FARM FINANCES

With no standalone farm bill in sight, budget reconciliation may be the only path forward

Jenny Schlecht — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:30:00 GMT

With no movement on getting a standalone farm bill to replace the existing one that already has faced two extensions, including some important farm bill legislation in a budget reconciliation bill might be the only way forward, according to Collin Peterson.

“It’s not a good way to do a farm bill, but it’s probably the only way they’re going to get it done if they can get it done, and I think it’s got an uphill battle so we’ll see how it goes,” Peterson said while speaking at the Midwest Ag Summit in West Fargo, North Dakota, on June 10, 2025.

Peterson served 15 terms in the U.S. House, representing Minnesota’s 7th District, and much of that time was spent in leadership on the House Agriculture Committee. He played a major role in crafting five farm bills during those years. After losing a re-election bid in 2020 , he helped form the Midwest Council on Agriculture, which works to provide a united voice for agriculture from the Midwest region.

The last farm bill he worked on was the 2018 farm bill — officially the “Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018.” The bill was signed in December 2018 and first expired on Sept. 30, 2023. After a couple extensions, it now is set again to expire on Sept. 30, 2025. The $428 billion bill laid out spending on nutrition (76%), crop insurance (9%), commodity programs (7.3%), and conservation (6.8%), with other programs making up the final 1%.

Despite the normal run of roundtable discussions about what’s needed in a new farm bill, as well as drafts from both the House and Senate, little movement has been made toward actually passing a new standalone farm bill. With important programs becoming outdated or facing expiration, Republicans in Congress have included some farm bill programs in budget reconciliation bills.

Budget reconciliation is a legislative process Congress designed to move certain budget-related bills without the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster, instead allowing it to move on a simple majority vote. It's a more partisan process than typical, requiring cooperation only from the majority party.

“That’s a process that was set up to try to get around very close margins in the House and the Senate,” Peterson explained.

The House version of budget reconciliation, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” includes extensions for some farm programs through 2031 and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would increase spending on agriculture-facing programs by $56.6 billion through 2034. According to an American Farm Bureau Federation economic analysis, that increase largely would go to enhancements in the farm safety net, with $52.3 billion going toward reference price increases in Price Loss Coverage, or PLC, adjusted formulas for Agricultural Risk Coverage, or ARC, and expanded crop insurance support. The remaining $4.3 billion would go to trade promotion, rural school funding, livestock biosecurity, research and energy programs.

Peterson said “the farm stuff is not really controversial” in the bill. But the bill also contains cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP, formerly known as food stamps — which is more controversial. The bill would put more administrative costs onto states, too.

Peterson explained that nutrition programs are part of the farm bill, in part, to build a coalition of urban lawmakers who buy into the bill. That’s worked since the 1980s, he said. He’s skeptical that work requirements for SNAP for some adults would be hard to make work.

“Frankly in my opinion the government is not competent to do that,” he said.

The bill passed the House entirely on Republican votes, as is not unusual with budget reconciliation bills. That’s contrary to the way farm bills have historically passed with bipartisan support. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., the top Democrat on the House Ag Committee, said putting farm bill programs in reconciliation “is threatening the farm bill coalition.”

“And we should’ve been trying to pass a five-year, 12-title farm bill rather than cutting SNAP by $300 billion, putting the stability and income it provides to family farmers in jeopardy,” she said in a June 11 hearing.

With the bill passed, the issue moved to the Senate, which crafted its own bill, with draft text released on June 11. While substantially similar to the House version’s ag provisions, the Senate version doesn’t shift quite as much SNAP burden to states.

U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said the bill “takes a commonsense approach to reforming SNAP,” while addressing challenges faced by farmers and ranchers.

“This legislation delivers the risk management tools and updated farm bill safety net they need to keep producing the safest, most abundant and affordable food, fuel, and fiber in the world. It’s an investment in rural America and the future of agriculture,” Boozman said in a statement.

Problems in reconciliation

Peterson said a problem with lumping farm bill programs into reconciliation is that the rules of reconciliation limit what can be included in the bill. So called “orphan programs,” which he said include assistance for small farmers, organic agriculture, minority farmers and others, cannot be included. Other orphan programs, according to AFBF, have included things like sheep production and marketing grants, feral swine eradication and control, several bioenergy programs, and rural development loans, among others. Most of those programs already were not funded in the most recent farm bill extension.

Another issue, he said, is that a traditional farm bill is mandatory spending, not controlled by the appropriations committee.

“Once the ag committee passes it, that’s it. There’s no appropriations committee,” he said.

The budget reconciliation process gives more power to appropriations committees. But Peterson said the good thing is that ag has important allies on appropriations, most notably Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who chairs Senate ag appropriations.

“So we have someone who understands this,” Peterson said. “Hoeven has been a big ally.”

Why it needs to get done

With the Senate taking up its own version of budget reconciliation, the matter may end up in a conference committee to iron out differences. Peterson expects some version of the bill will eventually pass, saying it’s “too big to fail.” He explained things like keeping the government funded and expanding the debt ceiling otherwise would need to be dealt with.

“There’s a lot riding on this thing,” he said.

Zach Gihorski, director of government affairs and sustainability for the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, also speaking on the same panel with Peterson at the Midwest Ag Summit, said the stakes are high, not just for farm bill programs. Numerous helpful tax provisions, mostly contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, would go away if not included in budget reconciliation, including the 199A pass-through business deductions, estate exemptions and accelerated depreciation.

“(Congress) not extending them would be devastating,” he said. “If they do not pass the package, basically, you’re going to have this giant tax increase on America.”

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Minnesota to host Farm Aid in September

Noah Fish — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 13:00:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — The Land of 10,000 Lakes will be home to the country’s most well-known benefit concert — Farm Aid, a nonprofit that helps support farmers in need — this fall.

