AgweekTV Full Episode 05/09/26 S12E19

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:01]Coming up on Ag TV, the US House passes a farm bill. We'll have reactions from some in the industry.

[00:00:08]Problems with rural mail delivery are causing headaches for farmers and businesses. We'll look at what's being done to help improve service.

[00:00:17]Cool weather around the region is getting planting off to a slower start.

[00:00:21]We'll see how that could affect the crops.

[00:00:24]And you might be getting sticker shock at the meat counter, especially if you're buying beef. We'll see why prices are rising.

[00:00:43]Welcome to a week TV. I'm Emily Beal.

[00:00:46]The US House passed a farm bill for the first time since 2018. It's called the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026.

[00:00:54]Many in the industry are happy to see the bill passed in the House with the American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duval expressing his appreciation for the new modernized farm bill. North Dakota Farmers Union President Matt Purdue called the passage an important step toward completing the process after three delays, but he said it is not a perfect bill, highlighting the lack of year-round E15 and input cost concerns not being addressed as problems.

[00:01:19]Mail delivery has been a vital service across America since the days of the Pony Express, but many people in South Dakota have been having issues with the United States Postal Service, and it's affecting agricultural businesses, farmers, and ranchers across the state.

[00:01:34]Ariana Schumacher shares more in this week's Sag story. Bills are arriving late, checks are delayed, and important documents aren't landing in mailboxes on time across South Dakota, and that's causing problems. Dean Melhoff, owner of the Tri County A Service Incorporated in Ipsswitch, South Dakota, says his company, which says aerial spraying and seed sales, has had bills not make it from suppliers and customers, saying they've never received a bill.

[00:02:01]>> And I know they're not full of it because I've been in business for 35 years, and I've never had issues with people not paying bills.

[00:02:11]>> The consequences can be serious. South Dakota 4H finals rodeo contestants have to mail in their entry forms. If they don't arrive before the first rodeo with a postmark before May 1st, they can't compete.

[00:02:24]>> So it affects them for all summer. They wouldn't be able to rodeo.

[00:02:27]>> The US Postal Service declined an interview on the matter but provided a statement saying that South Dakota continues to be strong with no systematic problems, but retired mail carrier Ken Shay doesn't buy it.

[00:02:39]>> There are folks who say, "Well, we have no issues. we were getting 90% of our mail delivered. Well, A, I'm not sure I believe that. And B, 90% of several hundred,000 is leaves a lot in the dust. Leaves a lot of undelivered mail.

[00:02:59]>> South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds is at the forefront of dealing with thousands of ongoing complaints about mail service. He thinks the USPS is trying to hide some of its problems. One way they are doing that is by not postmarking mail until it gets to a regional processing center.

[00:03:15]>> So you might mail a a piece of mail um on a Monday, but it may not get to a processing center until a Wednesday or a Thursday, at which time it would be postmarked.

[00:03:29]>> Now, well, whatever. We'll just we'll just postmark it when we feel like it essentially. I can't stomach that one.

[00:03:37]That's really a poor way to do business.

[00:03:41]>> Brown said the mail issues have been building for nearly 2 years and were born out of a push to move regional processing centers and distribution centers for USPS out of the state. He fought to keep the centers open in South Dakota in 2024. He has also had the inspector general audit USPS in South Dakota to report back to Congress.

[00:04:01]That's an ongoing investigation >> is you have an expectation on the part of the citizens of this country that the postal service is important and that they should be almost like a utility always there always available and then let's figure out what the cost is to actually do it >> in Brookings South Dakota. This is Ariana Schumacher for a week.

[00:04:22]>> You can read more in the next Ae magazine or at aweek.com.

[00:04:27]A new green ammonia plant is ramping up production in Morris, Minnesota. The plant uses wind power to produce ammonia rather than goal, coal, or gas. The plant is at the University of Minnesota's West Central Research and Outreach Center. It started production this spring. In a time of high fertilizer prices, the need is high for domestic ammonia production. RTI International is a lead on the project.

[00:04:49]Developers say it's a step in the direction of setting the Midwest up to be less dependent on production happening around the world >> and show that we can operate with resources that are available locally, not necessarily go down to the US Gulf Coast where there's, you know, vast mega complex of fertilizer production. To be able to do that locally close to where the demand centers are has been very uh we're seeing a lot of attention. Green ammonia not only has the potential to lower fertilizer costs. Farmers could receive lower carbon intensity scores, it can also hedge against global disruptions like the war in Iran.

