U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. have announced their continued work on the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and are committed to releasing the final Guidelines ahead of its statutory deadline of December 31, 2025. Moving forward beyond 2025, HHS and USDA are looking to make holistic process improvements to ensure transparency and minimize conflicts of interest.
With the March 17 deadline approaching for farmers to purchase crop insurance for spring seeded crops like corn and soybeans, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) released results of a near-record year in 2024. Farmers and ranchers spent more than $6 billion from their own pockets in 2024 to purchase 2.4 million crop insurance policies, which provided $159 billion in protection against weather and market losses, according to NCIS. Nationwide, 543,753,123 acres of farm and ranchland were covered in 2024 – or nine out of 10 eligible acres. That’s up dramatically from just five years ago, when fewer than 379 million acres were insured.
According to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, corn is expected to pull acres from soybeans, spring wheat, cotton and grain sorghum when the spring planting season gets under way. Corn prices have been buoyed by tight global stocks, strong export demand and record ethanol production. Profitable feeding margins in the livestock and poultry sectors are also supporting corn demand.
Since about 60 percent of U.S. Soy is exported, predictability of delivery to international customers remains top on the list. To maintain our competitive advantage, U.S. agriculture relies on dependable bridges, open highways, accessible railroads and usable waterways. Receiving this year’s Tom Oswald Legacy Award from the United Soybean Board is Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC). He’s spent nearly 20 years improving the integrity of America’s infrastructure, ensuring U.S. soybean farmers can drive demand in the international marketplace.
The American Soybean Association recognized Gunnar Lynum, president and CEO, SMD Products Company Inc., with its top honor during an awards ceremony at the Commodity Classic trade show in Denver.
Meister Media Worldwide has been named a regional finalist in five categories for the Azbee Awards of Excellence for editorial content. The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) announced the finalists on March 11, which included MMW brands American Vegetable Grower, CropLife Media Group, and Greenhouse Grower recognized for content innovation, state of the industry coverage, special issue coverage, podcast feature and single topic coverage.
The National Cotton Council (NCC) recently recognized Thomas Smith, a former NCC president and chairman of the board, with the Oscar Johnston Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024. In addition, Larry McClendon, a former chairman and vice chairman for the National Cotton Council received the 2024 Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award. They were honored at the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) 2025 annual meeting last month in Dallas, Texas.
National Farmers Union (NFU) honored former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa with the 2025 Award for Meritorious Service to American Agriculture, its highest distinction, at the opening banquet of the 123rd Anniversary Convention.
At National Farmers Union’s (NFU) 123rd Anniversary Convention, the organization awarded KC Sheperd of Radio Oklahoma Ag Network with the 2025 Milt Hakel Award for Excellence in Agricultural Journalism.
The United States Peanut Federation (USPF) leaders combined advocacy with service during their March 2025 Washington, D.C. Fly-in. The Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC), in conjunction with USPF, proudly partnered with Peanut Proud, the peanut industry’s humanitarian relief organization, to donate 5,760 jars of peanut butter to serve the Nation’s Capital and surrounding areas. This donation was made to recognize and celebrate National Peanut Month in March.
