http://www.toledoblade.com The Latest News from Toledoblade.com (v5) Sat, 06 Jun 2026 02:30:35 GMT en-us hourly 1 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/professor-team-grant-surplus-sweet-potatoes-milk/stories/20260524120 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/professor-team-grant-surplus-sweet-potatoes-milk/stories/20260524120#comments Sun, 24 May 2026 17:26:28 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/professor-team-grant-surplus-sweet-potatoes-milk/stories/20260524120 BOONE, N.C. — Surplus North Carolina sweet potatoes that were usually left to rot in the fields and cost farmers millions of dollars are now being put to good use, thanks to an Appalachian State University professor and his research team. Onions, sweet potatoes and potatoes are piled high at the Toledo Northwest Ohio Food Bank in 2016. Surplus North Carolina sweet potatoes that were usually left to rot in the fields and cost farmers millions of dollars are now being put to good use, thanks to an Appalachian State University professor and his research team. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/kansas-farmers-weather-costs-wheat-crop-worst-since-1972/stories/20260524060 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/kansas-farmers-weather-costs-wheat-crop-worst-since-1972/stories/20260524060#comments Sun, 24 May 2026 11:03:52 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/24/kansas-farmers-weather-costs-wheat-crop-worst-since-1972/stories/20260524060 MONTEZUMA, Kan. — Orville Williams has had a healthy wheat crop on his 2,600-acre farm in Montezuma, Kan., every year since he was a teenager. Farmer Orville Williams sifts powder dry soil as he checks the moisture in a drought-stressed wheat field May 16 on his farm near Montezuma, Kan. Storm clouds build in the distance beyond a drought-stressed wheat field May 15 near Cimarron, Kan. Farmer Orville Williams looks at drought-stressed wheat in one of his fields May 16 near Montezuma, Kan. Farmer Orville Williams looks at drought-stressed wheat in one of his fields May 16 near Montezuma, Kan. Drought-stressed wheat plants stand adjacent to parched ground in a field near Macksville, Kan., on May 16. Cattle graze in a field of abandoned wheat May 15 near Cimarron, Kan. A drought-stressed stalk of wheat lies on a parched field May 16 near Macksville, Kan. Wheat plants struggle to survive in a drought-stressed field near Macksville, Kan., on May 16. Farmer Vance Ehmke checks a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus May 15 on his farm near Healy, Kan. Drought-stressed wheat plants stand in a field near Macksville, Kan., on May 16. Farmer Vance Ehmke checks soil moisture in a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus May 15 on his farm near Healy, Kan. Farmer Vance Ehmke looks at wheat damaged by a late freeze in one of his fields May 15 near Healy, Kan. Farmer Vance Ehmke checks a wheat field decimated by wheat streak mosaic virus May 15 on his farm near Healy, Kan. Drought-stressed wheat is silhouetted against the setting sun May 15 in a field near Cimarron, Kan. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/04/solar-ranch-grazing-cattle-panels-farming/stories/20260504007 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/04/solar-ranch-grazing-cattle-panels-farming/stories/20260504007#comments Mon, 04 May 2026 10:16:27 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/05/04/solar-ranch-grazing-cattle-panels-farming/stories/20260504007 CHRISTIANA, Tenn. — From a distance, the small solar farm in central Tennessee looks like others that now dot rural America, with row upon row of black panels absorbing the sun’s rays to generate electricity. A cow, back right, scratches on a support beam of a solar panel April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. Solar panels operate on a farm with cattle April 28 in Christiana, Tenn. Anna Clare Monlezun, left, a rangeland scientist, chats with Loran Shallenberger, right, vice president of regenerative energy and agrivoltaics at Silicon Ranch, on April 28 in Christiana, Tenn. Cattle rest under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. A cow grazes near solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. Crimson Clover grows in a field under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. A calf stands under solar panels April 28 in Christiana, Tenn. Loran Shallenberger, vice president of regenerative energy and agrivoltaics at Silicon Ranch, clears weeds out from under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. Cattle graze under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. Anna Clare Monlezun, a rangeland scientist, connects a hose while working near solar panels April 28 at a solar farm in Christiana, Tenn. Cattle graze under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. Cattle graze under solar panels April 28 at a farm in Christiana, Tenn. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/21/northeast-flower-fruit-farmers-grapple-with-whiplash-weather/stories/20260421088 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/21/northeast-flower-fruit-farmers-grapple-with-whiplash-weather/stories/20260421088#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:28:45 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/21/northeast-flower-fruit-farmers-grapple-with-whiplash-weather/stories/20260421088 BRIDPORT, Vt. — An abrupt swing from hot weather to cold across the Northeast is frustrating some flower and fruit farmers who have had to either harvest blooms extra early or fear they could lose some crops altogether. Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips April 21 in Bridport, Vt. Tulips are pictured at Understory Farm on April 21 in Bridport, Vt. Farmhand Samantha Martin harvests tulips at Understory Farm on April 21 in Bridport, Vt. A tulip is pictured at Understory Farm on April 21 in Bridport, Vt. Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips April 21 in Bridport, Vt. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/20/financial-pressure-midwest-soybean-farmers-squeezed-tariffs-iran-war/stories/20260418009 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/20/financial-pressure-midwest-soybean-farmers-squeezed-tariffs-iran-war/stories/20260418009#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:24:06 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/04/20/financial-pressure-midwest-soybean-farmers-squeezed-tariffs-iran-war/stories/20260418009 WAHOO, Neb. — Strong winds whipped around Doug Bartek, a fifth-generation farmer, as he headed into a grain bin to shovel soybeans onto a conveyor chute. The 60-year-old was anxious at the onset of the spring planting season, rattling off the long list of issues affecting his family’s livelihood at their 2,000-acre farm near Wahoo, Neb.. Soybeans from last year's harvest are loaded into a truck at Doug Bartek's farm near Wahoo, Neb., on April 6. Doug Bartek talks about high production costs and tough market conditions for the soybeans he grows on his farm near Wahoo, Neb., on April 6. Doug Bartek shovels soybeans in a bin on his farm near Wahoo, Neb., on April 6. Dalton Bartek works a field to prepare for planting soybeans on his family's farm near Wahoo, Neb., on April 6. Doug Bartek transfers soybeans from a storage bin to a truck on his farm near Wahoo, Neb., on April 6. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/30/war-in-iran-sparks-a-global-fertilizer-shortage-and-threatens-food-prices/stories/20260330079 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/30/war-in-iran-sparks-a-global-fertilizer-shortage-and-threatens-food-prices/stories/20260330079#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:35:46 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/30/war-in-iran-sparks-a-global-fertilizer-shortage-and-threatens-food-prices/stories/20260330079 HANOI, Vietnam — Farmers around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran's near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing. A bag of fertilizer is ready to be used on Elizabeth Wangua's land in Limuru, Kenya March 25. Elizabeth Wangua applies fertilizer to her land in Limuru, Kenya March 25. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/23/iran-war-has-u-s-farmers-worried-about-the-cost-and-availability-of-fertilizer/stories/20260321010 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/23/iran-war-has-u-s-farmers-worried-about-the-cost-and-availability-of-fertilizer/stories/20260321010#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:31:46 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/23/iran-war-has-u-s-farmers-worried-about-the-cost-and-availability-of-fertilizer/stories/20260321010 BISMARCK, N.D. — Tennessee farmer Todd Littleton expects to pay $100,000 more for fertilizer this season, a 40 percent spike from his bill last year thanks to the war in Iran — and he is scrambling to cover that extra cost. Tom Waters, a seventh-generation farmer, stands next to his planting machinery March 13 in Orrick, Mo. https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/15/michigan-disappearing-farmland/stories/20260314004 https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/15/michigan-disappearing-farmland/stories/20260314004#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2026 11:00:00 GMT https://www.toledoblade.com/business/agriculture/2026/03/15/michigan-disappearing-farmland/stories/20260314004 Carl Druskovich, a seventh-generation southwest Michigan fruit farmer who still has to work full-time as a dentist to make ends meet, is tempted by the frequent offers to buy pieces of his land for as much as $20,000 an acre. Apples hang from a tree, Oct. 4, 2022, at the Wittenbach Orchards in Belding, Mich.