For Sheridan Skala, Owatonna, Minnesota (Steele County, family farm heritage) Sunday, September 20, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk.
Weather, Steele County, MN
What this means for today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Wind 10 to 17 mph through the day (see the hour by hour table below). Source: NOAA National Weather Service via the MI Farm AI weather layer for Steele 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 10 mph. Rain WindowWe could not get a reading right on your field this morning. The nearest weather station (Owatonna MN, about 4 miles northeast) recorded no rain in the past 24 hours. Your own ground may differ, so check your gauge. Futures board reference (not your cash)
Friday close, board reopens Sunday 7pm CT. The board is a labeled futures reference, not your cash bid. Your cash and net after haul are below. Corn Today (Dec 2026 board)
Cash bid, your nearby buyers, ranked by net after haul, best first
Cash bid is each buyer's own posted local price (the local cash plus basis). Ranked by net after haul, best first (ties break to the shorter haul, then higher cash). 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.
Soybeans Today (Nov 2026 board)
Cash bid, your nearby buyers, ranked by net after haul, best first
Cash bid is each buyer's own posted local price (the local cash plus basis). Ranked by net after haul, best first (ties break to the shorter haul, then higher cash). 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 208,000 bu corn at $5.09/bu via Crystal Valley, Owatonna (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 eased. That is the backdrop your cash bid is moving against. Here is our read on why grain slipped at Friday's close, and honestly the day's ag headlines do not point to one clean grain driver. With no USDA report on the calendar and news running toward livestock and farm bill items like the pork producers pushing a Prop. 12 fix, our best assessment is that corn and beans drifted on the same broad squeeze the Ohio Ag Net podcast flagged, low row crop prices against high costs, plus routine profit taking into the weekend. Treat this as our read, not certainty. Stocks are steady going into the open, S&P futures close to flat. A calm Wall Street is what your banker likes to see, it keeps the rate and input-cost backdrop behind your operating note quiet for another day. Cal Wall Street, Friday'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. Branch View Angus Recognized for Commitment to Excellence
James Coffey of Branch View Angus in Hustonville, Kentucky, just earned the 2026 Certified Angus Beef Seedstock Commitment to Excellence award, honored at the brand's conference in early September for a family cattle legacy dating back to 1940. Coffey pours himself into data and genetics, submitting over 8,000 records for gold level Data Driven Herd status, running 12 Pathfinder cows, and stacking his lineup with AI bulls in the top 10 percent of the breed for marbling. His numbers tell the story, with closeouts hitting 50 percent CAB, calf daily gains up 0.2 pounds for a $40 per head savings, and a customer buyback program that moves 600 calves a year and keeps buyers loyal for three generations. He even fought the mud from 50 inches of yearly rain by building a monoslope barn, where bulls gained up to 3.5 pounds a day, proving that his daily promise to do better than yesterday pays off in real profit.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Sun Sep 20, 2026 2:45 PM CT 2. Tennessee Tech Agriculture Alum Makes Donation
Tennessee Tech alum Ronnie E. Erwin, a 1969 dairy husbandry graduate who rose from a Maury County dairy farm to lead the Heath candy company as the first non family member at its helm, has donated money to build a new office at the university's Shipley Farm. The building will carry the name of Erwin and his late wife Lynn, a beloved fourth grade teacher who once taught as many as 40 children a day, while its conference room will honor Col. Bobby T. Parham, the professor and three war veteran who pushed a young Erwin toward graduate school and the campus rodeo team. Erwin credits Parham, his Texas A&M mentor Dr. Henry Randolph, and Lynn for shaping his life, and his generosity also feeds a scholarship in Parham's name plus a Teacher of the Year award at Capshaw Elementary that includes a crystal trophy and $1,000. It is a heartfelt story of how a few encouraging mentors turned a hardworking farm kid into a food industry leader who never forgot the people who believed in him.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Sun Sep 20, 2026 2:17 PM CT 3. Q&A with a CCA: Fall soil fertility management for corn, soybeans, and wheat
Once corn, soybean, and wheat harvests wrap up, this Q&A with a certified crop adviser lays out how to prep your ground for next year by soil testing every two to four years, applying lime in the fall so it has months to react, and spreading phosphorus and potassium, which stay put in the soil unlike nitrogen. On nitrogen, the adviser says spring applications work best for corn, though anhydrous ammonia can go on in fall once soil temperatures stay below 50F, while soybeans need little since they fix their own and winter wheat gets most of its nitrogen at spring green up. Fall is also prime time for livestock manure, which adds nutrients plus organic matter, and for cover crops like cereal rye that trap leftover nitrogen, legumes that add it, and radishes that break up compaction. The bottom line is that following the 4R approach, right source, rate, time, and place, and never applying to frozen, snow covered, or saturated ground, protects your yields and keeps nutrients out of streams and lakes.
