Wednesday October 14 Ag News - Weekly Crop Progress Info - CVA Returns $5.4M+ Thru Equity Redemptions - EPA Proposal for RVO Reallocation - Cover Crop, Manure Mgt Workshop in LeMars - and more!

Nebraska Crop Progress: Harvest Gains Momentum, Still Behind Average

After weeks of wet weather, Nebraska producers made significant harvest progress with 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Oct. 11. However, soybean harvest remains well behind its usual pace, and corn harvest is also trailing normal. Winter wheat planting is nearing completion at 81%, only slightly behind the five-year average.

Topsoil moisture supplies rated 7% very short, 18% short, 59% adequate and 16% surplus, while subsoil moisture rated 12% very short, 22% short, 55% adequate and 11% surplus.

Field Crops Report

Corn
    Mature: 91% — equal to the five-year average.
    Harvested: 27% — behind the five-year average of 35%.
    Condition: 5% very poor, 15% poor, 32% fair, 36% good and 12% excellent.

Soybean
    Dropping leaves: 95% — behind the five-year average of 97%.
    Harvested: 26% — behind 55% for the five-year average.
    Condition: 3% very poor, 11% poor, 31% fair, 42% good and 13% excellent.

Winter Wheat
    Planted: 81% — behind 85% for the five-year average.
    Emerged: 48% — behind 59% for the five-year average.

Sorghum
    Mature: 77% — behind 84% for the five-year average.
    Harvested: 17% — behind 30% for the five-year average.
    Condition: 6% very poor, 15% poor, 37% fair, 37% good and 5% excellent.

Pasture and Range 
    Condition: 26% very poor, 21% poor, 28% fair, 24% good and 1% excellent.

Data for this news release were provided at the county level by USDA Farm Service Agency, Nebraska Extension and other reporters across the state.

Editor’s note: Year-ago comparisons are unavailable because USDA NASS did not release Crop Progress reports during this period in 2025 due to a lapse in federal funding.




Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report

There were 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Oct. 11, 2026. Topsoil moisture condition rated 5 percent short, 72 percent adequate, and 23 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 6 percent short, 72 percent adequate, and 22 percent surplus. 

Ninety-five percent of corn has reached maturity, which is on par with the five-year average. Fourteen percent of corn has been harvested, which is 20 percentage points behind the five-year average. Corn condition rated 71 percent good to excellent. 

Ninety-four percent of soybeans are dropping leaves, which is 2 percentage points behind the five-year average. Thirty-one percent of soybeans have been harvested, which is 28 percentage points behind the five-year average. Soybean condition rated 69 percent good to excellent. 

Pasture condition rated 72 percent good to excellent.



USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report

A week of dry weather helped farmers advance corn and soybean harvests, though both remained slightly behind the five-year average, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released Tuesday. The report, which is normally released on Mondays, was delayed this week due to the Columbus Day holiday.

CORN
-- Crop development: Corn mature was pegged at 91%, steady with the five-year average.
-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 33% of corn had been harvested nationally as of Oct. 11, 6 percentage points behind the five-year average of 39%. 
-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 56% of the crop remaining in fields was in good-to-excellent condition, 2 percentage points higher than the previous week's 54%. Seventeen percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, 1 percentage point below the previous week's 18%.

SOYBEANS
-- Crop development: Soybeans dropping leaves were pegged at 92%, 2 percentage points behind the five-year average of 94%.
-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 46% of soybeans had been harvested as of Sunday, 4 percentage points behind the five-year average of 50%. 
-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 57% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, steady with the previous week.

WINTER WHEAT
-- Planting progress: Winter wheat planting was estimated at 51% complete nationally, 7 percentage points behind the five-year average of 58%. 
-- Crop development: Winter wheat emerged was estimated at 27%, 5 percentage points behind the five-year average 32%.



CVA Returns $5.47 Million to Member-Owner Through Equity Redemptions

The Central Valley Ag (CVA) is returning $5.47 million to patrons through revolving and age-based equity redemptions approved by the CVA Board of Directors.

The total includes $4.17 million in revolving equity redemptions for equity earned in 2014 and approximately $1.3 million in age-based equity redemptions to eligible patrons.

“Returning equity is an important part of delivering value to our member-owners and recognizing their continued investment in the cooperative,” said Nic McCarthy, CVA president and CEO. “Their support allows CVA to continue investing in the cooperative while returning value when our financial performance allows.”

