September 12, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Plans to Scrap Conservation Leasing Rule

The Bureau of Land Management has begun the process of rolling back the Biden Administration’s rule allowing conservation leases on its land, reports Successful Farming. The agency on Wednesday released a proposal to rescind the 2024 Public Lands Rule, which aimed to put conservation uses of land on equal footing with grazing, energy production, mining, and recreation. “The previous administration’s Public Lands Rule had the potential to block access to hundreds of thousands of acres of multiple-use land — preventing energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing, and recreation across the West,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a release. “The most effective caretakers of our federal lands are those whose livelihoods rely on its well-being. Overturning this rule protects our American way of life and gives our communities a voice in the land that they depend on.”  BLM’s proposal says the agency has determined the rule “is unnecessary and violates existing statutory requirements.” 

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Preventing Growers from Losing Money Due to Bad Weather

The West Coast is a critical region for the production of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, growers are increasingly faced with the impact of heat, rain, wind, and insects. In Canada’s Okanagan Valley for instance, cherry growers didn’t see a full crop between 2018 and 2024. Growers and scientists are looking at ways for orchards to adapt to a change in climate. Government research centers are considering climate resilience in their research projects moving forward. With government research centers now starting to build trial sites, growers will get a better understanding of the impact a retractable roof system has on their revenue. It responds automatically to changing weather by covering an orchard crop in minutes and protecting the crop from rain, hail, cold, heat, and wind. The system’s enhanced heat retention capabilities make it possible to optimize temperature and humidity.

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Trump Administration Sets Stage for H-2A Farmworker Wage Reforms

The Trump administration is making another run at reforming the way H-2A minimum wage rates for farmworkers are set in a manner that could provide some relief to farmers during a time of continued uncertainty about workers who are in the country illegally. A big question is whether the administration will follow the strategy they tried to implement as President Donald Trump was leaving office in 2020 or come up with a new method of setting the adverse effect wage rates that farmers must pay H-2A workers. Farm groups contend the wage levels in the USDA survey led to unsustainable increases in labor costs when growers employ H-2A workers, and the Labor Department isn’t required by law to base adverse effect wage rates on the survey. However, the law does require the Labor Department to ensure H-2A workers a farmer wants to hire “will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed.”

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U.S. Ag Fairs and Fairgrounds Drive $52B Economic Impact

A new report from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions shows agricultural fairs generate nearly $52 billion in economic impact across the United States. David Grindle, president and CEO, says the 2025 Economic Impact Study highlighted the financial contributions from 1,400 fairs. “We look at how much money the fair and fairgrounds spend and puts into the community, they’re buying from local resources,” he says. “When we get into fair attendance, attendees who come in and they spend money in the community, they spend money at the fair.” He tells Brownfield these events generate year-round income. “They really are that big event space. That’s bringing tourism dollars in, so that’s showing that year-round impact.” Grindle says more than 60 percent of the U.S. population attended a fair in 2024.  “They’re helping to educate and show people how to connect with the source of their food,” he says. 

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Pennsylvania Seeing Increased Apple Volume for 2025-2026

Harvest is well underway on Pennsylvania’s strong apple crop. Brandon Ruppert of Cohen Produce Marketing says, “The weather over the past two weeks has been cool at night, with moderate heat during the day. So we’re getting the great color to finish some of the varieties. That heat during the day is also bringing on that sugar and flavor.” The crop overall is expected to be greater in volume over last year, though that’s also attributed to the fact that last year there was damage from spring frost and low temperature issues along with drought in the summer. “We are still right around, if not slightly below, our five-year average,” he adds. Concerning varieties, Red Delicious may be down a little more than usual while Galas should be up more than usual. “Everything else, give or take a few percentages here and there, will be right around their normal averages,” according to Ruppert.

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USDA Reports Corn Harvest Underway in Eight States

In the USDA Crop Progress report released on Sept. 8, eight states reported harvested corn. Current progress across the eight states is 4%. The five-year average for harvested corn at this time of year is 3%. Here’s a closer look at the states that reported harvest activity. Texas is leading the pack with the most harvested corn reported at 69%. The USDA reported 44% of North Carolina corn was harvested. Last week 29% of the state’s corn had been harvested. This time last year, 31% had been harvested. The five-year average is 37%. Harvested corn in Tennessee was reported at 28%. That’s up 16 percentage points from the prior week. Last year at this time, 29% of the crop had been harvested. Kentucky was added to the list for the first time this year with 18% of corn reported harvested.

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