Hope Kirwan

1 day ago | m.farms.com | Hope Kirwan

By Hope KirwanThe spring planting season is getting started for many Midwest farmers. Federal data suggests that fewer acres will be planted in soybeans than last year, in part because of the U.S. trade war with China. Farmers are planning on putting fewer acres of soybeans in the ground this spring amid retaliatory tariffs from China and higher production costs. Federal data shows intended soybean plantings are down 3.5 million acres, about a 4% drop from 2024.

2 days ago | kosu.org | Hope Kirwan

Farmers are planning on putting fewer acres of soybeans in the ground this spring amid retaliatory tariffs from China and higher production costs. Federal data shows intended soybean plantings are down 3.5 million acres, about a 4% drop from 2024. The decline was even larger in some states, with a 12% decline in Wisconsin and a 6% decrease in Nebraska. Since President Donald Trump first placed tariffs on Chinese goods in February, the trade war between China and the U.S. has continued to escalate.

2 days ago | m.farms.com | Hope Kirwan

By Hope KirwanSince taking office, President Donald Trump’s administration has cut many grant programs created by his predecessor. But a western Wisconsin power cooperative is one of the groups that will maintain its Biden-era funding, which was awarded to help invest in renewable energy projects and transmission infrastructure.

3 days ago | wpr.org | Hope Kirwan

Since taking office, President Donald Trump's administration has cut many grant programs created by his predecessor. But a western Wisconsin power cooperative is one of the groups that will maintain its Biden-era funding, which was awarded to help invest in renewable energy projects and transmission infrastructure. Dairyland Power Cooperative announced Thursday that the Trump administration had "affirmed" its $595 million grant under the the program Empowering Rural America, or New ERA.

1 week ago | m.farms.com | Hope Kirwan

By Hope KirwanKatie Woodrow, agriculture project manager for the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, has spent the last two years recruiting around 40 farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices like cover crops and no-till planting. She’s now in the process of canceling all of the multi-year contracts they’ve signed because the U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly ended her organization’s grant, and hundreds like it, under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program.