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This process is being watched closely because of its scale and timeframe. There’s relevance in how what a forced seller of this size does to not only to its farm business but also the larger farmland market.
FTI Consulting Canada, the monitor, told the court in June that “this amount of farmland hitting the market all at one time will be unprecedented and accordingly it is yet to be determined how the market will absorb the supply.”
What The Market Has Said So Far
The clearest read available came in August, and it was not encouraging.
On Aug. 19, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta approved the sale of roughly 3,100 acres at Aguila, Ariz., along with a cold storage facility and a seed plant, to Nevada-based Byner Cattle Company. In an affidavit sworn Aug. 10, Monette Group CEO Darrel Monette said the retained broker marketed the property by “directly contacting 17 prospective purchasers active in the agricultural sector.” The monitor’s report adds that the listing drew 41 hits on the listing platform and 37 views of the broker’s own website.
The result: “This was the only offer received for the Aguila Farm.”
The purchase price is under seal by a separate order granted the same day. Monette argued in his affidavit that public disclosure “could impact any future sale process.”
It was the first U.S. property to clear. It was not the first sale — 19 Saskatchewan parcels near Hafford, together with buildings, grain storage and equipment, were approved May 1 for sale to G and K Walter Farms and Harvesting Ltd. and closed May 13. Both transactions ran through expedited sale approval and vesting orders, a track that operates alongside the main sale process rather than through it.
Across that main process, the monitor distributed marketing materials to approximately 208 strategic and financial parties.
More About The Response So Far
Monette’s Sale and Investment Solicitation Process (SISP) contains no non-binding round — no letter-of-intent stage where a buyer can put a number on paper and then go walk the ground. Under the approved procedures, a bid qualifies only if it arrives as a signed definitive transaction agreement with completed exhibits, accompanied by evidence of financing, and remains irrevocable until a successful bidder is selected or the deal closes.
That is a demanding ask on land a buyer may never have seen, and it front-loads the cost of bidding.
The listings were also late. All properties were on the market by late July, six weeks after the process opened June 29. British Columbia did not go live until July 31 — roughly ten weeks before bids close.
What Changed Sept. 1
Sept. 1 was not a bid deadline. Bids have been accepted since June 29, and the monitor has spent the summer collecting offers. As of Sept. 1, it can begin selecting them.
The hard wall is Oct. 15, the Binding Bid Deadline. Bids submitted on or before Sept. 1 are on a track seeking court approval by Oct. 31. Bids arriving after Sept. 1 and before the deadline seek approval by the process termination date — noon Mountain Time on Nov. 30.
There’s a detail buried in those dates. The stay of proceedings protecting Monette from its creditors runs to Nov. 13. Anything landing late in the window therefore needs an extension to close.
What is For Sale
JurisdictionAcresLead brokerSaskatchewan~117,000–129,000Hammond Realty, with Sutton-Harrison Realty and Royal LePage Martin-LibertyMontana54,482Premier Land CompanyManitoba~49,000Hammond RealtyBritish Columbia~45,000LandQuest Realty Corp.Colorado4,079Clark & Associates Land BrokersArizona3,157Southwest Land Associates North of the Border, a Smaller Pool
Saskatchewan and Manitoba both limit non-resident ownership of farmland to 40 acres. The Saskatchewan and Manitoba packages — the bulk of the offering — must find domestic buyers, in provinces where a distressed seller has put more than 150,000 acres in front of them at once.
The U.S. tracts carry no equivalent restriction. Roughly 61,700 acres in Montana, Colorado and Arizona can clear into a buyer pool that includes outside capital.
British Columbia Has Already Failed Twice
The B.C. ranches are the cautionary case. Roughly 45,000 acres across 12 properties drew no sales at a Jan. 9 deadline. A second attempt through a Ritchie Bros. tender-by-auction closed March 3, also without a sale. Title concerns were blamed at the time.
The ground is now listed as 11 packages with LandQuest Realty Corp. It is the third attempt to sell it.
How It Got Here
Darrel Monette took over the family operation in 2013 and scaled and diversified it quickly — grain growth across Western Canada, U.S. entry in 2019, cattle and produce added in 2021, and a vegetable processing facility near Outlook, Sask.
Revenue climbed from $45 million in 2017 to $347 million. Earnings went the other way: EBITDA fell from $83 million in 2022 to $37 million as expansion into lower-margin produce and cattle consumed capital, interest rates rose and land valuations flattened.
A senior facilities agreement — originally roughly $950 million, led by Scotiabank — matured April 15, 2026, with $829.5 million in principal and interest due. An attempt to raise about $400 million through a minority stake sale found no buyer. The group filed for creditor protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act on April 28, covering 18 Monette corporations and three limited partnerships. Court filings put secured debt near $905 million against approximately $1.24 billion in assets and $1.08 billion in liabilities.
A parallel Chapter 15 proceeding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court recognized the Canadian case as the foreign main proceeding on May 13. No order approving the Arizona sale had been posted to that docket as of Sept. 1; an omnibus hearing was scheduled Aug. 25.
The farm is still operating. Monette said at the filing that his priority was to “keep farming,” and the group has continued through the 2026 growing season.
More on Monette Farms’ Restructure
As of July 31, Monette had drawn $88.2 million of a $90 million debtor-in-possession facility, according to the monitor’s third report. Cash on hand stood at $12.3 million. The forecast has the group holding $5 million on Nov. 13, which is the day its creditor protection expires.
That is the frame for everything that happens between now and the Oct. 15 bid deadline. The land has to sell, and it has to sell in a window that is now measured in weeks.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), an NSAC member, and was authored by Nora Shields-Cutler, IATP’s Program Associate for Community Food Systems. The original post is available on IATP’s website.
