Just ask Fair Manager Jason Brockshus and you'll soon learn that a lot goes on behind the scenes to earn the Clay County Fair its coveted title
‘WORLD’S GREATEST’
Diversified grandstand events to headline 2025 fair
By KAREN SCHWALLER
SPENCER — A new fair manager and diversified grandstand events will mark two new and big changes for the 2025 Clay County Fair, running Sept. 6-14.
Iowa statewide precipitation below normal for first time since mid-June
By CAMI KOONS
Iowa Capital Dispatch
Last week marked the first time since mid-June that statewide precipitation levels were below normal, while temperatures were 2 to 4 degrees above normal for the period, according to State Climatologist Justin Glisan.
Jason Brockshus took the reins of the fair this past April following a four-year run as the fair’s sponsorship director. He hit the ground running and is only looking out the windshield.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “We want to offer fairgoers a good value for their admission, and I want to say you can’t get it all done in a day if you want to see it all.”
Brockshus said he and his executive committee have redesigned the grandstand show line-up for this year’s edition.
This year the fair will feature three concerts (Oliver Anthony, who sings of the American working class; country music’s a capella group, “Home Free,” and a “Roots and Boots” tour featuring Collin Raye, Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw; along with international comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. These acts will all perform over the first weekend and through Tuesday, Sept. 9. The remaining evenings of the fair will be filled with dirt track events, including Bulls & Broncs on Wednesday, Sept. 10; IMCA Blue Ribbon Showdown on Thursday, Sept. 11 — featuring stock cars, sport mods, hobby stocks and sport compacts; the Battle of the Blue Ribbon will happen Friday, Sept. 12, featuring American sprint car racing and tri-state late models. All-Star Monster Trucks will take the
See FAIR, Page 5A
Standing strong since 1920
By KRISTIN
DANLEY GREINER Farm News writer
The 2025 fall All-State Barn Tour runs Sept. 13-14, and featured on that tour will be an iconic dairy barn — easily seen from Interstate 80 — that has weathered a derecho, market crashes and more.
The All-State Tour highlights barns that have received restoration grants from the Iowa Barn Foundation and those that have received an Award of Distinction or Preservation Award for restoration that’s been fully funded by the owner.
The Hanke Legacy Farm Barn near Mitchellville in Jasper County has stood strong since it was built in 1920. The
barn’s design came from the Louden Machinery Company with detailed plans chosen by the family from a catalog.
The construction cost of the barn was just $3,000, noted Virginia “Ginny” Underwood, whose grandfather was the third owner of the barn and farm.
The barn measures 110-by-36-by-38 feet and originally kept a team of Percheron draft horses and mules safe from the elements when they weren’t pulling plows and other equipment typical of that time. The land and buildings changed hands due to the ag economy’s struggles, and eventually landed with Alvah Hanke, who started a milking operation.
Despite the diminished precipitation levels, soil moisture remains high. Crops rated highly during the Aug. 11-17 reporting period, though developments for corn and soybean acres are slightly behind the fiveyear average, according to the crop progress and condition report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Twenty-seven percent of corn has reached the dent stage, one day behind the average. Nearly 80% of Iowa corn is in the dough stage, making the crop three days behind the average. The crop continues to rate well, however with 30% of corn acres rated excellent for the reporting period.
All but 4% of soybean acres have started blooming across the state and 83% of soybean acres are setting pods, which is four days behind normal. Soybeans also rated well, with 60% of the crop good and 22% excellent.
Agronomists and plant pathologists have noted this crop season has good conditions for sudden death syndrome, a fungal disease that can impact soybean yields. Cases of SDS have cropped up in most of the state but the total acreage impacted has not been calculated.
Oat harvest is 91% complete across the state, and 65% of alfalfa hay acres have had a third cutting.
Soil moisture conditions improved slightly from the previous reporting period, with a small decrease in the percent of surplus soil moisture. Overall, 72% of topsoil moisture conditions and 73% of subsoil moisture conditions were adequate.
Jason Brockshus
-Photo by Virginia Underwood
THE HANKE LEGACY FARM BARN near Mitchellville in Jasper County has stood
Justin Glisan
Farm News
Edge-of-field batch and build and water quality field day is Sept. 3 near Lake City
AMES — Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, will host an edge-of field batch and build and water quality field day on Sept. 3, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mark Schleisman’s farm near Lake City. The no-cost event is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal.
Saturated buffers and bioreactors have been prioritized by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship as some of the most cost-effective methods to improve water quality. These practices can be located within existing filter strips and are designed to work with the drainage system of the field. In Calhoun County, as well as Sac, Greene and Buena Vista counties, there are new programs with financial and technical assistance available, offering significant cost share for these practices to be installed.
T.J. Lynn, environmental specialist with Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, will provide information and technical assistance to help decide if a bioreactor or saturated buffer could work on your land and discuss possible funding opportunities to assist with installation. Farmer and host Mark Schleisman will share his experiences with the batch and build concept and how the practices have been integrated on his farm. Weather permitting, there will be a site visit to the newly installed bioreactor on the Schleisman farm.
The field day will begin at the Schleisman Farm, 1532 365th St., Lake City. From Lake City, head west on Iowa Highway 175 west/365th Street for three miles. The farm is located on the south side of the road and field day signs will mark the driveway.
