Beef packer margins have declined 33% in the last week, with per-head profits at the plant now around $332 compared to close to $500 just a week ago.

Everything farmers have faced in 2020 has highlighted the importance of strong succession and contingency planning, and one longtime Extension economist offered some tips this week to take on a few of the most critical components of the process from successor development to planning the exit of the current primary business owner and manager.

The ethanol industry piled up major losses starting in March -- ones that rippled through farm communities around rural America -- when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Managing federal payments to farmers as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and managing relationships with global ag trading partners are major policy priorities for the new administration in looking ahead to the new year, but that's not all.

As agriculture looks ahead to a largely uncertain year, some are taking stock of the good news of 2020, a year fraught with challenges, especially to the livestock sector.

Farmers by and large don't love receiving government payments in the place of marketplace revenue.

Continued trade expansion with China and the expansion of Trade Promotion Authority to open up new opportunities for overseas ag sales are major priorities across the entire industry heading into 2021 as leaders take stock of how Biden administration officials will influence export sales in the new year.

Congress is working toward a two-phase COVID-19 relief package, and farmers and ranchers will be targeted by relief payments through both the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

As he makes his return to his post as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration, Tom Vilsack has made it clear that carbon and climate change will be priorities for USDA.

The National Corn Growers Association released the 2020 National Corn Yield Contest winners on Monday, revealing a winning tally of 476.91 bushels/acre on a Michigan farm.