Read the full article. Ohio Country Journal, Sun Sep 20, 2026 2:10 PM CT 4. Purdue Vet Students Stand Out at National Bovine Conference
Purdue University sent seventeen veterinary students to Minneapolis for the 59th annual American Association of Bovine Practitioners conference, where two of them walked away with major national honors. Jill Grantz landed a $10,000 Merck Animal Health award, one of just nine given nationwide, plus the Hunter Lang Dairy Welfare Scholarship, while classmate Mikey Galvin earned the $1,000 Edwin Robertson Memorial Scholarship for advanced cattle reproduction training. Purdue also had deep ties to the event, with alumnus Dr. Mark Hilton serving as AABP president and the more than 900 attendees gathering under the theme Developing Practices of Excellence from August 27 to 29. For anyone raising cattle, this matters because it shows a new crop of skilled vets is coming up fast, ready to help with herd health, breeding efficiency, and the bottom line on beef and dairy operations.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Sun Sep 20, 2026 12:10 PM CT 5. Barn Boards and Baling Wire
'Just before 7 in the morning my daughter was standing in front of me; I wasn't dreaming,' she says. Leilah Ramzah is only 31 years old when she passes. and traveling and dancing. 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, Sun Sep 20, 2026 1:00 AM CT 6. Grateful for this life and the people in it
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. At this point my birthday is just another day. He can be reached at editorial@midwestmessenger.com . Powered by BLOX Content Management System from bloxdigital.com .
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sat Sep 19, 2026 1:27 PM CT 7. No-Tillers Discuss 2026 Weed Challenges & Strategies
No-tillers on this Conservation Ag Update episode traded real world tactics for beating their worst weeds, mainly waterhemp, pigweed, giant ragweed and a sudden foxtail explosion driven by heavy rain after a dry spring. One grower delayed burndown as long as possible using Roundup, 2,4-D and Zidua Pro, then followed with Enlist One and Liberty while planting green, and swears by heavy Liberty rates near 40 ounces, 3 pounds of AMS and a 22 gallon carrier. A key trick was switching from a TTI nozzle to a large AIXR nozzle, which finally reached and killed waterhemp hiding under the canopy, while Authority Supreme and Dual anchored their pre and post programs. It matters because these are the same tough, herbicide dodging weeds threatening your corn and soybean fields, and the full video lays out timing and product choices that could save you a costly combine clogging mess.
Read the full article. No-Till Farmer, Sun Sep 20, 2026 7:00 AM CT 8. Pork Producers Pressure Congress for Prop. 12 Fix in Farm Bill
Nearly 150 pork producers from 24 states swarmed roughly 175 congressional offices in Washington this week, demanding that lawmakers include a federal fix to California's Proposition 12 in the 2026 Farm Bill so they are not forced to rebuild barns every time a state sets new animal welfare rules. The push came just after the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agricultural Act of 2026 on a 12 to 11 party line vote, though an amendment from Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst to address state by state livestock mandates was ruled out of order by Chairman John Boozman and left out. NPPC President Rob Brenneman, an Iowa pork producer, and veterinarians who argue that welfare cannot be reduced to a single square footage number say a growing patchwork of state laws could force farmers to build separate systems for different markets. With the group representing more than 60,000 producers and the bill still needing floor votes and negotiations, the outcome could shape how much money Iowa farmers must sink into barns and breeding infrastructure for years to come.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Sun Sep 20, 2026 12:20 PM CT 9. Ohio Ag Net Podcast, Ep. 462, Positioning farms for long-term success
Livestock and dairy producers are seeing stronger markets right now, but row crop growers like you are still squeezed by low commodity prices and high production costs. On the Ohio Ag Net Podcast, powered by Ohio Corn and Wheat, Trey Miller of Farm Credit Mid-America breaks down these farm economy trends and explains how his team works alongside farmers to get through the tough stretches. He shares practical ideas for positioning your operation for long term success, not just surviving the next season. The episode also points listeners to a new Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association sign up incentive and the membership benefits that come with joining.
