Crop Rebound, Pipelines All on Tap This Week

Aug 21, 2023

Here are the Top 5 things the DTN Newsroom is tracking for the week of Aug. 20. Watch for coverage of these and other topics through the week on our subscription platforms as well as on DTNPF.com.

1. Rebound crop: There seems little letup on the ongoing discussion on how well the 2023 corn and soybean crops have rebounded following recent rains. We'll continue to have reports from the field as we track grain fill and pod set, leading up the USDA's next World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report Sept. 12. If you participated in our DTN Summit Series event Aug. 15, you know Gro Intelligence added a bit to the 177-bushel-per-acre average estimate on corn revealed during our Digital Yield Tour the week prior. Will those yields hold through August? Stay tuned.

2. Weather: The wall of hot weather taking hold across the country will be the most-watched weather factor, but we're also tracking Hurricane Hilary as it moves onto the West Coast and potentially up into the Pacific Northwest and Idaho, and on into the Canadian Prairies. An early view on the hurricane can be found in our Ag Weather Forum blog; watch for updates in that space as well. DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick's take is here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

3. Pipeline dreams: Tuesday marks the beginning of hearings on the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, which is proposed to cross Iowa and into North Dakota. Summit wants to pipe carbon dioxide to be injected into the Bakken geology formation. The Iowa Utilities Board will hold a hearing in Fort Dodge to discuss the pipeline's permit, including Summit's request for eminent domain rights on parcels of land that have not signed easements.

4. Broadband update: USDA scheduled an update on its investments in rural broadband, something we watch closely here at DTN. We should have results of the latest report early in the week.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.