The federal funding package to reopen the government included a one-year extension of certain 2018 Farm Bill programs. Several expired Sept. 30 or would have been null by the end of the year.

Seed corn companies are using more laborers with H-2A visas, according to data from Iowa Workforce Development and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Local contractors say they have teens, who rely on the summer jobs, waiting to do the work.

For Qore, a new facility in Eddyville, the next frontier for sustainable fashion is growing in Iowa's fields.

Roughly 25% to 50% of the total commercial nitrogen applied to fields across the state occurs in the fall. Waiting for cooler soil temperatures helps prevent nitrates from flushing into streams and rivers.

Contractors say they have enough local labor to detassel Nebraska’s seed corn but they’re losing work to migrant workers on H-2A visas. A 2024 law attempted to increase transparency in detasseling.

Iowa farmers are seeing a drop in their income. Economists say one of the last indicators of a failing farm economy is land prices. A recent land auction gives a view into whether people on the ground level are worried.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July allocated $170 billion for immigration enforcement, detention and deportation. Some agricultural organizations and programs have issued guidance for farmers who employ foreign workers.

A new report examines Iowa farmers’ awareness and opinions related to the state’s strategy to cut nutrient runoff in waterways. The majority support more conservation, but their numbers have softened over the last decade.

While U.S. corn production and exports are on track to break records, sales for soybeans are down and prices for both commodities sit below production costs.

Industry experts say demand for locally raised meat is high, but processing is often a bottleneck. State grants from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship aim to widen the middle of the supply chain.