In the grain, hay, potatoes and cattle are multi-million dollar crops. Rick Worthington, the networks agribusiness communications specialist, keeps producers up-to-date on farming, ranching and dairy activities. Rick has been known to be the first to break farm industry news stories weeks in advan…
AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST

A downside of farm consolidation has been the toll it has taken on rural economies.

There are several organizations that advocate for policy to support American farmers, but not all farmers have the same priorities.

Farmers around the country have formed a new alliance called Farmers for Animals, Communities and the Environment otherwise known as the FACE Ag Network.

Drone technology is one way to implement precision ag tools and target applications only when and where they're needed.

Relative to the rest of the world, North America has a lot of advantages when it comes to fertilizer.

Geopolitical conflict has put a strain on fertilizer supply chains, not least of which being phosphate products.

Phosphate prices remain stubbornly high, and relief doesn't seem to be coming soon.

There's a lot of great innovation happening, but it can be frustrating how long it takes for products to hit the market.

Micropep Technologies recently announced the submission of regulatory dossiers for Promisin™, its lead peptide-based biofungicide.

USDA announced the Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR) Program to provide temporary support for eligible beef processing establishments.

A new UC Riverside system can map soil moisture tree by tree, so growers water only where and when it's needed.

The program is intended to strengthen research capacity andmeet the challenges facing America's farmers and ranchers.

President Trump's Working Families Tax Cuts provided $125 million annually for the Research Facilities Act program to modernize agricultural research facilities across the country.

The Organic Certification Cost Share Program provides cost share assistance to producers obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program.

Molecular farming has the potential to add a new layer of value to existing operations without requiring major operational changes.

'Molecular farming' offers a new way to more efficiently produce plant-based sweeteners at scale.

Some of the world's most popular natural flavors come from plants that are difficult to grow or may only produce small amounts of the compounds we use.

It's often easy to look back after a harvest and identify what didn't work. But the real challenge is catching those problems before they happen.

Tools can't drive growth if they're not put in the hands of the people responsible for change.

The recent geopolitical challenges have shined a spotlight on how fragile our global fertilizer infrastructure can be.

When data is scattered across different systems, it can be almost impossible to put it to use.

It's important to acknowledge the many innovations in agriculture that are so common today they are often taken for granted.

The USDA has rolled out phase four of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program to help eligible meat and poultry processors expand their domestic capacity.

The Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program provides grants to help eligible meat and poultry processors expand their capacity.

Most farm businesses have searched for ways to diversify their income, but it can be a challenge to add a new business without sacrificing another.

LandTrust encourages rural land owners to see the value of their land in a different way.

One benefit of artificial intelligence is that it lowers the barrier to develop software, so more focus is on the user.

Shay Foulk of Ag View Solutions says making software free helped more farmers improve decision-making while creating greater demand for personal consulting.

Now that artificial intelligence has made software development more accessible, producers with industry expertise now have the power to turn ideas into software tools to solve their own problems.

Terrell Miller, founder of CattleMax, says a real challenge is making sure all that information doesn't just get stored but actually put to use.

Some farmers might be leaving money on the table by not enrolling in a conservation or carbon sequestration program.

As agriculture becomes increasingly data-driven, producers are relying on more technology platforms to manage their operations.

This month Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the launch of the Small Processors Action Plan.

Terrell Miller of CattleMax says his companies have found a way to combine online convenience with producer-to-producer expertise.

Pairwise co-founder Tom Adams sees opportunities for genome editing to grow the average consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables.

Ag Secretary says the USDA is leading a coordinated One Health response to combat New World Screwworm, and says additional innovative solutions are in the works.

The foundation of an integrated approach to controlling kochia is to make the crop as competitive as possible.

The challenge of weed pressure is as old as agriculture, but even with modern technology it remains a big problem.

With wholesale prices back to the farmer so low that margins are hard to come by, will more farmers start considering direct marketing?

There has been a confirmed case of New World Screwworm in Texas cattle.

Technological breakthroughs in recent years with artificial intelligence and gene editing are opening up new possibilities for plant breeders.

The New World Screwworm has been identified just 25 miles south of the U.S. Mexico border.