Farm Aid will celebrate its 40th anniversary with an 11-hour festival Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota.

The all-star marathon concert will feature Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Margo Price, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Waxahatchee, Trampled by Turtles, Jesse Welles and more.

“For 40 years, Farm Aid and our partners have stood with farmers, supporting them to stay on their land even when corporate power, bad policies and broken promises make it harder to keep going,” Willie Nelson said in a statement. “This year, we’re proud to bring Farm Aid to Minnesota to celebrate the farmers who sustain us and to fight for a food system that works for all of us. Family farmers aren’t backing down, and neither are we.”

Jennifer Fahy, co-executive director of Farm Aid, said the organization’s choice to hold its show in Minnesota is significant for many reasons.

“We are celebrating our 40th anniversary, and we’re doing it in a state that we have long wanted to come to, and have not yet, so we’re really excited to be in Minnesota,” Fahy said. “The roots of agriculture are so deep, and the roots of farm advocacy are so deep in the state as well, and there’s there is much we will be highlighting.”

It was Minnesotan Bob Dylan who raised the idea to begin Farm Aid during the Live Aid concert in 1985 held in Philadelphia. Dylan, after performing “Ballad of Hollis Brown” with Ron Wood and Keith Richards with a lit cigarette in his mouth, thanked the crowd before saying some of the money raised at the event to help fight famine in Africa could go to helping those struggling in rural U.S., too.

“Maybe they could just take a little bit (of money), maybe 1 or 2 million, and use it to say, pay the mortgages on some of the farms that the farmers here owe to the banks,” Dylan said.

A couple months later, the first Farm Aid was held at the University of Illinois, and was meant to be a one-off until Willie Nelson took it by the reins and has continued the annual event ever since. Over 39 years, Farm Aid has raised more than $85 million to help family farmers through its benefit concerts, Fahy said.

Minnesota excitement

Farm Aid is partnering with ag organizations in the state including the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, as well as the University of Minnesota.

“We’re really excited to be in a stadium that offers an opportunity for us to really expand the number of people who can come to the festival,” Fahy said of Huntington Bank Stadium, which holds double the capacity of a usual Farm Aid concert.

Fahy said she’s hearing from Minnesotans from across the state about Farm Aid coming to them.

“I heard from one farmer who actually drove his tractor from Minnesota to Washington, D.C., in the tractorcade of 1979, and he’s already written to inquire if he can bring that tractor to Farm Aid,” Fahy said.

Minnesota’s Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said he’s personally “very excited” for Farm Aid to come to the Gopher State.

“To highlight many of the things that we have for agriculture in Minnesota, and not just all the things that Minnesota ranks in the top 10 and all of the agriculture that we have,” Petersen said. “All the family farm programs that we have in the state, and our water quality programs, our beginning farmer programs.”

Petersen said Farm Aid’s work is crucial to supporting farmers in crisis in the state and throughout the country. He said the work of the organization goes hand-in-hand with the state’s mental health advocates, Farmers’ Legal Action Group and farmer-lender mediation.

“These are all programs that came in the 1980s farm crisis and endured and thrived in Minnesota,” Petersen said. “We need all our farmers, and Farm Aid and their support that they’ve given over the years ensures that farmers who are in distress, whether it’s from the disaster or financial crisis, has that assistance and that resource that they need.”

Money raised from Farm Aid concerts goes to support the organization’s activities, as well as a grant-making program that Fahy said gives about $1 million annually to farm organizations all across the country.

“Many of those are grassroots groups, and many of them are responding and working directly with farmers,” Fahy said. “They might be providing technical assistance, business assistance, mental health and stress assistance, legal advice, and also farmer training programs. So it really supports a wide range of work, going out into the countryside, all over the country.”

What to expect

Those going to Farm Aid can expect a full day of experiences.

“We open our doors at noon, and the music starts just a little bit thereafter and goes until 11 p.m., so it’s a full day of music,” Fahy said.

In addition to the music, Farm Aid will have its signature Homegrown Village, where festivalgoers can explore interactive exhibits and activities that engage all of their senses.

“We invite everyone to get out of their seats, come down, meet farmers, hear from them, and artists on our farm yard stage, dig into interactive activities that teach folks about food, farming, composting, climate change, soil health, you name it,” Fahy said.

The food served at Farm Aid is called Homegrown Concessions for a reason.

“We’re sourcing the ingredients for those concessions from family farmers. We guarantee those farmers are paid a fair price, and the products are raised with ecological standards,” Fahy said. “After you have a tremendous meal, you also have an opportunity to possibly meet the farmer who grew it, and also learn about those various ways that farmers are growing our food.”

Lineup

The top of the lineup for Farm Aid features some of the most recognizable names in American music history, but deeper down the list are some hidden gems that Fahy recommends paying attention to just as much.

“I think one of the special things about Farm Aid is that people often come and discover a new artist that they weren’t aware of,” she said.

First-time Farm Aid artists that Fahy said attendees should look forward to this year are Duluth-based Trampled by Turtles, Billy Strings and Waxahatchee.

Waxahatchee is the band led by singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, whose sound has evolved from “lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country,” according to music critic Ashleigh Bryant Phillips. After releasing six critically acclaimed albums, including the most recent “Tigers Blood,” this will be Waxahatchee’s first Farm Aid.

Fahy said a lot of Crutchfield’s songwriting comes from living in Kansas.

“She writes about that rural, beautiful landscape, where she still lives, and I just think she’s so tremendously talented. Her voice is so unique, and I think a lot of folks will come away being entranced by her and the band as well,” Fahy said. “A key thing with many of these artists is that they come from rural communities. They come from farm families, and so they have that connection, and it's really meaningful for them.”

