Agriculture Today Presented by CHS Ag Solutions

0:00This is Paul Davie, a yield-point specialist for egg services in Warren, Minnesota. We're pleased to bring you this update from the Red River Farm Network, CHFA services providing solutions for your success. Wednesday farm news on the Red River Farm Network. I'm Tyler Donaldson, along with Jamie Dickerman. A winter storm is expected to impact the Northern Plains Thursday night into early Friday morning. Forecasters say a swath of accumulating snow of two inches or more could develop, along with wind gusts of at least 50 miles per hour. There's about a 20 percent chance of blizzard conditions, but the National Weather Service says there is still significant uncertainty about how severe the storm will be, and exactly where the worst impacts will occur. Meteorologists say accumulating snow is more likely along north of U.S. Highway 2, with strong winds developing across the region. Another system is also expected to move through the Northern Plains this weekend, bringing the potential for additional accumulating snow, although the exact track and impacts remain uncertain.

1:00Rain in parts of Brazil, a Tuesday bringing some improvement to crops and previously dry areas, with many locations receiving light to moderate precipitation. World weather incorporated says temperatures ranging from the 70s into the lower 90s. Over the next two weeks, central and northern areas expected to stay relatively wet, supporting crop development, but slowing the fieldwork at times. For their south-dryer conditions should allow Safrina corn planting to continue, although limited soil moisture means some fields may be planted outside the ideal window. In Argentina, mostly dry weather has increased stress on crops in some areas. More widespread rain is expected late this week and early next week, which could help stabilize crop and soil conditions and recover some recent yield losses. U.S. and Chinese officials are scheduled to meet this week, and including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in talks that green traders hope could lead to additional soybean purchases by China. Ag resource says expectations for a large deal remain limited.

2:01President Donald Trump recently suggested China could buy an additional 8 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, but analysts say a more realistic range may be 2 to 5 million metric tons. However, China is currently sourcing most of its soybean needs from Brazil's new harvest, where supplies are abundant and prices are competitive. Ag resource says Chinese crushers are buying cheaper Brazilian soybeans to maintain processing margins. Finance ministers from the group of seven nations, Smith this week, to discuss releasing crude supplies as the conflict involving Iran, disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy exports. The Strait, which normally handles about 20 million barrels of oil and refined fuels per day, has effectively been shut down, forcing major golf producers to cut output. Members of the International Energy Agency hold roughly 1.2 billion barrels in public reserves, along with another 600 million barrels and commercial inventories, which could help offset supply disruptions. However, analysts say strategic reserves can only provide

3:03temporary relief if the disruption to golf exports continues. Republican lawmakers are expressing concern about the economic impact of the war involving Iran, particularly as higher fuel prices begin to affect consumers ahead of the November elections. Several GOP Senators say rising gasoline costs could quickly become a major issue for voters. According to AAA, the National average price of regular gasoline reached $3.54 per gallon on Tuesday, up more than 20 percent from last month. The White House says the increase in energy prices should be temporary. Officials say prices are expected to fall once US national security objectives in the Iran conflict are achieved and oil markets stabilize. There's two major impacts. Number one is obviously on the price. Over the last several days, we've seen Urea, the nitrogen component of the fertilizer, increase substantially anywhere

4:05from $80-$100 a ton, which is pretty substantial at this time of year. The other major concern, of course, is the supply chain. Are we actually going to physically have this available? First, the good news. Most of the fertilizer we need for spring's work is already in the fertilizer shed ready to go. For the farmers that have already pre-priced it, the prices are not going to change. The bigger concern is we don't have enough physical storage in the region to cover all of the needs for the entire spring's work, so the real concern right now is what happens to the refill portion of it. The biggest concern is with nitrogen exports. The Persian Gulf region, where all of the blockades are right now, supplies, depending on whose numbers you use, 20-25% of the supplies come out of that region. For the Urea, the nitrogen products. The phosphorus and the potash potassium portions, those prices really haven't changed. The supply chains for them are very different, so the real concern is the nitrogen products. There are vessels right now stuck in the Persian Gulf that were intended to be delivered. It takes approximately a month to get it from the Persian Gulf

5:08to New Orleans, and about another month, almost a month to get it from New Orleans up to our region, so the supply chain is pretty long on this. So the concern is, are we going to have the available supplies? What is the price going to be? And the answer to that really depends upon how long these blockades last. Lawmakers in Washington are working on another round of financial relief for farmers as rising input costs and weak commodity prices continue to squeeze farm profitability. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Senator John Boesman of Arkansas says he and Senator John Hoven of North Dakota are developing a potential $15 billion aid package, aimed at expanding the farmer bridge assistance program created by the Trump administration. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duval told Senators the current assistance only gets farmers part of the way through the year. We do need that additional money. The money that's come across now has got our farmers to planting season, but there's not enough air to bridge us over until those new Title I programs come into effect. So it is vitally important that we not only get a new

6:13farm bill, modernized farm bill and finish it out, but it's also vitally important that we have more bridge payments and a real focus on specialty crops too. So we have to have that to get our farmers and ranches through. Senators say they are continuing to work on a path forward for the aid package as farm groups push Congress to complete a new farm bill and provide additional short term financial support for producers. For shortages come up a few times in the Senate Ag Committee hearing yesterday. Senator Tina Smith said the Trump administration's immigration policies in her home state of Minnesota had a devastating impact on farm and food processing labor. As we think about getting ready to go into the field and the work that we have ahead of us this spring, there are a lot of people that are just not there anymore, not because they were here illegally, but because it is too risky for them, even with their legal status. You're listening to the Red River Farm Network. Farm news on the Red River Farm Network. A large group of potato

