For Kent Harfmann, Mantorville Township, Dodge County, Minnesota Saturday, September 19, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk.
Weather, Dodge County, MN
What this means for today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 3pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Wind 7 to 12 mph through the day (see the hour by hour table below). Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Source: NOAA National Weather Service via the MI Farm AI weather layer for Dodge County, MN, pulled this morning. Hour by Hour, the day ahead
Source: NOAA National Weather Service hourly forecast and station observations, pulled this morning. Wind this morning at your nearest weather station was about 14 mph, gusting about 22. Rain WindowWe could not get a reading right on your field this morning. The nearest weather station (Rochester MN, about 18 miles north) recorded 1.01 inches in the past 24 hours. Your own ground may differ, so check your gauge. Rain expected at your field: Next 24 hours: 0.00 inches expected Next 48 hours: 0.23 inches expected Next 72 hours: 0.30 inches expected Source: NOAA National Weather Service forecast and NOAA radar rainfall estimates, pulled this morning. Corn Today
Cash bid, your nearby buyers (best net after haul first)
Cash bid is each buyer's own posted local price (the local cash plus basis). Ranked best net after haul first (net is the cash bid minus the cost to truck it there). Patronage is money a co-op pays back on the bushels you deliver, often a few cents a bushel.
Local cash bids, as of 2026-09-18.
Grain and Livestock, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattleFriday's close. Markets closed for the weekend. These are the most recent settled prices; the boards reopen the next trading day. Cal's Grain Call: Price a portion of 40,500 bu corn at $5.04/bu via Crystal Valley, Mantorville Branch (a recommendation, see the factors).Corn: Grain in the bin is 2025 old crop corn; in September it prices on the old crop September board. Soybeans: The growing 2026 crop is new crop soybean; it prices on the November board.
Source: CME livestock futures. Cal's Market ReadAt Friday's close, corn slipped about 3 cents; and beans slipped about 16 cents. Recent trend, over the last 5 sessions, corn has eased and beans have firmed. That is the backdrop your cash bid is moving against. Here is our read on why. Cutting the other way, demand still reads firm per Brownfield Ag News: NFU says farm bill needs stronger safety net for farmers. Honest truth, the tape does not hand us one clean reason today, so take this as our best read, not gospel. Stocks point lower into the open, S&P futures off about 0.7 percent. A softer tape can tighten the credit and input-cost mood your lender watches, worth a glance, but it does not set your cash bid. Cal Wall Street, yesterday's close
WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOUR FIELDS Decision DeliveredYour decisions for today and the week ahead:
What to Watch Today
From Cal's News DeskThe 10 stories that moved across the wires since yesterday's Brief, sourced, dated, and verifiable. Each one carries Cal's review, the same one the news page shows, with a link to read it straight from the source. 1. NFU says farm bill needs stronger safety net for farmers
Rob Larew tells Brownfield that despite updates to farm programs in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, there are still huge gaps. "That little lift might prevent the Ag Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs from triggering in some cases. Larew says NFU will continue seeking improvements as the current farm bill moves through Congress, but the safety-net debate could extend into the next Congress. As much as we need a farm bill finished, and we do want that wrapped up, if there are remaining gaps in things like the safety net, we want to make sure we don't wait another five years for a farm bill conversation." Larew says the next step is getting the farm bill to the Senate floor, but it remains unclear when that will happen.
Read the full article. Brownfield Ag News, Fri Sep 18, 2026 3:45 PM CT 2. Back Home
I'd never considered myself part of the trendsetter crowd, but circumstance and timing put my brother Kevin and I into that mix more than 50 years ago when we started a beer-can collection. Chris Hardie and his wife, Sherry, live on his great-grandparents' Jackson County farm. His book " Back Home: Country Tales by the Seasons " is available through Amazon . Standing under an eastern hemlock tree near a thicket of lizard's tail in her backyard a tick's dream Casey Hamaker had flashbacks to the ...