Reservations are required to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP, contact Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu by Aug. 27.
ISU Extension to host Fall Field Day Sept. 4
KANAWHA — Iowa State University’s Northern Research and Demonstration Farm will host its Fall Field Day on Sept. 4 at the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm, located at 310 S. Main St. in Kanawha.
Field tours will feature the following speakers and topics:
n Alison Robertson and Daren Muller, Iowa State University professors and extension plant pathologists, will discuss 2025 corn and soybean diseases and precipitation in relation to disease pressure.
n Richard Roth, assistant professor and nitrogen science and soil fertility specialist at Iowa State, will review the recent nitrogen and sulfur trial and other nitrogen-related topics.
n Wes Everman, assistant professor and extension weed science specialist at Iowa State, will discuss herbicides and control during the 2025 growing season. Registration and refreshments will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the field day will start at 9 a.m. A complimentary lunch will be provided. The meeting is open to the public, and there is no cost to attend. Attendees are encouraged to pre-register by Sept. 2 by emailing northernrf@iastate.edu or calling Matt Schnabel at 641-762-3247.
Certified Crop Advisors can earn two pest management credits and one nutrient management continuing education credit for attending. For more information, contact extension field agronomists Gentry Sorenson at 641-4306715 or gentrys@iastate.edu, or Angie Rieck-Hinz at 515-231-2830 or amrieck@iastate.edu.
Healthy Harvest to hold public field day
CLARION — Healthy Harvest of North Iowa invites the public to attend a Field Day at Little Leafy Greens Micro Farm on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. The farm is located at 121 First Ave. N.E., Clarion.
This educational event offers an opportunity to tour the facility, learn about sustainable farming practices, and discover the nutritional benefits of microgreens. The event is free and open to all.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
n Tour the grow room and observe microgreens in various stages of growth.
n Learn about sustainable and efficient production methods used at the farm.
n Gain insights into the health benefits and culinary uses of microgreens.
n Sample a variety of microgreens and explore products available in the on-site store.
“Our local food system is built on a wide variety of farms and practices,” said Andrea Evelsizer, executive director of Healthy Harvest of North Iowa. “Events like this give people a chance to see that diversity in action and connect it to the food on their plate.”
“It’s just a monument to days gone by,” Underwood said.
Hanke milked dairy cows by hand and took the milk to his nephew’s Dairyland business in Des Moines. When Underwood’s dad, Ken, returned from World War II where he served as an Army Air Forces pilot, he moved into the old farmhouse at the homestead with his wife, Ellie, and their oldest daughter, Virginia.
“He expanded the dairy operation to 17 cows and implemented a Surge bucket milking system. He also restructured the barn by pouring concrete for more stanchions and added mangers, gutters, alleyways and holding pens,” Underwood said. “He also installed a Farmtec 167 elevator and conveyor. The permanent elevator goes straight up the front of the barn, carrying square bales to the conveyor in the mow with sockets for bars to drop bales at specific places down the 110-footlong hay mow.”
The gambrel roof design with no horizontal rafters allows for the storage of 20,000 square bales of hay and straw. Underwood’s dad also farmed corn, oats and soybeans, plus raised hogs, chickens, registered Angus cattle and even chinchillas for a brief period of time. But the registered Holsteins carried the brunt of the family farm business, which became a Grade A dairy operation.
Ken and Ellie Hanke also welcomed three more children to the family.
Underwood described a day on the farm as “grueling.” Milking started at 5 a.m. with a second shift at 5 p.m. Equipment was sanitized, the barn cleaned out and the cows were given fresh bedding daily. Then, of course, all the other animals needed tending to, as well. In the 1960s, the dairy operation brought on a Chore Boy Pit milking system, which allowed them to expand the dairy herd to more than 50 cows.
“Although this was more time efficient and financially beneficial, our father said he missed the connection with each animal with the transition to milking automation,” Underwood said. “The barn was the place to tame, train, wash and groom many 4-H calves and cows, giving rise to a few county and statefair champions along the way. All four children were fortunate to be involved in 4-H clubs supported by their parents, who also found the time to volunteer as leaders.”
Underwood and her husband, Bob, moved into the small house on the family farm in the late 1960s. They attended registered Holstein sales, bought heifers and cows, and fully immersed themselves in the family dairy business, inseminating their herds themselves for such characteristics as milk production, form and longevity genetic traits.
But eventually, the Hanke dairy herd was sold in September 1975. The operation transitioned from Limousin cattle to Angus beef cattle, with the help of a young local farmer in the late 1970s who continues to care for the herd and plant and harvest crops.
“Still standing tall at 100 years old, our old barn took a significant beating from the derecho storm that rolled through Iowa in August 2020. The north end of the barn was pushed east off its foundation, buckling and bowing the beautiful 100-year-old boards, leaving the barn precariously leaning to the east,” Underwood said. “The insurance adjuster would
If You Go
The 2025 self-guided fall All-State Barn Tour is free and open to the public. Barns will be open for touring from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 13-14.
To view the entire list of barns on the tour, visit the Iowa Barn Foundation’s website at iowabarnfoundation.org
“The
dairy barn was the life of our farm. We have so many fond memories of my parents and grandparents there.”
