Farming

Drought conditions in parts of the South and Midwest have caused ranchers to shrink cattle herds. That's one factor pushing cattle prices higher recently.

Corn and soybean farmer April Hemmes is preparing for new tariffs from a second Trump administration.

Crop prices have dropped after supply shortages stoked profits. Farmers and equipment makers are cutting costs, but livestock is doing well.

The latest read on farmer sentiment from Purdue hit an eight-year low.

High temperatures can stunt potato growth, and that means chip makers need to pay more to transport their crops long distances.

Purdue’s Farmer Sentiment Index hit an 8-year low in August.

Since the 1990s, precision agriculture has promised to revolutionize farming, by giving growers granular information about what’s happening with the crops in their fields and new technology to actually put that data to good use. But the new developments in precision ag have yet to fully transform farming.

Because they grow without the use of most synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, organic farmers don’t have the same toolkit available to them.

"Soybeans are down 18 cents today and then they could go up 50 tomorrow. Who knows?" said April Hemmes, a soybean farmer in Iowa.

Some are looking for new uses for fleeces while others shift to breeds that don’t produce much wool at all.