Hog farmers, on the front lines of the $16 billion U.S. hog industry, have struggled with low prices for two years. Higher feed costs due to problems with the corn crop could cause a reduction in the amount of pork on the market due to both a drop in profitability and the slower hog growth rates.

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson said last Monday he believes the next Congress may have to take up a reconciliation bill that could include a rewrite of the farm program.

Profitability in the unit that makes Deeres green tractors and harvesters was especially impressive, reporting margins of nearly 10 percentthree times what investors had expected, according to Eli Lustgarten, an analyst at Longbow Securities..

U.S. farmers can expect a record corn crop, another huge soybean harvest, and strong demand for its exports, which should combine to produce strong incomes for the agriculture sector this year, USDA said in its latest forecast.

The ethanol industry could face the same difficulties hitting biodiesel producers if Congress doesnt extend the 45-cent blenders tax credit by the end of 2010, the president of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said last Tuesday.

From a strip mall in Wauseon, OH, a town of 7,200, Willy van Bakel built a multimillion-dollar business bringing fellow Dutch dairy farmers to America. Theyre dreamers like himself, he says.

If history and the political lineup are any guides, President Barack Obamas latest effort to cut subsidies for wealthy farmers likely will fare no better than his first tryor his predecessors attempt.

Agco, which makes farm equipment under the Massey Ferguson, Challenger, Fendt and Valtra brand names, said it believed Europe and North America were stabilizing, but it still needed to reduce inventories in those markets by idling some facilities..

Japanese demand for U.S. beef continues to grow, but as the trade here cant get enough age-verified supply, it prefers the stable availability of Australian product.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-MN, has cosponsored a House bill that would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act.