As an owner of CVA, a member’s business is returned in the form of cash patronage or reinvested into the cooperative as equity. That equity is then used to strengthen and improve the cooperative’s ability to serve its members. When the cooperative performs well, the board may vote to issue revolving equity redemptions, providing cash back as a return on the member’s investment in the cooperative.

Age-based equity provides another opportunity for CVA to return value to eligible patrons. The $1.3 million in age-based equity included in this redemption is qualified and non-taxable.

“As a cooperative, our strength comes from the members we serve,” said Luke Carlson, CVA board chairman. “These redemptions are another way we can recognize that support while continuing to build a strong cooperative for the future.”

Revolving equity may be qualified or non-qualified, which will be indicated on the check stub. Qualified revolving equity will be nontaxable in the 2026 tax year, while non-qualified equity will be taxable.

When combined with expected patronage for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2026, which is set to be paid in November 2026, CVA will continue to return significant value to its patrons. Investments made on behalf of members, along with their continued utilization, help strengthen the cooperative and its ability to serve member-owners into the future.



HUSKER RESEARCHERS EXPLORE HIDDEN NITROGEN, NEW WAYS TO REDUCE GROUNDWATER RISK
(updated with correct funding amount)

A University of Nebraska–Lincoln research team has received a three-year, $496,722 National Science Foundation grant to investigate an understudied reservoir of organic nitrogen that may shape groundwater quality long after nitrogen management strategies are in place. A separate five-year, $570,000-plus award from the Nebraska Corn Board will help the researchers evaluate approaches that may proactively reduce nitrate risk before it reaches groundwater.

Clean groundwater is vital to drinking water supplies, agriculture and rural communities, but nitrogen contamination remains a persistent challenge. About four out of five Nebraskans drink groundwater. Much of it sits beneath some of the most productive agricultural land in the world. Nitrogen fertilizer is a critical crop nutrient; however, when it leaves the root zone, it becomes a loss to the farmer and a concern for drinking water.

The puzzling part is what happens when nitrogen management practices are improved. Nitrate levels in some Nebraska wells continue to rise, even years after modern nutrient strategies to reduce excess nitrogen use have been implemented. A research team based at the Nebraska Water Center thinks the explanation lies in historical nitrogen stores buried in the deep vadose zone between the surface and the water table. The two new awards will support collaborative efforts to better understand these underground processes and evaluate proactive solutions.

Nebraska Water Center researchers have studied the vadose zone for four decades to understand how nutrients, including nitrogen, move from the land surface to the groundwater. The vadose zone is a critical region for the storage, transport and transformation of chemicals that can affect groundwater quality.

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient present in many forms and is applied as a fertilizer to crops like corn. While these plants take up the nutrients they need, any remaining nitrogen can convert into mobile nitrate. However, the process of particular interest to the Husker research team is if this mobile nitrate may react with soil carbon through microbes to become bound as organic nitrogen in the deeper soil layers. This reaction could potentially act as a slow-release reservoir that gradually breaks down and generates new nitrate years later in the deep vadose zone, moving toward the groundwater.

Nebraska Water Center researchers have found that organic nitrogen accounts for a large majority of total nitrogen stored in Nebraska’s deep vadose zone. While most studies of that underground nitrogen reservoir measure nitrate, the research team measures everything else, too.

“Most of the nitrogen down there isn’t nitrate at all,” said Arindam Malakar, assistant research professor at the Nebraska Water Center and the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, who leads the new project and is part of the School of Natural Resources. “It’s organic nitrogen, locked in forms nobody has been counting. It can break down slowly and may keep making new nitrate long after the fertilizer is gone.”

In conjunction with the NSF funding, the research team is also investigating a novel nitrate remediation approach currently under development. The goal is reducing the amount of nitrate in the vadose zone that becomes a groundwater contaminant, entering drinking water sources and creating challenges for communities and well owners. The Nebraska Corn Board, through corn checkoff funds, has supported the project “Remediation of Nitrate Plume Within the Vadose Zone, Being Proactive to Protect Groundwater Quality,” with more than $570,000 across five years, subject to the board's annual proposal review and approval.

“The primary reason we want to do it is to reduce the cost of treating water,” Malakar said.

Rather than treating water after it reaches the aquifer, the work focuses on nitrate while it is still held in the vadose zone above the water table, which is expected to be more efficient and economical. Preliminary estimates suggest the approach could be less expensive than current water treatment processes that cities and communities use to treat groundwater to safe levels for drinking water.

Initial controlled laboratory studies have shown promising results. Researchers will next evaluate the approach across soil conditions representative of different landscapes across Nebraska and assess effectiveness, repeatability, environmental safety, feasibility and regulatory considerations before any potential field deployment.