Tickets for Farm Aid — which are expected to sell out — are available now at the organization’s website.

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USDA to begin accepting applications for $10B Emergency Commodity Assistance Program

Jenny Schlecht — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 17:01:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will start accepting applications for the $10 billion in market-based assistance passed by Congress as part of year-end legislation in December, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., announced Tuesday, March 18.

Congress on Dec. 21, 2024, passed the American Relief Act of 2025, a continuing resolution that stopped a government shutdown but also included $21 billion designated toward aide for farmers with losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, along with $10 billion in farm economic assistance to offset low commodity prices. The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

With the $10 billion in funds set aside for economic assistance, USDA set up the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program to provide economic assistance payments to eligible producers of eligible commodities for the 2024 crop year to help farmers "cope with losses from natural disasters and a difficult farm economy" and to "help preserve family farms and ranches across the country while also continuing to ensure food and agricultural security for our nation," according to a Federal Register document scheduled to publish Wednesday, March 19.

“This $10 billion in assistance is an important step to help producers recover from the challenging markets and comes as part of our commitment to keep our farmers and ranchers in the game, whether they face natural disasters, challenging markets or trade disputes,” Hoeven said in a statement.

“Producers are facing higher costs and market uncertainty, and the Trump Administration is ensuring they get the support they need without delay,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement. “With clear direction from Congress, USDA has prioritized streamlining the process and accelerating these payments ahead of schedule, ensuring farmers have the resources necessary to manage rising expenses and secure financing for next season.”

Hoeven said he is continuing to work with USDA on advancing the $21 billion in weather-related assistance for losses in 2023 and 2024, which includes $2 billion set aside for livestock producers, including those with losses due to wildfires.

Eligible commodities for ECAP include wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, dry peas, lentils, chickpeas, canola, flax and sunflower, among other crops. Only one application is required for all ECAP eligible commodities. ECAP assistance will be based on acreage and calculated using a flat payment rate for the eligible commodity multiplied by the eligible reported acres. For acres reported as prevented plant, ECAP assistance will be calculated at 50%.

Hoeven, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and is a senior of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he has been working with Rollins to find ways to quickly deliver the assistance, including encouraging USDA to use a streamlined application process to help ensure an efficient and timely process.

According to Hoeven's office, USDA will send producers pre-filled applications based on 2024 acreage reporting data after program signup begins on March 19. Producers who still need to submit their 2024 plant and prevented planting data may do so until the program deadline of Aug. 15, 2025. Applications may be submitted online or to local Farm Service Agency offices.

“Secretary Rollins has committed to getting the funds distributed as quickly as possible, with payments to start going out by March 21,” Hoeven said.

His office said the initial payments will come to 85% of the total, with a supplemental payment to follow in the summer.

Hoeven said it's important that a new farm bill get passed that invests in the farm safety net so that such ad-hoc disaster assistance will no longer be needed. The current farm bill, officially called the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, originally was set to expire in 2023 but now has gotten two one-year extensions. The expiration date now is Sept. 30, 2025.

"Of course, we needed to do that because we don't have the new farm bill in place yet," Hoeven said in a recorded message about the assistance package. "So this is important, but the key is we need to get that farm bill done and it needs to work for our farmers and ranchers."

Payment rates

USDA has announced the following per-acre payment rates for crops under ECAP:

Wheat: $30.69 Corn: $42.91 Sorghum: $42.52 Barley: $21.67 Oats: $77.66 Upland cotton and extra-long staple cotton: $84.74 Long and medium-grain rice: $76.94 Peanuts: $75.51 Soybeans: $29.76 Dry peas: $16.02 Lentils: $19.30 Small chickpeas: $31.45 Large chickpeas: $24.02 Canola: $31.83 Crambe: $19.08 Flax: $20.97 Mustard: $11.36 Rapeseed: $23.63 Safflower: $26.32 Sesame: $16.83 Sunflower: $27.23

Hoeven's office said more information on ECAP will be available at https://fsa.usda.gov/ecap.

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Minnesota leaders, farmers brace for latest Trump tariffs

Noah Fish — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:23:00 GMT

CANNON FALLS, Minn. — On the same day U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico went into effect, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen visited a corn and soybean farm in southeast Minnesota to highlight the impact a trade war would have on the state's farmers.

Walz and Petersen spoke at the Lundell family farm in Cannon Falls operated by Danny and Mary Lundell.

Canada and Mexico are among the top three countries for Minnesota’s agricultural exports, and both countries are expected to retaliate. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the tariffs would disrupt an "incredibly successful" trading relationship and violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement signed by Trump.

"We have to be trusted trading partners, because folks are working too hard out here, producing what the world needs," Walz said, before warning those who think a trade war with top U.S. trade partners will work.

"That's a very simplistic way of looking about this," Walz said. "The one thing that's going to happen, if this thing goes on for any amount of time, is these trading partners are going to look for other partners. They're going to look elsewhere. And we know we've lost markets for our soybeans to China the last time we did this. They went to Brazil, they went to Argentina. They'll go somewhere else."

Petersen said the tariffs will put the ag economy into a similar situation than in Trump's first term in office. What he's not sure about is Trump's long-term thinking when it comes to trade with Canada and Mexico.

"People forget that we have a process in place. President Trump negotiated the USMCA, which took over for NAFTA," Petersen said. "We have a trade agreement in place that I would argue is working. We've had decisions both against Mexico and Canada that have ruled in our favor, that have opened up those negotiations."

The USMCA is up for review in 2026, which Petersen said should be the federal focus.

"Not putting a tariff on our neighbors and our biggest customers," Petersen said.

