NEWS & UPDATES
Harvest Update & What’s Coming Next
Harvest Update & What’s Coming Next: A Quick Check-In Hello, friends!As we approach the final stretch of harvest, I hope…
2024 Meeting Invitation
In last year’s letter, we talked about war, drought, politics, inflation, rising interest rates, and COVID-19, all of which happened…
2023 Year in Review
Hope you are enjoying celebrating the holiday season and this letter finds you well. 2023 was an unusual year for…
Reflections & Updates
Reflections and Updates In last year’s letter, we talked about war, drought, politics, inflation, rising interest rates, and COVID-19, all…
THIS WEEK AT MIDPLAINS AG
WHAT WE ARE UP TO It seems that once we get past new year’s, our crop business really starts…
New Year, New Announcements
Hope you are enjoying celebrating the holiday season and this letter finds you well. 2023 was an unusual year for…
AG RESOURCE JULY 10 MARKET UPDATE BY BEN BUCKNER
Supply Markets Often Not Lasting; This One Not Over Yet, However The market finally has begun to reconcile severe and…
DR. OLIVIA KELLNER OF CLIMATE IMPACT COMPANY TO SPEAK AT FIELD DAY
Midplains Ag, UNL Extension, and Nebraska Soybean Board are happy to have Olivia Kellner of Climate Impact Company speak at…
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA FARM SHOW
WEEK OF JANUARY 9TH Ryan chatting with attendee THANK YOU January 11 & 12 Midplains Ag had…
2017 IRRIGATION FIELD DAY
Midplains Ag and the University of Nebraska are planning on holding the 2017 “Irrigation Field Day” on August 30.…
SPRING PRICE DISCOVERY FOR CROP INSURANCE
SPRING PRICE DISCOVERY Crop insurance revolves around two prices, the “Spring Projected Harvest Price” and the “Fall Final Harvest Price”.…
NOVEMBER 1ST AGRESOURCE MARKET OUTLOOK BY BEN BUCKNER
Ethanol Production Resumes Record Pace; Bullish Crude? US ethanol plants through the week ending last Friday totaled 310.5 million gallons,…
PAYING FOR A VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE BY BILL KRANZ, EXTENSION IRRIGATION SPECIALIST
IN RECENT YEARS IRRIGATORS have begun to install variable frequency drives (VFDs) to monitor and control the speed of their…
A WEEK OF TRAINING
A WEEK OF TRAINING JANUARY 16-20, 2017 The week was a very busy one. Starting with the ice storm Monday which…
IIAN WINTER CONFERENCE PART II
The second half of my day at IIAN winter conference was interesting. Cheryl L. Koch of Agency Management Resource Group…
AGRESOURCE JUNE 5 MARKET UPDATE BY BEN BUCKNER
Spring Wheat Shortage to Support All Grains? US Hard Red Spring Wheat Crop condition Early June There remains a…
NORTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS VISIT MIDPLAINS AG
VISITING MIDPLAINS AG Students from Northeast Community College visited Midplains Ag on Monday April 3 to see a demonstration of our eBee…
AG RESOURCE SOYBEAN OUTLOOK BULLISH? BY BEN BUCKNER
Soybean Outlook Bullish? For the first time since 2015/16, soybean yield in Brazil is in real danger of falling below…
2019 ANNUAL FARM UPDATE MEETING
It’s that time of year, again, to think about your crop insurance needs for the growing season. Sales closing date…
PROTECTING AND ENHANCING YOUR BOTTOM LINE – CROP INCOME PROJECTIONS
Image Courtesy AgWeb by Farm Journal An essential part of your yearly crop planning is communication with your bankers, or…
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PROTECTION OF YOUR FARM DATA?
Courtesy myfarmlife.com The collection of farm data has become an essential part of today’s agricultural industry; the sharing of this…
2019 FARM BILL – MANDATORY COMPLIANCE / CERTIFICATION WITH FSA / NRCS CONSERVATION PROVISIONS AND FARM SUBSIDIES
With the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill, essential price protection and federal farm subsidy provisions were directly linked to…
THE GREEN NEW DEAL – WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION…
Just last month, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D – NY), along with Senator Edward Markey (D – MA), proposed new legislation…
TERRAVION IMAGERY AT MIDPLAINS AG
TerrAvion Midplains Ag is proud to announce that we have partnered with TerrAvion, the market leader in aerial imagery. Risk…
TERRAVION AERIAL IMAGERY AND REDUCING YOUR INPUT COST
“We view our job as abstracting away all the complexity and delivering maps that are ready to use so that…
2019 NEBRASKA FLOOD AGRICULTURAL IMPACT
The polar vortex and shift of the jet stream, this past week, brought major blizzard conditions followed by heavy rains…
TERRAVION PUBLISHES 2019 FLIGHT DATES
TerrAvion, the largest agricultural aerial imagery provider in North America, has announced it’s 2019 flight schedules! Make sure to take…
THE PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS AND YOUR FUEL TANK
Have you ever imagined paying less than $2.00 USD per gallon at the pump again? Have you ever imagined seeing…
PLANNING FOR THE UNEXPECTED – ENVISIONING THE FUTURE
As a farm owner / operator, we have learned to expect the unexpected. At times, it may seem that all…
FEMA AND YOU – DO YOU QUALIFY FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE?