Malakar said the appeal of the approach is timing.

“By the time you see nitrate in a well, the decision that put it there was made a long time ago,” he said. “Once it’s in the aquifer, you’re paying to take it back out.”

Malakar envisions a future where the technology is deployed across Nebraska, reducing the amount of nitrate in the vadose zone that becomes a contaminant in the groundwater. That is several years out and contingent on results at every stage, from laboratory experiments to controlled field testing. But if it works, the project’s success could reduce the treatment burden on communities that rely on groundwater.

To meet the research team and learn more about its vadose zone research, visit https://go.unl.edu/vadosestory.



Cover Crop and Manure Management Field Day To Be Held in Le Mars Nov. 3

Iowa Learning Farms will host a cover crop and manure management field day as part of their “Beyond the Basics: Advanced Cover Crop Series” in Le Mars on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from noon to 2 p.m. The event is open to farmers and landowners at no cost and includes a complimentary meal.

“Cover crops play a key role in ensuring healthy land and water resources in our state. Although livestock manure can add another moving piece, it also offers an opportunity to diversify nutrient sources needed for crop production,” said Mitch Harting, water outreach specialist with Iowa Learning Farms. “This field day will offer more insights into how cover crops and manure can be used together to maximize their benefits.”

The field day will feature Leah Ten Napel, field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, who will share the important role cover crops play on the landscape and how they can be integrated into a corn-soybean system. Daniel Andersen, associate professor and extension manure management specialist with Iowa State, will discuss how manure can be integrated into systems with living cover. The field day will also feature Tony Schroeder, local farmer and Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner, who will share about his experiences using cover crops and manure on his farm.

The field day will begin at the upper level of the Le Mars Convention Center, located at 275 12th St SE, Le Mars. It will continue at the Tony Schroeder Farm, located on the corner of K64 and 230th St. 

The event is open to farmers and landowners, though reservations are required to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP, please contact Harting at 515-294-8912 or ilf@iastate.edu by Oct. 27. Attendees will be entered in a drawing for Iowa State Prairie Strips honey.

Iowa Learning Farms field days and workshops are supported by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information, visit Iowa Learning Farms website https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/.  



ISA Welcomes EPA Proposal for Full Biofuel Reallocation

The Iowa Soybean Association Tuesday welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to fully reallocate renewable fuel volumes lost to 2025 small refinery exemptions under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Protecting the historic renewable fuel volumes established in the 2026-2027 Renewable Volume Obligation rule is critical to sustaining domestic biofuel demand and supporting Iowa soybean farmers as they navigate ongoing economic pressures and seek stronger markets for their crops.

“We thank Administrator Zeldin and the Trump administration for signaling their commitment to farmers by proposing to restore 100% of biofuel demand lost to 2025 small refinery exemptions,” said Lee Brooke, ISA president and soybean farmer from Clarinda. “Iowa farmers are navigating a challenging farm economy while bringing in this year’s crop. This proposal offers the potential for greater certainty and much-needed domestic demand for soybeans if finalized later this year. We’re encouraged by this step forward and urge the EPA to finalize the rule swiftly to help provide the market certainty farmers need.”



Iowa Corn Growers Welcome EPA Proposed  Ethanol Rule

The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) thanks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Trump Administration, and our champions in Congress for their support of Iowa’s corn farmers and the biofuels industry. Yesterday, Iowa Corn leaders met with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to ask for reallocation so biofuel demand would not be harmed.  Iowa Corn has worked for years pointing out to current and past administrations the negative impact of small refinery waivers.  Iowa Corn first pointed this out in a White House meeting in 2019 that small refinery waivers should be reallocated, so no harm is done to corn growers.  With a long road behind us, today, Administrator Zeldin announced a proposed rule that would reallocate 100 percent of the 2025 waived small refinery exemption volumes to the renewable fuel volume requirements.

ICGA President Steve Kuiper a farmer from Knoxville issued the following statement: “Iowa’s corn farmers welcome the EPA’s proposals to provide reliable opportunities for market access. As farmers harvest, we prove year after year that we can deliver a bountiful crop. The Trump Administration and EPA are sending a strong market signal that energy independence matters, while supporting farmers and biofuels producers.”

Iowa Corn requested that EPA finalize a proposed rule streamlining regulations around ethanol including E15 usage in existing infrastructure and supporting opening new markets in the marine industry such as maritime fuel.  Iowa Corn appreciates EPA Administrator Zeldin’s time he took to visit with Iowa farmers. 



