An active west–east storm track brings Western mountain snow and periodic rain or wintry mix across the Plains, Midwest, and East with changeable temperatures. Best multi-day fieldwork: Southwest deserts, parts of the High Plains, and California valleys. Hazards include gusty fronts, a few strong Gulf storms, and spotty frost.
Cold plasma is moving into agriculture as a chemical-free tool for seed sanitation/priming, produce surface decontamination, and plasma-activated water. 2026 advances add compact, safe, modular systems. Benefits include residue-free sanitation and lower water use, with ROI situational. Limits involve dose tuning, coverage, throughput, and regulatory variability; pilots and monitoring recommended.
Guide to tracking U.S. ag policy: monitor Congress, USDA/EPA/DOL/USTR, courts, and states. Core themes include farm bill, appropriations, input regulation, labor, climate, trade, competition, and tech. Over the next week, watch funding talks, EPA decisions, labor guidance, and court orders; verify enrollments and contingency plans for inputs and labor.
Modular green ammonia brings small, renewable-powered ammonia plants to farms, using electrolysis and compact reactors to cut emissions, shipping and price volatility. Economics hinge on cheap electricity, utilization and incentives. With rigorous safety, co‑op models and precision agronomy, local production can bolster supply resilience despite scale, seasonality and workforce hurdles.
Holiday lull in U.S. ag policy, but early January brings action: Farm Bill talks, USDA funding decisions, and regulatory moves on pesticides, biofuels, and water. Trade frictions with North American partners and the EU persist. States convene. Producers should prep insurance, compliance, financing, and monitor agency calendars and Federal Register updates.
Year-end markets are flow-driven amid thin liquidity, paused issuance, and limited macro news. Rebalancing, tax moves, and window dressing dominate across equities, rates, credit, FX, and commodities. Watch year-end funding and repo, closing auctions, and headline risk. Early January activity and labor data will reset rate expectations and volatility.
December 27 has repeatedly shaped U.S. agriculture: pandemic aid in 2020 stabilized farms and food access; 2015's Blizzard Goliath devastated High Plains dairies; Pasteur’s 1822 birth anchors milk safety; 1945’s IMF/World Bank launch enabled trade; and the 1995 shutdown exposed reliance on USDA—underscoring preparedness, science, and financial stability.
Winter dominates U.S. ag weather: northern tier cold with light snow; South mild with Gulf showers; West sees periodic storms, mountain snow. Over seven days, 2-3 fronts bring shifting rain/snow near I-70/I-80, breezy passages, brief warmups then cool shots. Expect limited field windows, livestock cold stress, fog pockets.
Livestock farms increasingly install systems to capture ammonia from manure and convert it to fertilizer, driven by volatile nitrogen prices, emissions rules, and digester integration. Technologies include stripping/acid scrubbing, membranes, and electrochemical capture. Projects deliver odor and pollution reductions, ammonium salts, and nutrient management flexibility, with economics boosted by incentives.
With federal offices on holiday, agriculture policy saw little formal action, but stakeholders positioned on labor, water, pesticides, biofuels, trade, and finance. Expect a backlog of notices and resumed rulemaking, hearings, and enforcement early next week as Congress, agencies, courts, and states restart. Producers should prepare paperwork and monitor windows.
Holiday closures and thin liquidity muted U.S. market activity, with early equity and Treasury shutdowns, subdued FX/commodities, and minimal macro catalysts. Year-end mechanics: tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing, and funding turns dominated. Attention shifts to Friday’s reopening, delayed jobless claims, housing/manufacturing data, and cautious execution amid wider spreads and amplified moves.