Late-February U.S. farm outlook: expect frontal passages bringing brief precipitation and wind, then cooler, drier breaks. Risks include intermittent frost, variable moisture from West storms to Plains/Midwest mix, and trafficability issues. Use short spray/topdress windows, protect blooms and livestock, time nitrogen with light rains, and monitor local forecasts.
Farm cold rooms using phase-change materials act as thermal batteries, enabling efficient pre-cooling and storage where power is scarce. By banking cold during sunny or low-tariff hours, they cut spoilage, fuel use, and compressor wear. The piece outlines design, operations, economics, best-fit cases, purchasing criteria, policy supports, and next steps.
U.S. agriculture policy is shifting through Congress, USDA rules, EPA decisions, trade moves, court orders, and statehouse bills. Near-term signals—appropriations riders, hearings, pesticide and fuel guidance, export actions, and litigation—could alter inputs, risk, labor, and market access. Producers should monitor dockets and deadlines as regulatory steps sway costs and prices.
Pearl Harbor reshaped U.S. agriculture: wartime mobilization imposed rationing, price controls, and guaranteed markets; labor shortages spurred Bracero, women/youth, and POW labor; Japanese American farmers were dispossessed; victory gardens proliferated; mechanization and fertilizers accelerated; and postwar policy frameworks emerged—offering lasting lessons on workforce, resilience, equity, and innovation.
December 6 marks pivotal shifts in U.S. agriculture: the 1865 abolition of slavery reshaped labor, land ownership, and spurred sharecropping, mechanization, and migration; the 2012 PNTR vote briefly expanded, then geopolitics curtailed, farm exports to Russia. Early December also signals regional field wrap-up, processing, and market planning—labor, markets, resilience.
Dec. 5 marks two forces shaping U.S. agriculture: the 1933 repeal of Prohibition, which revived markets for barley, hops, grapes, and distilling grains under state-regulated supply chains and New Deal tailwinds; and World Soil Day, spotlighting soil health practices that boost resilience, efficiency, and long-term farm profitability.
Founded December 4, 1867, the National Grange united farmers in a family-centered, nonpartisan movement for cooperation, education, and fair markets. It spurred co-ops, Granger Laws, Munn v. Illinois, and the Interstate Commerce Act, advanced Rural Free Delivery and extension, and still shapes rural institutions and debates over consolidation and infrastructure.
Across two centuries, December 3 marks pivotal shifts in U.S. agriculture: Illinois’s statehood and Corn Belt rise; Roosevelt’s federal irrigation push; Hoover’s risk-management turn amid crisis; Seattle’s WTO collapse reshaping trade politics; and Bhopal-driven chemical safety reforms—together underscoring enduring imperatives of stewardship, water security, resilient markets, standards, and community protection.
December 2 marks pivotal shifts shaping U.S. agriculture: EPA opened in 1970, tightening pesticides, water, air, and worker protections; ANILCA in 1980 protected Alaska lands and subsistence; the 1823 Monroe Doctrine shaped trade. Together, these milestones still steer risk, stewardship, and market access.
December 1 has repeatedly shaped U.S. agriculture: in 1862 Lincoln forwarded USDA’s first report, cementing federal research and reporting; in 1942 nationwide gas rationing forced farm logistics innovations; seasonally, it marks a planning pivot. The enduring lesson: transparent data and resilient supply chains underpin farm productivity.
November 30 marks turning points in U.S. agriculture: 1782 peace expanded boundaries; 1803 Louisiana transition enabled farm expansion; 1939 two Thanksgivings disrupted markets; 1999 Seattle protests spotlighted farm trade; 2018 USMCA reset North American rules; annually, hurricane season ends and EPA biofuel volumes set, shaping land use, demand, and prices.