Poultry

Twenty-five Illinois Farm Bureau members recently graduated from the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow, an extensive leadership development program designed to help participants develop leadership and advocacy skills and to become a voice for Illinois agriculture.

Agricultural economic conditions remained relatively weak across the Corn Belt, driven by concerns over drought conditions, trade, balance sheets and the lack of farm bill clarity.

Over 35 million birds, mostly egglayers, have been lost in the United States by highly pathogenic avian influenza since Jan. 1.

Indiana’s agriculture organizations teamed up to bring the farm to Indianapolis on National Agriculture Day.

Purina Animal Nutrition, along with the Land O’Lakes Foundation, has reopened its annual scholarship program designed to assist students with experience in livestock production and animal stewardship in pursuing their passions and furthering their education.

We continue to have lamb customers since March is Ramadan and they come out before, during and after that holiday, and they all want eggs, too, but our supply was limited until just this week when I was able to get some hens from a fellow emptying his barn.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture held its 2025 Winter Policy Conference. Members adopted 16 policy amendments and 10 action items.

Save the date for Ag Day at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds, in the Commercial Building, April 4-6.

With egg prices soaring, the Trump administration is planning a new strategy for fighting bird flu that stresses vaccinations and tighter biosecurity instead of killing off millions of chickens when the disease strikes a flock.

President Donald Trump temporarily suspended across-the-board 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until April 2.

The songbirds you are attracting to your feeders, such as cardinals, sparrows and woodpeckers, are not likely to be infected with avian influenza, or “bird flu.” It generally infects waterfowl such as gulls and ducks.

So far, this winter has been pretty friendly to the winter chores. We might be concerned about the lack of moisture for next spring’s crops, but right now dry is good.

Lawmakers and farmers mingled at the Indiana Statehouse to enjoy a bacon brunch and discuss farm policies.

Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said.

During the final stages of building the world’s first atomic bomb, scientists worried their new weapon might ignite the atmosphere and wipe out every living thing. Farmers are experiencing similar anxieties as efforts slash federal spending.

A children’s tractor magazine that ceased publication in 2023 after 17 years has been given a second chance.

Agricultural students at Belvidere North High School learn a variety of skills, including how to raise and care for quail and chickens.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in Jay, Allen, Adams, Jackson, Shelby and Randolph counties, with emerging cases in other counties, affecting more than 400,000 birds so far.

The Waffle House restaurant chain is putting a 50-cent per egg surcharge in place because of the biggest bird flu outbreak in a decade.

Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight, given the surge in demand as Easter approaches.

Sylvester and Sabrina Friend of Prairie Hills Farm in Selma were honored as a finalist of the 2025 Indiana Farm Family of the Year Award.

The Warner Family Farm was honored as a finalist in this year’s Indiana Farm Family of the Year competition.

Smithfield Foods’ CEO hopes everything the company has done to make working in its plants more attractive since COVID tore through the industry will help it weather the impact of President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportations.

Every year, the U.S. egg industry kills about 350 million male chicks because, while the fuzzy little animals are incredibly cute, they will never lay eggs, so have little monetary value. That longtime practice is changing.

Why the results surprised anyone is itself a surprise. After the state of California began testing dairy herds for highly pathogenic avian influenza, known also as bird flu or H5N1, in August, it found the pathogen on 645 dairy farms.

California officials have declared a state of emergency over the spread of bird flu, which is tearing through dairy cows in that state and causing sporadic illnesses in people in the United States.

A genetic analysis suggests the bird flu virus mutated inside a Louisiana patient who contracted the nation’s first severe case of the illness, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Twisted equipment and snapped tree limbs still litter Chris Hopkins’ Georgia farm more than two months after Hurricane Helene made its deadly march across the South.

Leaders from the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health shared global trends in the soy market in 2025 and beyond.

George Obernagel of Waterloo was the recipient of the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s top award, The World of Corn.

Nearly every autopsy of Vice President Kamala Harris’s stinging White House defeat begins with some variation of the phrase, “Voters pointed to the rising price of food as their chief concern.”

Have you started your holiday decorating? I did see some cute ornaments to make using scrap wool felt. I have a bunch of scraps from the felted coasters I made using my Scottish blackface wool.

Chef Bryan Flower hurries toward one of the raised “free-to-pick” vegetable, flower and herb beds that flank Neptune North residence and dining hall on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb.

As farmers face tight profit margins, organizations like the United Soybean Board are working hard to maximize market opportunities for U.S. soy.

A soybean’s versatile chemical composition makes it ideal for a range of uses — from biodiesel to soy crayons and many goods in between.

Agricultural economic activity has been flat to down modestly since early September, with some crop prices remaining unprofitably low.

Kipster, the nation’s first carbon-neutral egg brand, won the 2024 Good Egg Award hosted by Compassion in World Farming.

Regenerative farming and soil health are the focus for pastured-raised animals at Terra Vitae Farms.

Indiana Republican gubernatorial nominee U.S. Sen. Mike Braun shared a plan called the Freedom and Opportunity Agenda, aimed at supporting rural communities.

Few states put on a show like the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin, where 50,000 visitors from nearly 100 countries will see 1,800 owners exhibiting 2,500 or so of the best dairy cattle in the galaxy.

An agricultural production system that integrates crops and livestock into a single interconnected practice in one field was the top yielder in Precision Technology Institute’s trials last year.

Summer is in full swing on Clay Geyer’s home fields, where he’s on the lookout for — and has already found — some plant diseases and weeds.

Indiana has one of the smallest state agriculture departments in the nation — and Don Lamb would not have it any other way.

To gain a better perspective in the current November and December futures price volatility, a soybean trade specialist noted historic parallels in the past 20 years, buyer opportunities and demand potentials.

Small steps go a long way when it comes to protecting your cows, employees and neighbors against H5N1.

The more we learn about H5N1, the more we understand that good biosecurity is a critically important path to containing the virus.

As soon as the large mahogany door in the congressional building was opened, the farmers were greeted with hellos and handshakes. “Do you want some Indiana popcorn?” the staff in Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Pence’s office proudly asked.

The earth provides an overabundance of food, but the distribution of that food is the struggle.

Agricultural conditions varied in tandem with sporadic droughts across the Federal Reserve districts, but concerns over crop price declines were common in all corners of the Corn Belt.

The poultry and egg domestic and export markets have a major impact on corn and soybean prices received on the farm.