For Matthew Harfmann, Granger, Indiana (St. Joseph County) Saturday, October 3, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk.
Weather, Dodge County, MN
What this means for today: Sunny, with a high near 68. Wind 0 to 10 mph through the day (see the hour by hour table below). 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 10 mph. Rain WindowWe could not get a reading right on your field this morning. The nearest weather station (Rochester MN, about 18 miles north) 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: 0.23 inches expected Next 72 hours: 0.30 inches expected Source: NOAA National Weather Service forecast and NOAA radar rainfall estimates, pulled this morning. 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 2026-10-02.
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 2026-10-02.
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 $4.74/bu via Crystal Valley, Mantorville Branch (a recommendation, see the factors).Corn: Your 2025 bin corn has rolled to the December board, now its nearby contract, in October. 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 4 cents; and beans slipped about 6 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 corn slipped about 4 cents and beans about 6 cents at Friday's close. Honestly the facts do not point to one clean cause, with no USDA report on the calendar to lean on. Our best read names the two likeliest drivers from Brownfield Ag News, where Dr. Megan Roberts points to exports and production as the forces steering corn and soybean prices right now. Stocks point higher into the open, S&P futures up about 0.4 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, 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 6 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. Meet Purdue's 9 Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award Honorees for 2026
Purdue University honored nine mid-career graduates on October 2 as its 2026 Distinguished Agriculture Alumni, recognizing work that stretched from livestock health and agronomy to food science, forestry and landscape architecture. The group included Indiana state veterinarian Kyle Shipman, who is helping the state's livestock industry tackle biosecurity and disease threats, along with two Iowa State University leaders, assistant professor Jacob Goheen and Extension vice president Jason Henderson. Others recognized were researchers and professors from the U.S. Forest Service, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Kentucky, plus a PepsiCo senior director, with degrees earned between 1991 and 2015. Since the award began in 1992, Purdue has honored hundreds of graduates whose work now reaches farms, labs and communities worldwide, showing how far an agriculture education can carry beyond the field.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Sat Oct 3, 2026 12:05 PM CT 2. 16 states sue Corteva, Vylor over alleged PFAS liability transfer
Sixteen states have sued Corteva's seed and genetics spinoff company, Vylor, for allegedly transferring billions of dollars in assets while leaving behind potential PFAS-related liabilities tied to DuPont. The lawsuit was filed on the same day as Vylor's official launch. The Indiana Attorney General's Office believes that this move could make it harder for states to receive damages linked to PFAS contamination. Corteva says the lawsuit is entirely without merit and looks forward to defending themselves in court.
Read the full article. Brownfield Ag News, Fri Oct 2, 2026 4:13 PM CT 3. Autumn's falling nuts ubiquitous
Autumn has arrived across the woods, with acorns and hickory nuts dropping everywhere whether folks notice them or not. Outdoors writer Jerry Davis points out colorful signs of the season, from woodbine leaves turning pinkish as chlorophyll fades to peach-pink mushroom gills and both white oak acorns and American chestnuts counting as true nuts. He also shares wildlife moments, like a wild hen turkey leading her poults along a fenceline hunting insects, and a story from Don Martin of Martin's Sporting Goods in Monroe, Wisconsin, who got pelted from above while sitting in a tree stand. It is a timely reminder that the signs of fall are all around us, and Davis can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or 608 to 924 to 1112 if you want to hear more.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sat Oct 3, 2026 2:45 PM CT 4. An Outdoorsman's Journal
Mark Walters, a Wisconsin outdoor writer working out of Necedah since 1989, shares a hunting journal from the field this week. He tells of River, a singleton pup, the only one born to his dog Red in her latest litter, while he hunkers in a hidden canoe watching a swamp trail. The payoff he waits on is the 10-point buck that keeps hunters coming back season after season, a pursuit the self described hobby farmer says he loves nearly as much as he would love raising beef cattle. His reflections turn toward the things that call us back to this world, our loved ones, our unfinished work, and dreams still waiting to be lived.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Sat Oct 3, 2026 9:30 AM CT 5. South Dakota man's vintage tractor collection grows from family roots
Meet Miller, a 31 year old from Ethan, South Dakota, who has rebuilt a collection of about a dozen vintage tractors after reviving his great-grandfather's 1936 Farmall F20 that had sat dead since its radiator broke in the mid 1970s. Self taught through the original owner's manual, YouTube, online forums and his uncles, he got the F20 running at age 15 to earn it from his grandfather, and it remains his favorite today. His barns now hold Farmall H and M models, a 1952 Ferguson T30, a Massey, an Allis-Chalmers and three John Deeres, including a 1936 Model A he snagged for just $200 from a friend who saved it from the scrap pile. Rather than parking them behind ropes, Miller runs belt driven corn shellers and threshers at the Twin Rivers Old Iron show in Delmont and farms a five acre plot with 1950s equipment, passing the old knowledge along to FFA students so the next generation can see how harvest worked before computers took over.
