NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) — While the ongoing government shutdown has furloughed nearly half of the staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and paused the release of weekly harvest progress numbers, farmers across the country continue making strides in the fields.
Lewis Williamson, with HTS Commodities, joined us on Tuesday’s Market Day Report to share insight on what he is hearing from producers during harvest and how the shutdown could ripple through the ag sector.
In his interview with RFD-TV News, Williamson discussed the progress farmers are reporting despite the lack of official data, as well as the uncertainty surrounding the Trump Administration’s expected relief package aimed at supporting soybean growers still grappling with China’s absence from the market.
He also provided an update on Mississippi River levels and the potential implications for grain movement during this critical harvest window.
Water access—not acreage alone—is driving where irrigation expands or contracts.
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Reed Marcum started hosting a toy drive in 2015. Since then, he has distributed thousands of toys across his home state of Oklahoma and in Texas and Arkansas. Now serving in the Army, Reed’s family and local 4-H chapter are running the event.
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Mike Steenhoek, with the Soy Transportation Commission, shares his outlook on current grain stocks and transportation lines amid bumper crops filling bins across the United States.
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American soybean and corn leaders, along with Canada’s AgriFood sector, testified before the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office in support of the trade pact between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
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The FAO Food Price Index for November fell by more than 1 percent in November, marking the third straight month of declines.
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Texas livestock producers face a heightened biosecurity threat as New World screwworm detections in northern Mexico coincide with FDA approval of the first topical treatment.
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“The Expanding Access to Risk Protection (EARP) Final Rule streamlines requirements across multiple crops, responds to producer feedback, and strengthens USDA’s commitment to putting America’s farmers first,” said the USDA.
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