— Virginia ‘Ginny’ Underwood Owner, Hanke Legacy Farm Barn
not even approach the back of the barn. He was afraid it would fall in on him.”
After getting nowhere with construction businesses they contacted for help in fixing the barn, the Underwoods heard back from Big Timber Barn Company, now JB Timber Concepts, who not only offered to help, but knew exactly where the barn was located.
“He said, ‘I know exactly the barn you’re talking about. We see it often on our drives down I-80,’” Underwood shared. “I think the bales of hay and straw actually stabilized the barn over the years. But we knew
that if we didn’t repair it, it would fall down.”
The crew came, checked out the barn and started to straighten it out and repair the damage without a promise that their efforts would be successful.
Underwood affixed a giant “Believe” sign on the front of the barn and, sure enough, the historical structure slowly moved back into place.
“We were so excited. The interior was braced with support beams, damaged wood was replaced with new wood panels and new windows were installed where the frames had buckled under the storm’s pressure,” Underwood said. “Then she received a fresh coat of paint.”
In 2024, the Hanke family received the Iowa Barn Foundation’s Barn of Distinction Award.
“Today, our barn stands tall and strong, a true monument to Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage. It is a reminder of the unwavering spirit and endurance of those who came before, a symbol of perseverance and the enduring power of family and farmers. We saved our barn not just for our family, but also out of gratitude, and in memory of our parents and grandparents, for the generations to come,” Underwood said.
The upcoming self-guided tour is free and open to the public. Barns will be open for touring from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 13-14. This year’s tour includes a record 103 stops.
“We were part of the barn tour last year and had no idea how many people would come. We ended up with more than 300 people signing our book. It was so much fun. We were exhausted, but loved every minute of it. So many people loved the old barn. It’s a part of hearts,” Underwood said. “The dairy barn was the life of our farm. We have so many fond memories of my parents and grandparents there.”
THE HANKE LEGACY FARM BARN near Mitchellville in Jasper County suffered significant damage when a derecho rolled through the area in August 2020. Since then, the barn has been repaired and restored, and in 2024, the Hanke family received the Iowa Barn Foundation’s Barn of Distinction Award.
-Photo by Virginia Underwood
A hot August night
It was a hot August night, and I found myself standing in a church pulpit for the first time.
Danny Johnson of Webster, South Dakota, contacted me a year ago about speaking at a fundraiser for a nonprofit called the St. Pauli Foundation. I regretfully declined as I was undergoing chemoradiation therapy for tonsil cancer at the time. There were days when I could barely muster the energy to walk from my recliner to the bathroom.
I now feel strong enough to wrestle a bear — a teddy bear, that is — so when Danny contacted me again about speaking, I quickly agreed.
Like many country churches, St. Pauli Lutheran saw its membership gradually decline. After being abandoned in the 1970s, time and the elements began to exact their inexorable toll.
“This church is 125 years old,” Danny said.
“It sat a few miles north of Wallace, South Dakota until 10 years ago. They wanted to burn it down and we thought it would be a shame to lose such an important part of the area’s history. So, we formed a nonprofit and moved the church here.”
Now called the St. Pauli Center, the old church sits at the outskirts of Webster, across the road from the
NEWS
*The U.S. agricultural trade deficit for the first six months of this year reached a record high at $28.6 billion, up $10 billion from the same period last year.
The United States has faced an agricultural trade deficit since 2022. That’s after decades with a trade surplus.
The Trump administration’s tariff strategy is designed to address unfair trade practices by other countries.
CORN
ANALYSIS
Corn closed the week
$.00 1/4 lower. Last week, private exporters announced sales of 5.4 million bushels (mb) of corn to South Korea, 12.4 million bushels of corn to Mexico and 5.2 million bushels of corn to Spain.
In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. corn export inspections, for the week ended Aug. 7, were 58.7 million bushels, up from the previous week’s 50.6 mb and continuing to run at a rather impressive pace having averaged 52.1 million bushels/week over the last four weeks vs. last year’s 42.5 mb/week average during the same period. Now with only three full weeks remaining in the 202425 U.S. corn marketing year, cumulative export inspections of 2.485 billion bushels are up 29% from last year’s 1.927 billion vs. the USDA’s 2.750 billion bushel export projection reflecting an expected 22% increase in exports from 2023-24. Corn inspections would be able to average only 19 million bushels/ week through the end of August to reach the USDA’s annual export projection. In the weekly crop progress and conditions report, U.S. corn conditions fell 1% from the prior week to 72% good/excellent vs. 72% expected, 73% last week, 67% last year. Despite the seasonal decline, conditions remain the best in
Day County Fairgrounds. Arriving at the Center, my wife and I found Danny and other volunteers selling SDSU ice cream as part of their fundraiser.
We chatted with Danny and Rick Froslie, who are on the Foundation’s board of directors, to learn more about the humble structure.
“This was my church when I was a kid,” Rick said. “It has a special place in my heart.”
“We hold a Sunday church service during our fundraiser,” Danny said. “There’s an elderly gentleman who attends every year and always takes a seat by one of the windows. That was where he and his family sat, and he said that he wouldn’t sit anywhere else.”