Read the full article. AgWeek, Sat Oct 3, 2026 7:30 AM CT 6. Runners race through SDSU farms during Farm to Finish Line
The "Farm to Finish Line" event, hosted by South Dakota State University's College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, took place on Saturday. Runners raced 3.9 miles through some of the university's livestock units, passing through facilities like the dairy barn and SDSU Feedmill. Along the way, signs shared agricultural facts and information about the different farms and research units. The event also included a breakfast designed to showcase the farm-to-table connection, with activities like petting livestock and planting wheat. Allie Arp, director of marketing communications for the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, hopes the event helps build connections between the university, agriculture, and the community as a whole.
Read the full article. AgWeek, Sat Oct 3, 2026 5:30 AM CT Around the WorldThe world news moving your markets this morning, the same read from Cal's desk that runs on your dashboard. Exports, production and energy policy could move corn, soybean prices1. Dr. Megan Roberts of Compeer Financial predicts several factors affecting corn and soybean prices in the next few months. 2. Recent price fluctuations make it difficult to predict market movements, but yield, production, exports, South American production, energy policy, and oil input costs are all being considered. 3. The USDA reports that corn and soybean harvest is on track nationally, but the Upper Midwest feels slightly behind. 4. Exports will be an important factor to watch following the recent U.S. China trade meeting. 5. Energy policy and oil input costs also have a relationship with corn and soybean markets. 6. With many variables at play, it is difficult to predict how corn and soybean prices will move in the coming months. Brownfield Ag News (United States). 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 SafetyKeep hands, sleeves, and pull-strings away from an unguarded auger intake. A portable grain auger can take a loose sleeve and the arm with it before you can react. Shut it off to clear a jam, and keep the intake guard in place. Source: Purdue Agricultural Safety and Health; National Ag Safety Database. Cal The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Cyrus McCormick born 1809On February 15, 1809, Cyrus McCormick was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He patented the mechanical reaper in 1834, moved production to Chicago in 1847, and by 1860 his factory was making 4,000 reapers a year, cutting wheat harvest labor by 75%. McCormick Harvesting Machine Company merged in 1902 to form International Harvester. Source: U.S. Patent Office records; Smithsonian National Museum of American History. [CAL'S QUIZ]
Wheat stem rust (1953-1955 outbreak) destroyed what share of the U.S. spring wheat crop?
(a) 10%
(b) 25%
(c) 40%
(d) 70%
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
The farmer ran the Hagie at sunrise to beat the wind. The neighbor said, "You're early." The farmer said, "The wind has an alarm clock too. We try to beat each other to coffee."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(c) 40%. The outbreak triggered Norman Borlaug's rust-resistant wheat breeding program in Mexico, the work that eventually won him the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. USDA's first U.S. bulletin on wheat rust came in 1894. Source: USDA Agricultural Research Service history.
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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.