Neighbors to the north

Petersen said no matter what business you're in, you have to consider how you treat your customers because the relationship is always a two-way street. With Minnesota and Canada, that street sees almost a billion dollars annually in ag products going both ways.

"Think about corn that we sell there, when our ethanol market is a burgeoning piece that's really opening up," Petersen said. "I was at a plant in southwest Minnesota who was just working on signing their agreement to go into Canada. Now they're not sure what they're going to do."

The pork industry in Minnesota, which ranks second in the country for production, is set to lose from tariffs with Canada.

"We import almost 750,000 piglets from Canada," he said. "Very interdependent on that."

The impact from the tariffs on potash, used to make fertilizer, is at the top of the list as far as economic fallout, said Danny Lundell.

"Potash comes out of Canada, and it's not produced here," he said. "We need potash to raise healthier crops. And it doesn't matter if you're big, medium or small, it is going to affect you."

His cousin, Stan Lundell, who also farms crops and raises beef cattle, said there will be "no winners" from the tariffs.

"It's not just going to be the ag community, but every sector of the economy is going to be affected by this," Stan Lundell said. "It will inflict pain on everybody, for what?"

Petersen said the projected impact from tariffs comes at a bad time for farmers, especially in the crop industry. The ag commissioner said that farmer-lender mediation reports from this year were seven times higher than they were one year ago, marking a dire financial period for the state's farmers.

“These tariffs are going to add a lot of stress and a lot of uncertainty to our farmers,” Petersen said. “I hope that as we work with the USDA, as we work with our congressional delegation, that calmer heads prevail, and they're able to get to this piece where we're negotiating and back to building relationships, because I think that that's what we feel works.”

Peterson said the state may need to find creative approaches to the situation. Walz echoed that sentiment.

“All of us need to work together with all this uncertainty federally, I think it behooves all of us to provide some calm and certainty here, to reach some compromises, to get along together, get things done on time,” Walz said.

Minnesota Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, who farms corn, soybeans and wheat in central Minnesota, said he plans to push legislation to try and help farmers from a state level to “weather these uncertain times.” Anderson said the tariffs will undoubtedly have an impact on the industry, but also that farmers in the state have largely been supportive of Trump and may show some heightened tolerance when it comes to the president.

“My hope and understanding is that he's a smart businessman, and we certainly have confidence that he knows what he's doing, and can you know, reach the goals he's trying to reach,” Anderson said. “I think farmers will give him time. I'm not certain how much time, but he had very strong support from the farm community in the election. Realizing that he was, he was very pro-business, that's what farmers like.”

Minnesota ranks as the fourth largest agricultural exporter in the nation, with exports accounting for more than a third of the state’s total agricultural sales and bringing in $9.2 billion a year, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Canada, Mexico and China mark Minnesota’s three largest trading partners, with $7 billion in goods to Canada in 2023, $3 billion to Mexico, and $2.3 billion to China according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

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Animal disease outbreaks bring on emergency declaration in Minnesota

Staff reports — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:03:44 GMT

The impact of three animal diseases in Minnesota is being felt, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Rural Finance Authority Board is responding with interest-free loans.

The RFA has declared an emergency for avian metapneumovirus, highly pathogenic avian influenza and the H5N1 flu virus. This makes zero-interest Disaster Recovery Loans available for Minnesota farmers whose operations have sustained livestock losses due to the diseases from Feb. 12, 2025, to Feb. 12, 2026, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture news release issued Friday, Feb. 14.

“The RFA Board’s declaration is an important step in helping Minnesota farmers affected by these three animal health diseases,” Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said in the release. “I encourage those who have faced livestock losses to explore these zero-interest loans.”

Avian metapneumovirus is a highly infectious respiratory disease affecting poultry. It causes significant immunosuppression in birds, which leads to secondary infections and often high mortality. Minnesota has reported 871 aMPV-positive tests since April 2024, which is likely an undercount of actual cases across the state. The disease is a burden to producers who lose birds and have no means of financial support like they do with HPAI and other diseases.

HPAI is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild birds and is fatal. It’s a major threat to the poultry industry, animal health, trade and the economy worldwide. The first cases of the current HPAI outbreak in Minnesota were confirmed in March 2022. Since then, there have been 185 cases affecting 9.1 million Minnesota domestic birds, mostly turkeys. There have been four HPAI cases reported in 2025.

H5N1, the same virus that causes HPAI in poultry, can also affect dairy cows and other animals; however, it rarely kills cows. The H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle appeared in a Texas dairy in March 2024. The first Minnesota case appeared in June 2024. No cases have been reported in 2025.

The Disaster Recovery Loan Program offers affordable financing to support Minnesota farmers after declared disasters or hardship events, such as animal disease outbreaks.

These funds are available to farmers for expenses not covered by insurance, including replacement of flocks or livestock, building improvements, or to cover the loss of revenue when the replacement, improvements, or revenue loss is due to the confirmed presence of one of the three animal diseases. Eligible farmers will work with their local lenders to secure the loans from the RFA.

More information, including full eligibility requirements, can be found on the Disaster Recovery Loan Program webpage at https://www.mda.state.mn.us/disasterloan.

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Minnesota software company CEO using background to her 'AgVantage'

Noah Fish — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:00:00 GMT

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Michelle Blomberg never set out to be the CEO of a computer software company, but that's where she found herself 24 years ago, responsible for ushering a company into the 21st century.

Blomberg, CEO of the Rochester-based AgVantage Software Inc., now oversees a much larger company with customers across the country and a product line that covers every inch of the agricultural supply chain.

There's AgVantage software for grain, feed, agronomy and seed, accounting, retail, energy, eBusiness, CRM business intelligence and more. In recent years, the company has put in place a process called customer-driven development wherein AgVantage develops new software based on customers’ requests and feedback.