While the initiative announcement makes some encouraging promises, the amount of funding doesn’t come close to the $1 billion of local school food funding canceled in 2025.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its “Harvest to Hallways” initiative this week, outlining approximately $125 million in investments and support for school nutrition. While we’re encouraged to see public investment in school meals, these investments don’t come close to covering the $1 billion that states lost when the administration canceled the Local Food for Schools (LFS) funding last year. The administration canceled these LFS funds under the grounds that they “no longer effectuate[d] the goals of the agency” — this reversal in policy decisions creates confusion and sows reasonable doubt in the stated goals of this new initiative. These new investments also do not address the more comprehensive support required to support schools in purchasing, preparing, and serving local food.
The announcement lists six main priorities: expanding local procurement, investing in school kitchens, bringing more local food to schools, accelerating healthier meals, and investing in school meal nutrition research. While all these topline goals seem like great priorities, unpacking the planned activities paints a different picture.
Growing local procurementHarvest to Hallways will address “expanding local procurement” through branding and education to schools. While federal guidance and support of local purchasing is critical, this information alone does not address the structural barriers schools face to significantly expand their local purchases. Congress implementing a local purchasing option for USDA entitlement dollars is a tangible action advocates have called for to allow schools to use their existing federal commodity funding to purchase local, minimally processed foods.
Investing in school kitchensThe next priority mentioned is school kitchens, with a new $50 million investment in kitchen equipment, adding to a previously announced amount of $20 million. This is a much-needed investment but doesn’t begin to address the scope of the problem. In California alone, a 2020 study found that over $5 billion would be required to ensure public school kitchens were prepared for scratch cooking. This problem is national in scope: 72% of respondents to a national survey stated shortages in equipment as a moderate to significant barrier in implementing more scratch cooking. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest identified, we need further research to understand what it will take to address this challenge, and sustained funding to make progress on infrastructure needs.
Supporting Farm to School grantsUSDA’s announcement includes an additional $25 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School grants to support bringing more local foods to schools. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant program has funded important work over the years, with a larger scope than food purchasing — the grant has offered support for planning, development, and implementation of Farm to School initiatives. However, recent changes have made the grant less accessible. These changes include introducing a new minimum award amount of $100,000 — when 97% of previous awards were less than this amount (1,241 of 1,342 awards) — and requiring many types of applicants, including schools, to apply as part of a partnership. See other changes highlighted here.
The program also continues to require grantees to provide a 25% match. All these factors mean that smaller districts and strained budgets are being asked to do significant amounts of legwork and provide more match dollars before they can even apply for funding. This $25 million also represents a tiny fraction of the $1 billion of federal Local Food for Schools funding that was canceled in 2025, which could have been used directly to purchase foods from local farmers.
Researching school meal nutritionThe final listed priorities include accelerating healthier meals and investing $30 million in school meal nutrition research. The plan encourages adoption of a pledge for healthier school meals. Many of the items included in the pledge are easy to get behind as ideas and much harder for schools to implement in practice. For example, many of the listed items under “improving smart snacks” require cold storage (i.e., eggs, cheese, fruits and vegetables), additional processing, or can’t be served at all in many schools (i.e., nuts). Schools are still working to implement the 2024 rule and are concerned about additional possible changes to the meal pattern. Without communication about a new proposed USDA rule based on the dietary guidelines, this soundbite merely throws more unhelpful information at overburdened school staff. It is unclear what impact lunch improvement research might have on schools’ ability to prepare and serve meals that align with new guidelines or how it might reduce costs. Tips and tricks are unlikely to address the biggest issue school districts are facing: the costs of food and labor. Increasing reimbursement for school meals and federally implementing free meals for all students would be two steps that could begin to address some of these issues.
All in all, the Harvest to Hallways initiative has positive components. Infrastructure support and additional funding for the Patrick Leahy Farm to School program are great investments in our school food landscape. The infrastructure support is a start in addressing the third major concern of school districts: equipment. But the scale of this investment does not match the tremendous need and types of investment needed. A set of common-sense changes found in Chef Ann Foundation’s roadmap for healthier school meals would address the range of needs more comprehensively, including increasing school reimbursement and staff wages. We would like to see deep investment from Congress and the administration to address the funding needed to cover the costs of food, staffing, and infrastructure to serve all kids nutritious, locally sourced meals.
The post Guest Post: USDA’s new “Harvest to Hallways” school food initiative falls short of needed investments appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
(Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2026) – Today, at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Data Modernization Plan to put Farmers First, reduce unnecessary burdens on producers, and improve the timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness of the agricultural data that informs decisions across American agriculture.
On July 30, 2026, an unannounced black Chevrolet Suburban parked outside Burgod’s office building in Aberdeen. A Division of Criminal Investigations agent, presumably armed, exited the vehicle and entered her office. Sent by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, he flashed his badge and announced an investigation of Burgod.
Enemy of the state? A lawbreaker?
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” she says. “All I’ve done is ask reasonable questions about a mega-dairy facility they’re trying to ram into our rural community, while ignoring ordinances on the books that are meant to govern and protect our county, farms, and lakes. This is happening all over our state in one degree or another, and I won’t be silenced.”
Math Ain’t Mathing
Across four generations, Burgod’s family has worked the land in Edmunds County, outside Ipswich, in northcentral South Dakota. At present, alongside her husband, Keith, and two sons, Burgod actively grows corn, soybeans, and maintains a cow-calf cattle operation. Additionally, Burgod owner-agent at a crop insurance agency in nearby Aberdeen, across the line in Brown County.