Due to the recent catastrophic storms and flooding, Nebraska homeowners, renters and business owners in Boone, Buffalo, Butler, Cass, Colfax,…
MITIGATING FLOODED FIELDS WITH COVER CROPS
As a result of the catastrophic flooding that hit eastern Nebraska during March 2019, many farmers face the task of…
NEW: PANSHARPENED THERMAL AND SYNTHETIC COLOR IMAGERY FROM TERRAVION
For the 2019 season, TerrAvion is offering a new line of imagery products to our customers. We will be introducing…
IMPROVING IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT AND YIELDS WITH AERIAL IMAGERY
TERRAVION VS. SATELLITE: IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT Satellite imagery has been widely used in agriculture for years. It’s cheap and readily…
7 MODERN PEST CONTROL TOOLS PROTECTING OUR FOOD FROM HUNGRY BUGS
In a recent podcase, published by the Genetic Literacy Project, Steve Savage discusses a few modern day pest control tools…
FLOODED GRAIN STORAGE – WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The 2019 March floods compromised approximately 850 grain storage structures across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, resulting in the loss of…
2019 AG ECONOMY – NOT A SLAM DUNK BUT BETTER THAN 2018
In an article published by AgWeb on April 15, 2019, Jackson Takach presents his outlook on the prospects of farm…
2019 PLANTING AND MARKETING UPDATE – WHAT IS GOING ON?!
The May 2019 USDA agricultural report could upend (or reinforce) much of what the first quarter report determined, but much of…
AGRO-ECOLOGY – LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR AFRICAN COUNTERPARTS
In his article, published by the Genetic Literacy Project on March 18, 2019, Nassib Mugwanya takes an in depth, but…
AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY RISK MANAGEMENT – PREVENT PLANT
Without any doubt, as a fellow member of the farming community, you have been asking more questions this year regarding…
GLYPHOSATE – JUST EXACTLY WHERE IS THE DEVIL?
One of the determining factors in the rise and fall of a society happens to be within the education system…
COLLATERAL DAMAGE – A DEMAND FOR REOPENING OF CHINESE MARKETS
In her article posted on May 22, 2019 by the National Public Radio, Amy Mayer discusses the collateral damage done…
2019 – A YEAR OF POLITICS, TARIFFS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
At the end of 2018, the news was the government shutdown caused by the impasse between President Trump and Congress…
GENETIC ENGINEERING OF ANNUAL CROPS TO PERENNIALS – KEY TO FOOD SECURITY?
The last several decades have witnessed a remarkable increase in crop yields — doubling major grain crops since the 1950s.…
TERRAVION – USE CASE: INPUT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
USE CASE: INPUT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION TerrAvion NDVI imagery, a crop health index image, will tell you how healthy or stressed…
THE JUNE 2019 ACREAGE REPORT – WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
According to a recent article published by AgWeb, this month’s acreage report may not matter much in terms of CBOT…
REVISED HARVEST DATES FOR PREVENT PLANT COVER CROPS
Within the last few days, the USDA has revised the allowed early harvest date for cover crops planted on Prevent…
2019 TARIFF AID FOR COVER CROPS ON PREVENT PLANT ACRES
On Monday, July 1, 2019, the USDA made an unprecedented announcement that cover crops on prevent plant acres may be…
GMO WHEAT – ARE BREAD AND PASTA BACK ON THE TABLE FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM CELIAC DISEASE?
