For Nate Meixell, Lake Crystal, Minnesota (Blue Earth County) Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Filed by The MI Farm AI Desk. Weather, Blue Earth County, MN
What this means for today: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 7am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7am and 10am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Wind 0 to 9 mph through the day (see the hour by hour table below). Chance of precipitation is 60%. 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 Blue Earth County, MN, pulled this morning. Hour by Hour, the day ahead
Source: NOAA National Weather Service hourly forecast and station observations, pulled this morning. Spray WindowBased on this morning's wind forecast, the spray window looks open 4 AM to midnight (wind at or under 10 mph, the common label ceiling for glyphosate and fungicides; dicamba and 2,4-D allow up to 15). This is the day's plan locked in this morning, not a live reading. Always check your gusts, any ground level inversion, and your product's own wind limit before you start. Wind this morning at your nearest weather station was about 6 mph. Rain WindowWe could not get a reading right on your field this morning. The nearest weather station (Mankato MN, about 11 miles northeast) recorded no rain in the past 24 hours. Your own ground may differ, so check your gauge. Grain and Livestock, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattleFutures board (front month): corn Dec 2026 $4.6275/bu (+0.2450, +5.59%); soybeans Nov 2026 $11.7875/bu (+0.2100, +1.81%). Chicago board, as of 2026-08-11.
Source: Chicago Board of Trade. Cal's Market ReadOvernight, corn added about 24 cents; and beans added about 21 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 and beans both firmed overnight. The cleanest driver we see is China stepping up U.S. soybean purchases, snapping up 238,000 metric tons last week ahead of the Trump to Xi meeting, per Hoosier Ag Today, and that demand signal tends to lift corn alongside beans. With no USDA report due, we would also credit the fresh U.S. to Canada tariff news out of Hoosier Ag Today stirring trade uncertainty. Call it demand and trade, not one clean cause. Stocks point lower into the open, S&P futures off about 0.1 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. MDA Seeks Input Before Next Legislative Session
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is asking farmers, businesses, and anyone touched by the food and ag system to pitch policy, funding, and program ideas before it builds the state's next two-year budget. You can weigh in through an online written form that runs from August 10 through September 18, or by joining one of two free public input sessions held over Zoom, which do require registration. All of this feeds into the next legislative session that starts January 12, 2027, when lawmakers will set the two-year agriculture budget that funds MDA programs. It matters because the money and rules farmers deal with get shaped now, so this is a rare chance to speak up before the decisions are locked in.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Tue Aug 11, 2026 4:36 AM CT 2. Canada Faces New U.S. Tariffs as Trade Talks Intensify
Washington is set to slap a 50 percent duty on a range of Canadian goods starting August 19, and both sides are racing to cut a deal before the deadline. Canada and Mexico want the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement locked in for another 16 years, but the Trump administration opted for rolling annual reviews instead. At the same time, Dairy Farmers of Canada is pressing Prime Minister Mark Carney to hold firm on the country's supply management system, saying past concessions only brought fresh American demands. For anyone watching cross border ag trade, this fight over dairy access and tariff pressure could reshape how North America buys and sells farm goods for years to come.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:14 PM CT 3. China Steps Up U.S. Soybean Purchases Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting
Chinese buyers snapped up 238,000 metric tons of American soybeans last week, a signal that the May meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping is starting to pay off for U.S. growers. That order puts China roughly a quarter of the way toward a promised 25 million tons a year through 2028, part of a deal that also has Beijing agreeing to buy at least $17 billion more in U.S. farm goods annually. The catch is that China has also rolled out new legal and trade measures against the United States, including tighter export reviews and sanctions on several American entities, though none aim directly at agriculture. With another Trump and Xi meeting expected in September, farmers will want to watch closely, because these shifting trade winds could move soybean demand, prices, and your export planning.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:09 PM CT 4. Lean Hogs
Lean hog futures caught a bid to start the week, with the October contract climbing after buyers jumped in early. According to The Hightower Report, prices opened steady this morning before that quick buying pushed the market higher. The move builds on a minor bounce from Friday, which came right after October hogs had slipped to a fresh one month low. For anyone watching livestock markets, this early strength hints the recent slide may be finding a floor, so the full report is worth a look.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Mon Aug 10, 2026 5:05 PM CT 5. Watch: Videos capture the moment a 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Colombia
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake tore through Colombia on August 10, 2026, and bystander videos captured the ground shaking and buildings coming down in real time. The Colombian president confirmed the death toll climbed past 100, with many people still missing beneath collapsed structures and piles of debris. Rescue crews launched an urgent search for survivors as families waited for word about loved ones trapped in the rubble. It is a sobering reminder of how fast a disaster can strike, and the raw footage makes the full report worth watching.
Read the full article. NBC News, Mon Aug 10, 2026 1:06 PM CT 6. What to know about Trump's vaccine executive order
Trump on Monday put his signature to an executive order pushing "Make America Healthy Again" vaccine goals, a move that could reshape how families schedule childhood shots. The order urges drugmakers to break apart combination vaccines and to trim the total number of immunizations kids receive. It also declares that the administration will now back what it calls gold standard recommendations covering just 11 core vaccinations against the most serious diseases, along with the MMR. For farm families weighing what this means at the doctor's office, the change signals a notable federal shift in official vaccine advice, so the full article is worth a closer read.