Be-Rich

Michelle was one of 10 children raised in the small farming community of Albert City, Iowa. Her father, Rich, worked as an accountant for a hog refinery in town until one day at work a representative from IBM stopped by to recruit anyone working in the ag industry with a proclivity for math.

"IBM sent him to Chicago for three weeks, where he took some computer programming classes, and then he came home for a week, and then they sent him to Minneapolis for three weeks, and once he finished those six weeks, he was a computer programmer for IBM," Blomberg said of her father.

After writing computer software for some time at the local cooperative in the late '70s, Rich Blomberg and his wife, Betty, started their own computer software company, meant for agriculture businesses, called Be-Rich.

Michelle listened to her father when he suggested she minor in computer science at Wayne State, where she would major in math and had scholarships to play basketball and softball.

Her first job out of college was as a computer programmer in the Twin Cities, which made her realize she'd rather be teaching math. So she did, until her parents started to talk retirement and their interest in her taking over the family business. She went for it, and moved back to her hometown to learn directly from them, eventually buying them out.

"They had 15 or so co-ops that were running my dad's system that he had written, and my mom was his bookkeeper," Blomberg said of Be-Rich. "They had two programmers."

The year was 1999 and the company belonged to her, but Y2K fears were in full force, and, according to her father, for good reason.

Through the '80s and '90s he wrote all the largest computer programs using a two-digit code for the year. There was a fix, however, which was to pay about $500,000 to have the entire system converted. Blomberg said she had about $60,000 to her name at the time.

"It needs to be four digits or it's going to fail," Blomberg said of her father's words.

The right merge

A similar-sized, family-owned computer software company — Udenberg & Associates — had operated since 1976 in the city of Rochester, where IBM's manufacturing, engineering and educational facilities took up a 397-acre site on the edge of the city.

The company, which would eventually partner with IBM to offer software and hardware, was started by Don Udenberg who wrote a software system to make business more efficient at grain elevators and other farm businesses. Udenberg also noticed the rise in consolidation in the ag industry in the '90s, and the company focused on handling complex mergers between multiple businesses.

When Udenberg reached out to Blomberg to discuss a merger, it felt right for both sides, and she was able to get the blessing from her parents.

"It was basically the same story as my mom and dad's business, only a little bit bigger," Blomberg said of Udenberg's company, which had about 30 co-ops using its systems at the time.

Udenberg passed away in 2000, and Blomberg became CEO of the newly named AgVantage, which had about 40 clients who were soon to be part of a major pivot.

"We shifted everything then. We kind of had to, even though the company at the time was roughly 25 years old, we needed to kind of start over, reinvent everything," Blomberg said of the early 2000s. "We had a lot of things that needed to get out of the old ways and get into some new technologies, and grow the employees, and grow the customer base, and just really everything we needed to get a fresh start and move on."

Before cloud

The cost-saving process now known as cloud technology was put into place in the early 2000s by AgVantage, which could host companies on its IBM back end rather than businesses having to make the purchase and upkeep themselves.

"They would need to invest maybe $50,000 in a machine that was going to be there for only three years," she said. "So we worked with IBM and carved out a space that could be protected for them, with security."

Today, Blomberg said the company's business of hosting has gone "gangbusters," and nearly 80% of their customers run on the machine hosted by AgVantage. She said unlike most of the major cloud services or shared cloud spaces, they offer an actual sellable space where customers get peace of mind.

"Our customers really like that. They can know where their data is, then come in here and touch the machine," she said.

What's it worth?

At 48-years-old the company has grown to 53 employees and has tens of thousands of users relying on AgVantage software daily. The company remains a go-to for handling agribusiness mergers, including with Ohio-based Sunrise Cooperative, which has gone through three mergers in the last decade.

George Secor, president and CEO of Sunrise Cooperative, said the company uses AgVantage Software for all its services, and not just to handle the onboarding of new employees and systems.

"It’s the true backbone of our company when it comes down to software. If software won’t interface with AgVantage, we won’t use it," Secor said.

As a computer software company that specializes in handling complex mergers, Blomberg said the company will never change hands as long a she's still at the helm. It will "forever" be an employee–owned, privately held company, she said, to allow for customers to trust that owners and the employees are one in the same.

There are stock restrictions to keep the 100% employee ownership in place, and when an employee leaves the company or retires, they are required to sell the stock to current employees or back to the company.

Blomberg said there used to be several computer software companies that were employee-owned, but in recent years they've been picked off by financial institutions.

"This happens to me about 10 times a month," she said of offers from investment firms. "'We found your company. We've been looking at you guys. We're interested in buying you.' And I just say we're not for sale. And people always challenge that to me. They're like, 'Everybody has a price tag.' I really don't have a price tag."

When asked what the company's worth is today, Blomberg steers the question in another direction.

"These last five years have just been really good for the company. We've made it through COVID really well, with our customers and our employees have been super happy. We have literally no turnover," she said. "We have such a strong employee base, and so it's what drives us financially to do well, make money, grab new customers, win mergers like we're winning most of the time."

Both of Blomberg's parents have passed away, but before her dad died she would often visit him and his friends in Arizona.

"That's the other reason I always say we're not for sale, at least while I'm sitting in this chair, because when my mom had already passed away, and my dad was still alive, I'd go every year for a week and just hang out with him and his crony buddies down in Arizona," Blomberg said. "These old guys would sit around drinking coffee, and they were like, Michelle, never sell your company. They said anytime a company sells, everything changes. I've just taken that so much to heart that I can't let it go."

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How Trump’s policies could impact Minnesota’s ag economy

Mary Murphy — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 13:17:00 GMT

This is part 1 of 5 in a series examining how the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump may impact greater Minnesota.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for a second term, his economic proposals have left experts wondering about the potential impact on Minnesota’s economy.