“It’s the life I love,” she says. “If I’m in a combine or tractor, I am living the dream. I’m passionate about agriculture and the wonderful place where I was born and raised.”
In August 2025, based on a conditional-use-permit application, Burgod caught wind of an incoming dairy to Edmunds County owned by Minnesota-based Riverview LLP. Edmunds County has dairies, but nothing to compare with the inbound proposal: Belle Dairy, a 25,000-head operation spanning 640 acres.
“I wanted to know if they were following county ordinances,” Burgod says, “the laws for the good of our community that are supposed to be followed regardless of who the applicant is.”(Graphic courtesy of Julie Burgod)
The Edmunds County zoning board approved Belle Dairy despite area opposition: Local citizens submitted hundreds of comments, a binder containing detailed concerns, a 346-signature petition requesting permit denial, and 61,000 acres in designated denial of manure agreements.
“I believe the approval has a lot to do with GOED (Governor’s Office of Economic Development) money,” Burgod says. “It was stated that the county expects to receive $4.3 million.”
Once over the county zoning hurdle, the project moved to state approval via South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). However, Burgod refused to spit the bit: She stuck her neck out and began asking questions.
“A giant dairy could have a major impact on our landscape,” she says. “I wanted answers. I wanted the facts. I wanted to know if they were following county ordinances—the laws for the good of our community that are supposed to be followed regardless of who the applicant is.”
Burgod dove into the paperwork, including Belle Dairy’s 200-plus page county application and its DANR application—an almost 1,300-page tome supplemented by almost 200 more pages of additions.
What did she find? The math, she says, wasn’t mathing.
Numbers Don’t Lie
From acres to cow weight to manure output, Belle Dairy’s proposed numbers are highly suspect, Burgod contends.
“They list 25,000 cows at 1,000 lb. for 365 days. The 1,000 lb. weight seemed unreasonable and it challenged me to do more research. Reality is 900 lb. on a Jersey to 1,700 on a Holstein. The nutrient management plan tied to the available acres for manure application compared to lagoon size were showing a major discrepancy. I made a chart to show a comparison of the numbers.
“The rock I’ll stand on is acreage,” Burgod explains. “The county ordinance requires that they have sufficient land to have their permit.(Graphic courtesy of Julie Burgod)
“The manure volume tied to the available acres was significantly lower than the manure volume calculated for the lagoon sizing,” she continues. “They claim each cow will produce 80 lb. of manure a day, when it’ll likely be 120-150 lb. That means their total of 2 million lb. of manure a day may very possibly be over 3.3 million lb. So, from storage to phosphorus to any other aspect of production and management, I have presented questions about the findings. I’m pointing out the obvious.”
(When asked by Agweb if any county official could address Burgod’s contentions and ordinance questions, Edmunds County Zoning Officer Brittney Duvall declined, and directed all inquiries to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.)
At a minimum, Burgod projects, Belle Dairy may need up to 25,000 acres annually to operate.
“The rock I’ll stand on is acreage,” Burgod explains. “The county ordinance requires that they have sufficient land to have their permit. Sure, 16,571 acres is adequate for 2 million lb. of manure a day, but it’s wildly low for 3.3 million lb. of manure a day. Sorry, but numbers don’t lie.”
Open Door
On July 14, Burgod reported potential ordinance violations to Edmunds County officials. Following up, she documented her position in writing and delivered a formal complaint to the Zoning Board on July 20. Next, at a July 29 County Commissioner meeting, she outlined her concerns.
Twenty-four hours later, on July 30, the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) came calling.
At approximately 2:40 p.m., a DCI supervisory special agent pulled up in a black Suburban to Burgod’s crop insurance office in Aberdeen, entered the building, and walked directly into her office. Presumably armed, the agent flashed a badge, asked to speak with Burgod, and handed her a business card.
“I’d say he was about 6’3”, dressed in casual clothes, and standing in my doorway. I couldn’t tell if he was carrying a gun or not. He asked to close the door and I flatly refused. There was one other employee in the building in a separate office, and I had no idea what was going on. The DCI guy had driven two hours from Watertown to find me.”
“I said, ‘You’re not closing the door,’ and he answered, ‘This is private.’”
“I repeated, ‘No. I want the door open.’”
The DCI agent sat across from Burgod’s desk and announced he was working with the Attorney General of the State of South Dakota.
(When Agweb asked for an interview regarding DCI’s investigation of Burgod, or for a statement about the DCI visit to Burgod’s office, the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office declined. Also, the Edmunds County Zoning Board was asked by Agweb for comment on the DCI visit to Burgod’s office. The Zoning Board directed all questions to the Attorney General.)
“Nothing sank in for about two to three minutes,” Burgod recalls. “Then he said there’d been a complaint that I’d committed fraud. He told me that I was not being charged with anything right then and that he wasn’t going to arrest me, but he proceeded to ask me questions. That’s when I said I wanted my attorney before I kept going.”
What “fraud” was Burgod accused of committing?
Resources, Time, and Tax Dollars
The DCI agent provided Burgod with her voter registration form and then showed her a copy of her complaint filed against Belle Dairy.
According to DCI, Burgod used her farm mailing address, rather than her actual residency address in Mina Lake, when submitting her formal complaint regarding Belle Dairy.
“All I’ve done is ask reasonable questions about a mega-dairy facility they’re trying to ram into our rural community, while ignoring ordinances on the books that are meant to govern and protect our county, farms, and lakes,” says Burgod.(Photo by Burgod Farms)
Both locations are in Edmunds County and Burgod owns both properties. “It’s ridiculous. I get all my mail at the farm address.I or my husband are at the farm almost every day. My voting address is basically a mile-and-a-half from my voting location. The idea that I was hiding something is crazy.”
