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Toggle navigation AGDAILY – Your Source for Agriculture News, Trends, & Videos Results Quick Links Farm Babe's Columns FFA News & Features Ag Insider Peterson Farm Bros. Tractors & gear Signup Watch Featured All AGDAILYTV Sections News Lifestyle Weather Crops Livestock Technology Diversity in Ag Featured News Insights Columnists Farms Farm Show 2020 College Guide FFA Signup Work With Us For the love of butter: The story of the oldest family-owned creamery By Michelle Bufkin Horton Read More Read Lessons learned while showing livestock Read Padilla introducing Senate bill to extend OT pay to agriculture Read Perspective: The EPA picking politics over science in atrazine decision Agriculture news Jun 27, 2022 Crops Read AGDAILY Contributors Markets in Minutes: Top Third looks ahead for week of June 27, 2022 Top Third Ag Marketing helps farmers become better agricultural marketers with the goal of marketing crops and livestock in the top third of prices. Mark Gold and his team provide AGDAILY.com with the latest information and a look ahead in their audio commentary.Listen here! https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/top-third-AGdaily-06-27_2022.mp3 Share Jun 24, 2022 Crops Read AGDAILY Reporters Farmers face looming price hikes and fertilizer tariffs Farmers are now facing fertilizer price hikes and shortages after a ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce, threatening their ability to farm. This week, the Department issued a determination after a period of investigation suggesting that urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer that was exported to the United States was sold under value.While concerning, tariffs are not hitting nitrogen fertilizers imported into the U.S. quite yet. Later this summer, the U.S. The International Trade Commission will make a final ruling. Looming tariffs threaten farmers’ ability to grow food effectively while raising concern for the global food supply, however, U.S. growers have already been making decisions on what to grow based on shortages and record prices. While the United States sources fertilizer domestically, it is the third-largest importer. The U.S. also uses over 10.3 percent of global fertilizers consumed. “Placing tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers will land yet another blow to farmers, who are already dealing with a host of issues,” said Brooke S. Appleton, vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association. “Farming is hard enough in the current environment. Farmers can’t do what they do with one hand tied behind their backs. And actions like these, pushed by fertilizer companies, will tie the hands of farmers.” Back in March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided $250 million to support American fertilizer production. Share Jun 24, 2022 Crops Read AGDAILY Reporters Farmers are doing their part during Pollinator Week Pollinator Week runs June 20 to 26, celebrating the contributions pollinators make to our food and ecosystems. Pollinators are more than just bees, and altogether, they contribute between $235 billion and $577 billion annually to global food production. Farmers have long known that agriculture and nature are intensely interconnected — in fact, more than one-third of all crops require pollinators for propagation. Biodiversity is essential to the productivity of the land. Farmers can contribute by providing food and habitats for pollinators, promoting a healthy ecosystem, and setting us all up for a more sustainable future.“Pollinators are critical to whatever crop you’re growing. The general public sees pollinators in their flowers and their shrubs around the house. As farmers, we’re growing crops to fuel and feed the world, and without pollinators, our crops can’t produce what they normally should do. Pollinators are critical to the agricultural community. Farmers for the last dozen years have been taking extra measures to save pollinators. We always have. My grandfather taught me that you need to take care of the soil and everything around it. That includes the pollinators,” says Chip Bowling, farmer and former chair of the National Corn Growers’ Association.This week was initially established by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack through a USDA proclamation. Companies such as Syngenta and BASF solutions are funding opportunities for farmers to establish habitats in non-productive areas of their farms where pollinators can flourish. What can farmers do to help provide habitat for pollinators?Plant non-crop vegetation corridors through programs such as #OperationPollination, by Syngenta. This program is helping farmers and land users to plant flowers where they aren’t planting crops. These corridors provide critical food and habitat for bees and other insects, bats, and birds. In fact, just three acres of marginal land could have up to 100 acres of positive benefit. Purchase seeds from native food sources for pollinators with the help of Agricultural Solutions Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund’s Seed a Legacy pollinator program. This year, BASF donated $50,000 as part of the Living Acres #MonarchChallenge initiative. This program provides free or reduced seed to landowners in Midwest states. Protect flowering plants and water sources. Landowners, farmers, and road departments can delay mowing non-crop flowering areas until seeding. “Farmers have the biggest job on Earth,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President of BASF Agricultural Solutions North America. “Pollinators play a key role in helping farmers feed a growing population. BASF does everything we can to support farmers, including the advancement of pollinators, like monarch butterflies, in their work to support farmers,” Rea said. Share Jun 24, 2022 Lifestyle Read AGDAILY Reporters Padilla introducing Senate bill to extend OT pay to agriculture U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California is introducing a bill that would extend overtime pay to agricultural workers — a divisive topic in the industry even as the notion of a standard 40-hour work week has been a focal point for advocates since the dawn of the labor movement. And that debate has raged for generations. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay, but it excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers, most of whom Padilla says were people of color.Called the Fairness for Farm Workers Act, the measure would directly amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to end the overtime and minimum wage exemptions for farm workers. According to a fact sheet on Padilla’s website, the bill would gradually implement overtime pay over the course of four years.Specifically, it would require employers, beginning in 2023, to compensate agricultural workers for hours worked in excess of their regular hours (i.e., 55 hours in 2023, 50 hours in 2024, 45 hours in 2025, and 40 hours in 2026) at not less than one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the overtime pay requirements begin in 2026.A similar resolution was introduced in the U.S. House in May 2021 but was referred to committee with no action taken.“The discriminatory exclusion of farm workers from overtime pay has continued for far too long. It is time we right this grievous national wrong by finally extending overtime pay to all U.S. farm workers. Farm workers help put food on our tables and deserve equal workplace rights,” said UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres.The UFW Foundation has a strong connection to Padilla after the Democrat became the first U.S. senator to work alongside farm workers as part of the United Farm Workers’ and UFW Foundation’s Take Our Jobs campaign. A few days later, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey became the second senator to take part in the campaign.California Democrat Alex Padilla became the first U.S. senator to work alongside farm workers as part of the Take Our Jobs campaign. (Image courtesy of UFW Foundation)According to the UFW Foundation, California is the only state that currently provides overtime pay to all agricultural workers after 40 hours a week or eight hours a day. In Washington state, only dairy workers currently receive overtime pay after working 40 hours a week. All other Washington state farm workers receive overtime pay after working 55 hours per week. Few other states, such as New York, offer overtime pay to farm workers but at higher thresholds and long-term phase-ins.As written in Padilla’s bill, the overtime pay requirements would not apply to employees who are the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the employer’s immediate family.In a column posted recently to AGDAILY, the author wrote: “In practice, how will OT work? Farmers have a fixed quantity of dollars to allocate to payroll. Lower the OT threshold, and they’ll 1) hire more workers, and 2) cap their hours at 40. Less take-home pay per worker. How does that model worker justice? You have to wonder if farmworker advocacy groups can see beyond their demonization of farmers to the very palpable collateral damage.”There is also significant concern from from small- and middle-scale producers that a shift in the overtime standards will favor larger farms and ag corporations, as they would be more able to weather any financial impact to the operations. Smaller producers generally have smaller margins, and it’s speculated that overtime pay would lead to more consolidation in the agricultural industry.Padilla says that The Fairness for Farm Workers Act is endorsed by over 140 organizations and was included in the Biden Administration’s immigration plan. It is sponsored by Padilla and co-sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ron Wyden, Chris Van Hollen, Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown, and Ed Markey. As of this publication date, the bill has not yet been assigned a number in the Senate.Working at a New Jersey farm, Sen. Cory Booker spent a day harvesting lettuce, cleaning leafy greens, and planting tomatoes. (Image courtesy of UFW Foundation) Share More news Articles by Category Crops The value of peanuts to North Carolina agriculture Perspective: The EPA picking politics over science in atrazine decision Legumes can provide enough nitrogen to feed crops, field trial shows Defined: The types of tillage in modern agriculture Livestock For the love of butter: The story of the oldest family-owned creamery Ryan Goodman steers toward a future of more diversity and inclusion in agriculture Imagine the byproducts in the average day of an animal-rights activist Ways to celebrate National Dairy Month throughout June! Lifestyle Lessons learned while showing livestock Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 24, 2022 Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 23, 2022 Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 22, 2022 Features For the love of butter: The story of the oldest family-owned creamery Minerva Dairy — the world’s oldest creamery and dating back to the late 1800s — has a long and storied history mixed with tradition and innovation. Read Ryan Goodman steers toward a future of more diversity and inclusion in agriculture Ryan Goodman — popularly known as Beef Runner on social media — is using his well-established platform to advocate for the LGBTQ+ people. Read Remembering the joy in agriculture with Baxter Black, DVM When you’ve lost the romance and love for ranching, and you’re tired of the work without rest, or when you’re exhausted by the day-to-day, year-by-year gamble of working in agriculture, you can turn on Baxter Black and remember the joy and the fun of the lifestyle with which you fell in love. He was a […] Read Crops The value of peanuts to North Carolina agriculture Perspective: The EPA picking politics over science in atrazine decision Legumes can provide enough nitrogen to feed crops, field trial shows Defined: The types of tillage in modern agriculture Livestock For the love of butter: The story of the oldest family-owned creamery Ryan Goodman steers toward a future of more diversity and inclusion in agriculture Imagine the byproducts in the average day of an animal-rights activist Ways to celebrate National Dairy Month throughout June! Lifestyle Lessons learned while showing livestock Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 24, 2022 Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 23, 2022 Ag on Instagram: The best farm photos from June 22, 2022 .lazyload{display:none;}/* move div to left side of viewport so it doesn't interfere with JWPlayer overlay */div[id^='contain-'] {left: 0 !important;} Video picks 3:43 Greg Peterson and wife BrookeAnna sing amid the wheat field 1:35 Cowboys ride into action when cow gets loose in Oklahoma City 3:43 An epic Petersons’ parody: ‘You Planted All Night Long’ 13:13 Why do Bill Gates and other wealthy Americans buy up farmland? 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