MADISON, Wisconsin
DATCP reminds producers to apply for crop insurance rebates
The WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) reminds producers to apply for crop insurance premium rebates. The rebate application is web-based and is available on DATCP’s website until January 31, 2026, or until program funding is exhausted. There is $800,000, or 160,000 acres of coverage, to be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Eligible participants will receive a $5 per acre rebate on their summer 2026 crop insurance premium for acres that were planted with cover crops in 2025, then planted with an insurable crop the following growing season. For more information email DATCPCC@wisconsin.gov.
URBANA, Illinois
Gap between farm costs and prices received hits 10-year high
U.S. farmers are facing one of the widest gaps in a decade between what they pay to produce food and what they earn from selling it. New USDA data released last month shows that by October 2025, the prices paid index had climbed to 154.6, while the prices received index had fallen to 120.5. The agency measures the indexes against 2011 levels, which are set to 100, making it easier to see how prices have changed over time,” Investigate Midwest’s Lauren Cross reported. “In practical terms, that means production costs were more than 50% higher than in 2011, while prices farmers received were only about 21% higher. That gap reached 34.1 index points in October, the widest spread in the data going back at least a decade, according to the data.”
MELBOURNE, Australia
Overlooked bird flu strain might be next pandemic risk
A bird flu virus that has often been ignored because it mostly causes minor disease in birds has the potential to cause a human pandemic, says a team that has tracked how the H9N2 virus has become better adapted to infect people. The researchers say more surveillance of the virus is needed.
Kelvin To, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, says the second most common strain of bird flu that infects people is H9N2, which has caused 173 infections in people since 1998, mostly in China. Scientists are yet to find evidence of person-to-person transmission of H9N2, which would be needed for it to lead to a pandemic. But To and his team have found that H9N2 underwent genetic changes that began around 2015 that have made the virus more infectious.
VERONA, Wisconsin
State cattle group applauds House passage of gray wolf delisting
The Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association (WCA) applauded the bipartisan passage of the Pet and Livestock Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation was introduced by Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and restores the 2020 rule delisting gray wolves in the lower 48 states and prevents future judicial overturns.
The move marks a significant step forward for Wisconsin’s cattle producers and rural communities who have faced increasing livestock losses, emotional stress and financial strain from growing wolf populations. The group says the vote sends a strong message that Congress is listening to farmers and ranchers who are impacted every day.”
WASHINGTON
Van Orden sides with Democrats on ACA subsidy extension vote
In a surprise reversal, Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden voted for a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits Thursday despite previously calling for the law to be repealed.
As the only GOP member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to support the subsidies, Van Orden said the vote will buy time for Republicans to fix a broken health care system. Democrats say it was “purely performative” and aimed at boosting his chances in what’s expected to be a tough reelection campaign, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
WASHINGTON
DMC margin drifts toward payments
The November margin under the Dairy Margin Coverage Program fell to $10.04/cwt in November, another month of decline, as margins neared the $9.50 trigger level for payments at the maximum level of coverage, according to the NMPF.
The November decline was driven by a $0.18/cwt rise in the DMC feed cost formula and a $0.30/cwt drop in the all-milk price over the month. At the end of the year, the DMC Decision Tool on the USDA website predicted the December margin would be $9.19/cwt, which would generate a $0.31/cwt payment for $9.50/cwt coverage should that occur. That would be the only DMC payment for 2025.
DMC margins declined in September and October, according to USDA data released after the recent government shutdown, were $10.87/cwt and $10.52/cwt, respectively.
AUSTIN, Texas
L Catterton to buy cottage cheese brand Good Culture for $500M
Private equity firm L Catterton agreed to buy Austin, Texas-based cottage cheese brand Good Culture, Reuters reported. The purchase price was more than $500 million, according to sources familiar with the matter. Good Culture sales have increased nearly four times over the last three years as the cottage cheese category grew almost 60% over the same period, according to the deal announcement.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin State Farmer: Ag Briefs: Gap between farm costs and prices received hits 10-year high
Reporting by Colleen Kottke, Wisconsin State Farmer / Wisconsin State Farmer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