From Burgod’s perspective, speaking on the blind to a DCI agent was surreal. “I felt like, ‘Is this really happening?’ but when he kept going, I told him I wanted to consult with my attorney. At that point, he seemed to get a little nervous, and then he left.”
Yet, a state criminal investigator, directly from the Attorney General’s office, had driven two hours to eyeball Burgod. And there was more. Significantly more. DCI’s investigation went far beyond Burgod’s office walls.
Four months prior, on March 30, Burgod had filed a petition to run for county commissioner. She only needed three signatures from local citizenry to file the paperwork, but in just-in-case mode, Burgod obtained nine signatures.
On August 6, one week after visiting Burgod, DCI located her nine signatories and questioned them all. “That’s right,” she emphasizes. “DCI went and found all the people that signed for me to check them out, or check me out.”
Intimidation? Verification? “All I can do is speculate, but I suspect they’re trying to have me removed as commissioner,” she says, “and they targeted my petition and voter registration.”
Bottom line, was her real crime to publicly poke an incoming dairy business? Were state law enforcement resources, time, and tax dollars used to investigate a farmer for asking questions? Has the county been involved and spent taxpayer money on pursuit of Burgod?
Bell the Cow
What happens next with DCI’s investigation into Burgod? She is resolute and willing to bell the cow.
“I haven’t done anything illegal or criminal. All I’ve asked for is a review of the ordinance. If there’s a review of the ordinance and a dairy violation is found, the permit can be revoked, and they can reapply.”
“I believe in transparency. I believe in honesty. I believe in doing things procedurally. There should be a process and procedure, and those should apply to everybody equally—regardless of big money or corporate structure,” Burgod adds. “Ultimately, this is about accountability and protecting the future of South Dakota agriculture for the generations that come next.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case
Dan Basse, founder and president of AgResource Company, and Chip Nellinger, founder and partner of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, says when you look at the explosive run in grain markets, it’s being driven by shrinking U.S. yield prospects, tightening global supplies and rising geopolitical risk out of the Black Sea. But what would it take to reach $7? That’s where El Niño could come into play.
A Global Supply Problem, Not Just a U.S. One The rally isn’t only about what Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts found — or didn’t find — in the eastern Corn Belt last week. According to Dan Basse, it’s about a world that’s losing bushels on multiple fronts at once.
“It’s concerns about the U.S. crop, but then it’s concern about the international market,” Basse says. “World wheat production among major exporters is down 47 million metric tons from last year, he says, while corn production is down another 50 million metric tons. “So in the background, the U.S. crop is shrinking and stocks are coming in in domestic standpoint, but the global market with what’s going on in the Black Sea is really the problem.”
What Yield Is the Market Pricing In? USDA currently has the national corn yield pegged at 180.7 bu. per acre . That yield estimate was released in the August WASDE, and didn’t include any objective yield sampling. But Pro Farmer Crop Tour uncovered a major problem in the field, showing production issues in key I-states, specifically Illinois and Indiana. That led to Pro Farmer to release their own annual yield estimate, and this year, was a big surprise, with Pro Farmer’s estimate coming in at 173.2 bu. per acre.
While funds had already been buying, that sparked new interest and sent corn higher on an unexpected rally. Harvest typically bringing seasonal price pressure, which makes this year’s rally is unusual. Nellinger says the market is already leaning toward a much smaller crop than USDA’s official numbers currently show.
“I really think the market’s trying to factor in somewhere around a 177 [bu. per acre] crop yield right now,” Nellinger says. All eyes are now on USDA’s September 11 report, he says, where the agency’s next move could determine whether the rally has more room to run.
If USDA comes in at 177 bushels an acre or lower, Nellinger says, the market could start pricing in further cuts down the road, moving closer to Pro Farmer’s tour-based estimate. But a smaller, half-bushel trim could take some steam out of the rally. “It’s really hard to rally the market straight through harvest, not impossible,” he says.
Adding to the volatility: comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin midweek suggesting a possible escalation in the Ukraine conflict sent wheat limit-up. “That adds another wrinkle in the whole equation,” Nellinger says.
From $6 Corn to $7 Corn: Here’s What It Would Take Basse and Nellinger first floated $6 corn on the show roughly six weeks ago. That Facebook reel went viral . But today, that call looks increasingly likely, and Basse says there may be a real path to $7.
“I still think we’ll see $6 corn before the end of the year, but I also believe there’s a 50-50 chance we could see $7 corn if there’s any hiccups in Latin America,” Basse says, pointing to a possible timeline of late this year into the first quarter of next year.
Basse points to record-warm conditions in the equatorial Pacific tied to a potential super El Niño, and the uncertainty that creates for South American weather.
“If there is any issues at all, this corn market will not stop. The march will continue, and we get to real demand rationing... around $7,” he says.
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Nellinger agrees the scenario is plausible, but not imminent.“Under Dan’s assumptions of, you know, some sort of a problem in the southern hemisphere, particularly Brazil due to El Niño, absolutely,” he says. “Is that going to come by October 15th? Probably not.”
He also cautions producers to brace for turbulence along the way this fall.
“Daily ranges are expanding. We are well in overbought territory,” Nellinger says. “There’s going to be corrections along the way here that are going to likely be violent and hard to sit through.” He adds that fund positioning has accelerated the pace of these swings dramatically. “What takes, you know, moves that used to take three months now take... a matter of 10 days,” he says. “I think $6-plus corn is where we need to go based on what we know today. And that’s going to change rapidly.”
