For Mark Matuska, Milford, Iowa (Dickinson County) Monday, September 21, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk.
Weather, Dickinson County, IA
What this means for today: Showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 54. Wind 5 to 15 mph through the day (see the hour by hour table below). Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Source: NOAA National Weather Service via the MI Farm AI weather layer for Dickinson County, IA, 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 9 mph. Rain WindowWe could not get a reading right on your field this morning. The nearest weather station (Estherville IA, about 16 miles northwest) recorded no rain 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: 0.09 inches expected Next 72 hours: 0.15 inches expected Source: NOAA National Weather Service forecast and NOAA radar rainfall estimates, pulled this morning. Futures board reference (not your cash)
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 2026-09-21.
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 2026-09-21.
Grain and Livestock, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattleCal's Grain Call: Price a portion of 69,700 bu corn at $5.18/bu via NEW Cooperative, Milford (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 ReadOvernight, corn added about 5 cents; and beans added about 6 cents. Recent trend, over the last 5 sessions, corn has chopped sideways and beans have eased. That is the backdrop your cash bid is moving against. Here is our read on why corn added about 5 cents and beans about 6 cents overnight, and honestly the facts do not point to one clean cause. No USDA report is on the calendar, so this looks like quiet position squaring more than any fresh news. The two likeliest nudges are demand side optimism from Dr. Alex Buck telling the House Agriculture Committee that biomanufacturing can turn corn into higher value products, per Morning Ag Clips, and pork producers pressing Congress on a Prop. 12 fix, per Hoosier Ag Today. Stocks point higher into the open, S&P futures up about 0.3 percent. A firmer tape eases the borrowing and input-cost mood your lender watches, though it does not move your cash bid by itself. 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. PBPC Board Chair Testifies Before House Agriculture Committee
On September 16, Dr. Alex Buck, PBPC Board Chair and Director of Industrial Innovation at the Iowa Corn Growers Association, told the full U.S. House Agriculture Committee that biomanufacturing can turn corn and other crops into higher-value materials, chemicals, and consumer products. His core message was blunt and hopeful, that every new biobased product is a brand new customer for America's farmers, but he warned that federal policy is needed to move these technologies from the lab to full commercial scale. Buck laid out four priorities, modernizing USDA's BioPreferred Program, improving federal data on the bioeconomy, expanding financing for biomanufacturing plants, and creating incentives to build production capacity here at home. PBPC Executive Director James Glueck backed him up, saying America has the crops and the innovation to lead the world in biomanufacturing, which could mean new markets and rural jobs if Congress acts on the momentum already building.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Mon Sep 21, 2026 3:46 AM CT 2. 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 3. Man in 'serious but stable condition' after shooting in Austin involving ICE officer: Officials
A shooting on Sunday afternoon in Austin, Texas left one man with a gunshot wound to the torso, and officials say the incident involved an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The call came in at 12:56 p.m. at the 8000 block of Anderson Square, according to Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz. Emergency crews arrived within three and a half minutes, found the victim in serious but stable condition with stable vital signs, and had him headed to a local trauma center within 9 minutes. With federal immigration enforcement drawing heavy scrutiny nationwide, a shooting tied to an ICE officer is the kind of story worth following as more details emerge.
