It is amazing the difference in animal health on different pastures. In many cases, this can be attributed to plant health, which is a product of healthy soil. In the major commodities, there is lots of talk of cover crops for several reasons; one is soil health. With a healthy soil, there is less plant diseases and in some cases, even less insect pressure.

Tax codes on equipment trades just got trickier. Under old tax law, a farmer could trade in farm equipment and recognize no gain or loss on the trade. For example, assume a farmer has an old combine worth $200,000 and trades it in for a new combine worth $500,000. The $200,000 trade value is essentially ignored and the tax cost basis of the new combine is simply $300,000 (the net cash paid).

The current hay-marketing year began with May 1, 2017, hay stocks down 3 percent from a strong 2016 level. Hay production in 2017 struggled with a number of challenges ranging from drought to wildfires to floods.