This could be a long winter for farmers and agriculture companies, not so much because of the weather but because of declining capitol spending in U.S. farmland. The cyclical downturn, “amid lower commodity prices, international competition and lower exports,” could leave ag companies with fewer sales, according to William Blair & Co. analyst Larry de Maria, as reported in an International Business Times article by Nat Rudarakanchana.

A Purdue University agricultural economist is producing a series of publications to help farmers, policymakers and taxpayers better understand changing U.S. agricultural policy and develop informed opinions about them. The free publications under the series title of “APEX,” an acronym for Ag Policy Explained, will delve into public policy issues and how they affect the agricultural economy.

World Ag Expo, held Feb. 11-13, is a time to see new products and meet industry leaders, but it also is a time for seminars that enlighten and instruct attendees on many topics that concern the forage industry. The World Ag Expo seminars, themed “High-quality Forage for Profitable Dairy Production," will be held Feb. 11 beginning with a 45-minute session led by Seth Hoyt about how weather conditions in 2013 will impact the western alfalfa hay market in 2014.

While it’s important to be profitable on a cattle-grazing operation, it’s absolutely imperative to maintain quality of life.

‘Tis the season of industry meetings. In early December the annual Oregon Seed Growers League met for the 73rd time. There were two full days of presentations covering all corners of the industry and agriculture as a whole.

A shortage of freshwater for irrigation could increase the effects of climate change on agriculture, according to new analysis by a group of scientists studying the topic. Their paper was published online Dec. 16 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Helping farmers get more value per acre through the expert analysis of production data is the goal of a collaboration announced between Dow AgroSciences LLC (DAS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and John Deere (JD).