The following is a review of 2024 top stories in The Farmer's Exchange, written by Exchange editors.
Farm Bill
In January, University of Nebraska agricultural economist Brad Lubben correctly predicted that Congress would fail to pass a new farm bill in 2024 (Jan. 12 issue). As of Dec. 20, Congress still hasn't passed a farm bill and the clock is ticking.
When contacted earlier this month for an update, Lubben said he expects Congress to pass a one-year farm bill extension, like it did last year, as part of a continuing resolution to keep the government open and operating.
"That one-year extension will likely include some ag disaster relief that builds on the hurricane relief due to be considered and may also contain some economic relief and some limited farm bill language tweaks to pave the way for full farm bill consideration in 2025," he said.
Once we move into 2025, Lubben expects the new Congress will work with the new president to craft a new farm bill. He hopes the current partisan stalemate will disappear, considering Republicans will have full control over the White House and Congress.
"However, we still have a wing of the Republican party that doesn't like farm bill spending and has voted against the overall bill in past years, necessitating bipartisan support to get the bill across the finish line and leading to questions still about the fate of a farm bill in Congress," he said.
"A full bill could get done early in 2025 provided they can resolve the final battles over safety net support levels (commodity program and crop insurance support), IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) conservation spending on climate practices, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) spending, and secretarial spending discretion over CCC (Commodity Credit Corp.) funds," he said. "Those four issues have been the biggest budget challenges to getting a farm bill done to date and may still be going forward.
He added that if Congress can't pass the bill promptly in the new year, it could become bogged down in the calendar as other issues take center stage.
Food for Everyone
The number of people relying on the Food Bank of Northern Indiana has grown considerably since 2023, and these numbers are expected to grow (April 19 issue).
Bob Weineke of the Food Bank of Northern Indiana recently provided some updated numbers for 2024, showing larger numbers of people in need of food within the six counties serviced by the food bank. This is noted by the amount of food sent out from the facilities to Elkhart, LaPorte, Kosciusko, Marshall, Starke and St. Joseph (Ind.) counties.
Last year, 9.5 million pounds of food were delivered across the six counties. As of November of this year, that number has risen to 10.1 million pounds, and is projected to rise to 11 million pounds by the end of the year. Households served between 2023 (224,214) and November 2024 has risen to 228,372.
One concern Weineke voiced in April was the availability of fresh food for pantries. At the time, about 20% of the food leaving the bank was fresh. Since then, this has increased to 48%, giving patrons more access to healthier options.
"Based on what we've seen in recent years, it would appear that food insecurity is continuing to trend higher," Weineke said. "Rising food costs continue to be a burden on families, and in turn has affected food insecurity. We're grateful to our donors and volunteers that we can help our neighbors in need."
Three's Company
Paul Kline's triplet heifer calves, born in April, are continuing to progress nicely (April 26 issue). All three are around that 500-pound mark, according to Kline and he is optimistic about their health.
"They're doing wonderful. They're happy, healthy little calves," he said. "They're out there running around with their mom."
The cow, Myrtle, gave birth to the triplets on April 12 in Monterey, with the story breaking shortly after. The same-sex triplet phenomenon happens in about one in every 400,000 cows.
"I haven't decided how many to keep yet," Kline said. "I start deciding that in late winter or early spring."
Chief Tractor Kid
November was a big month for Columbia City's 9-year-old internet sensation Jackson Laux, hosting three big events for the young celebrity (July 12 issue). Since he was first introduced in The Farmer's Exchange, Laux has been featured at the Country Music Awards, celebrated a year of TikTok success and was named John Deere's Chief Tractor Kid. And that was all in November.
At the CMAs Laux bumped shoulders with some top names in country music.
"It was good. I liked it. (Being with the stars) was kind of casual, actually. I talked to Luke Bryan, and we just hung out," he said. "My favorite country song right now is probably 'Amarillo by Morning' by George Strait. You can't go wrong with him. I met him. He's really nice."
Laux is next heading out to California to make a video about some new John Deere technology and equipment, and he is considering starting up a podcast about farming and equipment. He is also building a new barn to house his growing collection of tractors.
Out of the Ashes
The St. Joseph County (Mich.) Grange Fair lost one of its commercial buildings in a fire on April 27 (May 3 issue). The cause of the fire at Building 42 was determined to be a short in a powerline that caused sparks to land on the roof. Damage was estimated at approximately $2.8 million.
According to fair manager Christina Yunker, Building 42 has been rebuilt, but the electrical work isn't finished yet. She said the new building should be ready sometime this spring.
Bird Flu
In late June, the Michigan Department of Agriculture announced restrictions affecting the public exhibition of poultry and lactating dairy animals due to bird flu (July 5 issue). As a result, lactating dairy cattle were not shown at county fairs in Michigan. Only heifers could be exhibited.
Positive cases continued to be reported throughout the summer, and the prohibition was in place throughout the entire fair season and finally expired last month. However, the ban on poultry exhibitions was lifted in time for county fairs.
Burbrink Fund
The Elkhart County ag community created a scholarship fund to honor longtime Extension ag educator Jeff Burbrink, but the fundraising drive was kept a secret from Burbrink until the total amount was revealed in late July at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair (Aug. 2 issue). A surprised Burbrink was in attendance as the scholarship committee, working in cooperation with the Purdue Alumni Club of Elkhart County, announced that $12,750 had been raised to fund an annual $1,000 scholarship for an Elkhart County high school graduate to attend Purdue University to study agriculture.
Money continued to pour in after the announcement, and as of Nov. 21, donations for the Jeff Burbrink Scholarship Fund reached $20,000. That's enough to permanently endow the scholarship fund.
LaPorte Barns
A new show barn has been erected by the LaPorte County Fair along with a new hog barn, awarding more space for livestock exhibition (Aug. 9 issue). Its construction was completed in November.
The show barn, which hosts the annual 4-H auction, is now a 124-by-224-foot structure with an 80-foot free span. Currently, the barn is being used for local storage as a way to continue to pay for construction costs.
Agritourism Trail
LaGrange County tourism officials announced they are moving forward with plans for an agritourism trail (Oct. 4 issue). The trail will feature about 60 farms, restaurants and rural agribusinesses in the county. Visitors will be guided by an app download on their phones. Some will arrive by tour buses. The goal is to give people an authentic farm experience.
Sonya Nash, executive director of the LaGrange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said those plans are still on track. Officials are planning to launch the trail this spring and have developed a map with 60 stops.
New Chicken Barn
A late September tornado destroyed a LaGrange County chicken barn with nearly 30,000 layers (Oct. 4 issue). The barn, located southeast of LaGrange, is owned by Mervin Bontrager. The day after the storm, volunteers arrived to help Bontrager and his family clean up the mess. They hauled away eight wagon loads of metal. Volunteers helped him put up a new barn within three weeks.
Even though the triple-deck cage system was still standing, it was damaged beyond repair and had to be replaced. Bontrager said the new equipment will be shipped from Europe in January and will arrive in February. He expects to populate the barn with chickens in May.
In the meantime, he is putting the finishing touches on the new barn and hopes to be back in the egg business by summer.
Hay Delivery
Ed and Tammy Boggs of Warsaw were recently featured in The Farmer's Exchange for delivering hay to a hurricane-affected farmer in Virginia (Nov. 22 issue). Now they are back at it, with another full load ready to go for the new year.
The couple is considering caravanning with Mike and Jill Wertenberger to North Carolina on this trip to deliver a mix of round bales and square bales of hay to farmers in need.