What Could Spook the Funds? There’s risk to any market, especially a market that has funds have been pushing price higher. Ag Bull Trading reporting that as of late August 2026, managed money holds a net long position of 376,513 corn contracts, while their outright gross long position has reached an all-time record of 465,500 contracts
So, what could spook the funds? Beyond weather, Basse points to China as a wildcard heading into a September 24 summit with President Trump.
“There’s always something called China, right?” Basse says.
He notes China was notably left out of recent U.S. sanctions tied to Iran — “a tip of the hat economically to the Chinese,” he says — while Chinese buyers continue purchasing U.S. soybeans and roughly 2 million metric tons of corn out of Brazil.
“So if you look at the shipping line, it tells me that China also has a need for corn,” Basse says.
He wouldn’t rule out China extending some additional goodwill purchases of wheat or corn ahead of the summit, which could support prices even more.
For now, all roads lead back to USDA’s September 11 report, which is the next major data point that will tell traders whether $6 corn is a floor, and whether $7 corn moves from possibility to probability.
(Washington, D.C., August 31, 2026) – Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a sweeping package of actions to continue rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Building on USDA’s October 2025 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, the Trump Administration is delivering again.
The spike comes as diesel inventories have dropped to their lowest levels since 1982, creating a perfect storm of supply constraints and geopolitical tensions.
Multiple Factors Driving Price Surge EIA data shows distillate fuel oil stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, at only 103.4 million barrels for the week ending August 21. That’s a record low for this time of year.
The situation has worsened in recent weeks as Ukraine has severely damaged Russian oil refineries, disrupting global diesel supplies.
“Diesel prices have again surged in the last few weeks as Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russian oil refineries,” Patrick De Haan, executive director of GasBuddy says. “That’s very problematic. Russia’s one of the largest producers of diesel to the global market. One in nine barrels of diesel produced globally comes from Russia. And now they’ve banned exports of diesel. So suddenly the global market for diesel is extremely tight.”
The crisis is compounded by the earlier closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to critically low levels.
Worst Timing for Agriculture The price surge couldn’t come at a worse time for farmers.
“Not like there’s any good time for diesel prices to go up, but potentially the worst time with farmers now looking forward to harvesting their crops in the next month or so,” De Haan says. “Diesel prices again just an arm’s reach away from record-setting territory and that could happen.”
Depending on the size of operation, the elevated diesel prices could add thousands of dollars to harvest costs.
No Relief in Sight Russia is attempting to quickly repair damaged refineries, but De Haan says the damage is significant.
“Just not enough diesel supply right now and much of that is because of the Ukraine attacks that have knocked offline Russia’s top refineries,” he says.
De Haan can’t speculate on when farmers will see relief, especially since diesel prices typically track with heating oil prices.
“Traditionally, diesel prices do continue tending to rise throughout the fall as many Americans in rural areas start to fill their home heating oil tanks for the winter,” he explains. “And if it’s a cold winter, and if Ukraine continues to attack Russian refineries, it could be a record-setting winter.”
The national average price for diesel jumped nearly 20 cents last week alone.
Prices Could Climb Even Higher De Haan isn’t ruling out even higher prices in the months ahead.
“Right now, we are well above the $5 range. So until there is enough global refining capacity, we probably will continue to see diesel prices rather elevated for at least the next few months,” he says.
In a worst-case scenario, prices could climb even higher.
“If we continue to see new attacks going into the winter, it’s certainly possible that we could see diesel prices climbing even closer to $6 a gallon across the country,” De Haan warns.
Broader Economic Impact The diesel crisis extends beyond the farm gate. Higher diesel costs will likely ripple through the entire economy.
“With Americans, what they buy at the grocery store, diesel, whether it’s trucks, trains, or tractors, the U.S. economy is powered by diesel,” De Haan said. “And so, this is going to likely reignite inflation in the months ahead.”
Fertilizer prices could also face upward pressure from the diesel shortage.
While farmers typically buy diesel in bulk rather than at retail pumps, the market dynamics affecting retail prices impact bulk pricing as well, leaving producers with few options to avoid the financial hit during this critical harvest season.
CHS President and CEO Jay Debertin said the strategic case is straightforward: the United States imports too much of a product that farmers need inside an unforgiving window. He says the payoff for growers comes down to something they feel every spring: control over when the product actually shows up.
“This will cut roughly in half the amount of finished phosphate fertilizer products imported into the United States,” Debertin says. The country uses about 2.5 million tons a year, he said, “and about 40 to 60 percent of that, depending on the year, is imported, and this will cut it in half.”
The plant would be sized to produce up to 1.3 million tons of phosphate-based fertilizer a year. Each company is responsible for about half of the roughly $450 million investment.
CHS, OCP and government officials celebrate today’s announcement of a proposed joint venture in Waggaman, Louisiana, to strengthen domestic fertilizer production in the United States. From left, Emily Domenech, executive director, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council; Faris Derrij, chair and CEO, OCP Nutricrops; Kevin Kimm, CEO, OCP North America; U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins; Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry; Jay Debertin, president and CEO, CHS ; Byron Lee, Jefferson Parish Council, District 3; and Matt Sokol, president and CEO, Cornerstone Chemical Company.(CHS) Why Louisiana, And Why Now
The location puts fertilizer production at the intersection of where raw materials are received and where they can be shipped to farmers.
“Frankly, that’s where the transportation of the ships that come into the United States carrying the raw material are best positioned to unload,” Debertin says. “The manufacturing is located right there.”
