For Mark Matuska, Milford, Iowa (Dickinson County) Thursday, July 9, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk. Weather, Milford, IA
What this means for today: Patchy fog before 7am, then patchy fog and a slight chance of rain showers between 7am and 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. North northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Source: NOAA National Weather Service point forecast for Milford, IA, pulled this morning. Hour by Hour, the day ahead
Source: NOAA National Weather Service hourly forecast and station observations, pulled this morning. Rain & Spray WindowNo rain at your field in the past 24 hours. The spray window is open. 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. Grain and Livestock, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle
Source: Chicago Board of Trade. Cal's Market ReadOvernight, corn slipped about 8 cents; beans slipped about 2 cents; and wheat slipped about 10 cents. Recent trend, over the last 4 sessions, corn has eased and beans have firmed. That is the backdrop your cash bid is moving against. Here is our read on why grain slipped overnight. None of today's headlines, from the Iowa On-Farm Forestry Field Guide to the John Deere right to repair settlement, are price movers, and no USDA report is on the calendar. So we would not hang this modest 8 cent corn, 2 cent bean, 10 cent wheat pullback on any one cause. Our best read is broad, quiet selling with no fresh demand news to lean on. 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, 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. Comprehensive On-Farm Forestry Field Guide for Iowa
Iowa State University Extension has released a free On-Farm Forestry Field Guide for Iowa, aimed at helping farmers and landowners turn neglected trees into an asset for their operations. Extension forestry specialist Billy Beck, who built the guide with Iowa Learning Farms and input from professional foresters plus two dozen farmers, notes the state has lost roughly 4 million acres of woodlands over the past two centuries. The guide walks landowners through building a forest plan, then covers the practical next steps like species selection, planting, and pruning, with links to detailed how-to resources. Beck argues that trees along pastures, waterways, and windbreaks can boost soil, water, and crop health while adding timber income and property value, so it is worth downloading the free copy or requesting a pocket-sized print version.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Thu Jul 9, 2026 4:56 AM CT 2. No-Till Cropping & Business Insights
The 2025 No-Till Farmer Operational Benchmark Survey is being promoted here as a deep online resource for no-tillage practices, with the pitch that a single good idea can pay back a subscription many times over. The piece also spotlights an advanced XPR concave system that threshes all crops with one set, cuts rotor loss, and delivers cleaner grain samples and better grain quality. Titan International gets a strong plug too, described as one of the largest North American makers of wheels, tires, and undercarriage products for farm, construction, forestry, mining, and other off road equipment, backed by a worldwide dealer network. It matters because these tools and suppliers all point toward the same goal for your operation, namely better productivity and profitability through smarter no-till decisions and reliable equipment.
Read the full article. No-Till Farmer, Wed Jul 8, 2026 11:00 PM CT 3. Agriculture industry urges USTR to make exemptions to proposed forced labor tariffs
At a Wednesday hearing, farm and food groups pressed the U.S. Trade Representative to reshape a proposed Section 301 tariff of 10% to 12.5% aimed at 60 nations accused of using forced labor. U.S. Cattlemen's Association policy director Jenna Stanton pushed to scrap the exemption on all bovine products, warning that Brazil has at least 21 cattle operations on its slavery blacklist and that cheap, tainted Brazilian beef can even sneak in rerouted through Argentina. She also flagged that Trump's February order already lets 80,000 metric tons of tariff-free Argentine beef in each year, citing record low U.S. cattle herds. Coffee interests joined too, with the National Coffee Association noting coffee cannot be grown domestically yet adds over $343 billion to the economy, so decisions here could reshape prices and competition landing right next to honest American producers.
Read the full article. Agri-Pulse, Wed Jul 8, 2026 5:57 PM CT 4. US strikes Iran as Trump says truce 'over'
President Trump has declared the truce with Iran "over," and on Wednesday the U.S. military resumed its air strikes against the country. The stated goal is to further cripple Iran's ability to disrupt maritime traffic in the region, a threat that has rattled global shipping lanes. This marks a sharp escalation after a period of calm, signaling that Washington is willing to use force again to keep sea routes open. For anyone watching grain exports and fuel prices, renewed conflict near key waterways is worth following closely, so read the full report for the details.
Read the full article. The Hill, Wed Jul 8, 2026 5:30 PM CT 5. 2026 Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin Election Results
Wisconsin's dairy leadership just got a shakeup, with state regulators at DATCP certifying the results that seated a fresh slate of nine producers to the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin board for three year terms starting July 1, 2026. Eleven certified candidates fought for those nine seats across nine districts before voting closed on May 22, giving farmers a real say in how their checkoff dollars get spent. The same roundup notes that World Dairy Expo has hired Michelle Brokish of Spring Green as its new Sponsorship Manager to court the hundreds of companies and farms backing the world's top dairy show. It also flags that half of this year's Alice in Dairyland finalists hail from UW River Falls, a sign of where the next generation of dairy promoters is coming from.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Thu Jul 9, 2026 4:27 AM CT 6. 2026 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days schedules
Wisconsin Farm Technology Days has released its full 2026 event lineup, published July 9, 2026 through Agri-View. The schedules come as a set of downloadable PDF documents, seven daily agendas plus a header sheet, laying out what to see and when. Farm Technology Days is one of the Midwest's largest outdoor farm shows, featuring the newest equipment, field demonstrations, and farming technology on display. If you are planning a summer trip to scout new machinery or ideas, this schedule tells you exactly where to be and how to map out your day.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Thu Jul 9, 2026 1:00 AM CT 7. No-Till Highlights: July 9, 2026
This week's No-Till Farmer roundup gathers standout field stories, starting with Convoy Dairy in Van Wert County, Ohio, where Harting Farms no-till plants corn silage the same day oatlage comes off, running a 54-row John Deere DB90 planter on 20-inch rows behind a 9570R on LSW tires with a Gator-mounted Yield 360 Sprint feeding fertilizer to cut downtime. Air quality specialist Dr. Frank Mitloehner talks with Illinois hog farmer Gary Asay about a closed-loop, no-till operation where pig manure feeds the soil, earthworms replace tillage, and the ground grows the grain that feeds the next round of pigs. K-State agronomist Chuck Rice and Hayden Guetterman cover soil health gains from cover crops, Tennessee farmer Matt Griggs shares 10 plus years of no-till water infiltration data while testing an EarthScout moisture sensor, and Pennsylvania grower John C. Johnson explains why saving time drove him to no-till across nearly 1,000 acres of corn, wheat, and soybeans. For a farmer weighing inputs and hours in the cab, these real-world results on soil moisture, fertilizer efficiency, and labor savings show how no-till and regenerative practices are paying off across very different operations.
