October 2025 Edition

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Fall 2025

COMMENTS FROM CLINT

Grain production agriculture in our area is facing a challenging period as overall yields are not going to be near levels required to obtain a profit at these low prices. Of course, every field is unique. Whether land is rented or owned, paid off or paid on, crop grown, yield, and price are all factors in determining which fields were profitable and which ones were not this year. If nothing changes, world supply and domestic demand soon, 2026 will be year 5 of negative returns in grain farming. 

There will be management changes before the 2026 crop is planted. Land rent negotiations, terming out short-term debt, liquidation of underutilized machinery and assets, land sales, family and non-family employee layoffs will all be considered. These decisions will be difficult but necessary for the farm businesses to continue. The first step before any major change is made should be to evaluate your business, assets, and team to determine what is possible that is not done currently. 

Evaluate your machinery assets. What can be utilized to provide income for custom services? Do you have one or two commercial lawn mowers sitting unused most of the week? Setting up a commercial mowing service would add little to your machinery expenses and steady cash flow. Do you have trucks and trailers capable of transporting lime, litter, grain, or aluminum? There are laws to meet regarding for-hire transportation services, but transportation services are always in demand. Step back and evaluate your machinery and labor and labor resources. Commercializing underutilized machinery and labor can create cash flow. 

One of the most difficult decisions is whether a farm can continue at current staffing levels or if some will have to be laid off this winter. Are there services that your team could provide? Do you have space in your shop to provide custom machinery repair or paint services? 

Are alternative crops an option? It’s unfortunate that tobacco has gone away for all but a few remaining farms. A big crop of burley tobacco at the 1996 season average price of $1.92 adjusted for inflation would be $3.96 a pound today. Those were the glory days of Kentucky agriculture and would certainly help in the times we’re in. The best long-term choice for an alternative enterprise is commercial poultry. Not every flock will be a winner, but nothing compares to poultry revenue security over a long-term period. If you’re not looking for an investment like that, take advantage of our local population and their increasing demand for local produce and products. Whether selling direct from the farm or at the farmer’s market, social media has made marketing less expensive and more effective than ever before. 

FEEDLOT PLACEMENTS AND MARKETINGS DOWN SHARPLY FROM 2024

By: Josh Maples, Mississippi State University Extension

The USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report showed continued tightening of feedlot supplies. Total cattle on feed was down only 1.1 percent from a year ago, but both placements into feedlots and marketings out of feedlots were sharply below year-ago levels.
                As of September 1, feedlots with 1,000 head or more reported 11.1 million cattle on feed. Placements during August were 1.78 million head, a 9.9 percent decline from August 2024. Placements were lower across all weight classes. This was the lowest August placement total since 2015. 
                At 1.57 million head, fed cattle marketed in August dropped 13.6 percent from a year ago. This was the lowest August marketing level since the series began in 1996. Excluding the early months of the pandemic, August 2025 was also the lowest marketings total of any month since 2015. There was one less slaughter day this year which accounted for some of the difference, but this is still a very low marketings total. 
                Regional differences are stark. The three largest cattle feeding states are Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas which combine for about 65 percent of total cattle on feed. Despite smaller placements, cattle on feed in Nebraska was up 4.7 percent and Kansas was up 3.1 percent. Meanwhile the number of cattle on feed in Texas was 9.1 percent below September 2024 driven by an 18 percent decline in placements into Texas feedlots. The closure of the southern border to imports of feeder cattle due to concerns of New World Screwworm is impacting southern feedlots and could lead to Texas being surpassed by Nebraska as the largest cattle feeding state in the coming months. 
                Nebraska has surpassed Texas in monthly totals only nine times with most of those instances occurring during 2014-2016 and driven by severe drought reductions in Texas cattle. On September 1, Texas had 70 thousand head more cattle on feed than Nebraska and 150 thousand more than Kansas. This is much tighter than the 430 thousand and 470 thousand differences from a year ago. The 150 thousand head difference between Texas and Kansas is the closest since 1992.
                Overall, this report was pretty telling about the current dynamics of the cattle and beef sector. At the national level, placements and marketings slowed sharply in August. A closer look at state-level statistics shows the shift northward in cattle feeding numbers as southern feeders face even tighter supplies. 

