National Ag News for July 14, 2025
USDA Slightly Lowers Corn Production, Boosts Old-Crop Corn Exports to Record Level
In Friday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, USDA pegged 2025/2026 corn and wheat ending stocks lower month-over-month and lower than the average trade expectation, while soybean ending stocks were increased month-over-month more than the average expectation. Old-crop corn exports were increased 100 million bushels to 2.75 billion bushels. The 2025-26 production was lowered by 115 million bushels to 15.7 billion bushels. Corn planted acres were lowered 100,000 acres to 95.2 million acres, matching the June 30 crop report. Harvested acres are projected at 86.8 million, down 600,000 acres from June. USDA integrated its 83.4-million-acre soybean planting estimate into its supply and demand forecast, resulting in a 5-million-bushel decline in production to 4.335 mb. The forecast for 2025-26 soybean ending stocks increased by 15 mb to 310 mb, within the range of pre-report expectations. Along with lower production, USDA increased its crush forecast by 50 mb to 2.54 mb while cutting exports by 70 mb.
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Trump Says He’ll Hike Existing Canada Tariffs, Slams Dairy Market Access
President Donald Trump said late last week that Canada will face higher duties for some products beginning next month due to the Canadian government’s decision to retaliate against U.S. duties applied earlier this year. He also took the opportunity to reiterate his call for greater market access for U.S. dairy producers. From Aug. 1, Canadian products not covered by the USMCA will face a 35% tariff, up from the existing 25%. Energy products and potash will still face the reduced 10% rate. Trump also took aim at what has become one of his top peeves with the U.S.’s northern neighbors: high out-of-quota tariffs on dairy products. U.S. dairy producers have long complained that Canada’s allocation of its tariff-rate quotas for dairy products disincentivizes purchases of U.S. products, leaving their quotas unfilled. Dairy producers in New Zealand have raised similar gripes with Ottawa, and the issue has been the subject of challenges under the USMCA and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership dispute resolution mechanisms.
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National FFA Next Gen Conference in Philadelphia Welcomed Students from Across the Country
The National FFA Organization, the nation’s premier school-based student leadership organization with over one million members, recently hosted its second Next Gen Conference of the year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 24-28. Next Gen Conferences provide FFA student members with a look into career opportunities within the industry of agriculture. The June conference brought together 73 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors to learn more about the value of agricultural education through career exploration sessions, industry roundtables, and tours. Each tour stop was carefully planned to provide a learning experience for the student attendees, one of which was the Milton Hershey School, founded by chocolatier Milton Hershey and his wife. Each student who attends Milton Hershey School graduates with at least one industry-related certification through the school’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program. The school also boasts agricultural-related programming such as The Animal Center, The Horticulture Center, The Environmental Center, and The Ag Operations Center, collectively allowing students to learn about the different aspects of agriculture.
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Report: Shrinking Labor Force Poised to Threaten US Economic Growth
Declining labor force participation, lower birth rates and a collapse in net migration are combining to squeeze the U.S. labor supply. The looming labor shortage could begin to weigh on businesses and strain economic growth as soon as later this year, according to a new quarterly report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange. With the labor supply about to get tighter, businesses and industries operating in rural America should be increasing their focus on technology to overcome labor availability challenges. The labor force participation rate has trended downward since 2000, and the trend may be accelerating. Nearly 2.5 million working-aged people dropped out of the labor force in the past eight months alone. The U.S. fertility rate has plummeted since the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, reducing the number of native-born citizens entering the workforce. The loss of those new workers coincides with baby boom generation retirements, amplifying the impact on the overall labor supply.
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USDA Ends Programs, Policies Supporting ‘Socially Disadvantaged’ Farmers and Ranchers
The Department of Agriculture will no longer recognize race- or gender-based criteria when it comes to farm programs, dropping the “socially disadvantaged” designation despite the provision still being in federal law. USDA published a final rule Thursday in the Federal Register announcing the “Removal of Unconstitutional Preferences Based on Race and Sex in Response to Court Ruling.” The rule is effective immediately. The rule will affect about 20% of USDA’s total farm-loan volume and affect loans and programs for roughly 4.5% of ethnic producers and more than 1.2 million women farmers. The rule also will remove any special incentives for loans and conservation programs. The rule follows two presidential executive orders issued by President Donald Trump, including Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The Trump administration has been focused on removing any funding tied to “diversity, equity or inclusion,” or DEI initiatives.
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Study Finds That Drought Can Add Two Days to Heat Wave Duration
A recent study finds that drought can lengthen heat waves if these two features occur at the same time. This connection is familiar to anyone who has labored through a blistering hot day during a dry spell; however, the quantifying of this drought-heat wave relationship is noteworthy, nonetheless. A NOAA/NIDIS news release on this project stated that “researchers examined the influence of drought on heat wave intensity, duration, and human exposure to extreme heat using air temperature, soil moisture, and soil temperature observations from across the country.” Research team members found that drought increased the average duration of heat waves by 13 to 48 hours at most of the weather stations included in the study. Nationally, heat waves during drought had an average of about nine more hours of extreme heat compared to heat waves that occur in non-drought conditions. Research results were recently published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.
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