Knowing the significance of the evening’s event elevated my anxiety about addressing the assembly. The church was historically correct in that it lacked air conditioning. Its windows were thrown open, letting in a
nine years for mid-August. Ninty-four percent of the crop is silking, 58% is in the dough stage and 14% is denting. In the August WASDE report, the average U.S. corn yield came in at 188.8 bushels per acre (bpa) vs. trade expectations of 184.2. This is a new all-time record for corn yields and up 7.8 bpa from the July estimate. Total corn production was forecast at a new record of 16.742 billion bushels (bb), well above trade expectations of 15.978 bb. Harvested acres increased by 1.9 million from July to 88.691 million vs. 86.774 million previously. Corn new crop ending stocks jumped 457 mb from last month to 2.117 bb vs. pre-report estimates of 1.930 bb and July estimates of 1.660 bb. The USDA increased old crop exports by 70 mb but lowered feed and residual by 35 mb; increased feed and residual usage by a whopping 250 mb, ethanol usage by 100 mb and exports by 200 mb. If the export forecast of 2.875 bb is realized, this would be a new record. The new planted acreage figure is a new alltime record, eclipsing the previous acreage total of 2012 of 97.2 million acres. Since 2005, the USDA has only adjusted corn acres five times from June to the August report, with this year being the only increase in acres. In the weekly EIA report,
hairdryer-like breeze that kept its interior toasty. I was sweating long before I began speechifying.
The appointed time arrived, and I mounted the pulpit. It felt strange to be way up there instead of down in the pews.
A swine show was being held across the road, and its PA announcements could be heard. Halfway through my talk, a freight train blew its airhorn as it thundered by on the nearby tracks. A baby cried, rendering a brutally honest opinion about my
ethanol average daily production for the week ending Aug. 8 averaged 1.093 million barrels, a new high daily production for this week of the year. The previous high was 1.072 million barrels per day in 2024. This was up 1.1% from last week and up 2% from last year. The fiveyear average for this week is 1.006 million barrels per day. Ethanol production for the week was 7.651 million barrels. Ethanol stocks were 22.649 million barrels. This was the lowest since Dec. 13, 2024, down 4.7% from last week and down 3% from last year. The five-year average stocks for this week is 22.452 million barrels.
STRATEGY & OUTLOOK
Producers should look to add 2025 hedges on rallies as the window for summer marketing is slowly closing.
SOYBEANS ANALYSIS
Soybeans closed the week $.56 1/4 higher. Last week, private exporters did not report any export sales.
In the weekly crop progress and conditions report, U.S. soybean conditions fell 1% from the prior week to 68% good/ excellent vs. 68% expected, 69% last week and 68% last year. This crop is the second best in nine years for midAugust. Ninty-one percent of the crop is blooming and 71% is setting pods.
In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. soybean export inspections last week of 19 mb were down from the previous week’s 23.1 mb but continuing to run solidly above last year’s same-week exports of 12.9 mb. Over the last four weeks, soybean exports reflected a solid improvement from levels during much of MayJune, having averaged 17.9 mb/week vs. 10.2 mb/week during the prior nine-week period, while also running solidly better than the 12.5 mb/week during the same four-week period last year. Soybean inspections would only need to average roughly 11 mb/week over the final few weeks of the marketing year to reach the USDA’s export projection. Cumulative soybean inspections of 1.777 billion bushels are up nearly 12% from last year’s 1.594 billion vs. the USDA’s annual export projection, reflecting an expected 10% increase
presentation.
Despite these challenges, I managed to muddle through my speech. My wife and I chatted with some of the attendees afterward. Those pleasant interactions were an unexpected reward.
One of the ladies who spoke with my wife mentioned that she (my wife) deserves a sympathy card for putting up with me. Another lady said to my wife regarding my first turn in a pulpit, “Maybe he has a new career?”
“Maybe,” my wife
from last year.
The USDA reported US soybean yields at 53.6 bpa, larger than what the trade was expecting of 52.9 bpa. Harvested acres were estimated at 80.104 million vs. pre-report estimates of 82.565 million vs. July estimates of 86.271 milllion.
Total production now is forecasted at 4.2992 bb vs. expectations of 4.370 bb vs. July estimate of 4.335 bb. U.S. soybean ending stocks fell to 290 mb vs. expectations of 358 mb. The seeded acres are the smallest since the 2019 growing season. The USDA lowered old crop ending stocks by 20 mb and reduced new crop exports by 40 mb and residual usage by 3 mb.
The monthly NOPA crush report saw July crush at 195.699 mb, a new record for the month vs. 191.6 mb estimated, 185.3 mb last month and 182.9 mb last year. Soybean oil stocks are estimated at 1.379 bp vs. 1.380 bp estimated, 1.384 bp last month and 1.499 bp last year. Stocks remain at 21-year lows on a samemonth comparison basis.
STRATEGY & OUTLOOK
Producers should look to add 2025 hedges on late season rallies.
WHEAT ANALYSIS
For the week, Chicago wheat closed $.08 1/2 lower and Kansas City wheat closed $.07 1/4 lower. Last week, private exporters did not announce any export sales.