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sat Sep 19, 2026 1:00 AM CT 3. Alumna employs biotech to create sustainable livestock production
Maximizing milk production in today's high-yielding dairy cows requires more than just meeting the required megajoules of energy.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sat Sep 19, 2026 1:00 AM CT 4. GDA Now Accepting Applications for 2027 Veterinary Education Loan Repayment Program
Eligible veterinarians have until Monday, November 2 nd, 2026, to submit their applications. The State Veterinary Education Board will review, determine, and announce award recipients later in the year. Published in Nature's Scientific Reports, new research from the University of Georgia showed highly pathogenic avian influenza, also [...] MADISON, Wis. One of the featured keynote speakers [...]
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Fri Sep 18, 2026 9:01 PM CT 5. 2026 USDA farm program signup opens
Bart Fischer at Texas A&M University says the yield picture is clearer. Fischer says there are still some unknowns, including where prices will move in the next year, which drives part of the ARC program, and all of the Price Loss Coverage program. We make one available based on USDA's latest projections. They had to go through adding 30 million base acres, and they're going to hit the limit, because they'll have to factor it back a little less than four percent." Sign-up for the 2026 programs runs through December 11 and will overlap with the start of signup for 2027 farm programs, which opens early November.
Read the full article. Brownfield Ag News, Fri Sep 18, 2026 3:55 PM CT 6. Plowboy Pete Vs. No-Till Ned
From 1972 to 1974, these two characters appeared in many issues. If you want to see if you can write a better caption for today's no-till conditions, please send it to me at lessitef@lessitermedia.com . On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, Allen Dornacker shares the benefits of using drywall in his compost mix in West Bend, Wis. Provide expert analysis and decision support to increase productivity and profitability.
Read the full article. No-Till Farmer, Fri Sep 18, 2026 11:00 PM CT 7. Trump says he's banning 3 outlets from White House in his latest attack on press freedom
White House Correspondent Liz Landers reports on the administration's latest test of First Amendment protections. But he, as you mentioned, says that these news outlets write negative news, though he did not specifically say which news stories he is talking about. CNN is still reporting from the White House, and they have also released a statement from CNN P.R. Kayan Taraporevala is an Associate Producer for PBS News Hour.
Read the full article. PBS NewsHour, Fri Sep 18, 2026 5:56 PM CT 8. Appeals court rejects swift deportation of immigrants to third countries
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that immigrants facing deportation to third countries must be given sufficient notice before being sent to nations where they have no ties. The ruling on Friday allows migrants to contest deportations to countries other than their place of origin. "I feel kidnapped," one of the men, Aristides Fernandez Garcia, said. "I think the fact that the administration is sending refugees to the most dangerous countries in the world, to countries run by corrupt autocrats where they've been arbitrarily detained and sent back to persecution and torture, shows that the administration has a complete disregard for due process, for international law and for human dignity," Arvey said.
Read the full article. ABC News, Fri Sep 18, 2026 11:01 PM CT 9. Missouri Farmers Care Opens Applications for Drive to Feed Kids Grants
The grants provide funding for local projects aimed at reducing food insecurity and helping Missouri families facing hunger. The Missouri Farmers Care Foundation Drive to Feed Kids is made possible through the generous support of Missouri agriculture and business partners, including: ADM, Brownfield Ag News, American Family Insurance, Missouri FQHC Rural Health Network, Nutra-Blend, MFA Incorporated, Show-Me America 250, FCS Financial, Missouri Corn Merchandising Council, The Poultry Federation, Jerry Litton Family Memorial Foundation, Smithfield Foods, Missouri Farm Bureau, Martin Rice, Missouri FFA Foundation, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, Hunter's Moon Run N Gun, Missouri's Electric Cooperatives, PivotBio, Beck's Hybrids, Missouri 4-H Foundation, Missouri Pork, and Missouri State Fair Foundation. A total of $250,000 will be awarded. In fact, communities like Fowler, Meade and Plains take "small" as a compliment.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Fri Sep 18, 2026 8:53 PM CT 10. Harvest Hit With More Rain Before Drydown Finally Arrives