Read the full article. Washington Examiner, Sun Sep 20, 2026 5:33 PM CT 4. Marketing Cost-Share Reopens for Fiscal Year '27
Minnesota's Make It Minnesota Marketing Investment Cost-Share Program has reopened for fiscal year '27, offering food and beverage businesses a chance to stretch their marketing dollars. Any MDA-licensed Minnesota consumer packaged goods company, cooperative, or Tribal entity making food, beverage, or pet food can qualify for 50 percent reimbursement, up to $4,000 per business. Eligible receipts, invoices, and in-store demos dated between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027 count, and the AGRI-funded money flows until it runs out, so early applicants have the best shot. The full article also covers other Minnesota ag news, from soybean council board openings to $1.2 million in specialty crop grants, making it worth a closer look for anyone tracking regional opportunities.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Mon Sep 21, 2026 2:59 AM CT 5. Autonomous lab accelerates discoveries
A new automated lab called Proteus has opened at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, where robots and software run experiments with far less hands on labor. Student researcher Nazrin Akbarova is already loading materials into the system, while Ginkgo Bioworks engineers Alycia Wong and Bryan Cai train interns Pratham Lotia and Kat Aranguiz to program the instruments. The whole point is to speed up discoveries that put microbes to work, turning tiny organisms into engines for fuels and products. For farmers, this matters because it aims to strengthen U.S. leadership in the growing bioeconomy, the same field that could open new markets for corn, soybeans, and other crops.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Mon Sep 21, 2026 1:00 AM CT 6. Purdue Ag Day Tailgate Brings Agriculture, Veterinary Alumni Together
Purdue's College of Agriculture and College of Veterinary Medicine joined forces for the first time to host a combined Ag Alumni Tailgate outside Ross-Ade Stadium during last weekend's Ag Day, drawing over 450 registered guests plus walk-ins. Julia Wickard, Executive Director of the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association, said the two programs share so many joint alumni that pooling their networking and development efforts just made sense, with roughly 100 attendees coming from the veterinary school. The Boilermakers dropped a heartbreaker in double overtime to Wake Forest, but the real win was the community building, including efforts to fold the incoming veterinary class of 2030 into the alumni network early. Wickard, working alongside Danica Kirkpatrick and the Ag Alumni team, says the partnership will keep rolling at regional and national events like next month's U.S. Animal Health Association gathering in Madison, Wisconsin.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Sun Sep 20, 2026 6:35 PM CT 7. Ohio Ag Weather and Forecast, September 21, 2026
Ohio farmers face a soggy stretch to start, with today bringing another quarter inch to inch and a half of rain across 70 percent of the state, plus scattered showers lingering east and southeast through Thursday. Relief arrives Friday as a strong dry pattern settles in through the weekend and into next Monday and Tuesday, with seasonal temps, low humidity, and near maximum evaporation making for excellent drying. The catch comes midweek next week, when a front sweeps through Wednesday and its low pressure gets cut off from the jet stream, stalling out and dumping a half inch to an inch and a half with 100 percent coverage through Friday. Things settle again the first full week of October, with only a weak front possibly sparking a few showers in far northern Ohio around the 6th before a dry western pattern keeps the rest of that week mostly rain free.
Read the full article. Ohio Country Journal, Sun Sep 20, 2026 4:23 PM CT 8. Co-op Country road trip map highlights South Dakota's hidden gems
Co-op Country has put together a road trip map that steers travelers past the usual South Dakota stops toward lesser known spots worth a visit. Instead of only hitting Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, the guide points folks to hidden gems across the state. The piece comes from writer Katelyn Winberg, who grew up on a farm in southeastern South Dakota and now lives in Sioux Falls, where she enjoys SDSU football games and local farmer's markets. If you are planning a getaway close to home this season, this map is an easy way to find fresh places to explore, and you can reach Katelyn at kwinberg@tristateneighbor.com.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sun Sep 20, 2026 3:57 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 Local ObituariesWe note the passing of neighbors across your area, gathered from the local papers this morning. Our thoughts are with their families. William 'Bill' SchugDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.Janice ClarkDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.Dorothy 'Diane' BrumleyDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.David Edward RowlandDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.Doug PringnitzDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.Marcia SchumacherDickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.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 SafetyNever step over a spinning power take-off (PTO) shaft. At 540 rpm it makes nine full turns a second, faster than you can pull away. Walk around the tractor, not over the shaft, and replace any missing PTO shield before you hook up. Source: National Ag Safety Database (NASD), Penn State Extension. Cal The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation 1935On October 4, 1935, the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation began buying surplus farm products and donating them to school lunch and relief programs, the original federal food-aid line that became today's school lunch program (1946) and SNAP. Farm price support and child nutrition have been linked ever since. Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Service history. [CAL'S QUIZ]
After the 1929 stock-market crash, what happened to corn that brought $0.80/bu in 1929?
(a) It stayed at $0.80
(b) It dropped to $0.55 by 1932
(c) It dropped to $0.31 by 1932
(d) It rose to $1.20 by 1932
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
A young farmer bragged about planting 200 acres in a day. The old farmer said, "That's nice. I planted 80 acres in a day in 1979 and I'm still farming. We'll see about you in 2071."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(c) It dropped to $0.31 by 1932, a price floor that triggered the AAA in 1933. Farm prices fell another 50% after Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929) on top of post-WWI weakness. Source: USDA Economic Research Service historical price series; Federal Reserve historical record.
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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.