Economists and industry leaders are watching closely, as proposed tariffs and trade negotiations could affect supply chains, while changes to immigration policies might affect everything from farm income to workforce availability.

Investing in business

Given many of Minnesota’s Fortune 500s — like Land O’ Lakes and General Mills — are agriculturally centered, Minnesota Business Partnership CEO and former Speaker of the Minnesota House Kurt Zellers said Trump’s pro-agriculture policies are a big talking point for Minnesota businesses.

Zellers, who served as a state representative from 2003 to 2014, now leads the Minnesota Business Partnership, which represents Minnesota’s largest businesses and Fortune 500 companies. Zellers said there is an understanding that Trump is out to protect American companies, but that the New York businessman has managed to earn trust from many in the state’s ag community.

“He's a New York blue blood, right? There's no reason for him to understand agriculture, and I think it is why a lot of farmers really were drawn to him, because he picked it up real fast and understood the plight of the American farmer,” Zellers said.

Minnesota food producers like General Mills could do better under Trump, St. Johns University professor and economist Louis Johnston said, because Trump wouldn’t impose restrictions to reduce grocery costs that President Joe Biden did in his administration.

“The Biden administration was looking at food prices, and in particular, they were looking at the effect of big food companies having too much power over grocery prices, and the Trump administration is not going to do that,” Johnston said. “They're going to drop that stuff.”

The state’s businesses also are likely keeping in mind the investments Trump made in Minnesota in 2020, Zellers said.

During his last term, Trump gave $850,000 to small businesses across rural Minnesota, and Zellers pointed to a similar investment where Trump invested $3 million in broadband funding for rural Minnesota. Zellers said that while these direct investments are helpful to Minnesota businesses, the state’s large corporations are also keeping their eyes on his proposals for increased tariffs.

Trade policies and tariffs

Trump has proposed increasing taxes on imports, or tariffs, of up to 10-20%, with higher figures for countries like Mexico and China.

Johnston and St. Thomas University professor John Spry, also an economist, said they could see foreign countries like China “retaliating” and imposing tariffs on some goods made in Minnesota.

Based on how Trump imposed smaller tariffs than he promised initially in his first term, Spry said he doesn't expect tariffs to see a dramatic increase out of the gate, but he and Johnston highlighted Minnesota industries that could be most vulnerable: soybeans, corn, wheat, turkey and chicken by-products.

Trump’s administration compensated farmers for the losses that tariffs created in his last term by giving checks back to farmers who were affected, Johnston said.

“The big difference was probably that under the Trump administration, there were big subsidies to farmers in response to Chinese tariffs that were put on American farm exports,” Johnston said, adding that the tariffs were stepped down under Biden. “Since the United States reduced its tariffs on Chinese goods, the Chinese reduced their tariffs on American agricultural exports, and therefore not as much federal money went to Minnesota farmers.”

Ted Winter, owner of a family farm and president of the Rock & Nobles County Farmers Union, said he thinks a lot of farmers in Minnesota “bought in” to Trump’s reelection campaign because of these checks.

“Trump came on the stage and basically said, ‘I'm going to take care of you.’ You know, ‘I feel your pain, we're all in it together, we've been abused,’ so they all bought in,” Winter said.

In Nobles and Rock Counties, where Winter oversees the Farmers Union, Trump won 60% of the presidential vote.

While Winter said Trump’s campaign promises were appealing to many farmers, he said the tariffs under Trump had drastic effects on the farm industry in Minnesota.

“Trump came in and he started a trade war,” Winter said, adding that crops like corn and soybeans often go from Minnesota to Asia. “We export a lot of our products to China … and by starting that trade war with China, we ended up losing some markets, and the price of farm products and crop prices went down.”

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen confirmed that when Trump first imposed tariffs, Minnesota farmers took a big hit.

“In 2018, Minnesota had the lowest farm income. If I remember right, the average income in 2018 was $26,000. It was the lowest farm income we had had in 23 years,” Petersen said. “And so what Trump did was he followed that up with payments, and so then the farm income really ballooned in the next couple of years.”

Labor market and immigration

Minnesota officials are also watching Trump’s proposed immigration policies, such as eradicating DACA, which grants legal status to people who came to the U.S. as a child, or conducting “mass deportations.

“We aren't having enough natural growth in terms of population in our state, and in addition to that, we have more people leaving Minnesota than moving into Minnesota,” said Laura Bordelon, Senior Vice President of Advocacy for the Minnesota Chambers of Commerce. “So almost all of our growth in terms of population has been from immigration, immigrants coming into Minnesota, and that's been pretty important for meeting our workforce needs.”

Johnston pointed to areas of Minnesota where reliance on immigrant labor has been high, like the Red River Valley for sugar beet farming or Southwestern Minnesota for dairy and meat processing.

Winter said he knows farmers in his area who have undocumented immigrants working on their farms and that meat packing and pork plants in the state also rely on the immigrant population for a steady workforce.

“Now across the Midwest, some immigrants do all work out of those big pork barns,” Winter said. “If they raided the plants, they would probably end up closing the plant down because they couldn't run the place.”

Eyes on the road ahead

Dan Glessing, president of Minnesota Farm Bureau, said he thinks Trump will impose what he calls “less burdensome regulations,” regarding the environment for farmers.

Glessing said that going forward, farmers will have their eyes on a new Farm Bill from Trump and are looking closely at his pick for agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins.

Petersen said the Department of Agriculture will also be watching NAFTA, which is up for negotiation in 2026. He said these trade agreements are largely important to Minnesota and its trade relationships with countries like China, Mexico and Canada.