Read the full article. No-Till Farmer, Wed Jul 8, 2026 11:00 PM CT 8. A Tale of Two Regions: Indiana's Split Planting Season Leaves Farmers Hoping for a Strong Finish This Fall
Two Indiana farmers had opposite springs this year, with C.J. Fleenor in southwestern Orange County finishing all his corn and soybean planting by around April 28th, a personal record, while Don Wyss near Fort Wayne sat stuck in the barn as rain, frost, and cold locked up the north. Statewide the crop looks tough with 62 percent of corn and 64 percent of soybeans rated good to excellent, but those numbers hide a split state, since the south now sweats a hot, humid July that could unleash tar spot and southern rust while the north's late heat rescued drowned fields just in time for pollination. Fleenor worries whether cash strapped growers can even afford fungicide, while Wyss plans to spray his corn and protect a yield that finally caught up. It matters because this is the same volatile, hyper local weather roller coaster hitting the whole Corn Belt, and it shows how two neighbors 215 miles apart can face totally different odds heading into fall harvest.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Wed Jul 8, 2026 6:20 PM CT 9. John Deere Settles FTC Antitrust Suit, Granting Farmers 10-year 'Right to Repair'
John Deere just agreed to a major settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and five states, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ending a lawsuit that claimed the company boxed farmers into an expensive repair monopoly. For the next 10 years, Deere must give farmers and independent mechanics the same diagnostic software, manuals, and tools its own dealers use, all on fair and reasonable terms, plus pay $1 million toward state legal costs. The order, still pending approval from Judge Iain Johnston in Rockford, Illinois, also bars dealers from retaliating against do it yourself customers and forces Deere to release any new repair tools to the public once more than half its dealers get them. For anyone who has watched a locked ECU stall a tractor in the middle of harvest, this is a real shot at fixing your own machine without waiting weeks or paying premium dealer rates, and the FTC says it should lower costs across the board.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Wed Jul 8, 2026 6:15 PM CT 10. News Wrap: Judge orders $5.8M paid to E. Jean Carroll in Trump sex abuse, defamation case
A federal judge has ordered more than $5 million in damages released from escrow to writer E. Jean Carroll, money tied to a 2023 jury verdict that found President Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s and later defamed her, though Trump's lawyers have already appealed to block the payment. In other news, former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan dodged prison but must pay a $5,000 fine for helping a Mexican defendant try to evade immigration agents, while former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel used a Tel Aviv University speech to urge the U.S. to end unconditional support for Israel and back a 23 state solution. On the economy, the International Monetary Fund cut its 2026 global growth forecast to 3 percent and warned inflation could near 5 percent as the war in Iran spikes oil prices by roughly 32 percent, and the Dow fell nearly 600 points on the day. The wrap also notes a wobbly former Pfizer high rise in New York City has been stabilized after crews found buckled columns, and actress Louise Lasser of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" has died.
Read the full article. PBS NewsHour, Wed Jul 8, 2026 5:50 PM CT 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 SafetyTreat a manure pit like a gas chamber. Agitation releases hydrogen sulfide, which can knock a person out in one breath at high levels. Never enter a pit without ventilation, a gas monitor, and a harnessed rescue plan, and never go in after a downed worker without protection, or you become victim number two. Source: NIOSH confined-space-in-agriculture alert. Cal Local ObituariesWe note the passing of neighbors across your area, gathered from the local papers this morning. Our thoughts are with their families. James 'Jim' Staver, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary. Jacinta Williams, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary. Harold W. Vugteveen, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary. Gary Eakin, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary. Charles Wiest, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary. Frank Edmunds, Dickinson County News obituaries. Read the full obituary.The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Pony Express 1860From April 3, 1860 to October 26, 1861, the Pony Express carried mail by horseback between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California, 1,966 miles in about 10 days. It was killed by the transcontinental telegraph, but for 18 months it was how farm correspondence crossed the Plains. Source: National Park Service Pony Express National Historic Trail; Smithsonian Postal Museum. [CAL'S QUIZ]
On May 11, 1934, one Great Plains dust storm carried how much topsoil east?
(a) 3.5 million tons
(b) 35 million tons
(c) 350 million tons
(d) 3.5 billion tons
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
The farmer's CRP buffer along the creek caught a deer, a fox, and a great blue heron in one morning. He told his wife, "That buffer is paying me in something the check doesn't measure." She said, "Then count it twice."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(c) 350 million tons. So much that dust fell on ships 300 miles off Boston. The Soil Conservation Service (today NRCS) was founded in 1935 as a direct response. Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service history archive.
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.