[00:05:28]>> We don't use a lot of fertilizer from that area, but it does impact our prices and that's kind of the key. Uh our fertilizer comes up from the Gulf Coast and instead of coming up from the Gulf Coast, it could just as easily be uh exported around the world and so we're we're competing uh in a world market for that fertilizer.

[00:05:47]The plant is set to produce about 1 metric ton of ammonia daily.

[00:05:51]Butler Machinery is expanding in North Dakota. The company has plans to build a new state-of-the-art facility in Mapleton. The machinery company got its start in 1955 and has progressed alongside farmers over the decades.

[00:06:03]Their new facility will help Butler Machinery work on larger equipment that has continued to grow over the years by building larger shop bays, higher overhead ceiling heights, and increased crane capacities. The new facility will also allow Butler Machinery to keep more of an inventory of parts on hand.

[00:06:20]>> The the main point of our expansion was our customer needs. We've identified that their growing challenging needs is pushing us to be more adaptive, more responsive, and have better parts stocking. And because of that, things like this we have to consider and grow our business to meet those needs.

[00:06:37]>> The timeline for the new facility is tentative, butler Machinery is hoping for it to be completed by late 2027.

[00:06:45]Up next on Agu TV, we'll see how cooler weather is affecting sugar bee planting and crop development.

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[00:07:30]To me, being part of community means being part of something bigger than yourself.

[00:07:34]>> How we doing?

[00:07:35]>> It's being there for your neighbors on good days and on bad days. I've been a volunteer fireman for 24 years. and I've been a field adjuster with FME since 2016. I've had a unique perspective.

[00:07:48]I've seen people at their most vulnerable. In those times, you want to do anything possible to help. I'm proud to be part of a company that's dedicated to service.

[00:07:59]What one-stop shop means to us at Northstar Egg is we have a fully staffed service department, fully stocked parts department, as well as a sales department. We're also very mobile. We have service trucks that we can also meet you on the farm. You can have a piece of equipment that you're not really sure what you want to buy. You can come to us in Northstar Egg. We can really show you enough selection, have enough knowledge, and have enough price points where you feel good about walking out with your purchase that day.

[00:08:32]Farming is more than just a job. It's a way of life. It's your hard work, your investment, your future. At Superior Grain Equipment, we're here to protect it all. From durable grain storage to gentle drying and handling solutions, we build systems designed to last. And we stand by you with service and support every step of the way. Superior grain equipment, proven solutions to help you grow.

[00:08:59]At Bank North, we strive to enrich the lives of everyone we serve. one transaction, one relationship, and one community at a time. We do it by supporting kids and schools, pitching in to help neighbors in need, partnering with rural businesses, and providing all the traditional and modern banking products and personalized lending services you expect from a reliable financial partner. Bank North, always true.

[00:09:30]It's planting season with many farmers already out in their fields. But the weather has been cooler than average with some parts of the Red River Valley having heavy soil moisture. I met with the sugar beat specialist to see how the cool wet conditions may impact the crop.

[00:09:45]>> Everyone's always really enthusiastic by the time by the time spring rolls around and and we had some some wetter pockets here at the mid end of April. Um but as those are drying up, field work is is out in full force. Temperatures have been a bit cooler than normal, but sugar beads can withstand the lower temperatures.

[00:10:03]>> Maybe a little cooler than average. Um, you know, I I work with sugar beats.

[00:10:06]Sugar beats are some of the first crops to go in in the region each year. This year it was more about soil moisture in a lot of areas. You know, of course, we want that soil temperature to be warming up too, though.

[00:10:17]>> However, frost may be a concern for some sugar beat seedlings in the region.

[00:10:21]We're still concerned about frost a little bit um this week um moving farther north especially sugar bead seedlings are vulnerable to frost like any other ceiling in the ground. Um of course it it varies with with soil moisture, how much heat is retained in that soil and and things like the air movement at night. Um but of course we want a good a good environment for that seedling to grow and develop. Um you know 30° or so you know not a not a huge problem. You know we we may or may not see see bigger dips >> going forward. branch hopes to see some warmer weather to help the freshly planted crop thrive.