“That’s incredibly important to a state like Minnesota, where 30% of our main commodities are exported in those two [Canada and Mexico] markets,” he said. “With President Trump, I think the concern is, you don't know what tomorrow brings, you know, and I think it would be nice for farmers to have some kind of steadiness.”

Zellers said that one consensus among Minnesota’s large businesses is that they are happy the election is over.

“Regardless of who our members voted for … the election was decisive,” Zellers said. “... That's the one thing that I would say, that from what I've heard from them since the election, is, ‘Thank goodness it's over.’ ”

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Negotiating a fair farm rental agreement is top of mind heading into 2025

Michael Johnson — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 14:00:00 GMT

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — Farmers may be preparing to operate on a net loss in 2025 with major commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat expected to sell for less than the inputs it takes to grow them.

For those that must rent land, land rental negotiations may be one way producers seek to reduce their costs.

“Because a lot of their other expenses they can’t negotiate as well,” University of Minnesota Extension educator Nathan Hulinsky said during a fair rental agreement workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 19, in Alexandria. He explained how farmers don’t have the power to negotiate with vendors selling seed and fertilizer, but they may have some wiggle room in rent, which in cases like soybeans is the biggest expense.

On the other hand, with land values continuing to hold higher, chances may be slim that landowners will be slashing their expected incomes on land that continues to be assessed at higher market values.

Hulinsky is on his annual tours around the state presenting these workshops that can help both landowners and renters hopefully land on a win-win agreement.

While markets fluctuate from year to year, the issues that must be considered to reach a fair agreement remain consistent. Knowing and understanding that data can give both sides some power in negotiating.

Cropland rental rates

It’s fair to say that every county has different rental rates based on USDA survey data. Those rates are built from factors like land value, fertility, soil type, ease of being able to farm the land, accessibility, and factors like tiling or irrigation. These all play into how many bushels a farmer may expect to get per acre.

According to USDA estimates, non-irrigated cropland cash rent averaged $200 an acre in Minnesota in 2024. That’s $2 more than in 2023, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Cropland ranged from $287 per acre in Martin County down to $13 an acre in St. Louis County.

In general, rental rates have increased about $5 an acre per year in counties like Douglas and Otter Tail over the past three years.

Hulinsky does not anticipate increases in land rental rates in 2025 due to decreased demand for that land. He adds that demand is still there, as some producers look to generate as much revenue as they can to continue to make loan payments.

Land values

Much like rental rates vary from fenceline to fenceline, so do property values.

Hulinsky showed average farmland sales data from the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Land Economics for 2023.

“The last five years, especially, farmland values have increased, which does lead to some increase in land rental rates,” he said.

In central Minnesota’s Douglas County, land sales ranged from $7,300 to $2,100. In southern Minnesota’s Martin County, where land rent was highest, land sold for an average of $10,414 per acre. Olmsted County had the record per acre sale at $19,286.

Across the state, the average per-acre sale saw an increase from $6,745 per acre in 2022 to $7,433 in 2023. This data does not include sales between family members.

Crop prices

The big factor that’s taking a bite out of farmers’ bottom lines is the reduced crop prices in 2024 and looking into 2025. The higher commodity prices in recent years helped to increase land value in ag country.

Hulinsky offered an example of what producers in 2025 may be facing. Based on average yield, the price of corn, and anticipated income subtracted by the expenses, including rent, insurance, inputs and others, actual net income was $35 an acre in 2023. That compares to a 10-year average of $32 an acre.

But the 2025 projected net income is a loss of $114 an acre on corn, a loss of $60 an acre with soybeans, and a loss of $136 per acre growing wheat based on those estimates.

“Not super rosy in the farm economy,” Hulinsky said.

In another example using Worthington, Minnesota, prices, average corn prices for 2023 were $5.64 per bushel, a drop from the record average of $7.10 a bushel in 2022. Average prices for soybeans in 2023 were $14.07 per bushel, down from the record average of $14.85 in 2022.

In central Minnesota, Hulinsky estimated corn prices of about $3.80 a bushel in 2025 and $9.50 per bushel for soybeans.

“Something has to give. Farmers can’t continually operate at a deficit,” he said. “They need to generate revenue somewhere to offset that.”

More information

For market values, worksheets and other resources, visit the following websites:

Agricultural business management: extension.umn.edu/managing-farm FINBIN data base: finbin.umn.edu Minnesota Ag Statistical Service: nass.usda.gov Farmland sales: landeconomics.umn.edu/ Lease examples: aglease101.org Fair Rent program: fairrent.umn.edu

Fair farm rental agreement workshops continue into December. Check out the full schedule at the U of M Extension website.

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What Project 2025 lays out for American agriculture

Noah Fish — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:00:00 GMT

With Republicans winning the White House and the U.S. Senate and control of the U.S. House still not officially determined as of Nov. 13 but favoring Republicans, attention turns to what the party will do with that power. Among the hot-button topics are agriculture policy, nutrition and conservation — all of which involve the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Many have looked to Project 2025 for answers. Created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, with buy-in from more than 100 additional conservative groups, the project bills itself as a "presidential transition project" and calls itself officially "Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise," building off its first "Mandate for Leadership" published in 1981 before President Ronald Reagan's first term in office. The document played a large role in the Reagan administration's policies. Project 2025 is the ninth such election-cycle document produced by the Heritage Foundation.

Republicans, including former President and current President-elect Donald Trump, have repeatedly distanced themselves from Project 2025, even though several contributors to the 920-page conservative manifesto served in Trump's first administration or are now on the shortlist for appointees in a second Trump term.

When asked by Agweek about his stance on the agricultural policy of Project 2025, U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, a farmer and a Republican who represents Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, said he didn't have one.

