Successful Farming

In every farm family, there are stories about the earliest farm tasks completed by the youngest hands. In my family, that includes my dad buying his first two cows at age 10, and my cousin Alex’s uncanny ability to name every piece of equipment on the farm by the time he was 5. The same is true for today’s youngest farmers. Take, for example, Jackson Laux of South Whitley, Indiana. In 2025, at 10 years old, Jackson started farming his first 2 acres. It’s an impressive feat — but, surprisingly, it’s not what he’s most known for. Finding Fame Three years ago, Jackson went viral on TikTok after his cousin posted a video of him. Today, he has almost a million followers and 15 million likes on TikTok (@justajacksonthing).…

THE U.S. SOYBEAN OIL MARKET IS 50% FUEL, 45% FOOD, AND 5% INDUSTRIAL. The U.S. bio-based products industry contributed $489 billion to the economy in 2021. 3,000 pounds of soybeans can produce 570 pounds of soybean oil and 2,350 pounds of protein. Skechers offers more than 100 types of shoes containing soy. PUREBOND HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 150 MILLION PANELS OF SOY-CONTAINING PLYWOOD. Sources: United Soybean Board, USDA Rural Development BioPreferred Program…

PTx FarmEngage is AGCO and PTx’s newest operations management platform, designed to connect a farmer’s entire fleet across multiple manufacturers. “We believe that this is a more deployable solution to a real farm, which has many different makes and models of equipment of many different ages. Our mission is to ensure that we support the compatibility for any type of machine that the farmer has on their farm,” said Cory Buchs, director for product development for PTx. “We aren’t pushing the farmer to adopt one brand of equipment across their farm — we feel that this is more of an accessible solution to some of the alternatives in the market.” FarmEngage will be AGCO’s lead farm management software moving forward. In the past, AGCO has offered the Fendt One and…

1. $26,500 per acre 80.13 acres in Sioux County, Iowa Oct. 22, 2025 CSR2: 94.5 The heirs of Donald and Janet De Groot sold 120.17 acres of high-quality Lincoln Township farmland at public auction through Zomer Co. The property was offered in two tracts. Tract 1 was 80.13 acres and sold for $26,500 per acre. Tract 2 was 40.04 acres, had a CSR2 of 90.5, and sold for $18,500 per acre. Together, the property sold for approximately $2.86 million. Both farms feature predominantly Galva, Primghar, and Marcus soils, with excellent topography and strong productivity. 2. $16,200 per acre 160 acres in Lincoln County, South Dakota Oct. 24, 2025 PI: 85.8 Jensen Family Farms sold highly productive farmland in southeast South Dakota at public auction through Sutton Auctioneers & Land…

$12 Billion in Farmer Aid In December, President Donald Trump announced $12 billion in farmer aid, including $11 billion for row crop farmers, to be released by the end of February 2026. The long-awaited announcement happened at a White House roundtable that included Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Rollins called the one-time payments “the bridge that is needed to get from the last administration, and what happened under the last president and the last U.S. Department of Agriculture, to this new Golden Age of farmers.” “This country and our farm economy is facing a crisis that we inherited that most of these farmers have not seen in their lifetime,” Rollins said. “Profitability is down. It’s just one crisis after another.” She said Trump came into office…

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”Illinois farmer Cliff Lane, on the imperative of using data to stay on top of pest resistance, p. 28 “Keep going. The earth relies on it.”Young Atlanta farmer Kendall Rae Johnson, encouraging families in ag, p. 50 Giving immediate attention to an adverse [Final Technical Determination] is critical.Agricultural law attorney John Schwarz, II, advising on fighting a USDA Swampbuster ruling, p. 44…