A soggy stretch is bearing down on the Eastern Corn Belt and Great Lakes this weekend into next Tuesday, with an extra 1 to 3 inches of rain likely across much of Indiana and Ohio and roughly 0.5 to 2 inches in Michigan. Midweek stays cloudy and damp as the storm stalls east over Pennsylvania and New York, wrapping backside moisture into Michigan and Indiana while Ohio keeps getting solid rain through Thursday. The good news is that high pressure finally builds in over Lake Superior late next week, bringing sunshine, low humidity, and faster crop drydown right on through the following week, aside from a quick front around the 30th that drops a quarter inch to an inch. Looking ahead, early October turns drier than normal with only southern Indiana at risk of showers near the 6th, and temperatures running normal to below normal into mid October with nothing that points to an early frost.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Fri Sep 18, 2026 2:20 PM CT Around the WorldThe world news moving your markets this morning, the same read from Cal's desk that runs on your dashboard. China's August Soybean Imports Rise as Argentina Trims Harvest OutlookChina pulled in 12.14 million tonnes of soybeans in August, up 5.7 percent from July but slightly below last year, with eight month totals of 74.11 million tonnes just edging ahead of 2025's pace. Analysts credit Brazil's bumper harvest for keeping supplies flowing, even as China's pig herd shrinks and feed demand cools, leading most to expect full year imports to land flat or just under last year's record 111.83 million tonnes. Over in Argentina, the Rosario Grains Exchange nudged its soybean crop down to 47.8 million tonnes but bumped up corn to a range of 67.5 to 70.5 million tonnes, saying corn is winning the profitability battle for planting decisions. The exchange also raised its wheat forecast by 2.4 percent to 21 million tonnes on strong early crop conditions. Looming over all of it is a forecast record strength El Nino expected to peak this November or December, with ocean temperatures possibly running 3.5 to 4.0 degrees Celsius above normal, topping the old 2015 and 2016 record. That weather could bring severe flooding risk to southern Brazil and prolonged dryness with 40 degree heat to key states like Mato Grosso, which matters far more for next year's crop than this week's numbers do. Global Agriculture (via world wire). Read the full story.Local ObituariesNo local obituaries for your area in today's papers. Cal's ReceiptCal's Receipt is the running ledger of every call this desk made for your farm, what was at stake, whether you followed it, and what it actually saved (or cost). Append-only, and every dollar cites its source. You will find it on your farm Dashboard, on the Farm Services desk. Open the Dashboard from the button at the bottom of this Brief. Today in Farm SafetyWear a properly fitted dust mask or respirator in grain dust, moldy hay, and confinement barns. Years of breathing it cause farmer's lung and chronic bronchitis. A surgical mask is not enough for mold spores, match the respirator to the dust. Source: National Ag Safety Database; NIOSH agricultural respiratory health. Cal The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, FDR inauguration 1933On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated. In his first 100 days he signed the Emergency Banking Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the Civilian Conservation Corps Act, the legal foundation of every modern federal farm program. Source: National Archives FDR Presidential Library; USDA history office. [CAL'S QUIZ]
The Grange, one of the oldest US farm groups, was founded in 1867 under what fuller name?
(a) Patrons of Husbandry
(b) Farmers Alliance
(c) The Farm Bureau
(d) The Cornbelt League
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
The farmer came out of the bin covered in corn dust. His wife said, "You look like a doughnut." He said, "I feel like one too. Glazed and almost finished."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(a) Patrons of Husbandry. Oliver Kelley helped found the Grange, formally the Patrons of Husbandry, in 1867. Source: Library of Congress.
Your data stays yours. We sell nothing you buy. Your farm data is never sold, shared, or used to train outside models. It lives on hardware we control, not the public cloud. Loyalty in writing.
The MI Farm Brief is the independent daily farm intelligence brief that earns zero when you buy inputs. Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen is the editorial persona of the MI Farm AI desk, the AI-orchestrated production team that produces this Brief every working morning. The Monthly Receipt is signed by the Founder, MI Farm AI. Honest. Independent. Loyal. Transparent. The HILT Covenant.
LINKS TO YOUR FARM INTELLIGENCE
|
Signed by Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, Editor in Chief, The MI Farm AI Desk.