MID-WEST FARM REPORT - MADISON

In today's global market, getting your product to the customer quicker is an advantage.  Jill Welke talks with a Wisconsin farmer and a representative from SE Asia. Casey Kellaher, a WI corn grower & Caleb Wirth- Regional Director US Grains & Bioproducts Council based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia discuss what that region of the world's looking for. 

They say it's not just one commodity but many.  Another beautiful day on the way for all of Wisconsin.  Stu Muck says fog will burn off mid-morning for another sunny day.  There is a chance for some showers overnight, but not much in the way of total rainfall.

Despite headlines mourning commodity prices, auction items are still holding value.  Ashley Huhn with the Steffes Group explains some individual items that have really performed well.  Paid for by Steffes Group.

Monday is the deadline for farmers and land owners to be involved in changing their base acres.  Larry Lee visits with Sandy Chalmers, state executive director of the WI Farm Service Agency offices.  She says there's been few farmers or land owners that wanted to opt out of the update, but communication is key.

Despite a bearish report from the recent ProFarmer Tour, markets are lower this morning.  John Heinberg, market advisor with Total Farm Marketing in West Bend breaks down where traders are focused - and it's not just grain. The announcement by the Trump administration that it's letting in Argentina beef to offset consumer prices infuriated the beef industry.  At the same time, the ProFarmer Crop Tour concluded with low expectations on corn and soybeans.  John says that's not a surprise.

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Accidents are never something to be taken lightly, especially if they occur on a farm.  Kiley Allan visits with senior fire chief, Jerry Minor from the Pittsville Fire Department.  Minor has dedicated his career on helping rural communities better serve the farmily community when accidents happen. He says agricultural workers face five times the fatality rate of the average U.S. worker, incurring an estimated $11.31 billion annually in costs from farm injuries and deaths. Minor has helped create the RF-DASH program.  This program pairs fire departments with local farms to pre-map hazards—such as utility shutoffs, confined spaces, and chemical storage—improving farm safety and firefighter preparedness without regulatory enforcement. Farm mapping and safety data are stored in a secure database hosted by Marshfield Clinic, restricted solely to authorized local fire department officers and never shared with insurance companies or external parties. Pre-mapped farm data gives first responders immediate access to vital site details while en route, allowing them to quickly locate family/employee meeting points and utility shutoffs during fires or rescues.

Not much to complain about in this week's forecast.  Stu Muck says temperatures will stay very moderate.  The chance of rain is minimal - so not much to slow down outdoor activities.

When farms get the go-ahead from their local NRCS officials on things like a waste storage plan, they want to act fast and get the project done correctly.  That's the same goal that JP Tank has.  Pam Jahnke introduces us to Josh Pipping, owner and operator of JP Tank.  Their entire focus is on big concrete projects around farms that help with manure management, feed storage and environmental protection systems.  Josh tells Pam Jahnke about JP Tanks close working relationship with NRCS offices to make sure projects conform to guidelines, making reimbursement for projects seamless.  Paid for by JP Tank.

Yield projections for the crop of 2026 are lower than we've seen over the past three years.  Farm broadcaster Andy Peterson wraps up the Pro Farmer Crop tour with corn and bean expectations.

Today, Dairy Business Association will endorse Tom Tiffany as their candidate for WI Governor.  While the campaigning continues, little work is getting done at the state capitol or in Washington on farm policy.  Will we get a Farm Bill 2.0 completed?  Teri Barr does a deeper dive on the possibilities with Mike Stranz, national vice president of advocacy for the National Farmers Union.  He thinks it's possible, but it's going to take focused attention from both parties to get it over the finish line.

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Farmers have evaluated their fertilizer this year very closely.  With escalated costs and lower commodity prices, creativity and ingenuity are key.  Larry Lee focuses in on the practices of John Eron.  Eron is a leader in his local watershed, and a past recipient of the Leopold Conservation Award.  He says that he adjusted how he used the fertilizer he had available, and found extra savings by reinvigorating older, used equipment on the farm.

Beautiful weekend on the way!  Stu Muck doesn't think there's measurable rain in the Friday forecast, and the rest of the weekend looks cool and comfortable.  Great news for all the folks involved in local county fairs and the Badger Steam & Gas Engine show.

Farmers want to do their part to keep their neighborhood and farmstead clean.  Revolution Company wants to help.  The company rolled out a free service for Wisconsin farms just before the pandemic.  Landon Taylor, national sales director for Revolution Company says they've been field tested and improved thanks to Wisconsin farms.  Taylor says the company was basically going "where no one had gone before" with free collection bin distribution and free pick-up statewide. There were some challenges, but he says the one thing that made everyone stronger was sharing the stories, and making the improvements needed.  Brian Jordan can attest to that.  He's one of the managers at Jordan Ag in Monroe.  They're a partner with Revolution Company in bringing that recycled plastic full circle by selling items like bale wrap.  Jordan says when they heard the story of Revolution, they knew it fit their business model - and it has.

Wisconsin hemp producers remain on the bubble about their crops future.  Larry Lee attended the 2026 UW Hemp Field Day in Arlington which gathered researchers, interested growers and processors as well as policy makers.  He spoke with State Representative, Marueen McCarville from DeForest.  She says it's obvious the state has a vibrant hemp industry, and she hopes that the legislature will be able to find common ground when they return to work in September.  Protecting the industry may fall solely on the states shoulders if there's no resolution on the national scene.

The ProFarmer Crop Tour will announce their field results today in Rochester, MN.  Pam Jahnke previews some of their comments from Iowa and Minnesota farm fields.

We travel to Waupaca County today to recognize another Century Farm Family.  Teri Barr gets acquainted with  Paul and Linda Kirchner.   Paul and his family own one of two farms his grandfather purchased. Paul's brother owns the other farm, which was honored as a Century Farm a few years ago. Two family farms have now been awarded this special 100-year honor. Our Century/Sesquicentennial Farm Salutes are brought to you courtesy of Compeer Financial.

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Wisconsin Ag Secretary Randy Romanski says more farmers are calling for mental health counseling as financial stress increases.

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Field surveys are showing farmers will likely get a much-needed break from their most costly corn pest, the corn rootworm, as surveys are finding fewer rootworm beetles.

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Wisconsin Farm Service Agency Director Sandy Chalmers discusses deadlines for base acre changes and signing up for  payment limitation changes authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill.

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Southcentral Wisconsin farmer Kevin Klahn discusses corn and soybean conditions turning around after a just-in-time rainfall with Mid-West Farm Report's Larry Lee

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A business built on seven generations of hard work, resilience, and Wisconsin agriculture celebrates its 10-year anniversary of an initiative to fuel and produce local products to its community. Jenna Broege is the Sales and Marketing Specialist at Jones Market. She joins Kiley Allan with the history of the parent company, Jones Dairy Farm.

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The sobering statistic from RF-DASH is that people employed in agriculture are 5 times more likely to die on the job than the average US worker. They say non-fatal injuries are also high, and estimate that the total cost of farm injuries and fatalities is $11.31 billion every single year. Jerry Minor is the Chief at the Pittsville Fire Department. He tells us how Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health, otherwise known as the RF-DASH program, aims to give first responders access to information that saves critical time and lives.

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According to Tyler Walker, the sky's the limit when it comes to possibilities of drone utilization in cranberries. He's the manager of Walker Cranberry Company in Cranmoor, Wisconsin. While he used to depend on airplanes and helicopters for all of their insecticide, fungicide, and fertilizer application, he now has transitioned to doing it all by drone. Now in his fifth year of the transition, he says that although there was a learning curve, the cost savings now are evident.

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