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Jeff Nalley for his induction to the Kentucky Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame at their annual conference awards banquet on September 14. 
Jeff has been a leader in agriculture and a voice for farmers at the local and national level for more than 40 years. 

DAVIESS COUNTY RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PLOTS 

The Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service and KCTCS Adult Farmer Education Program, led by Troy Muse, collaborate each year to conduct an expansive corn and soybean variety demonstration program. 
Plot results are available on my website at https://daviess.ca.uky.edu/anr.
Once all fields have been harvested and data compiled, plot books will be printed. They should be available to pick up in mid-November. 

 Opportunity to host a plot is open to anyone willing to volunteer their time. The seed is provided and all management decisions are left to the farm to decide. A plot typically takes three hours to plant and three hours to harvest. If you would like to host a location next year, please call me at 270-685-8480. 

AGRICULTURAL LENDERS CONFERENCE

The Agricultural Lenders Conference, hosted by the Ohio Valley Farm Business Analysis Association is planned for:

9:00a.m. to noon on December 16, 2025 at the Henderson Co. Cooperative Extension Office. 

 This program is open to all individuals or businesses involved in extending agricultural production credit, farm loans, and crop insurance to farmers and landowners in the Green River area. Credit Analysts, grain marketers, and farm business income tax preparers are also welcome. 

Always well attended, this program provides participants with the global macro-economic situation, including updates from South American agricultural production, trade, and challenges which directly influence the United States, and update of the grain, cattle, tobacco, and poultry economic outlook for the upcoming year. 

The purpose is to help businesses become better prepared to serve their farming clients for the upcoming season. 

GRAZING AFTER FROST

Remember to use caution when grazing pastures that have johnsongrass, sorghum, sudangrass, or wild cherry in them after frost because toxic levels of prussic acid may develop. Standing plants killed by frost are normally safe to graze after one week. Beware of areas in fields that may not have been affected by the initial freeze but may be killed by later frosts. Hay that has dried enough to be safely baled will not contain toxic levels of prussic acid. 

 KADF UPDATE

The Daviess County Agricultural Development Council appropriated a portion of the 2025 agriculture development fund to the Green River Area Beef Improvement Group to administer the County Agricultural Investment program. 

 Applications are available by calling the Extension office to make the request. Applications are mailed from the Green River Area Beef Improvement Group. Projects must be complete and application and supporting documentation postmarked on or before November 30. 

The funding categories and items eligible for reimbursement are online at https://www.kyagr.com/agpolicy/2025-Program-Guidelines-andApplications.html.

The council appropriated a portion of the 2025 agriculture development fund to the Daviess County Soil Conservation District to administer the Daviess County Youth Agricultural Production Cost Share program. 

Applications are available at the local high schools and at the Extension office. The program is open to students age 14-19 engaged in farming activities. Applications should be returned by October 24. 

 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

You are invited to the Centennial Celebration of the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center at Princeton, Kentucky.

Thursday, October 16, 2025
Tents open at 4:00 p.m. CDT
Program begins at 5:00 p.m. CDT
UK Research and Education Center
300 Extension Farm Road, Princeton, KY 42445

The celebration will commemorate 100 years of agricultural innovation, research and service to Kentucky producers and communities. Guests will enjoy a barbecue dinner as we honor the legacy of the past century and look ahead to the future of agricultural discovery at UKREC.
Please RSVP by September 29 to confirm your attendance. https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bBeXzbkTrmccNg2

 MIDWEST REGIONAL CROP SCOUTING COMPETITION

Congratulations to Daviess County High School students Charlie Evans, Colton Hardy (AHS), Ben Caldbeck, Jonathan Berry, and Wyatt Hayes for their 6th place finish of 14 teams in the Midwest Regional Crop Scouting Competition held at Iowa State University September 13. The students were trained this summer in weed, insect and disease identification, corn and soybean growth staging, sprayer calibration and general crop scouting procedures.