Under the venture, OCP Group, the Morocco-based parent of OCP North America, would supply phosphoric acid — drawing on the company’s global phosphate resources — and the Waggaman facility would turn it into finished product. Those finished fertilizers would then be distributed through both OCP North America and the CHS wholesale and retail crop nutrients network, which reaches cooperatives, retailers and farmers across the country. The Cornerstone site’s access to the Mississippi River system was a key part of the appeal.
For Debertin, the real vulnerability in the current system isn’t just how much fertilizer is imported — it’s the timing risk that comes with relying on it.
“The windows of when this product is needed [are] so tight that frankly if you’re three weeks late getting imports you might as well not get them because you miss the window,” he says. “This is just going to increase the security of supply for U.S. farmers and U.S. agriculture.”
USDA’s Focus on Fertilizer That framing echoes the reasons the deal drew a heavyweight political rollout. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry all appeared at the announcement to cast the project as part of a broader push to reshore fertilizer manufacturing.
The partners hope to break ground in the first or second calendar quarter of 2027, and — if that timeline holds — to finish construction by the end of 2028 or the beginning of 2029.
The project aligns with a federal priority to expand domestic fertilizer capacity, and the companies have applied for funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long-term Domestic Supply, or FIELDS, program. But Debertin was careful not to overstate where that stands.
“USDA has not awarded anything yet,” Debertin says. “They’re supportive of the project, but I don’t want to get in front of their analysis and their work to determine if we’re going to be eligible for an award.”
He credited the administration and the state for smoothing the path in other ways. “When it comes to permitting [the administration] has been very, very helpful,” he says, adding that Louisiana officials have looked for “ways to help the process to get the construction started.”
At the announcement, USDA officials leaned into the market-competition angle. Vaden — a former U.S. Court of International Trade judge and himself a Tennessee farmer — argued that a new domestic entrant would do more than add tons; it would add pressure on price.
The plant “will pump out something even more important: true competition for the American farmer’s dollar as a new entry comes to play to battle for their business,” Vaden said. He said farmers had “grown frustrated, cynical about hearing promises year after year,” noting that for phosphate, “the only thing farmers could depend upon” was that “the price always went up.”
Rollins tied the project to national security. “If we can’t feed or fuel ourselves there will be no America for the future,” she said.
Gov. Landry made a similar case, telling the crowd that “a country that cannot feed itself cannot sustain itself” and casting farmers as “the first line of defense when it comes to national security.”
The plant itself, of course, won’t affect a single fall season for years. But Debertin’s pitch is that once it’s running, American farmers will have something they haven’t had in a generation: more finished phosphate made at home, and more say over how and when it reaches the field.
Every summer, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) gathers to plan for the year ahead. NSAC summer meetings serve as an opportunity for coalition members to connect, exchange ideas and information, and strategize collectively on shared policy priorities. Summer meetings rotate locations yearly to reflect the geographical diversity of NSAC’s member organizations, also allowing NSAC members to observe how different local food systems operate and better understand how the policies NSAC advocates for impact farmers on the ground. In recent years, the Coalition has gathered in Vermont, Minnesota, and Colorado. This year’s Summer Meeting was held at the Stonebreaker Barn situated on Markham Hill in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas is an important agricultural state and home to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Senator John Boozman (R-AR).
The Barn at the Stonebreaker HotelMargo Hale, ATTRA Program Director and Armed to Farm Director at the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), who is based in the area, gave the group a warm welcome to Northwest Arkansas and shared an overview of the state’s agricultural landscape. Agriculture is Arkansas’s largest industry, contributing more than $20 billion annually to the state economy. Arkansas is the nation’s leading rice-producing state. The scale of Arkansas agriculture exists alongside profound need, as nearly 30 percent of adult Arkansans are food insecure. The state also led the nation in farm-bankruptcy filings in 2025, underscoring why resilient local food systems and effective farm policy are essential. The state’s agricultural reach goes far beyond the local food system. Arkansas is home to major companies whose operations shape food supply chains worldwide, such as Walmart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, and Riceland Foods. At the same time, Hale emphasized the importance of strengthening local and regional food systems so that Arkansas farmers and communities can share more fully in the value created by the state’s agricultural resources.
Walton’s 5&10, the historic five-and-dime store opened by Sam Walton in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1950. Farm Bill MarkupThe Senate Agriculture Committee’s strong Arkansas ties were particularly visible at this Summer Meeting due to a historic first: the Senate farm bill markup overlapped with our meeting. Before the Summer Meeting, NSAC found that the farm bill discussion draft circulated ahead of markup fell well short of adequately addressing issues from the farm safety net and conservation funding to domestic markets.
The Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill markup overlapping with the Summer Meeting presented some unique challenges and opportunities. Juggling the planned agenda with emergent markup needs was tricky; however, it provided the opportunity to organize and mobilize in person, something that is rare for any national coalition.
Farm Bill Markup in ActionNSAC’s policy team stayed plugged into the latest from Washington, DC, keeping up to date with the latest intel and working with Congressional offices to encourage the adoption of amendments that would push the coalition’s shared priorities forward. This was exciting for many NSAC members to witness in real time, since much of this tends to happen behind the curtain in DC. This real time dynamic also gave the Coalition an enhanced opportunity to mobilize constituents and stakeholders in favor of these changes, strengthening the requests NSAC’s policy team was making of Senators’ staff to do better.
For the latest on the Senate’s farm bill markup and what may come next, see NSAC’s blog.
