Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, made a statement regarding the relationship between farmers and agribusiness about big data.

Hay baled too wet or silage chopped too dry can allow microorganisms on the forage to grow and metabolize rapidly, using plant sugars and oxygen while producing excessive heat. Some heat production is normal in nearly all hay and silage, but when forage temperatures exceed around 125°F, chemical reactions called Maillard reactions can occur.

Imagine cutting next year’s first crop of alfalfa and seeing a perfect stand of deep green, healthy and aggressively growing alfalfa flowing through your haybine. Your neighbor says it’s the best stand of alfalfa he’s ever seen.

A new report on the status and conditions of America’s agricultural lands shows cropland erosion rates remained stable between 2007 and 2010, despite a growth in agricultural land use and more extreme weather events.

The following is a presentation summary of some of the topics from the 2013 Illinois Farm Economics Summit (IFES) that occurred Dec. 16-20, 2013 at locations across Illinois. Employer insurance mandate
This mandate became effective Jan. 1 with enforcement of any penalties delayed until 2015. Whether a farm business is subject to this mandate and its potential penalties depends upon the number of full-time persons the farm business employs.

The 2013 numbers are in and they show the importance of voluntary, locally-based conservation. Data recently released by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) shows how the USDA agency, in partnership with farmers and ranchers across the country, conserved and protected natural resources on millions of acres of America’s privately-owned lands last year.

A years-long drought is wreaking havoc on the Colorado River and the manmade reservoirs from southern Arizona to the Rocky Mountains that feed from it. The ripple effect: farmers and others across the region may need to tighten their conservation efforts.

Novozymes has entered an agreement with Nutra-Flo Co. (NFC), a liquid fertilizer manufacturer, for the national distribution of Novozymes BioAg’s Torque and Ratchet brands bioyield enhancement products.

Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO), a farm and ranch store chain in the U.S., has been added to the NASDAQ-100 Index. Shares of TSCO will also be included in the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking StockSM.