[00:10:55]>> Some some heat units for those those seedlings in the soil temperatures to to keep rising and and warm up appropriately. Um, you know, keeping keeping the rain out so our our growers, our farmers can get in the fields and and make those um uh planting passes and and early fungicide applications to get prepared for for the summer season ahead.

[00:11:14]>> For many sugarbeat producers, sirpa leaf spot is one of the main concerns. branch recommends farmers have a game plan to combat that prior to the growing season.

[00:11:23]>> And now is the time to have the game plan in place for how those applications are going to be made and and when those are going to be made and hopefully the weather cooperates and and the pieces pieces fall together. Okay. Um yeah, it's a tough one, but but our growers have um you know, got the tools they need. So, we're we're hopeful. According to the latest USDA crop progress report, sugar beats are 40% planted in North Dakota and 65% planted in Minnesota.

[00:11:49]North Dakota is joining South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana and having growing drought concerns. The latest drought monitor added a spot of abnormally dry conditions in western North Dakota. Ryan Onbach, North Dakota State University extension a and natural resources agent for McKenzie County says there has been no appreciable moisture since last fall, but he says May rains have been game changers in the past couple of years in Mackenzie County. And he hopes that happens this year, too.

[00:12:15]>> It's it's it's a wait and see kind of thing right now. Um it's it's a it's a wait and see and hope um and maybe pray um that uh that you know some rain uh we get a we get a good rain event. The Climate Prediction Center has forecasts above normal temperatures for the western Dakotas and points to the west with equal chances for above or below normal temperatures in the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota and below normal temperatures in eastern Minnesota. Below normal precipitation is predicted across the northern US including the Dakotas in Minnesota.

[00:12:51]Ahead on Aguv, beef prices are high and will they continue to rise? We'll look at some of the factors affecting prices.

[00:13:06]For home delivery of eggweek, log on to eggweek.com or call 800811-2580.

[00:13:35]At Vadstad, we're partnering with North American farmers to create the perfect emergence.

[00:13:42]We're doing this with new and innovative tillillage, planting, and seeding solutions optimized for the field conditions that you face and with industry-leading capacities to help you get the job done in short windows of time so you can maximize yields.

[00:14:01]Vstat. We look forward to growing together.

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[00:14:35]Struggling with high pH or salty soils?

[00:14:38]Your yield doesn't have to. Calcine is a breakthrough soil amendment designed to restore soil health and revitalize crops. It helps balance pH, improve germination and emergence and remediation of salty soils.

[00:14:50]>> Calcine has always shown an exceptional ability to bring salty soils back to health, and it continues to provide a more balanced pH environment for both germination and emergence. Call Ericson Custom Operations at 701-371-7184.

[00:15:06]>> Attention farmers. Increase your revenue and prevent compaction from squeezing your profits with PTG's central tire inflation system. Now offered at OK Tire and service. All controlled from the tips of your fingers. Ensuring increased yield and improved fuel economy by adjusting your tire pressure within minutes. You are ensuring the best performance from your tractor on the field and off the field. Compatible with any radial tire. Call the OK Tire team today or visit oktireinc.com to learn more.

[00:15:51]It's planting season, but will mother nature allow it to go smoothly? Here's Lydia with our aggra weather outlook.

[00:15:58]One of the number one things that I've heard coming into the weather center over the past week or so is how dry it is outside. So, I thought we would tally up the number of days it's been since some locations have seen a quarter of an inch of rain. Bismar, it's been 34 days.

[00:16:13]Grand Forks 33 days. Aberdine, Fargo, Sou Falls, and St. Cloud all around 10 days. And you can see the correlating dates here on your screen. It's been since the beginning of April since Bismar and Grand Forks have seen more than a quarter of an inch of moisture.

[00:16:28]Then I looked at, well, how much have we seen in May? The answer is not a lot.

[00:16:33]Grand Forks winds at 500ths of an inch.

