News Roundup for the Week of Jul 14, 2025
News Roundup for the Week of Jul 14, 2025
It’s been a week of sharp pivots and steady recalibrations across the ag world. From federal program cuts to drought shifts and emerging tech on the farm, the headlines haven’t exactly slowed down. If you’ve been busy managing fields, markets, or mid-season decisions, here’s a clear-eyed look at what mattered most. We’ve pulled together the five biggest ag stories shaping conversations and planning across the country.
1. USDA Ends Regional Food Business Centers
The USDA’s decision to wind down its Regional Food Business Centers marks a significant shift in how federal support reaches small and mid-sized farms. These centers, launched as part of a broader food system resilience strategy, had quickly become anchors for local producers seeking training, grant access, and market connections. With over 5,500 farms and food businesses served since inception, their closure signals a retrenchment from hands-on technical support at a time when many rural economies are still recovering from pandemic-era disruptions and inflationary pressure.
According to the USDA, the closures are part of a broader “realignment of agency priorities,” aimed at consolidating services and streamlining funding pathways. Four centers are being shut down immediately, with the remaining eight scheduled to phase out by May 2026. While officials maintain that core services will be integrated elsewhere, farmers and advocacy groups argue the move removes trusted, local touchpoints that had proven effective in expanding regional food systems and connecting underserved producers with national supply chains.
Industry response has been swift. Several ag advocacy organizations, including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, criticized the decision as shortsighted. They emphasize that regional centers not only delivered resources but also helped producers build business models tailored to specific geographic and market challenges. Without that scaffolding, they argue, many smaller operations will lose ground in an already concentrated food economy.
Read the full story at Reuters
2. Disaster Declaration for Montana Floods and Storms
The USDA has designated thirteen counties in Montana as primary natural disaster areas following severe flooding, tornadoes, and damaging storms that swept through the region earlier this summer. This declaration opens the door for eligible farmers and ranchers to apply for emergency loans and technical assistance through the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The support aims to help producers recover from significant physical and financial losses tied to extreme weather conditions that battered infrastructure, delayed planting, and strained livestock operations.
The affected counties span central and eastern Montana, including areas where spring moisture had already made field access difficult. With this federal recognition, producers can seek low-interest emergency financing to repair or replace essential property, refinance existing debts, and address livestock feed shortages. The move underscores a growing pattern of federal disaster designations tied to increasingly unpredictable weather, particularly in key agricultural regions of the western U.S.
3. U.S. Drought Map Shifts With Plains Rain
After a summer defined by climate whiplash, drought conditions across U.S. cropland are shifting again. Recent storms delivered relief to parts of Texas, New Mexico, and eastern Colorado—regions that had been under intense moisture stress since spring. The Plains benefited most, with soil moisture levels rebounding and crop outlooks improving marginally. However, the relief hasn't been uniform. Other areas, particularly the Pacific Northwest and northern Illinois, are now slipping deeper into drought, creating an uneven national picture heading into late summer.
According to the July 11 update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 31% of the lower 48 states remain in drought, with a notable uptick in short-term dryness across the Midwest. Corn and soybean producers in Iowa and Illinois have flagged spotty rainfall and declining subsoil moisture as growing concerns. These trends are beginning to influence crop condition ratings and could weigh on late-summer yield expectations if moisture doesn't return. Meanwhile, grazing conditions in western rangeland have stabilized slightly, giving livestock producers a brief reprieve.
The shifting drought map reinforces how regional weather volatility continues to shape risk management in agriculture. Crop insurance strategies, planting flexibility, and market timing are all being reevaluated as producers navigate another season of unpredictability.
View the latest drought conditions from the U.S. Drought Monitor
4. Drone and Biostimulant Firms Take Top Honors at Ag Innovation Awards
At the Ag Innovation Awards held in Saskatoon, two companies stood out for their practical contributions to the future of agriculture. Phiber Manufacturing was recognized for its DASH drone carrier, a system that supports the simultaneous deployment of multiple drones for large-scale spraying operations. Designed for efficiency, the carrier allows operators to reduce downtime and expand acreage coverage during tight weather windows. Meanwhile, ATP Nutrition received accolades for Synergro G3, a next-generation biostimulant that enhances nutrient uptake and root development under crop stress.
These innovations reflect a broader push to improve both precision and resilience in farm operations. The drone platform caters to high-tech custom applicators, offering logistics support that traditional drone setups lack. On the input side, Synergro G3 answers growing demand for biological products that can replace or supplement synthetic fertilizers, especially in sensitive environments. As adoption of agtech scales, these kinds of tools are becoming central to how farms manage variability and optimize yield.
The awards were part of the Ag in Motion exhibition, which showcased cutting-edge tools across robotics, data management, and soil health solutions. The event underlined the ongoing transformation of on-farm decision-making—from hardware that expands reach to inputs that fine-tune plant response.
5. Business Schools Back Regenerative Agriculture
A new report from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University is giving regenerative agriculture a fresh platform among investors and policymakers. Written by a team of MBA students through the Levy Institute’s Sustainable Food Lab, the study outlines barriers to adoption—financing gaps, limited education, and infrastructure shortfalls—and recommends concrete strategies to accelerate the transition. These include tailored loan products, better technical assistance, and policy incentives linked to soil health metrics.
The report arrives at a time when major food companies and retailers are pledging climate and sustainability goals, but often lack clear roadmaps for upstream supply chain changes. Regenerative practices like cover cropping, reduced tillage, and rotational grazing offer long-term ecological and yield benefits, but adoption has been slow without clearer ROI frameworks. The MBA-led initiative aims to bridge that gap with tools that resonate in both boardrooms and farm fields.
By aligning investment strategies with real on-the-ground producer needs, the report hopes to spur greater collaboration between finance, science, and production. It also underscores how business schools are playing a growing role in shaping food system transitions.
Read more at Kellogg’s Sustainable Food Lab
