The Big Show

Our coverage of the Iowa FFA State Leadership Convention continues today with Jennifer Holliday joining us from Ames talking with current and former FFA students, ag educators, and former Iowa FFA Alumni Association board member Steve Dolch. Jennifer's reports from the conference are being brought to you by the Iowa Soybean Association and the Soybean Checkoff. We are also joined today by some of the ISA leadership. President-elect Suzanne Shirbrun talks with us about the ISA's partnership with the Iowa FFA Foundation to help fund FFA programs across the state including many in rural Iowa with less funding. Joe McClure from the ISA Research Center for Farming Innovation talks about a recent grant they received from USDA. And ISA Research Agronomist Scott Nelson talks about the upcoming planting season, concerns he hears from producers, and tips he gives.

It's State FFA Convention time in Ames! Jennifer Holliday has her boots on the ground talking with convention student and teacher participants about many of the different competitions, state officer elections, and how to participate in FFA. Jamey Kohake is today's market analyst from Paragon Investments keys us in on what is causing corn, soybeans, wheat, and livestock to all push higher today. We also catch up with Tim Meyer from the Steffes Group about their online auction options and how to get on this spring's schedule.

We continue with the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers in celebrating our 170th Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award winners - the Volkert Family in Holstein, Iowa! We start the hour talking with Elizabeth Zobel, granddaughter of Lane and Lori Volkert, about her future as an ag education teacher. We also catch up with Alex Frazier from Frazier Nursery who provides the Burr Oak tree awarded to the winners of the GFN Award about the reasoning behind choosing the Burr Oak and how to choose the right tree for your farm. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig joins us again with his sentiments on the Volkert Family and the importance of livestock agriculture and the many generational family farms in Iowa. We end today's show with Jamey Kohake from Paragon Investments with a look at todays markets with soybeans falling from highs earlier in the day and corn a bit lower approaching the close.

Today we present the 170th Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award to the Volkert Family in Holstein, IA alongside the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers! Bob Quinn started the show chatting with Janet and Lane Volkert about their farm operation, the contributions of Larry Volkert - the late husband of Janet and brother of Lane, and the GFN Award. Kody Havens with the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers talks about what he does with the Coalition helping livestock producers in Iowa get started. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig also joins us with his thoughts on the wonderful efforts of the Volkert family for many generations and talks about the beginning of the 2023 planting season. To wrap up the hour we hear from Bob Butcher, who nominated the Volkerts for the award, about what makes them such good farm neighbors.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper updates us on the status of year-round E-15 sales in 2023; one year to the day after last year's emergency waiver announcement by President Biden. Southwest Iowa producer Chris Gasser tells us what conditions are looking like in his field with recent weather conditions and how the rye cover crop on the Gasser farm is being used in a new rye whiskey! Brian Hoops from Midwest Market Solutions close up the show with us today looking at targets for new crop corn and soybeans.

Iowa State University Extension Agronomist Gentry Sorenson in Northwest Iowa gives us an update on soil moisture heading into planting season and what kind of presence corn root worm may have this year in that part of Iowa. Midwest Market Solutions' Brian Hoops updates us on today's market activity and gives us a look into what conditions are like in the upper plains states still melting away snow. We also have info from the Iowa Pork Producers Association on how to submit nominations for the 2023 Iowa's Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin contest!

Nick Tinsley from BASF joins the show with a preview of how widespread corn root worm may be in the 2023 growing season and what traits BASF offers to combat it. Today in the Iowa farm Bureau Spotlight on Rural Iowa, Tama County Farm Bureau President Cordt Holub talks about his experience with Iowa Farm Bureau and tells us what he says to other young people in ag about the benefits of leadership with IFBF. We close up for the day with Don Roose from US Commodities talking about the pressure today's WASDE has been putting on the futures trade.

Newly named CEO of Platinum Crush, Erik Lightner, tells us about their opening coming up next spring and the amount of soybeans they will be processing once they are operational. Don Roose with US Commodities runs down the numbers from the 11:00 WASDE Report from the USDA and tells us how they are affecting grain markets at midday.

State Climatologist Justin Glissan gives us a weather outlook heading into planting season as we shift out of La Nina conditions and he says this was the 4th wettest winter on record! Greg "Machinery Pete" Petersen joins us with a look at how strong the used machinery markets are and he says they haven't cooled off going into 2023 as he thought they might. We wrap up the day with Jamey Kohake on a quiet trade day for corn and soybeans coming out of the long holiday weekend

Angie Rieck-Hinz, an agronomist with Iowa State University Extension, says that while soil temperature may not be holding many people back from planting this week, soil moisture could be a reason to hold off a few more days. Jamey Kohake from Paragon Investments joins us with a look at the commodity markets on a "lackluster" trade day as he says; with little movement in corn and soybeans. We get our weekly land and equipment sales update from Tim Meyer from the Steffes Group as he gives an update on the Steffes calendar as well as a peek at what he has seen around the Midwest for fieldwork activities this spring.