadline for reciprocal tariffs.

An Iowa State University economist said the ag sector is in almost the same position it was immediately after the pause of reciprocal tariffs in April — doing OK in the short-term, but looking warily toward an uncertain summer.

The heat wave that rolled through the Corn Belt and pummeled the United States from Nebraska to the Eastern Seaboard over the last week was unique due to the early onset of summer temperatures and the amount of precipitation it produced, according to an AccuWeather meteorologist.

The EPA announced Friday morning its proposed 2026/2027 rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard. The proposal included a rise in biomass-based diesel mandates as part of an overall proposed rise in the amount of biofuels that must be blended into the U.S. fuel mix. Initial feedback from ethanol and biofuels groups has been almost entirely positive.

Stephen Vaden, a judge on the Court of International Trade and a veteran of the first Trump administration, was confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Tuesday in the Senate. Early sentiments from the agriculture sector have been positive to Vaden’s confirmation as reactions continue to roll in.

The winner of the competition will receive $100,000 in startup funds; the runner-up will be awarded $25,000; and two additional business owners who advance to the final four will receive $10,000 each.

A 50-person trade delegation from Vietnam announced pledges to purchase $2 billion in agricultural goods in a visit to the Iowa State Capitol on Monday.