In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. wheat export inspections last week of 13.4 mb were down from the previous week’s 25.3 mb, last year’s sameweek exports of 24.6 mb and the most-recent four-week average exports of 19.8 million bushels. Through the first 10 weeks of the 2025-26 marketing year, cumulative wheat export inspections of 161 million bushels are up marginally from last year’s 157 million, running in line with the USDA’s 850 million bushel export projection reflecting an expected 3% increase in exports from 2024-25. In order to reach the USDA’s current export target, wheat inspections would need to average roughly 15.8 million bushels/week through the end of next May vs. last year’s 15.1 million/
forced to accept ice cream at gunpoint. Knowing that my wife likes Cookies and Cream, I gratefully took two cups of the tasty treat and went to our car.
The ice cream was the perfect coda for the sweltering evening. We noshed the frosty indulgence while we motored homeward, peering through a shifting constellation of bug spatters on the windshield as a pumpkin moon played peekaboo amidst the ragged nighttime clouds.
111
smiled.
“I could never be a preacher!” I later exclaimed to my wife. “I cuss when I’m overstressed and giving a sermon every Sunday sounds awfully stressful.”
“That might be OK,” she replied. “Maybe it would keep people from nodding off.”
We stood in the narthex and chatted with Danny and Rick. Danny insisted that we have some ice cream for the road. He was so persistent that it almost felt as if I were being
week average from this point forward.
In the weekly crop progress and conditions report, spring wheat conditions improved 1% to 49% good/excellent vs. 48% expected, 48% last week and 72% last year. Spring wheat harvest is 16% complete vs. 14% expected, 5% last week, 16% last year and 22% average, while winter wheat harvest advanced to 90% complete vs. 92% expected, 86% last week, 92% last year and 91% average. U.S. all-wheat production was pegged at 1.927 bb vs. pre-report expectations of 1.923 bb. Spring wheat production came in at 484 mb vs. pre-report estimates of 495 mb vs. July estimates of 504 mb. The USDA changed very little on the U.S. balance sheets with exports increased by 25 mb and food usage decreased by 5 mb, leading to U.S. new crop wheat ending stocks of 869 mb vs. pre-report estimates of 883 mb vs July estimates of 890 mb.
STRATEGY & OUTLOOK
Producers should have rolled hedges on stored wheat to March or May to capture the large carry.
LIVE & FEEDER CATTLE
ANALYSIS
Last week, live cattle closed $4.65 higher while feeder cattle closed $6.12 higher. The results at this week’s OKC auction were mostly higher; feeders $3 to $12 higher, except steers greater than 800 pounds, which were steady to $3 lower, calves $4 lower to $5 higher. Receipts totaled 5,600 head. Retail beef prices for July came in much higher, with all-fresh beef coming in $0.75 higher than a year ago and $0.27 higher than a month ago at $8.90/pound. Ground beef came in at $6.25 a pound, which is $0.13 up from a month ago. This is a 9.2% increase for all-fresh beef and a 13.8% increase for ground beef when compared to their year-ago prices, which is reflective of continued strong consumer demand.
The USDA reduced their 2025 beef production estimate by 260 million pounds, and then 2026 by 350 million pounds, citing the slowed slaughter rates, slowing placements, and some lighter carcass weight
The fragrance of the summertime twilight and the rhythmic “thup, thup” of the tires on the highway brought back a flood of boyhood memories. Memories of riding home with my family in our 1959 Ford station wagon after a warm evening of playing 4-H softball, the windows rolled down to admit the cool night air, the car’s headlights boring a tunnel through the infinite darkness as I sipped on a straw that was plumbing the depths of a strawberry malt. It’s wonderful that Danny and Rick and others are working to preserve local history. Perhaps, fifty years from now, a former kid might recall enjoying ice cream with his family on a steamy summertime evening after listening to some guy who was full of hot air.
adjustments as well in the supply/demand report.
Last week, in the North, trade was moderate to active at $243 to $245 live and $380 to $385 dressed, which is steady to slightly firmer than last week. The South saw limited trade early this week, steady with last week at $237 live. More trade was noted in the South this afternoon at $235 live. As far as boxed beef markets go, the cutout closed higher this week with Choice rising by $14.85/cwt. and Select increasing $13.13/cwt.
Boxed beef sold for export has plunged in relation to last year. Last week, boxed sales declined 155 loads from the prior week to 609 loads for a 20% decline. However the year-to-year decline for last week declined 981 loads for a 62% decline. Boxed beef export sales for the year through last week were 2,562 loads behind last year for a year to date decline of 9%.
The latest USDA steer carcass weights were steady with last week at 941 pounds, which is 18 pounds above year-ago levels. Last week, net beef sales of 4,300 mts for 2025, a marketing year low with shipments of 11,440 mts.
STRATEGY & OUTLOOK
The outlook for the third quarter of 2025 is bullish due to tight supplies, however locking in minimum price levels with put options is good risk management as supplies increase and demand slows.
LEAN HOGS ANALYSIS
Lean hogs closed the week $.42 lower.
The USDA’s monthly supply/demand update featured a sizable 290 million pounds downward adjustment in their 2025 pork production estimate. Iowa/southern Minnesota weekly hog weights for the week ending Aug. 9 has weights unchanged at 281.1 pounds vs. 281.1 pounds last week and 281.0 pounds last year. Last week, net pork sales were 21,200 mts for 2025 with shipments of 27,000 mts.
STRATEGY & OUTLOOK Supplies should increase into the late third and fourth quarters, which will weigh on values.