Pasta, bread, cereals and a plethora of different foods including staple foods and confections are made utilizing wheat gluten; something…
JULY 2019 – USDA CROP PRODUCTION AND WASDE REPORTS
The 2019 Crop Year has been a year of unprecedented events, but the one major factor that trumps all (in…
TERRAVION + FARM DOG – ACCESSING YOUR IMAGERY AND SCOUTING DATA VIA THE SMARTPHONE
TERRAVION + FARM DOG Adding functionality to the high-quality image data TerrAvion provides, compares to adding whipped cream on top…
TERRAVION USE CASE – QUANTIFIYING CROP DAMAGE
USE CASE: QUANTIFYING CROP DAMAGE Destructive weather is typical in most of the growing regions around the country. Growers having…
ARE ORGANIC AND NON-GMO FARMING MORE SUSTAINABLE THAN FARMING USING GMOS? (GLP)
In a recent article published by the Genetic Literacy Project, the sustainability of organic and non-GMO farming compared to GMO…
USDA ANNOUNCES MFP PAYMENTS
Courtesy AgriPulse 2019 The Trump Administration has committed to paying US farmers aid payments to help subsidize the losses caused…
RECRUITING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FARMERS
In his podcast from June 25, 2019, Steve Savage takes a close look at the aging farm population and asks…
DELAYED HARVEST CLAIMS
2019 has been a crazy weather year. The bomb cyclone of March in Nebraska. Now massive snow early October for…
INTEREST DEFERRAL EXTENSION
Midplains Ag is happy to share the great announcement that USDA extended interest deferral again. Thursday November 14th was a…
REPORT 2019 PRODUCTION
After a crazy spring and interesting summer (this year, we had more prevent plant claims and fewer hail claims than…
HOW THE 2014 BLAIR HAILSTORM CONTINUES TO SHAPE HAIL INSURANCE TODAY
Just as the Nixon and Carter trade embargos of the 1970s are still shaping the farm economy in 2020, the…
AN OVERVIEW OF WEATHER & INSECT MONITORING TOOLS FROM DTN
It’s our pleasure to be partnering with DTN to provide weather and insect data to our users. Check out this…
THE CORONAVIRUS LEADS TO CHANGES FOR 2020 CROP INSURANCE
These unprecedented times are leading to some farmer-friendly USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) decisions. In the wake of social distancing…
FARM EQUIPMENT PAST AND PRESENT
Midplains Ag has been contracted by UNL to do Veris mapping on some fields in the Bazile Triangle, an area…
2020 ACREAGE REPORTING
As you are all wrapping up your planting season, we at Midplains Ag are getting excited & making plans for…
GLOBAL GRAIN SUPPLY & DEMAND IN THE ERA OF COVID-19
Ben Buckner (AgResource, Grain Market Specialist): Okay. Greetings MidPlains Ag and greetings from AgResourceCompany in Chicago. It’s nice to be…
THE LONG TERM IMPACT OF OVERSUPPLY
Ben Buckner, AgResource Grain Market Specialist: Okay. Good afternoon. Midplains Ag and everyone in that part of the country. This…
US CROP YIELD PROBABILITIES AND SECOND HALF OF 2020 DEMAND OUTLOOK
Hello to everyone at Midplains Ag and beyond. It’s a pleasure to be here again. Now that we’ve gone through…
INTEREST DEFERRED DUE TO COVID-19
We would like to thank everyone for helping make acreage reporting go smoothly this year. With Donna’s eye problems, Tiffany…
PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST LOSSES DUE TO LOWER THAN AVERAGE RAINFALL WITH A PRF (PASTURE, RANGE, FORAGE) INSURANCE POLICY
I still vividly remember driving into Niobrara on March 26th, 2019. As I drove down the Verdigre Creek Valley and…
MIDPLAINS AG 2020 CHRISTMAS LETTER
As we come to the end of 2020 and bid farewell to one of the strangest and most chaotic years…
WATCH US CREATE A SAMPLE PRF QUOTE HERE
Today, we’re going to continue our discussion of the PRF, or the Pasture, Rangeland, Forage insurance policy. This is a…
JANUARY 2021 LETTER
Greetings for the new year! As we hopefully start to leave COVID and the chaos of 2020 behind, I am…
PREPARING FOR THE 2021 CROP SEASON
As we prepare for the 2021 crop season, we are in a very different situation compared to last year. Last…
BEN BUCKNER, GRAIN MARKET SPECIALIST FROM AGRESOURCE, SHARES HIS OUTLOOK ON THE WORLD GRAIN MARKETS IN 2021
Hello and greetings from Chicago. It’s a pleasure to be joining you virtually for the annual meeting again, and how…
HOW TO WEIGH YOUR 2021 CROP INSURANCE OPTIONS
The main risks that Nebraska farmers face are price, hail, wind and drought. We are lucky here in that we…
WAY-OUT-WEST 4-H CLUB VISITS THE GREENHOUSE
Mud, rain, wind, and cold couldn’t stop the kids of the Way-Out-West 4-H club from visiting our new geothermal heated…
IMPORTANT CROP INSURANCE REMINDERS
As we continue (hopefully) to recover from the crazy year of 2020 and wrap up planting for 2021 we need…
NEW RMA PROGRAM PROVIDES $5 DISCOUNT PER ACRE
In true RMA fashion, another new program has been released. The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP) will provide a $5…
HOW THE WEATHER HAS TRIGGERED PAYMENTS FOR A LOT OF AREAS
What do you love about PRF? “No records to keep.” – Dale At Midplains Ag, we’ve been thinking of what else…
MOST OF OUR INSURANCE CLAIMS THIS YEAR WERE FOR WIND LOSSES. ARE YOU COVERED?
