Mexico exported feeder cattle to the US until New World Screwworm caused officials to stop this flow in 2025. In this farmdoc daily article, we estimate the impacts on the US and Mexico going from baseline projections where live trade returns to pre-entry levels to an alternative case with less live trade. As expected, the shortfall in US supplies leads to higher feeder cattle, fed cattle, and beef prices, although US producer response moderates these impacts over time. 

Consistent with “Crop Loss” headlines dating to 2023, combined loss at harvest totaled $28.1 billion for producing the US 2025 cost of production crops (barley, corn, oats, peanuts, rice, seed cotton, sorghum, soybeans, wheat). However, all but $3.7 billion of this loss was covered by the US crop safety net. Moreover, the nine crops collectively broke even over the 2023-2025 crop years as $62.5 billion in safety net payments offset similar market losses at harvest.

October marks the beginning of the federal fiscal year, which is payment season for farm policy (USDA, October 7, 2026; Farm Policy News, October 19, 2026). Payments are made in…

With an eye towards the rapidly approaching 2026 midterm elections, this article further reviews survey results from the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey, but through the lens of political affiliation. Specifically, we examine how perceptions of the benefits and challenges associated with AI and data center development vary among self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents/Others. Doing so provides insight into the extent to which attitudes toward these emerging technologies and their supporting infrastructure differ across political groups.

Diesel fuel prices for agricultural use in Illinois have reached a record high. Those higher prices are estimated to raise fuel and oil costs on Central Illinois grain farms with…

This article examines dispersion in producer sentiment, as measured by the Ag Economy Barometer (AEB) index, among survey respondents over time, and illustrated differences in sentiment and survey answers among corn and soybean producers using results from the September 2026 AEB survey. Dispersion of survey responses varies substantially over time but is in general negatively correlated with the AEB index.