Recent trends in the operational efficiency of the U.S. ethanol industry are analyzed in this article. The picture that emerges from the analysis is one of tradeoffs in operational efficiency of dry mill ethanol plants, with more ethanol and corn oil production coming at the expense of less DDGS. The picture that emerges from the analysis is one of tradeoffs in operational efficiency of dry mill ethanol plants, with more ethanol and corn oil production coming at the expense of less DDGS.

Significantly reduced farmer-paid premiums for Supplemental and Enhanced Coverage Option (SCO and ECO) policies suggest that farmers should consider using these products in their 2026 crop insurance portfolios. Adding SCO and ECO to higher coverage level farm-level plans such as Revenue Protection (RP) will increase expect returns and reduce risk, while also increasing total premium costs. Expected returns can be increased more by reducing RP’s coverage level while still using ECO and SCO.

History of the breakdown in the 1950s and 1960s should reinforce key lessons about failing to fix fundamental flaws in farm policy. Congress, however, appears intent on repeating the problems. In the House, a recycled bill of mostly leftover programs fixes none of the problematic changes contained in the Reconciliation Farm Bill. Here again we are reminded that history’s handrails offer only help, and only if properly used.

Average Indiana feed costs in 2025 were approximately 9% lower than feed costs in 2024 and 44% lower than feed costs in 2023. Feed costs in 2026 are expected to be like those experienced in 2025. Current projections use corn prices ranging from $4.25 to $4.50 per bushel, and soybean meal prices ranging from $275 to $325 per ton. Corn and soybean prices will be impacted by weather conditions around the world as well as other supply and demand factors.

Sometime in early October, USDA is expected to make nearly $16 billion in direct payments to a select group of farm operations (CBO, February 2026). Those payments are for the…

We have recently released a new Insurance Evaluator on the farmdoc website. The revised tool takes into account recent increases in pre-mium support for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO), as well as increases in support for the COMBO product. As a result of these premium support changes, many farmers may consider taking ECO and SCO and potentially lowering RP coverage levels, particularly for soybeans in the central part of Illinois.

Invoking the Defense Production Act, President Donald Trump on Wednesday designated glyphosate-based herbicides and elemental phosphorus as critical to national defense and ordered Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to prioritize and…

The number of U.S. farms shrank by 15,000 in 2025, bringing the total to 1.865 million, USDA said (last week) in its Land in Farms report. This continues a long-lasting…

The House Agriculture Committee unveiled a draft farm bill Friday that would revamp a key international food aid program, boost risk management options for specialty crop growers and nullify California’s…