Midwest Marketing Solutions
Brian Hoops
Columnist
Jerry Nelson
-Photo by Julie Nelson
JERRY NELSON SPEAKS at a recent fundraiser for the St. Pauli Center in Webster, South Dakota. It was his first time in a pulpit.
Clay County Fair is an Iowa treasure
The season for summer fairs and festivals is nearly at an end.
For the countless Iowans and others who love county fairs, however, one big event remains — the Clay County Fair.
The fair that opens in Spencer on Sept. 6 and runs through Sept. 14 is not just any fair. It is by far the largest county fair in Iowa and ranks among the grandest agricultural expositions in the nation.
The members of the Clay County Fair Association had big plans for their fair when it launched more than 100 years ago. That first fair was the largest county fair held in Iowa its inaugural year, and organizers have laid claim to that status in many of the years that followed.
More than a half century ago, Life Magazine dubbed the Clay County Fair the “World’s Greatest County Fair.” It deserved that accolade then and continues to rank among the most popular and impressive rural-oriented exhibitions in North America.
The agricultural focus of this splendid fair is part of what draws the crowds, but it offers pleasures to suit all ages and attractions to appeal to diverse interests.
The Clay County Fair has a well-deserved reputation as a venue where some of the biggest names in the entertainment world perform. The list of artists who have been on stage in Spencer is impressive. Garth Brooks, Bob Hope, Reba McEntire, Pat Boone, Lee Greenwood and Davey Jones represent just a small sampling of the show-business superstars who have wowed those fortunate enough to have taken time to come to the fair.
The thousands of people who will pass through the fair’s gates next month are drawn to this sumptuous event for reasons that are as diverse as the attendees. Part of the fair’s charm is the immense variety it offers.
If you’ve been to the Clay County Fair, it’s unlikely you’ll need much encouragement to pay a return visit. If you are among those who have yet to partake of the Clay County Fair experience, now’s the time to make plans to head for Spencer.
You’ll be glad you did.
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August is one, long garden feast
On the southern Illinois farm of my youth, August always meant heat, humidity, and the best food of the year. While we rarely suffered silently through August’s steamy weeks, we usually ate our noontime dinners in delighted silence as we enjoyed my mother’s exceptional meals.
What made them so exceptional was their simple ingredients. Two basement freezers held the day’s main entree, usually a beef or pork roast. Chicken was for Sundays and our limited supply of hams, from two winter-butchered hogs, was reserved for either special occasions or supper sandwiches.
Mom had an almost foolproof method to prepare any roast. If pork was on for dinner, she’d put a justout-of-the-freezer pork roast in a roaster, shake a large amount of salt and pepper on its concrete-hard top side, and then add an inch of water and two peeled onions. For it to be ready for our noon meal, it had to be in the 350-degree oven by 7 a.m.
A day’s beef roast got the same freezer-to-oven treatment — only it went into the oven at 8 a.m. And like clockwork, the roasts were always ready for my father’s carving knife at noon.
Nearly everything else on our August dinner plates grew barely a stone’s throw from our dinner table. Most days featured just-picked cabbage for my sister’s vinegary cole slaw, slabs of juicy, just-picked tomatoes,
a steaming bowl of homegrown and homeharvested potatoes, and — you got it — just-picked green beans or peas.
Other garden goodies would come and go as their seasons peaked and ebbed: Swiss chard, spinach, field corn (we never ate sweet corn with 80 acres of perfectly fine, longeared Pioneer field corn growing on two sides of our garden), beets, sweet potatoes, turnips, wax beans, kohlrabi, zucchini, onions, carrots, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and whatever else my parents thought we needed to remain healthy and growing.
But as hot and sweaty as all that hoeing, planting, hilling, weeding, picking, and preparing those gardento-dinner plate meals might have been, that was the easy part. The hard part — canning all that goodness to enjoy year around — often began as soon as dinner ended.
And we canned almost anything that didn’t move or moo; every vegetable, every fruit, and several meats like baked pork sausages and roast beef. My mother’s rationale, especially for canning 10 or so quarts
of meat most years, was simple: “You never know when you might need a meal heated over a camp stove.”
No, we could never know, but now, more than 60 years after her yearly admonitions, I can report that we never found out either.
My father mostly watched us hoe, harvest, cook, and can from the sidelines. His major contributions were made each spring when he planted all the tomatoes, cabbages, and other bedding plants. After that, like his children, he often let someone else monitor and manage their growth and future.
Throughout the long garden season, however, we did absorb a working knowledge of agronomy, botany, and biology. We also learned that our often sweaty hours in the garden could deliver more than just fresh vegetables to our back door.
In fact, it brought a special kind of satisfaction that bicycle riding or playing baseball just couldn’t. We discovered that some types of work — the work that people depended on you to do — brought its own reward, its own level of silent satisfaction.
And now, when I see the worn hickory handles of my parents’ garden tools that hang in my daughter’s garage, I see my brothers and me hilling potatoes and all of us sitting down to an everyday August dinner that no king could now afford.
Low prices cure low prices ... or so we’ve been told
Will low grain/soy prices cure low prices? Yes … eventually … but it is a process that can last longer than some can financially endure. I do not see any capitulation from bulls yet on a scale to set a major bottom. We look for record 2025 yields and production. This follows record Brazilian production.
