Forever later...
Your ag news just got an upgrade! Magnetic Ag - Ears Edition is real and fun news in your ear! 🎧
Join Savannah Nichols and Braeden Coon every Thursday for 10 minutes of the biggest ag headlines, industry trends and wild food & ag news you actually need to know! Magnetic Ag - Ears Edition will be found on your favorite streaming platform, starting March 6.
We promise - it’s not your grandpa’s farm report. 🌱🎙️ Stay tuned!
The chickens have come home to roost—which seems common when USDA rule-making is met with opposition.
Republican Reps. Steve Womack (R-AR) and Tracey Mann (R-KS) introduced a bill that would block a USDA rule that increases salmonella regulations.
While RFK Jr. is out here trying to "Make America Healthy Again," 90% of ag economists are side-eyeing his policies. His plan? Team up with the USDA to push regenerative ag, cut chemicals, and rethink food systems. Farmers? Split. Big Ag? Also confused. The Senate? Still deciding.
Is he the visionary ag needs or the chaos it didn’t ask for? Drop your thoughts. ⬇️
If you work in crop production, you know that last year wasn’t easy.👎🌱 Tighter margins impacted growers across the nation, and the downturn has farmers looking for ways to cut back in the new year.
✂️ Where will farmers make these cuts? AgWeb recently surveyed more than 1,300 farmers, and overwhelmingly, nearly 80% said the first place they’ll look is machinery.🚜
You might want to follow the rules on this one.😉 Just an idea.
We think our food is safe, but according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the FDA is lagging in its food safety inspection efforts.🧬 🍽️
And your just sitting here watching it all happen!
The USDA predicts a 4.1% decrease in net farm income to end 2024. 💵📉
🌾 Send love to your crop farmer friends: Crop farms are suffereing a projected 9.2% lower crop receipts.
🤠 Lucky livestock farmers: Livestock producer incomes are slightly better, as receipts are projected to be 8.4% higher than a year ago.
Whoa what a year!
🚨 Ag’s 2025 vibes: Not exactly it, chief.
✨ The Crystal Ball Says: CoBank’s latest report spills the tea on trade policies, labor shortages, and more curveballs ag might face under the new (old?) administration.
📉 Exports & Labor: Retaliatory tariffs + migrant labor crackdowns = big yikes for ag margins.
💡 But hey, $8B in dairy investments and cheap feed costs for livestock are something.
🥴 2025 is gonna be a rollercoaster, y’all. Buckle up. #AgEcon #PolicyShifts #BigMood
The T-word has almost become a swear word recently. That’s right: tariffs.
Tariff tsunami: On day one of re-entering the Oval Office, President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to sign an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, plus an additional 10% levy on Chinese imports. Trump says he would keep the tariffs in place to pressure the two neighboring countries to curb the flow of fentanyl and migrants into the U.S.
Now, many are wondering what this means—just take a look at the spike in Google searches the past month.
What are the impacts? Mexico and Canada are the U.S.’s top trading partners. The two countries export significant amounts of agricultural goods to the U.S., including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. And don’t forget the avocados, where nearly 90% are sourced from Mexico.
If these tariffs are enacted, consumers would likely feel the effect at the grocery store through higher prices and possible shortages.
Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum suggested her country should introduce its own levies if Trump follows through with tariffs. It wouldn’t be the first time: Canada and Mexico imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products in 2018.
Soundbite: "To one tariff will follow another in response and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk." — Sheinbaum
Mexico is currently the top importer of U.S. corn and pork, which could also be impacted if Mexico retaliates.
Just blowing smoke? Trump plans to use tariffs as a bargaining chip, and many hope that won’t come at the expense of Americans. As Trump’s inauguration approaches, it may become more apparent if countries believe the president means what he says—or calls his bluff.