[00:16:37]So honestly, a few spits of rain. Bismar recorded a trace, same story in Sou Falls, but Aberdine, Fargo, and St. Cloud have seen zero, not a single drop through the month of May so far. This as of May 7th. I did think, okay, so how many days has it been since some spots in western North Dakota, some of those drier areas have been since they've seen a quarter of an inch. And for Williston specifically, it's been 78 days. That came back on February 18th when it was actually 4.8 in of snow. So it was the liquid equivalent of that much snow. If we up the ante a little bit and we're kind of tallying up some of these days for some impressive numbers since Hazen, North Dakota has seen one inch of rain in a single day. It's been almost a year, 355 days. And that's been reflected in the drought monitor, especially the further south that you go across portions of South Dakota. Still tracking record setting almost 25 years since it's been this bad type of drought. Well, off to the southeast into portions of Georgia and getting into portions of Florida. Fairly dry, but okay through the cornbt. As you zoom in a little bit closer to home, we have these persistent areas. North Dakota now recording a little bit of drought in the far western part of the state. Same story goes for South Dakota. Haven't seen much of an update, but we do have worsening drought conditions further off to the south as you drive to the south through portions of South Dakota, especially I90 down into Nebraska. I do have a pattern change coming. Lately, the jetream has been stuck down to our southwest, which has brought in these storm systems or active areas of moisture from about Billings toward Omahaish and then up toward Chicago, kind of swooping away from us. Now, as we go into next week, we see this pattern change. It's also part of the reason why it's been so cool this past week. And so now, as the jet wiggles its way further to the northeast, it allows us to warm up. We're watching for near or even slightly above average temperatures as we head into mid to late May. and then more active. That part's still kind of a question mark. We'll watch where the jetream sets up.

[00:18:34]Therefore, the active storm track. We're also getting closer to thunderstorm season, of course, which can give us higher rainfall amounts in more concentrated areas. Blues on this map well off to our east. This allows warmer air to spill its way in from the west.

[00:18:46]And that's why we're watching for these above average temperatures here as we head into mid to late May, especially by the last date here as we go into later May. Still looking fairly dry, but we'll watch for a few eventual moisture chances.

[00:19:00]That's best to have come in for an uptime. That way you don't have downtime later. For every hour that they're down, that costs them money. Fuel cost, uh, the wages for their hired guys. If they don't get out there at the right time, their crops too dry, it starts falling off. They start losing their bushels.

[00:19:13]They start losing money in a sense.

[00:19:15]You're literally just throwing money on the ground. So, their time is precious and crucial. So, they'd hate to have the downtime cuz they have to be out there and get it done as fast as possible. You put a lot of time into an uptime inspection. You know, it could take 10 to 12 hours to thoroughly inspect a machine to make sure that you don't miss anything.

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[00:20:31]>> To me, being part of community means being part of something bigger than yourself.

[00:20:36]>> How we doing?

[00:20:37]>> It's being there for your neighbors on good days and on bad days. I've been a volunteer fireman for 24 years and I've been a field adjuster with FME since 2016. I've had the unique perspective of seeing people at their most vulnerable.

[00:20:52]In those times, you want to do anything possible to help. I'm proud to be part of a company that's dedicated to service.

[00:21:00]What one-stop shop means to us at Northstar Egg is we have a fully staffed service department, fully stocked parts department, as well as a sales department. We're also very mobile. We have service trucks that we can also meet you on the farm. You can have a piece of equipment that you're not really sure what you want to buy. You can come to us in Northstar Egg. We can really show you enough selection, have enough knowledge, and have enough price points where you feel good about walking out with your purchase that day.

[00:21:32]Customers are met with a bit of sticker shock at the meat counter right now, especially on beef products. Ariana Schumacher shares more on the rising cost of beef.

[00:21:42]>> Beef prices have been rising over the past few years and are now at a peak where consumers may be very hesitant uh when they get to the meat counter on what they're going to choose.

[00:21:53]>> There are multiple factors influencing beef prices, including the smaller herd size, drought, feed cost, and less pasture ground.

[00:22:01]>> Pasture rent is very high and very slim.

[00:22:04]uh a lot of pastures going into crop production uh right now >> and demand for beef products continues.

[00:22:11]>> If we can all remember from the econ days back in college, it's supply and demand. We have that strong demand and we don't have a lot of that supply. So that prices is going to be high.

[00:22:21]>> But it's not just the beef price going up. It's also the input cost for raising the livestock.

[00:22:27]>> Diesel's high, tractors are high. Um, so all that equipment associated with raising that animal is is high. Of course, >> in late April, the USDA reported some cuts of select beef were actually priced higher than some choice cuts, even though choice is higher quality.