The record high 10-state corn beltwide NDVI is likely to turn into a record crop, which was what happened with the Brazilian Safrinha corn crop. This crop could push U.S. 2025-26 carryover projections above 2 billion bushels and 500 million bushels for corn and soybeans respectively. Many look ahead to a reduction in acres next year. But from what crop to what crop when you have too much of everything? The market will encourage planting too many acres in 2026 by inflating the carry. Hopefully that premium will come next February when crop revenue insurance prices are set for 2026. A second year of high production in 2026 on top of enlarged carryovers from this crop could extrapolate burdensome carryovers into crushing ones. That is why we have already made our first 2026 incremental corn hedge.
taking animals to heavier and heavier market weights. I suspect that there is a limit to that. The cattle industry is at the crest of its price cycle building a top. There is an adage that the cattle market “makes tops not bottoms.”
We have advised farmers to “embrace the suck” in order to survive this bear market. That includes crop insurance, hedging, ARC/PLC reference prices, Trump payments and simple storage, basis and marketing melted into an overall financial strategy. I expect that there will be some financial fallout this winter if crops are as large and prices, including basis, are as poor as they may be. Bankers will do their thing. Credit is going to tighten, and solvency rather than the interest rate will make the difference as to who gets financing for next year. This is not the 1980s, but some likely have to fail here. Headlines of some major crop operations failing would be a sign of capitulation seen at major lows. Let’s circle back to this “low prices cure low prices” premise. After 52 years, I have seen this work a few times. It doesn’t happen magically, sometimes it has to grovel and grind for a while before traction is acquired. That is why we built the ethanol industry, which took years for low prices to build. I do not expect that, but I also do not see any of our demand centers ready to get up and go. Prices will seek out lower levels at which demand is discovered. Focusing on corn and soybeans, we get demand from feed usage, biofuel and exports. Looking at feed usage first. Feed usage has been maintained primarily as the result of livestock producers
Drought conditions have been relieved in much of the country so that heifer retention is possible, but based on the value of the heifer, keeping a replacement heifer has never been more expensive. Some say that we are starting herd retention but were it I … I would pass and wait for the demand bust the industry will soon be facing. The hog and poultry industries can expand with cheap feed, but integrators may prefer to moderate supply and take in profits for a while. There is risk to feed demand from mutating flu viruses. Trade is a component of U.S. meat supply and demand. I would not hold my breath that Trump trade deals will result in any huge growth in meat exports. North American livestock production is being disrupted by flies and tariffs. No one wants to take blame if screwworm flies reach the U.S. from Mexico, so the border is closed to Mexican feeders reducing U.S. numbers on feed.
How about biofuel demand? This is a fossil fuel focused administration and biofuel really struggles to make the cut. There is a next level of biofuel production-generated grain demand that is achievable. The potential exists, but it has so far been stymied by politics. There may be some benefit to biofuel exports in trade deals, but the domestic market is still being protected by Big Oil. Ethanol is blocked from being used as SAF feedstock, simple year-around-nationwide E-15 adoption is still stalled, the EPA may grant RFS refinery exemptions, 45Z regs are deficient and CO2 pipelines are still above ground instead of buried in it. Nothing dynamic that can move the needle on biofuel grain consumption is really happening. That can change and may if the farm economy gets bad enough. This is political and biofuelallied politicians have thus far been proven disgustingly dysfunctional.
The next leg of our demand stool for grain/soybeans is exports. So far President Trump had gotten his farm
support without delivering us very much. An ACH and a few kind words now and then appear to keep farmers happy … until it doesn’t. We were given the narrative that China had agreed to buying commodities in Phase One, which turned out to be false, having been sold to us a bill of goods. The president ran his expectation that China will buy our soybeans again Sunday night on Truth Social. Such comments move the market but are highly unreliable. Corn exports have been very good, likely positively impacted by frontloading. The squeaky wheel gets greased, and farmers have not squeaked enough about getting left out of trade to get a physical response yet from the administration. They are patiently expecting results, giving the president humongous latitude. Our congressional politicians have become pretty worthless now that all decisionmaking comes from the very top. They just got an ag trade negotiator hired, and he will be more concerned about what his boss thinks than about us. There have been frameworks for agreements put together in some instances and there have been tariffs, but there are no “deals” where all of the clauses have been finalized, let alone consummated. Everything that has been done has been forced upon our trade partners, which have reacted in different ways. They trade with us under threat of retribution. I am concerned that that will not be at a level that we need. Low prices discourage production which is theoretically supposed to reduce supply. Last year the corn market was priced high enough to take acres from other crops, soybeans and cotton. Where do acres go if all crops have burdensome carryovers? The long-depressed cotton market, highly dependent on exports, may portend a similar future for corn and soybean markets. Cotton exports have stalled, with Brazil having the lowest cost of production, taking the export market. Major foreign spinners do not want our cotton, and polyesters have replaced cotton demand as well. China shut off sorghum purchases which had provided an export opportunity. Well below cost of production cotton prices have yet to reinvigorate U.S. cotton demand, which has gone virtually extinct. Corn and soybeans are less dependent on exports than cotton or we would have Ag Depression 2.0. How low do global prices have to go until Brazil cuts back on acres? I do not think that we want to find out.
