We recently put together a brief article on the actuarial performance of corn and soybean crop insurance premiums in Iowa from 2001-2015. This article was patterned after work done by Carl Zulauf and Gary Schnitkey from Farmdoc Daily in Illinois.
I was reading a Reuters Media article dated March 15, 2017 entitled “New, safer U.S. rail cars gather dust even as ethanol trains grow longer”. The article referred to the recent spill of ethanol from a unit train derailment in northwest Iowa.
In 2016, Canada was the second largest market for U.S. agricultural products with a value of $20.5 billion. The leading market destination in 2016 was China, with $21.4 billion worth of U.S. agricultural exports. The export composition of these two markets is different, with U.S. exports to China consisting mainly of bulk commodities, particularly U.S. soybeans.
Pure or traditional biodiesel is known as Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) and renewable diesel (also known as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil or HVO) often are confused. They are both made from organic biomass, but are different products due to their production process and quality attributes.
Supported by economic growth, increasing household income, constrained farmland area, and a diversified diet that includes more animal protein, dairy products, and other consumer oriented products, China agricultural imports expanded since the beginning of the last decade.
The Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS) slogan is, “Bridging Your Information Research Needs”. What does this mean? There is a common business term, “innovate or die”. At DIS we understand this. Back in 2007, Spence Parkinson started the company with his partner Sterling Liddell, a co-worker at Iowa Farm Bureau.
I have a Google alert set for Economic Contribution and another for Economic Impact. This gives me a great overview of the plethora of studies commissioned by clubs, resorts, businesses, counties, states and non-profits all seeking to justify their contribution to society.
Brazil's government scandal brought its currency, the Real, down approximately 7 percent within the last 24 hours. This large drop in the Brazil's currency has made U.S. soybean uncompetitive and less attractive in the international soybean market.
You don't need to be an Iowa native to know our land is draped with millions of acres of crops. Roughly 30 million acres in Iowa are allocated for crop production. Being one of the top corn producers in the nation has many positive effects on our economy. In order to maintain successful production, we rely on the help of pollinators like honeybees.
A year ago I found a farm that was participating in a worldwide cooperative organic farming program. I worked and stayed on the farm for nearly a week where I would assist on all the farm activities, managing irrigation, manure application, as well as watering and feeding animals. In return, the farm provided a place to stay and farm fresh food to eat, all provided free of charge (other than my labor).