7:19growers and industry leaders from North Dakota and Minnesota are in Europe this week getting a closer look at the company building a new frozen potato processing plant in Grand Forks. Agree Stowe, a Belgian-based processor, is constructing its first North American facility in Grand Forks with production expected to begin in January of 2028. Northland Potato Growers Association Executive Director Gary Shields says the tour includes commercial growers and industry partners learning more about Agree Stowe and the systems that will help support the new plant in the Red River Valley. So last year the seed growers went on this trip. This this time around is the commercial growers, commercial potato growers. There's 46 of us on the tour. North Dakota, Minnesota, myself from Northland Potato Growers Association and some US equipment manufacturers that are partnering up with some of the equipment companies here. Shields says one of the biggest takeaways so

8:19far has been seeing how different European agriculture is compared to the large-scale farming operations common in North Dakota and Minnesota. Well we've always known Agree Stowe is a family-owned just a stellar operation. No different than our simplats and our cabin dishes. They all run a tight chip. Very interesting over here, very small farm operations. The roads are very narrow. When you look at the equipment that we use, the acres that we have, they have farmers that have, you know, 250-300 acres. A large operation here may be 1500. So, you know, when you when you parallel that to the acres of in North Dakota, Minnesota, it's it's quite unique. Shields says the trip highlights the growth coming to the region. Adding the Agree Stowe plant will create new value out of potato acres for farmers across North Dakota and Minnesota. Sugar beta and sugar cane farmers from across the country just spent two weeks in Washington for the annual fly-in meetings organized by the American

9:24Sugar Alliance. Fifth-generation farmer and Minnesota sugar beet grower, Rachel Arnison, is one of the farmers who traveled to DC to press for stronger farm policy and need an aid. The farm economy is struggling. Sugar is no different. Everything is more expensive from trucks to fertilizer to pass management tools. At the same time, there's been a serious downturn in the sugar market with prices dropping more than a third in the past two years. Sugar beet farmers lost an average of $500 an acre last season. Those types of losses are simply unsustainable. It's going to be very difficult to get out into the field this spring and plan to crop knowing that we'll lose money again if the market doesn't recover. Farmers held hundreds of meetings with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to share their personal stories and ensure Washington understands what's at stake for sugar beet and sugar cane farmers and their workers right now. Farmers are under immense stress and for many of us our multi-generational family farm operations are hanging in the balance.

10:24I have a daughter and I want her to have the opportunity to be the sixth generation to farm. Everyone, both Democrats and Republicans, wants to keep family farms and food production in America. Trade policy continues to be a major issue for U.S. agriculture as the industry watches ongoing tariff debates and international negotiations. National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarrel says while recent developments have raised questions about tariffs there are still tools available for the administration to address trade concerns. There are certainly other mechanisms that are available to the president and that other presidents have used in the past that can impose tariffs in certain circumstances. Anyone saying that this is just a complete blocking of any type of tariff strategy I think that's inaccurate. Quarrel says the bigger question is how global trading partners will respond and whether ongoing negotiations will lead to stronger export opportunities for U.S. agriculture. How countries react to this and how that may change the pace

11:26of their negotiations I think that's an unknown but we're obviously very hopeful for a more fair balanced playing field for agriculture in the future. We're hopeful that the negotiations that are going on in a number of different valuable export markets that those negotiations will continue to move forward and generate benefits for the agriculture industry. Agriculture groups say maintaining strong export markets remains critical for commodities like potatoes with trade negotiations continuing across several key international markets. Reporting agriculture's business you're listening to the Red River Farm Network. Welcome to Inside Agriculture on the Red River Farm Network. Pesticide resistance is increasingly becoming more of an issue on farms across the country for soybean growers. Nothing embodies that more than soybean sys nematode. BASF trade technology lead Mike McCarvel says help may finally be on the way with the new soybean trade hitting stores

12:26in 2028 Nemosphere. Anytime you do the same thing over and over and over again the pests adapt. So then we develop sea treatment solutions so we could put chemicals on the seed. Those are helpful but they're limited in the fact that the chemical will only be around for part of the season and it's only going to treat part of the root system. So that's where nemosphere can really be a game-changing innovation. We're limited on native trade genetics so here we can bring a biotechnology solution. We can bring it as a trait so that it's expressed all season long throughout the entire root system. With nemosphere added to the toolbox farmers will be able to manage SCN with a multi-pronged attack. We're going to pair it with native resistance to provide a durable management system. So you can have nemosphere stacked with PI-878 or peaking resistance and this is really going to provide a two-fold benefit. One, you're going to get better SCN management and then two, nemosphere is going to protect the native traits at the same time that

13:30the native traits protect nemosphere and so this is really a way for us to get optimal SCN management that's going to be durable for the long term. Checking quotes Mayweat Minneapolis up three and three quarters to 638 and three quarters. Chicago Mayweats up three cents at 594, KC Mayhardred Winweats 4 and a half higher, 613 and a quarter. May corn up seven and a half cents at 460. July corn's up 8 and a quarter. May soybeans are 13 and three quarter cents higher, 12, 15 and a half. July's up 13 and a half cents. And Winnipeg-Maconol is up $18 and 50 cents per metric ton, 738, 60 Canadian. April live cattle are down $1.97 to 230, 40. April feeders, 605 lower, at 343.62, April hogs are down $0.97 currently $0.95.10. Reporting agriculture's business, you're listening to the Red River Farm Network.