09/13/26 Daily Farm Brief
Screwworm found in horses today, USDA agricultural expense update, daily farmers almanac, and a farmer decides to raise giant birds!
Sponsored by WorldTradeX
Hello, farmers. Welcome to FarmTales Unplugged. This is your daily farm brief. We'd like to thank our sponsor, World Trade X, the Future of Food, for making this podcast possible. My name is Rick Portanova, and I'll be your host. We're going to give you a daily brief about every day. It'll be a minute, five minutes, maybe six. It's Sunday, September 13th. Here's what farmers need to know and what they might not expect. First, livestock producers. The USDA has confirmed the first U.S. horse case, horse case of New World Screwworm in Presidio County, Texas. This isn't an ordinary fly problem. The larvae can infest wounds in warm-blooded animals, and the parasite was eradicated from the United States decades ago. Producers should check animals for wounds, control flies, and follow USDA and state animal health alerts. Now crops. USDA lowered its corn yield estimate by 2.2 bushels per acre. Analysts called the report generally bullish for corn and neutral to slightly bullish for soybeans. Important news as harvest approaches. But costs remain a concern. USDA forecast $492.8 billion in U.S. farm production expenses for 2026. That's about $21 billion more than in 2025. Time for today's almanac check. The Farmers Almanac lists September 13th as a favorable day for grains, hay, and forage. And in parts of California, Texas, and Florida, above-ground crops like peas, beans, tomatoes, and peppers. It also calls today a good day to bake, cut firewood, dig holes, host a party, and get married. So if you're planting a field and attending a wedding today, apparently the universe has your schedule covered. Just remember, don't park a half million dollar planner because the moon disagrees with you or because you heard it on FarmTales Unplugged. And finally, under You Don't Hear That Every Day, near St. Joseph, Missouri, farmer Franklin Voorhis raises ostriches for breeding and meat. He wanted a niche market and chose the world's largest bird. Young ostriches are harder to raise than conventional livestock, which means somewhere in Missouri, a farmer is watching a six-foot bird run across the pasture and thinking, Yep, I chose this. Storm's coming. He was, yep. And that's why agriculture never runs out of stories. That's today's daily farm brief from FarmTales Unplugged. The important stuff, the interesting stuff, and occasionally the stuff that makes you wonder what the hell were these farmers thinking? I'm Rick Portonova. FarmTales Unplugged is brought to you by World Trade X, the future of food. We'll see you tomorrow.