Food Systems in ActionOutside of the Senate farm bill markup, NSAC staff and members got an up-close look at Northwest Arkansas’s vibrant local food system by touring the Market Center of the Ozarks, the Center for Arkansas Farms and Food, and Ozark Natural Foods Coop.
Market Center of the OzarksThe first stop was the Market Center of the Ozarks, a comprehensive 45,000-square-foot state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility in Springdale, Arkansas. The impressive $31 million structure officially opened in May of 2025 as part of the Northwest Arkansas Food Systems initiative launched by the Walton Family Foundation in 2020 to bolster regional agriculture. The Market Center serves as a nonprofit food-business and farm-support center that gives regional farmers and food entrepreneurs access to the facilities and expertise they need to grow, from aggregation, washing, cold storage, packaging, and distribution for fresh produce to commercial kitchen and processing space for value-added food products.
Touring the State-of-the-Art Industrial Kitchens at the Market Center of the OzarksHoused with the Market Center, the tour visited the Spring Creek Food Hub, a nonprofit that helps build a stronger regional food economy by working with Northwest Arkansas farmers to bring their products to local customers and organizations, from schools and restaurants to grocery stores and community groups, while offering practical support that helps farms grow, coordinate distribution, and reach new markets. Food hubs are a critical part of local food system infrastructure and resiliency that are often overlooked and undervalued. Offering farmers a steady stream of income, a place to store or process their produce, and connections to grocery stores and wholesale buyers, increases a region’s capacity to feed itself.
Spring Creek Food HubThe Arkansas Food Innovation Center is also housed within the Market Center, supporting local food entrepreneurs with a range of services, including a shared-use commercial kitchen, food processing and bottling capabilities, and educational workshops. They offer technical support, business development assistance, and resources to help food entrepreneurs scale their businesses. These three entities are co-located, creating an integrated food-system hub where farmers and food entrepreneurs can access the infrastructure, technical expertise, processing capabilities, and market connections they need, all under one roof, to strengthen the regional food economy and increase the capacity and resiliency of Northwest Arkansas’s local food system.
The tour continued at the Center for Arkansas Farms and Food (CAFF), a University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture program. Based in Fayetteville, CAFF combines hands-on training, farm and business education, and peer networks to help new and experienced farmers build sustainable, thriving operations. NSAC toured its half-acre intensive market garden and five-acre tractor-scale production model for an up-close look at how farmers can get started, sharpen their skills, and level up their businesses.
Center for Arkansas Farms and Food Center for Arkansas Farms and Food Center for Arkansas Farms and Food Center for Arkansas Farms and FoodAnother tour highlight was the Ozark Natural Foods Coop, a Fayetteville favorite that has been nourishing Northwest Arkansas since 1971. More than a place to pick up fresh, thoughtfully sourced food, the co-op supports local farmers, growers, producers, and artisans, and brings neighbors together around a shared love of good food. After learning the ins and outs, NSAC members had a chance to support the coop and stock up on delicious snacks, local coffee, and much more.
Ozark Natural Foods“It was a pleasure to host NSAC members in Arkansas and share both the beauty of my home state and the impact of its agricultural industry. The meeting provided an opportunity for sustainable agriculture and food system leaders from across the country to experience the breadth and diversity of Arkansas agriculture, from nationally recognized rice, poultry, corn, and cattle production to innovative local food system initiatives, including a farmer training program and food hub in Northwest Arkansas.
Having Arkansas Senator John Boozman lead the Senate Farm Bill markup on the final day of the meeting further highlighted the state’s significant role in shaping federal agricultural policy. The connections forged and partnerships strengthened throughout the week will continue to benefit NCAT’s work serving farmers and ranchers nationwide,” shared Margo Hale of the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT).
Peak Summer Produce in Northwestern Arkansas Building ConnectionsSummer Meeting is an excellent time to connect with our members and celebrate the efforts we have made all year to campaign for federal policy reforms that serve farmers across the country. As part of that celebration, this meeting included many moments of joy, such as morning walks on nearby trails, an early yoga session, dedicated time for structured rest, Happy Hour, and an Ecstatic Dance circle at the edge of the woods as the sun set over the hotel property. These activities provided a chance to deepen relationships as colleagues and comrades in the work that we love, and to connect with the sacred land that informs so much of what we do as food systems advocates. To add even more sparkle to our gathering, on the eve of the farm bill markup, a group of members and NSAC staff caught Kesha’s “Freedom Tour” concert at the nearby Walton Amphitheatre in Rogers, Arkansas. It was a glorious night of glitter, good vibes, and grooves.
Policy Team Kicking Back at Happy Hour Arkansas Evening Light at the Stonebreaker“As a first-time attendee at the summer meeting, it was energizing to connect with fellow NSAC members around the key challenges and opportunities facing our network and to use our time together to develop timely strategies for change. Gathering in person offered a valuable opportunity to strengthen the fabric of our community while renewing the energy and sense of purpose behind our movement—especially as we prepare for the many shifts that election season will bring,” said Lauren Hirtle, Policy Director at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA).
Sunset over Markham Hill, Fayetteville, Arkansas Our Hearts Are FullAfter three days of thoughtful collaboration, productive conversations, shared strategizing, and Ozark hospitality, we left Arkansas with full hearts and renewed energy. NSAC extends our appreciation to our members who traveled to join us in Arkansas and to our entire membership, whose enduring commitment continually strengthens the sustainable agriculture movement.
Seed and Swag Swap Art and Advocacy Go Hand in HandNSAC is grateful to NWA Food Systems, a local initiative of the Walton Family Foundation, for sponsoring this year’s farm tours. NWA Food Systems is a network of partners working to get more local food on local tables in Northwest Arkansas.
