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 5 sessions, corn has firmed and beans have firmed. That is the backdrop your cash bid is moving against. Here is our read on why corn, beans, and wheat all slipped a little overnight. Honestly, today's headlines do not point to one clean grain cause, since no USDA report is due and the day's ag news runs to Michigan forest maps, screwworm updates, and the John Deere right to repair settlement. Our best read is this was routine profit taking and technical selling in a quiet market, with the two likeliest culprits being a lack of fresh demand news and general position squaring ahead of summer weather. 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. Senate farm bill draft keeps SNAP cuts
Nearly two months after the House passed its own version, the Senate Agriculture Committee has finally put out its first draft of the big omnibus farm bill that sets the rules on everything from crop insurance to food aid. The draft holds onto the cuts to SNAP, the nutrition assistance program, that have been a sticking point in the debate. In a separate development out of West Branch, Iowa, two Iowa farming groups have signed onto a nationwide lawsuit against the federal government over the sudden revocation of certain funds. This all matters because the farm bill shapes your safety net for years to come, and Iowa producers are clearly willing to go to court when Washington yanks promised support.
Read the full article. Iowa Farmer Today, Wed Jul 8, 2026 4:00 PM CT 2. 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 which products get spared from proposed Section 301 tariffs of 10% to 12.5% aimed at 60 nations accused of using forced labor. Jenna Stanton of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association argued the exemption for all bovine products should be scrapped, warning that Brazil has blacklisted at least 21 cattle operations for slavery like conditions, and that cheap Brazilian beef ends up shelved right next to beef from honest U.S. family farmers. She flagged Argentina as no safe alternative since Brazilian beef can be rerouted through it, all while the Trump administration has already opened the door to 80,000 metric tons of tariff free Argentine beef trimmings a year, citing record low domestic herds. Coffee interests joined in too, with the National Coffee Association noting unflavored instant coffee got left off the exemption list even though coffee cannot be grown here and adds more than $343 billion to the economy each year.
Read the full article. Agri-Pulse, Wed Jul 8, 2026 5:57 PM CT 3. Lean Hogs
Hog futures broke sharply higher today, with the October contract posting its strongest single day rally since November as buyers rushed in right after the open. The Hightower Report credited the surge to managed money shorts finally covering their positions after October pushed through Monday's one month high and tripped a wave of buy stops that accelerated the climb. Front month contracts jumped anywhere from 50 cents to $1.70, though the deferred months slipped 7 to 30 cents, leaving the board mixed, according to Austin Schroeder writing for Barchart. For anyone feeding hogs or watching protein markets, this is the first real technical spark in a while, and it may signal that the recent slide has run its course.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Wed Jul 8, 2026 5:13 PM CT 4. Cattle complex prices bounce back from morning lows
Live cattle prices clawed their way off a rough start, with the August contract dipping to three month lows in the morning before buyers stepped in to close well above the day's bottom. According to The Hightower Report, technical selling has driven the market lower for the past couple of weeks and pressured prices again early on. The turning point came when stochastics hit their most oversold reading of all of 2026, which triggered short covering late in the session and lifted the complex. This bounce matters because it hints the recent slide may be running out of steam, a signal worth watching before you price your next load of cattle.
Read the full article. Tri-State Neighbor, Wed Jul 8, 2026 4:56 PM CT 5. New Interactive Map Helps Tell Story of Michigan's Forest Legacy Program
Michigan's Department of Natural Resources has released a new interactive story map showcasing all 10 of the state's Forest Legacy projects, which range from a modest 160 acres up to more than 147,000 acres across the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. Kerry Heckman of the DNR's Forest Resources Division says the competitive federal program has helped acquire over 238,000 acres for public use through outright purchases or conservation easements, protecting scenic spots like the Pigeon River Country State Forest and the Keweenaw Peninsula. The newest addition, the Michigamme Highlands, locks in a 73,063 acre working forest easement in the Huron Mountains that includes Mount Arvon, the state's highest point, while still allowing sustainable logging, hunting access, and protected deer and moose habitat. What matters here is the money and the model, since the federal government covers up to 75 percent of project costs with the remaining 25 percent coming from private, state, or local partners, a cost sharing setup that keeps working forests both productive and open to the public forever.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Wed Jul 8, 2026 9:24 PM CT 6. Updates on New World Screwworm
Federal officials confirmed the first U.S. case of New World screwworm on June 3, 2026, in a Texas calf, and the flesh eating pest has since turned up in cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs across Texas and New Mexico, though none has reached Michigan yet. Because the larvae burrow into open wounds on any warm blooded animal and can be fatal, new import movement rules took effect June 17, 2026, tightening how animals travel from affected states and their neighbors. Michigan's agriculture department has launched its own information page at michigan.gov/screwworm, backed by the national dashboard at screwworm.gov and lab support from Michigan State University. Farmers are urged to inspect stock for draining wounds, the smell of decay, and creamy white eggs near wound edges, and to report any suspected case immediately at 800 to 292 to 3939 since this is an emergency reportable disease.