With recent wind warnings and events, we felt it was a very pertinent time to share this information. From…
OUR SOLUTION TO RISING FERTILIZER COSTS
WONDERING WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE RISING COST OF FERTILIZER? WE’VE GOT A SOLUTION.👇 From Richard’s desk: While…
A NEW METHOD FOR MANAGING NITROGEN EFFICIENTLY
WHAT’S THE BEST SOLUTION FOR NITROGEN MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES? From Richard’s desk: As I mentioned in my last nitrogen…
SENTINEL’S STORY – HOW OUR PARTNER ‘SENTINEL FERTIGATION’ GOT ITS NAME
Reposted with permission from our partner Sentinel Fertigation Sentinel Fertigation was founded to scale fertigation management technology developed at the…
THE CONTEMPTIBLE CHALLENGE OF NITROGEN MANAGEMENT
Reposted with permission from our partner Sentinel Fertigation If you’ve listened to the radio in rural Nebraska over the past…
THE CURRENT STATE OF DATA-DRIVEN NITROGEN MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Reposted with permission from our partner Sentinel Fertigation Incredible amounts of data are captured through agricultural operations each growing season.…
FEB 15: 2022 ANNUAL MEETING DETAILS
Our annual meeting will be held on February 15 at the K of C Hall in Elgin with a meal being served at 6 pm.…
2022 CROP INSURANCE OUTLOOK
Agriculture has a certain rhythm with seasons coming and going in a predictable pattern. We till, we plant, we control…
AGRESOURCE: “AG MARKET VOLATILITY; THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF FOOD; A NEW ERA?”
If you weren’t able to attend our annual meeting, watch the replay of Ben Buckner’s presentation. Ben is a Grain…
ANNUAL MEETING 2022: FERGUSON AG
Video Transcript: Three hundred bushel corn and 70 bushel beans. The beans are on the back page, okay. And…
ANNUAL MEETING 2022: SENTINEL FERTIGATION
Video Transcript: All right. Let’s see. See if we got this whole thing working here. All right. Awesome. So…
WHY IS NITROGEN SO HARD TO MANAGE?
Have you ever wondered why nitrogen is so hard to manage? As you can see in the nitrogen cycle diagram…
OUR TAKEAWAYS FROM WORKSHOPS THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR OPERATION
Our workforce here at Midplains Ag attends workshops held by the Underwriting (AIPs) companies, twice a yearly to keep updated…
COVERAGE OPTIONS FOR LACK OF PRECIPITATION
Wow! 2022 has been hot and dry here. The lack of rain is becoming evident all around us. Looks like…
A NEW METHOD OF NITROGEN MANAGEMENT
The cost of farming has increased dramatically this year and the largest part of your bill will be fertilizer and…
ANNUAL MEETING 2023
MEETING TRANSCRIPT: Greetings from Chicago Mid-Plains and team. This has Ben Buckner with AgResource Company in Chicago. Once again,…
EXTREME WEATHER PREDICTIONS IN 2023
War, drought, politics, inflation, raising interest rates and more COVID, 2022 certainly had its share of disruptors. After peaking…
ACREAGE REPORTS 2023
As you are all wrapping up your planting season, we at Midplains Ag are getting excited & making plans for…
PIVOT MAINTENANCE IS KEY BY BILL KRANZ
THE GOAL OF ALL CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IS TO DELIVER IRRIGATION WATER IN UNIFORM MANNER BASED UPON THE MANAGEMENT…
OCTOBER 12TH AGRESOURCE MARKET OUTLOOK BY BEN BUCKNER
South American Weather Far From Ideal Even the October WASDE is not expected to move price much, especially longer term,…
AG RESOURCES AUGUST 1 MARKET OUTLOOK BY BEN BUCKNER
South America Starts to Dominate Corn Exports As expected, South American corn shipments are beginning to accelerate, and given current…