"I've never seen it, never read it, and I think it's one of the biggest misinformation slash make a political issue out of nothing case that we've seen," Finstad said of Project 2025. "Quite frankly, the reason that the Democrats keep bringing (Project 2025) up is because they know they have a lot to be worried about. We have an economy that's struggling. We have an ag trade deficit. We have farmers that are hurting right now, and they don't have solutions, and this has all happened under their watch."

The agriculture chapter of Project 2025 was written by Daren Bakst, a conservative columnist and director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is a think tank that advocates for government deregulation.

Bakst did not respond for requests for comment for this article.

"There are a lot of conservative columnists that write a lot of things," Finstad said. "It is insincere, and it is quite frankly a disservice to the general public to directly try to associate politicians with things that outside groups may or may not have wrote, or may or may not support."

Project 2025 lays out some sweeping changes to existing ag policy. Here are some examples of the policies suggested in the document. To read for yourself, visit: project2025.org/policy.

Repeal the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs

"Farmers eligible to participate in ARC or PLC are generally already able to purchase federal crop insurance, policies that protect against shortfalls in expected revenue whether caused by lower prices or smaller harvests," writes Bakst. "The ARC program is especially egregious because farmers are being protected from shallow losses, which is another way of saying minor dips in expected revenue."

Cut government subsidies for crop insurance

"On average, taxpayers cover about 60 percent of the premium cost for policies purchased in the federal crop insurance program," writes Bakst. "One of the most widely supported and bipartisan policy reforms is to reduce the premium subsidy that taxpayers are forced to pay. At a minimum, taxpayers should not pay more than 50 percent of the premium. After all, taxpayers should not have to pay more than the farmers who benefit from the crop insurance policies."

End the sugar program, which manages U.S. sugar production to keep prices high

"The federal government should not be in the central planning business, and the sugar program is a prime example of harmful central planning," writes Bakst. "Its very purpose is to limit the sugar supply in order to increase prices. The program has a regressive effect, since lower-income households spend more of their money to meet food needs compared to higher income households."

Move USDA food and nutrition programs to the Department of Health and Human Services

"Because means-tested federal programs are siloed and administered in separate agencies, the effectiveness and size of the welfare state remains largely hidden," writes Bakst. "There are means-tested food-support programs in the USDA (specially FNS), whereas most means-tested programs are at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). All means-tested antipoverty programs should be overseen by one department—specifically HHS, which handles most welfare programs."

Reform SNAP by re-implementing work requirements, reform WIC and state voucher system and return to the original purpose of schools meals

"To serve students in need and prevent the misuse of taxpayer money, the next Administration should focus on students in need and reject efforts to transform federal school meals into an entitlement program," writes Bakst.

Constrict or eliminate the Conservation Reserve Program

"Farmers should not be paid in such a sweeping way not to farm their land," writes Bakst. "If there is a desire to ensure that extremely sensitive land is not farmed, this should be addressed through targeted efforts that are clearly connected to addressing a specific and concrete environmental harm. The USDA should work with Congress to eliminate this overbroad program."

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Minnesota RDO facility gets upsized to fit today’s massive equipment

Michael Johnson — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:00:00 GMT

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — A remodel of the RDO Equipment Company in Fergus Falls was brought up 15 years ago, when RDO acquired the business from Interstate Service, also a John Deere equipment dealer. The work towards making that remodel a reality began in earnest about three years ago. One big reason behind that remodel included a need to fit the growing size of equipment inside for service.

“We knew when we acquired this location that it was going to need something bigger,” said Kacey Lindstrom, RDO Equipment store manager in Fergus Falls. “There was a time, three years ago, when one of the newer combines came in here that we had to take the air out of the tires in order for it to even fit in the door. That’s obvious. We couldn't fit some things inside without taking duals off.”

There was a need for a larger footprint in both height and width to maintain service and do so safely, Lindstrom explained. A groundbreaking for the project began in April 2023.

On Aug. 27, the equipment, parts and service center reopened its doors with an entire face-lift and increased space that the crew is excited to utilize.

The project addressed more than 30,000 square feet of refreshed and new floor space. A 10-bay service shop with increased door size allows big equipment inside the new 12,000-square-foot shop. Five-ton cranes inside fully cover the shop’s needs. The center has a designated service center for lawn and garden equipment repairs, as well. The business also has five service trucks and three service technicians that can work on equipment in the field.

Following a grand reopening, the facility was alive with activity with five combines and a couple of tractors parked inside for service with plenty of room to spare. That many combines inside is a sign that farmers are prepping for fall harvest.

With the expansion of the facility also comes an additional five staff members to the team, Lindstrom said. That includes three new service technicians. She said that would help them be even more responsive to the urgent needs of producers in the region. Lindstrom has been a part of the Fergus Falls team for a decade and has been with RDO for about 19 years.

A smaller but powerful part of the innovations at the new facility is the addition of a vertical lift module which stores an expansive amount of parts in one enclosed space. When team members need a part, they can enter in the part code on a screen and the parts are moved down from their trays from high overhead and lowered at waist height for staff to retrieve. Austin Aasness, a parts specialist at the store, plucked the parts he needed on Tuesday and said the new module added significant efficiencies to his work.

The parts side of the business is a busy one, as more and more farmers are holding onto equipment and maintaining what they have.

“We’re currently in that shift of the sales are going down. We’re in an unpredictable time, grain prices are not good,” Lindstrom said. In the last couple of years, they have seen more people keeping and maintaining equipment, which has led to an increase in their parts sales.

Lindstrom said they stand ready to provide equipment users with advisement on how to keep their equipment working or to offer service themselves.

“We are always available we have our connected support, and service support and parts support,” Lindstrom said.

The Fergus Falls location is one of more than 80 RDO Equipment locations across the U.S. along with partnerships in Africa, Australia, Mexico, and Ukraine.

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