Read the full article. The Hill, Mon Aug 10, 2026 5:40 PM CT 7. Special Olympics Athletes to Shine at Bacon Buddies Show
Now in its seventh year, the Iowa State Fair's Bacon Buddies pig show pairs Special Olympics athletes with 4-H and FFA mentors, and it takes the ring at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, in the Swine Barn. The event is a partnership between the Iowa Pork Producers Association and Special Olympics Iowa, with each athlete guided by two youth mentors on pig care, showmanship, and working with judges. IPPA President Dean Frazer, a Conrad pig farmer, calls it one of the most rewarding events of the year, while SOI will hand out four $500 scholarships to mentors chosen by random drawing. What started as one show has grown into a statewide movement, with nearly 50 county fairs hosting Bacon Buddies this year and hundreds of athletes getting their chance to shine, and the fair event is free with paid admission.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Tue Aug 11, 2026 4:48 AM CT 8. Tradition preserves food security
Wild chokecherries and pin cherries, simmered down and drained through a sieve, yield rich red juice that cans up for winter jelly or as an energizing tonic, and it takes only about 3.5 cups to make a batch of jelly. The piece walks through preserving a whole season of abundance, from pickled Hungarian hot peppers and sweet summer squash to cabbage fermented into sauerkraut and hog lard rendered into jars that keep for years. Author Jason Maloney, a retired educator and soldier from Marinette County, Wisconsin who lives on Lake Superior with his wife Cindy Dillenschneider and their Australian Shepherd Red, ties these skills back to ancestors who survived harsh winters, tornadoes, fires and crop failures on almost nothing. His point is that home canning is more than nostalgia, it is real food security and a memorable family tradition worth learning when you have more time than money.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Tue Aug 11, 2026 1:00 AM CT 9. NDSU's new Bolley Agricultural Laboratory 'a legacy worth celebrating'
North Dakota State University dedicated its new $97 million Bolley Agricultural Laboratory on Monday, Aug. 10, drawing several hundred people to tour a facility built for plant pathology, plant breeding, weed science, agronomy, soil science and horticulture. State Sen. Terry Wanzek noted that $87 million came from the 2023 Legislature and another $10 million from mostly private contributions, and he called it a state investment rather than an expenditure, while NDSU President Marshall Stewart and board chair Pam Gulleson said the payoff will benefit producers and generations not yet born. The lab honors Henry L. Bolley, an early NDAC plant pathologist who proved to skeptics that soil pathogens build up without crop rotation and who wrote the 1909 North Dakota Pure Seed Act that later shaped federal law, and he also founded and first coached the school's football team. Researchers like potato pathology chair Julie Pasche marveled at the upgrades, from forklifts replacing hand-hauled 100 pound potato bags to stainless steel coolers controlled by phone, and Stewart even joked that one of Bolley's great-great-grandsons touring campus will surely become a Bison.
Read the full article. AgWeek, Mon Aug 10, 2026 7:48 PM CT 10. 2026 Ohio Field Leader Crop Tour
The Ohio Soybean Checkoff's Field Leader Crop Tour is rolling through about 40 counties over four days, scouting corn and soybeans and posting county results as they come in. Scouts found strong soybean fields with yield estimates climbing from 55 bushels in Henry County up to 60 plus bushels in an April planted field that got 1.5 inches of rain while they scouted, while corn showed mixed results including one early field where hot, dry pollination weather caused jumbled kernels, tip dieback, and gray leaf spot. Bean fields planted back in mid April and mid May are still branching, flowering, and adding pods, so scouts say every new flower is stacking on more yield potential. The tour crew is watching August moisture and September weather closely, since a late fall could decide whether these fields hit their full potential, making this a good early read on what the 2026 crop might deliver.
Read the full article. Ohio Country Journal, Mon Aug 10, 2026 4:45 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 SafetyBefore you reach into any jammed combine, baler, or chopper, shut the engine off and take the key. Idling power can re-engage in a heartbeat, header and pickup injuries happen when someone clears a plug with the machine still live. Engine off, key in your pocket, then clear it. Source: National Ag Safety Database; ROPS and PTO safety, OSHA. Cal Local ObituariesWe note the passing of neighbors across your area, gathered from the local papers this morning. Our thoughts are with their families. Morris, James, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary. Dean Brudwick, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary. Brudwick, Dean, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary. Evelyn Rudenick, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary. Beadell, Quentin, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary. Kathryn 'Kathy' Byram, Mankato Free Press obituaries. Read the full obituary.The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Lincoln signs Pacific Railroad Act 1862 (same week as USDA)Within a single eight-week stretch in 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the USDA into existence (May 15), the Homestead Act (May 20), the Pacific Railway Act (July 1), and the Morrill Land-Grant Act (July 2). No eight-week period in U.S. history has done more to shape American agriculture. Source: U.S. National Archives; USDA history office. [CAL'S QUIZ]
The 1916 Federal Farm Loan Act created the original Federal Land Bank system with how many regional banks?
(a) 4
(b) 8
(c) 12
(d) 24
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
A farmer's mother-in-law said, "It's going to rain." He said, "How do you know?" She said, "My hair is frizzing." He said, "That beats the radar app every time, and it's free."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(c) 12. The July 17, 1916 act gave farmers credit at rates the local town bank could not match. The modern Farm Credit System (Compeer Financial, Farm Credit Mid-America) is its direct descendant. Source: USDA Economic Research Service farm credit 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.