Thank you to our farm tour hosts, the caring staff at the Stonebreaker Hotel, and, of course, our stellar meeting planners, Carena Miles, NSAC Operations Manager, and Lee Ford, NSAC Program Associate, for their logistical support and careful attention to detail.
The Barn at the StonebreakerThe post Ozark Food Systems and Farm Bill Strategy: NSAC’s Summer Meeting Recap appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Alison Robertson , plant pathologist at Iowa State University, says the emerging disease can be easily mistaken for SDS if growers rely only on leaf symptoms.
“Red crown rot has similar leaf symptoms to SDS,” Robertson says. “The best way to check for red crown rot is to look at the base of the soybean stem, and if you see little bright red structures, like little balls, tiny little red balls — it almost looks like the soybean plant is bleeding — then you probably have red crown rot.”
The small “red dots” are classic symptoms of red crown rot in soybeans. (Iowa State University Extension)
Robertson says Iowa State’s plant disease clinic is actively seeking suspect samples this season, especially because a number of surrounding states have already confirmed the disease.
“We need that sample to come into the plant disease clinic at Iowa State because so far all the states surrounding us have confirmed red crown rot, but we still have not found it yet in Iowa,” she told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday morning. However, later that same day Iowa State did confirm its presence in the state.
“It was only a matter of time before this article needed to be written,” wrote Daren Mueller and team . “Yesterday, we scouted a field in Des Moines County in southeast Iowa. The short story: red crown rot (RCR) was identified in a swath stretching across part of the field. In talking with the farmer, he noted that the same area had shown up on the yield monitor map two years ago, but he assumed it was sudden death syndrome (SDS).”
Red crown rot confirmed in Iowa: https://t.co/VaVJUKrKYB.
For this season, there is nothing to be done from a management standpoint. However, confirming “SDS patches” are actually SDS will be important for making management decisions in future years.@ISUCropNews @IowaSoybeans pic.twitter.com/FBYAsnoORJ
“We’ve just had these random places where it’s occurred, like a county in southwest Minnesota, so it’s not spreading the way like we saw with tar spot… This is just random pockets that suddenly show up,” Robertson says.
That irregular pattern, combined with its visual similarity to SDS, raises the likelihood that red crown rot is already present but going unrecognized in some Midwest fields.
The confirmation of red crown rot in Iowa is so new, the Crop Protection Network has not had a chance to add it to their map.(Crop Protection Network) Soilborne Fungus With Staying Power Robertson describes red crown rot as a soilborne fungal disease capable of surviving for years and infecting multiple hosts.
“It’s a fungus that lives in the soil. It survives as microsclerosia. So you’ll remember sclerotia from white mold; this is microsclerosia,” she says. “So it can survive in the soil for a pretty long time, and it also has a very wide host range… it likes warm, wet conditions for infection and for disease development.”
Those warm, wet conditions have been common across at least central and eastern Iowa this season, heightening the need for careful scouting in soybean fields showing SDS-like symptoms.
Infected fields often show a mix of healthy, yellowing and dead plants scattered together, rather than uniform patches. Another key difference is that the leaves in plants affected by red crown rot tend to stay attached to the plant even after it dies, unlike SDS, where leaves drop off.
The most definitive sign is often found at the base of the plant. To confirm red crown rot, farmers need to dig plants and look about an inch above and below the soil line for small, red, pinhead-sized structures, recommends the Iowa Soybean Association .
Classic signs of red crown rot at the base of soybean plants.(Crop Protection Network)
Fields affected with red crown rot typically show symptoms after the R3 reproductive stage, according to Mandy Bish, University of Missouri Extension state plant pathologist . She says patches of symptomatic plants often occur in low-lying or poorly drained areas of fields. RCR has caused yield losses of nearly 70% in affected areas. “In Missouri, we have estimates around 54% yield losses,” Bish reports.
More “typical” documented soybean losses to red crown rot are roughly 25% to 30% in fields with established disease, according to Pioneer , which has documented that in Louisiana and Mississippi fields where the disease has “been present for years.”
RCR became a much bigger issue in the U.S. in 2025: the Crop Protection Network estimated 7.7 million bushels of soybean production were lost nationally, versus only about 121,000 bushels in 2024.
Management Tools Are Limited, At Best Robertson says farmers currently have few targeted tools to manage red crown rot.
“I don’t think that there are any resistant varieties available, so we can’t use that,” she says. “I believe that Carl Bradley at the University of Kentucky might be doing some seed treatment work underway, so I think there is some seed treatment that will help with it.”
With control options off the table and seed treatment data still emerging, early and accurate identification becomes even more critical for long-term management and rotation planning.
What Midwest Farmers Should Do Now Robertson’s message to growers and agronomists this season is to move beyond windshield scouting when they see SDS-type symptoms in fields — whether based in Iowa or another state.
“If you’re driving by and you just look at the leaves, and you think it’s SDS. It could be, but get in there and look,” she says. “Take a look at the base of the plant. Look for those small red dots on there.”
In Iowa, samples from suspect plants can be submitted to the Iowa State University Plant Disease Clinic for diagnostic confirmation. Testing is currently offered at no cost to farmers.
“It’s available for free thanks to the Iowa [Soybean] Association,” Robertson says.
Free testing is also offered in some other states. Interested growers should check with their local Extension office for details.
Robertson emphasizes that confirming how widespread red crown rot is in Iowa now will depend directly on what farmers send in from their fields.
“Get out there and check your fields, and send those samples in,” she advises.
Hear the discussion between Robertson and Flory at the AgriTalk link below:
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