Mike Pearson takes This Weeks in Agribusiness on the road to the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.
First up on the show was National Pork Producers Council President Duane Statler who is the fifth-generation farmer on his hog farm in Northwest Ohio.
Statler says they expected a record-breaking attendance and talked about a sense of optimism that hasn't been found in the past couple of years.
Also discussed was Proposition 12 and the future of the legislation. The hope continues that a legislative fix will be in the next Farm Bill or passed as a separate piece of legislation.
Also, on the show is Mike Minor, of Professional Ag Marketing, he was talking about the hog markets. Minor discussed how the export business is not being hurt by the tariff wars. He says China has been absent from the markets but came last week. He says the demand from consumers is what is keeping the hog markets strong. He added that the demand is not as high as the beef markets but is doing well.
Greg Soulje is in with a weather forecast for the week.
Up next on the show is Dr. Lisa Becton, of the Swine Health Information Center. She says the key function is to keep an eye on any emerging diseases and monitor what is happening in the America's swine barns.
One of the ways the organization does it is through the Swine Disease Reporting Service which pays attention to the domestic disease pressure.
One disease that has been reported in 2025 is PRRS or Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.
Also making a visit to the show is Geoff Reeves, Monroe, North Carolina, on the Agronomy for Your Acres segment.
Reeves says the top priority for the area is to get in the wheat fieelds and start cutting. However, rain has kept that from happening the past few days. The concern is getting the wheat cut before the quality becomes uncertain.
Greg is back with an extended weather outlook.
Also on deck for the show is Sarah Muirhead, editor of Feedstuffs and National Hog Producer magazine. She talks about what she witnessed at the World Pork Expo as well as what attendees were talking including pork sustainability, the taste of the meat and marketing.
Plus, Max Armstrong shows viewers what other viewers had in their tractor sheds this week. This included an Oliver 66 from Illinois, a Farmall 504 from Michigan, A John Deere H and Allis Chalmers B from Colorado and three John Deere tractors in one shed in Wisconsin.
There's a 50 Allis Chalmers C in Max's Tractor Shed. He shares a special story about the family behind the tractor.
Mark Stock shares the lineup for BigIron Auctions.
The FFA tribute this week goes to Alivia King, an incoming junior in the Coon Rapids Bayard, FFA. She was in attendance at the World Pork Expo. She grew up in agriculture. Surprisingly, her family raised more cattle than hogs. She grew up on the farm and wanted to learn more about agriculture is why she joined the FFA. She has developed a big interest in livestock and wants a career in farming. She says she wants to be a farmer after graduation.
In the ag tech segment, Chad Colby takes a look at better ways to apply nitrogen including utilizing the technology on the planter and sidebar.
He talks with Blake Burd, District Sales Manager for Nachurs. One area producers are concentrating is targeting problems in the sections of the fields. He says that wasn't something farmers were doing five or six years ago.
Burd added many farmers are out scouting fields if planting is complete and deciding what products need to go where in the fields. He added many farmers are looking to save money this year but keep their yields high. However, there is ahigh price of precision application.
Pearson also talks with Tyler Harp, Technical Product Leader for Syngenta about fungicides. Harp says not all fungicides are the same. Some are for crop protection, treatment and others can be used for stress mitigation and as a precaution to stand off potential issues. They can also give a nice yield bump if you used correctly.
This Week in Agribusiness features market news, ag technology, weather and farms, weekly on RFD-TV, and can be found each week on FarmProgress.com.