IRFA Applauds EPA Draft Rule to Fully Reallocate Lost RFS Volumes From Refinery Exemptions

Tuesday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin released a draft rule that fully reallocates volumes lost due to refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), marking an important first step toward ensuring the integrity of the RFS providing greater certainty for farmers and biofuel producers.

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw issued the following statement:

“Biofuels producers and farmers will sleep easier tonight knowing that the draft reallocation rule is moving quickly towards finalization. Today is a great first step, and we thank Administrator Zeldin and the EPA for sending a strong signal to farmers and biofuels producers that these gallons matter. Fully reallocating the lost gallons will ensure the robust 2026-2027 RFS blending levels remain intact, thereby supporting Iowa’s biofuels plants and providing the market certainty our industry needs to keep growing. We appreciate EPA’s action and look forward to submitting comments during the process. We hope the rule can be finalized expeditiously.”



ASA Backs EPA Proposal for Full Biofuel Reallocation

The American Soybean Association welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to fully reallocate renewable fuel volumes lost to 2025 small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Maintaining the historic renewable fuel volumes established in the 2026-2027 Renewable Volume Obligation rule is a priority for ASA as soybean farmers work to protect domestic biofuel demand amid continued economic pressures.

“ASA applauds Administrator Zeldin and the Trump Administration for keeping their commitment to farmers and proposing to restore 100% of biofuel volume impacted by 2025 small refinery exemption actions,” said ASA Vice President Dave Walton, an Iowa soybean farmer. “Soybean farmers are navigating a tough farm economy, and the administration’s strong domestic biofuel policies will continue to drive much-needed market demand in the U.S. We are encouraged by today’s proposal and urge EPA to get it across the finish line quickly.”

ASA urges EPA to finalize this supplemental rulemaking to reallocate biofuel volumes as quickly as possible.



Corn Farmers Thank EPA for Reallocation Announcement

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Tuesday that it is proposing to reallocate 100% of the difference between projected and actual exempted gallons lost to small refinery exemptions in the 2025 renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard. In response to this development, Matt Frostic, Michigan corn farmer and NCGA president, released the following statement: 

"We are pleased to see that the administration has kept its pledge to protect farmers and biofuel producers while administering this critical program, and we appreciate that biofuel producers will be kept whole with the reallocation of all waived volumes.  

“Biofuels provide essential energy supplies for our nation, and corn farmers are proud to contribute to our nation’s energy security. We hope that the Renewable Fuel Standard and the small refinery exemption program are managed with certainty in the years to come."  

NCGA will submit comments to EPA ahead of the December 4 deadline. 



Stagnant Cutout Values
David Anderson, Extension Specialist – Texas A&M University

While cattle prices have declined sharply since July, the Choice boxed beef cutout value has seen little movement. The cutout value represents the value of the seven primal beef cuts in the proper proportion of the carcass. Cutout values are often used as a good representation of the wholesale value of the beef carcass. 

The Choice cutout declined from $397 per cwt the week before the July 4th holiday to $363 per cwt by the first week of August. Declining cutout values in the weeks following Independence Day are the normal seasonal price pattern. Cutout values tend to increase leading up to Labor Day, and they did this year, climbing back to a weekly average of $388 by late August, although the expected Labor Day price rally was muted. The Choice cutout has since remained in a range between $374 and $379. While the cutout remains at historically high levels, it has been below last year’s Labor Day surge. So, comparing to last year’s price levels is a bit misleading in that last September’s $413 per cwt price peak was a record high, except for two weeks in May 2020 when COVID shut packing plants. 

Among the primal cut values that make up the cutout, the primal rib is the only one climbing in value and hitting new highs for the year. The Choice Primal Rib value hit $667 for the week of October 2nd. The rib normally increases seasonally up to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Wholesale ribeyes appear to be starting their pre-holiday run, with wholesale prices increasing almost $200 per cwt in the last 4 weeks to $1665 per cwt. 

Most of the rest of the primal cuts, round, brisket, plate, and flank, have been declining in value as they often do seasonally. The decline in the primal flank value has been especially striking, down 27 percent compared to a year ago and 36 percent lower than its peak in June. Flank values normally decline into fall, but this year’s decline has been much larger than normal. Primal chucks have averaged about $330 per cwt since early 2026. 

Where to From Here?
The Choice beef cutout tends to decline slightly in the fall. Beef production normally increases, and changing consumer purchases result in lower prices. This fall, continued tight beef supplies should keep the overall cutout value historically high. Given the normal seasonal pattern, it is difficult to see sharply higher cutout values boosting cattle prices.