[00:22:43]>> Those select cuts uh may be more uniform than uh those choice cuts. Maybe uh the uh ribe eyes are a little smaller. Uh that might be a consumer-driven thing.

[00:22:55]Uh but yeah, those are kind of the factors that when you look at uh select over choice that maybe are more attractive to consumers.

[00:23:03]>> The United States raises high quality beef which also raises retail prices >> and that just attributes to the high quality feed stuffs that we feed and the genetics that we have here and and we have worked years and years and years to focus on that and get that to where it is uh today. Garretts encourages people to not stop buying beef, but maybe find a cut that is best suited for their budgets. So, consumers, please don't stop buying beef. Maybe opt for a more cost effective uh cut there. The best part about a beef carcass is that there are various cuts um at various weights.

[00:23:39]Uh so, you have a lot of variety when it comes to uh when you what you want to cook and what you want to buy. In Brookings, South Dakota, this is Ariana Schumacher for a week.

[00:23:50]beef. It's what's for dinner has a page discussing more cost-effective beef cuts for families and recipes for cooking with those cuts.

[00:24:00]Still ahead on Ag TV, we'll meet a farmer honored for his conservation efforts.

[00:24:12]For home delivery of Eggweek, log on to eggweek.com or call 800811-2580.

[00:24:19]Struggling with high pH or salty soils?

[00:24:22]Your yield doesn't have to. Calcine is a breakthrough soil amendment designed to restore soil health and revitalize crops. It helps balance pH, improve germination and emergence and remediation of salty soils.

[00:24:34]>> Kelsecine has always shown an exceptional ability to bring salty soils back to health and it continues to provide a more balanced pH environment for both germination and emergence. Call Ericson Custom Operations at 701-371-7184.

[00:24:49]>> If you're thinking about upgrading dryers, which I think in today's world where there's so much more corn around to get a hold of advanced grain, we were able to cover for 20% more acres and probably 20% less time this year. Mostly due to the drier. Our combines ran longer and harder than they've ever run in the past because we actually had the capacity in the dryer. We're Jason and Justin Top and we would highly recommend advanced grain handling for any of your grain dryer needs.

[00:25:20]>> At Vadstad, we're partnering with North American farmers to create the perfect emergence.

[00:25:26]We're doing this with new and innovative tillillage, planting, and seeding solutions optimized for the field conditions that you face and with industry-leading capacities to help you get the job done in short windows of time. So you can maximize yields.

[00:25:45]Vadstad. We look forward to growing together.

[00:25:50]Attention farmers. Increase your revenue and prevent compaction from squeezing your profits with PTG central tire inflation system. Now offered at OK Tire and Service. All controlled from the tips of your fingers. Ensuring increased yield and improved fuel economy by adjusting your tire pressure within minutes. You are ensuring the best performance from your tractor on the field and off the field. Compatible with any radial tire. Call the OKT tire team today or visit oktireinc.com to learn more.

[00:26:20]Partnership is a way of life here in the Northland. It's about pitching in to help our neighbors, making lending decisions locally, honoring long-term commitments to farmers, main street businesses, teams, schools, and rural communities. We're more than just a bank. We're a community partner working constantly and diligently to enrich the lives of everyone we serve. Bank North, always true.

[00:26:50]>> Darling Creek Ranch near Meadow, South Dakota is the 2026 South Dakota Leupold Conservation Award winner. It honors ranchers, farmers, and forest land owners who implement significant soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat management practices on their land. It comes with award of $10,000.

[00:27:08]Darling Creek Ranch is a cattle and sheep ranch owned by Dan and Sharon Anderson. They say receiving this award means a lot to their family.

[00:27:15]>> I don't I don't know how to put it in words, but it's a pretty big deal for us because we've looked up to past Leopold winners as people to follow.

[00:27:29]um people that have ideas that we've looked at and implemented to improve our our ranch. They they hope to see conservation practices continue to improve across their farm for future generations.

[00:27:47]Stories you'll only see on aweek.com and an Aweek magazine this week. Cargill is promoting Camelina as a potential crop to add to rotations of farmers in the region. And Minnesota farmers are concerned about potential farmland impacts of the proposed gopher to Badger link transmission line project.

[00:28:04]We appreciate you watching AW TV.

[00:28:06]Remember to check us out daily on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok to keep up on all your a news. Have a wonderful week everyone.