Read the full article. Morning Ag Clips, Wed Jul 8, 2026 9:08 PM CT 7. A Tale of Two Regions: Indiana's Split Planting Season Leaves Farmers Hoping for a Strong Finish This Fall
Indiana's corn and soybean crop has split into two very different seasons this year, with C.J. Fleenor in southwestern Orange County finishing all his planting by about April 28th, a personal world record, while Don Wyss near Fort Wayne sat stuck in barns as rain, frost, and cold kept his ground too wet to plant. Statewide the USDA rates 62 percent of corn and 64 percent of soybeans good to excellent, but that average hides a fractured reality, since southern fields fought too much rain, drought, heat, and frost that forced some farmers to replant seed two or three times. Now an early July heatwave has flipped the fortunes, baking the humid south into a greenhouse that threatens tar spot and southern rust outbreaks just as tight margins make growers question spending on fungicide, while that same heat rescued the north by finally pushing its late crops toward pollination. The takeaway is that both regions are betting on a strong fall finish, with well timed August rains able to save the delayed northern crop and disease control needed to protect the early southern one, a reminder of how local weather now decides who wins the yield race.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Wed Jul 8, 2026 6:20 PM CT 8. 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 January 2025 lawsuit that accused the company of trapping farmers in an overpriced repair monopoly. For the next 10 years, Deere must hand over the same diagnostic software, manuals, and hardware tools it gives its own dealers to farmers and independent mechanics on fair terms, and pay $1 million toward state legal costs. The deal, still pending approval from Judge Iain Johnston in Rockford, Illinois, also bars dealers from retaliating against folks who fix their own machines and requires Deere to release any new tools to the public if more than half its dealers get them. This matters at planting and harvest time, when a locked up tractor once meant weeks of costly waiting on an authorized technician, so being able to grab a wrench and the right software yourself could save you real money and precious field days.
Read the full article. Hoosier Ag Today, Wed Jul 8, 2026 6:15 PM CT 9. John Deere settles with Minnesota, other states and FTC over 'right to repair' lawsuit
John Deere has settled a right to repair lawsuit brought by Minnesota, several other states, and the FTC, agreeing to give farmers and independent shops the digital tools needed to diagnose and repair large ag equipment for 10 years. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called it a win against illegal antitrust practices that drove up farmer costs and hurt small rural repair businesses. Within 30 days, Deere must mail owners and independent repair providers letters explaining their new access to repair resources, and the deal can be extended past 10 years if Deere breaks its terms. This comes on top of a separate $99 million class action settlement Deere agreed to in April covering farmers who paid authorized dealers for repairs to big equipment going back to January 2018.
Read the full article. AgWeek, Wed Jul 8, 2026 4:16 PM CT 10. Live cattle lower waiting on direct business
Cattle traders sat on their hands Wednesday as August live cattle slipped $.80 to $237.62 and direct cash bids stayed scarce, with Nebraska sellers asking $400 dressed and real volume not expected until Thursday or Friday. Feeder cattle bucked the trend at the CME, closing higher on cheaper corn, but the OKC West auction told a different story with steers and calves running $5 to $20 lower on plain to average quality. Boxed beef took a hard hit, with Choice dropping $4.57 to $381.20 and slaughter running more than 10,000 head behind last year, a sign demand is softening at the meat case. Meanwhile hogs were the day's winner as August lean hogs jumped $2.72 to $99.65 on aggressive processor buying, and with grilling season hot and pork priced cheap at retail, that could keep the momentum going.
Read the full article. Brownfield Ag News, Wed Jul 8, 2026 4:09 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 SafetyFarmers have one of the highest skin cancer rates of any job from years of sun. Wear a wide-brim hat, long sleeves when you can, and sunscreen on the neck, ears, and forearms. A yearly skin check catches the early ones. Source: National Ag Safety Database; Marshfield Clinic agricultural medicine. Cal Local ObituariesNo local obituaries for your area in today's papers. The Coffee ShopToday in Farm History, Deere buys Waterloo Boy 1918On March 14, 1918, John Deere & Company paid $2.35 million for the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, maker of the Waterloo Boy tractor (built on John Froelich's 1892 design). The purchase put Deere in the tractor business; today Deere is the largest farm-equipment maker in the world. Source: Deere & Company corporate archive; Smithsonian National Museum of American History. [CAL'S QUIZ]
In the 1921 farm depression, by how much did U.S. corn prices fall in a single year?
(a) 24%
(b) 44%
(c) 64%
(d) 84%
Answer at the bottom of the Brief. [CAL'S JOKE]
The Hesston cut hay all day. The clouds built west. The farmer raked the windrows. The first drop hit the rake. He told his wife, "Tie game." She said, "Who wins?" He said, "The rake. By eleven minutes."
The MI Farm AI Desk
Cal "Corn-Bread" Halvorsen, your AI Agronomist and Editor in Chief Quiz Answer(c) 64% (wheat fell 53%). European farms came back online after WWI and the farm depression lasted through the 1920s, hiding inside the urban Roaring Twenties. Midwest foreclosures hit levels not seen again until the 1980s farm crisis. Source: USDA Economic Research Service; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis historical bulletin.
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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.