Clayton Fox

Quote of the Month:“I mean everything is more expensive today than what it was a few years ago. Machinery is more expensive, land is more expensive, cash rents are more expensive, labor’s more expensive, taxes, interest rates, seed costs, fertilizer costs. I can’t find a single line-item that’s … Continue Reading

The most important and undersung word in the English language today and maybe for the rest of the year is going to be, fertilizer. Fertilizer, fertilizer, fertilizer… In a meta-analysis conducted in 2022 by the journal Global Food Security, researcher Guopeng Liang of Utah State University … Continue Reading

Beef is expensive. Really expensive. Since 2020, steak prices have increased at least 41 percent and ground beef at least 48 percent, according to statistics from the Federal Reserve. In a recent, well-reported piece for Barron’s, Jack Hough elucidates the reasons why. First is supply. The US … Continue Reading

As we noted in the last edition of the Digest, American soybean farmers are struggling big-time, especially in light of the trade war with China (our largest export market for soybeans) and the increasing productivity of farmers in Argentina and Brazil. But, the Soybean Innovation Lab at the … Continue Reading

As you may recall from our June edition, a true family farm in the heart of Cranbury, New Jersey, was to be seized by eminent domain to build some affordable housing. At the time, proprietor Andy Henry promised to fight any such move, should it come to that. Well, it came to that — and Henry won! … Continue Reading

Eastern Idaho farmers were preparing for the worst in early June as their wells were set to be turned off by the state, affecting up to 500,000 acres of agricultural land. A curtailment was issued May 30, by Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Mathew Weaver, ostensibly in order to satisfy … Continue Reading

On July 24th, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a major restructuring at the USDA, aimed not only at trimming operations but also at moving agency workers closer to the people they’re supposed to be serving. USDA is hoping to relocate some 2,600 of the 4,600 employees currently … Continue Reading

Researchers at the Catholic University in Piacenza, Italy, have made a major breakthrough in the use of plastic-eating bacteria. Specifically, these bacteria eat “forever chemicals” — otherwise known as PFAS — that have infected our entire ecosystem, our farms, and our bodies through fire retardant … Continue Reading

President Donald Trump’s shutdown of USAID has the agriculture industry aflutter. The shutdown has already got farmers and their advocates speaking up about the loss of guaranteed income from programs like Food for Peace, which bought up excess grain and shipped it to countries in need. John Boyd … Continue Reading

Bird flu is still going around! A flock in Wisconsin is being put down after the H5N1 virus was detected, according to a December 12th press release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. And according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land … Continue Reading

While it has been common practice for many Homeowners Associations to prevent their members from raising chickens, the Missouri General Assembly has now given HOA members the freedom to choose. Based on a new law signed last month by Governor Mike Parson, HOA members will be able to have their … Continue Reading

A new study from researchers at Penn State has shown that there actually is a viable alternative to antibiotics in your chicken: probiotics! Researchers followed the growth and intestinal microbiota of 320 baby chicks on diets that separately included antibiotics, essential oils, probiotics, or … Continue Reading

According to the latest USDA census, conducted in 2022 and released just last month, total US farm acreage decreased by almost 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. The United States lost 142,000 farms during that period. The data also showed that there are 300,000 farm producers (defined as “a … Continue Reading

In early August, a group of Iowa farmers sat down with three members of the House Select Committee on the CCP to discuss their allegations that the Chinese government is stealing proprietary American seeds. In 2011, the FBI famously caught one Chinese national doing just that; in fact, he was part … Continue Reading

According to the United Nations, 31 percent of human-made greenhouse-gas emissions come from the global food system, but the sector received only 4.3 percent of “global climate finance” in 2019 and 2020, per the Climate Policy Initiative. So, naturally, our almighty climate overlords gathering in … Continue Reading

When I think of Canada, I think of snow, maple syrup, “O Canada,” and ice skating (specifically that of Elvis Stojko). I think of Wayne Gretzky. I think of my parents’ love of Vancouver as “the most beautiful city in the world,” of the supposedly global metropolis that is Toronto, the culinary … Continue Reading

It’s been a good season for pumpkin growers. Jeanice Britvich, owner of Ferris Farms in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, told New Castle News that her crop even came “early” due to “all that high heat.” While pumpkins normally take about 110 days to reach maturity, Britvich’s crop “just came together” … Continue Reading