Farm and Food File
Alan Guebert
CommStock
David Kruse
stage on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 2 and 7 p.m., and the sounds and excitement of the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull will fill the air on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 1 p.m.
Brockshus said the grandstand lineup will offer something for all tastes in entertainment, including a drone show that will light up the sky with calculated, moving formations following the Bulls and Broncs show on Sept. 10.
“It’s unique to our area and I think people are going to want to see it,” said Brockshus. “There will be 200 drones and they’ll use their computers to make graphics in the sky — all set to music. It’s going to be awesome.”
He said there have been only one or two such shows in Iowa until now. The fair is working with Sky Elements from Texas, which also runs “America’s Got Talent.” Brockshus said the group is going to tailor-make designs specifically for the fair.
“You should be able to view it from the grandstand, the carnival area, food row … from lots of places around the fairgrounds,” he said.
Brockshus said the drone show will replace the fireworks following the grandstand show that night.
“I’m a livestock guy and I wasn’t
excited about having fireworks after our bull riding. I didn’t want to have the rodeo after the rodeo,” he said. “The drone show will be a nice exchange for that, plus a great entertainment piece in and of itself.”
Also new this year will be the Coke Hospitality Tent Stage, located next to the grandstand, so people who wish to stay and hear more live music from Midwestern bands following grandstand events can do that.
A new partnership this year is the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association, putting on “Iowa Music Day” on Thursday, Sept. 11. The day will feature an educational music component in the ballroom at the events center, and that evening, the Northwest Bank Stage will feature bands that won their youth showcase last year, along with more seasoned bands from 7 to 10 p.m.
“If the races aren’t your thing, you can come and be part of that music and get some fair food while you enjoy it,” said Brockshus.
He said the Farmer’s Market will return south of the Big Iron Barn, with vendors rotating throughout the nine days of the fair. That area will also feature beer and canned cocktails, with live music all week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
“It will be nine days of fun with a full slate of vendors, including 50 new ones. We can’t wait for the fair to start. We’ll be ready.”
— Jason Brockshus CEO/Manager,
Clay County Fair
Brockshus said new ticket booths that mimic the historic fair towers will make their debut, along with a new golf cart path at the north gate entrance, which will be laid with crushed asphalt to pave the way into the fairgrounds.
Brockshus said even with all of this, agriculture remains the backbone of the fair, with the Clay County Fair hosting the largest display of ag equipment of any fair in the nation.
He said Iowa State University Extension annually hosts the Ag-Citing ag educational program for northwest Iowa third- and fourth-graders, and the CyCiting program teaches about agriculture to area fifth- and sixth-graders. Students from 15 to 16 area schools use those opportunities at the fair as a field day.
Grandpa’s Barn remains a fair staple, giving thousands the chance to get up close to a farm animal and learn about them.
Brockshus said fair food is one of the main reasons people like coming to the Clay County Fair. Top fair foods have
been selected, and will be voted on in the Creative Living Center on the first Sunday of the fair. “Pickle Lemonade” and the “Dumpster Dog” will be two of the items enticing voters.
Fairgoers will have opportunities to get into the fair for free or at a reduced price, with several days that honor various groups. Veterans will be admitted to the fair for free on Sept. 8; senior citizens can enter the fair at a reduced admission of $8 on Sept. 9; and first responders/ emergency workers will get into the fair free on Sept. 10. Brockshus said everyone can get into the fair for free daily starting at 7:30 p.m., which he said is a chance for people to hear what’s happening in the grandstand or see what music or acts might be performing on the fairgrounds, and to visit any of the fair’s throng of food vendors.
Admission at the gate is $12 per person. Pre-fair tickets can be purchased at the fair’s website (www.claycountyfair.com) or from any of 70 local outlets. Children age 12 and under get into the fair free every day.
With the new grandstand line-up of events (music first, then the transition to all dirt events for the last half of the fair), daily 4-H/FFA and open class livestock shows, $180,000 in free fair entertainment, live music at all times of the day and evening, strolling and grounds acts, fair foods to try, and buildings full of commercial vendors waiting to meet prospective buyers, Brockshus said the fair — which draws 300,000 people annually — is worth the price of admission.
“It will be nine days of fun with a full slate of vendors, including 50 new ones. We can’t wait for the fair to start,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”
Beef On Dairy Dialogue Webinar set for Aug. 28
ORANGE CITY — The I-29 Moo
University Beef On Dairy Dialogue Webinar Series continues Aug. 28 from noon to 1 p.m.
Dr. Peel, with Oklahoma State University, will cover the current cattle supply and demand fundamentals and expectations for prices, production and cattle inventories for 2025 and beyond.
Derrell Peel is the Charles Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has served as the Extension livestock marketing specialist since he came to Oklahoma State University in 1989. He has Bachelor of Science and Master of
Science degrees from Montana State University and a doctorate from the University of Illinois. He previously served as the superintendent of the Southeastern Colorado Range Research Station in Springfield, Colorado.
Derrell also works in the area of international livestock and meat trade, with particular focus on the North American livestock and meat industry. There is no fee to participate; however, registration is required at least one hour prior to the webinar. Register online at https:// go.iastate.edu/HERDREBUILDING For more information, contact Fred Hall at 712-737-4230.
2025
