Featured

Give #foodthanks This Thanksgiving and Holiday Season

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is upon us, and, like every year, there's much to be thankful for. Sure, Mother Nature probably isn't high on your list, but you know who should be? Farmers. It's time to take to Twitter, folks, and give some #foodthanks to those in agriculture for doing their part to provide us with the items we purchase at the grocery store, the dinner on our tables, the snacks we pack for our kids.

Let's Get Digital

Penton Media Buys Farm Progress From Fairfax Media

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Source: Penton Media

Acquisition creates largest, most diversified agriculture information business in North America

Penton Media has acquired Farm Progress from Fairfax Media Limited of Sydney, Australia, significantly expanding its agriculture sector footprint to become the largest and most diversified agriculture information business in North America, offering live events, digital products, data, marketing services and publications. This acquisition directly supports a key Penton strategy of increasing investment in existing sectors that offer strong long-term growth potential, and it more than doubles Penton’s position in agriculture, which becomes the company’s largest sector group.

2012 Farmfest Forum, Panel Topics

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Farmfest 2012 will feature an exciting line-up of feature forums, as well as a U.S. Senate and Congressional Candidates Forum. The forums will be held August 7, 8 and 9, in the forum tent on the Farmfest site, which is located at the Gilfillan Estate, 7 miles southeast of Redwood Falls, Minn. The schedule for 2012 has a heavy emphasis on national and state agricultural policy issues, and on issues affecting rural Minnesota.

Focus on Ag

National Ag Week 2012

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:48:00 +0000

National Ag Week is being celebrated March 4-10 all across the U.S., and Thursday, March 8, has been designated as National Ag Day. It is a good time to reflect on all the traditions and advancements that help make the U.S. agriculture industry second to none! Following are some interesting statistics about today’s agriculture industry.

CSD Blogs and Opinions

Rural Wonders

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Is there a landmark you direct people to because they just have to see it? Does your neighbor have an obnoxious mailbox? What do you drive by that makes you chuckle every time? Take a photo and email it to csd@csdigest.com and we’ll add them to our Rural Weird album!

Old- And New-Crop Challenges

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:17:00 +0000

For many months, the futures market for corn has been inverted – at times more than $1/bu. – from the July 2011 to December 2011 contracts. An inverse from old-crop to new-crop futures is not rare. They occur in crop years like 2010-2011, when ending stocks at year-end are tight.

Save Nutrients, Save Money

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:52:00 +0000

According to the United Nations, the global popu-lation will increase by more than 2 billion people in the next 40 years, and many reports have indi-cated that food production needs to double by 2050. Industry experts agree that increased food production will be achieved by intensified crop production, more so than by an expanded arable land base.

The $178 Solution

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:48:00 +0000

Last summer, ammonia fertilizer was $420/ton, and in late January it was $787/ton: an 87% increase in six months.

Try This Perspective

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Bull markets are a source of joy or heartache, depending on the approach taken to price grain and your current position in the market. It is joy for the farmer with unpriced grain in storage and nothing priced for 2011 or beyond. It can be heartache for the proactive marketer who stepped up to the plate and swung early and often at pricing opportunities that today look cheap.

Work At Landowner Relations

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:26:00 +0000

Probably the most important task for growers today is negotiating cash rents. Most of our clients rent about two-thirds of the land they farm, and I think that percentage will go up in the years ahead. So it has a big impact on their bottom line.