American ranchers and farmers are being told the current administration is riding to their rescue. New executive orders, “Ranchers First” initiatives, talk of cutting red tape on processing, and promises of support…
Category: markets
Brace for Diesel Above $7 National Average and Elevated Prices for Years to Come
American farmers are staring down another brutal hit to their bottom lines. The national average for on-highway diesel has already climbed past $6.50 a gallon in recent weeks. The EIA reported $6.529…
Prediction Markets Are Coming to Agriculture. What Could Go Wrong?
Prediction markets have arrived in agriculture. Platforms like Kalshi added a commodities tab earlier this year, letting users trade simple yes/no contracts on outcomes such as whether December corn futures would close…
When Diesel Breaks the Signs: California’s $9.99 Limit Meets the Golden Age of Expensive Freedom
California gas station signs were never designed for the American golden age. Those digital displays, capped at a cheerful $9.99 per gallon, assumed a world of relative normalcy. They did not account…
Talking a Big Game on Ranchers While Flooding the Market with Foreign Beef
President Donald Trump and the USDA are making plenty of noise about standing up for American cattle producers. They talk about giving ranchers more power to process and sell their own meat….
America Put a Casino in Every Pocket and Now We’re Seeing the Cost
In less than a decade, America has conducted one of the largest gambling experiments in modern history. A product once largely confined to casinos, racetracks and illegal bookmakers is now available 24…
USDA’s Ranchers First Plan Is Damage Control After Flooding the Market with Cheap Beef
American ranchers have spent years watching their cattle herd shrink to a 75-year low. High input costs, drought, regulatory pressure, and now a deliberate influx of tariff-free foreign beef have hammered profitability…
A Reality Check on the Farm Economy: Higher Grain Prices Aren’t Closing the Gap
Corn and soybean prices have climbed recently. Nearby corn futures have traded around $5.00 to $5.05 per bushel, with December contracts higher still, and soybeans near $12.30. Cash bids in many areas…
Trump’s Tariff Lift on Foreign Beef Feels Like a Betrayal for American Cattle Producers
American cattle producers woke up Friday to another gut punch from Washington. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign…
Rail Consolidation Threatens Already Strained Farm Margins
American farmers already face squeezed margins and rising costs. A proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is adding another layer of concern about industry concentration that could make things worse….