Read the full article. Ohio Country Journal, Sun Sep 20, 2026 2:45 PM CT 10. Washington Week Ahead: High-stakes talks amid harvest squeeze
Diesel prices near record highs, with oil around $100 a barrel, are squeezing corn and soybean farmers right in the middle of harvest, with South Dakota farmer Drew Peterson saying he spends about $500 a day on fuel and expects combine costs near $200 an hour, roughly double the norm. This week President Trump juggles high stakes diplomacy, meeting world leaders at the UN, sitting down with Japan's Sanae Takaichi, and hosting China's Xi Jinping, all while under pressure to lower fuel costs and end the war in Iran before the midterms. The American Soybean Association and other groups are pushing Trump to lock in firm Chinese commitments, including China's pledge to buy 25 million metric tons of U.S. oilseed a year from 2026 to 2028 and roughly $17 billion in ag products. Meanwhile the Senate returns Tuesday weighing a partial farm bill that cleared committee with no Democratic support, which if passed would be the first five year farm legislation since 2018.
Read the full article. Agri-Pulse, Sun Sep 20, 2026 7:50 AM CT Around the WorldThe world news moving your markets this morning, the same read from Cal's desk that runs on your dashboard. Russia expands grain exports via the Baltic and Caspian routesRussia is quietly rerouting its grain exports through Baltic and Caspian ports after trouble hit its main southern shipping lanes on the Black Sea. In early September, Astrakhan moved 87.5 thousand tons of grain and Makhachkala 14.2 thousand tons, with almost all of it heading to Iran. The Baltic side is booming too, handling about 1.2 million tons in the first half of 2026, up from 865 thousand tons a year earlier, led by the port of Vysotsk. On the Caspian, Astrakhan and Olya boosted cargo turnover by 79 percent to 4.2 million tons, and Russia is now eyeing deals like 500 thousand tons of wheat to Uzbekistan. Still, these new routes have real limits, including no road access to key Baltic terminals, higher shipping costs, and a heavy reliance on Iran as the one big buyer. This matters to you because more Russian grain finding new paths to market keeps global supply flowing and puts steady pressure on the world prices you compete against for your corn and soybeans. UkrAgroConsult (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 SafetyOn a hot field day, drink water before you are thirsty, about one cup every fifteen to twenty minutes. Watch a working partner for confusion, no sweating, or a stumble; those are heat stroke, a medical emergency. Take shade breaks during the worst afternoon heat. Source: OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety guidance. Cal The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Homestead Act 1862On May 20, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. Any American (and after 1866, freed slaves) could claim 160 acres of public land by farming it for five years. By 1934 about 1.6 million homesteads had been granted, totaling 270 million acres. That is roughly 10% of all U.S. land. Source: U.S. National Archives Homestead records, USDA history office. [CAL'S QUIZ]
The Dust Bowl of the 1930s led to a new federal agency now called the NRCS. What did it first protect?
(a) The soil
(b) The grain price
(c) The railroads
(d) The seed supply
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
A dairy bull broke through a fence and walked into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor called the farmer. The farmer said, "He's just paying a visit. He'll be home for supper." The neighbor said, "That's what I'm afraid of."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(a) The soil. The Soil Conservation Service, today the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was created in 1935 after the Dust Bowl. Source: NRCS.
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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.
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Signed by Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, Editor in Chief, The MI Farm AI Desk.