Latest / Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief / $13.8B Farm Payments, 250-MPH Pumpkins & Glowing Flowers | Daily Farm Brief

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$13.8B Farm Payments, 250-MPH Pumpkins & Glowing Flowers | Daily Farm Brief · Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Farm Nation, and hello, Truck City.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is FarmTale's Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Friday, October 9th.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX Empowering Farmers.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portanova.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Today, nearly$14 billion in farm payments, a Minnesota family firing pumpkins at 250 miles an hour, a heifer priced like a house, and flowers that make their own light.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: We'll finish with the old farmer's almanac, blazing fall colors, why they're those colors, and why those fallen leaves are worth keeping.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your coffee, fire up whatever you're driving, and let's find out what was happening while you were busy actually working.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: First, some farm news with real money behind it.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: USDA announced Wednesday that its two major crop safety net programs will generate about$13.8 billion in gross payments for the 2025 crop year.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's a record for those programs.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know them as ARC and PLC.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: They help eligible growers when crop revenue or prices fall too far.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: The headline total comes before payment limits and a required 5.7% budget reduction.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: For 2025, eligible producers get the higher payment rate between the two programs, regardless of which one they chose.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: USDA says payments will go out as calculations are completed.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your local farm service agency office can answer questions about your farm.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: For growers carrying last season's bills while harvesting another crop, that's a story worth paying attention to.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Picture a nice, peaceful afternoon in the country, then a pumpkin goes screaming across the sky.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Pinehaven began as John and Barb Hastings' Christmas tree farm in the 1950s.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Their son John and his wife Sue shifted the focus towards fall family fun in 1966.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now the place even has an old manure spreader converted into a skee ball game.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: That may be the most dramatic career change in farm equipment.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: The Hastings family has turned harvest season into a spectator sport.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in South Africa, meet Queen Arusha.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: She's an Ancola heifer.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Last Saturday, she sold an auction near Bella Bella for 6.4 million South African Rand.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's roughly$385,000 American dollars at recent exchange rates.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: For one heifer.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: You would walk the fence one more time before letting her out.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Farmers Weekly reports the auction company called it a South African record for a female animal across cattle breeds.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Queen Arusha was offered by Natabi Naruni.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The buyer remained anonymous.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: The attraction is her breeding potential, valuable genetics that can be carried into future calves and multiplied through embryo transfer.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: She's also a full sister to a bull called Optimus Prime.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Quick Market Watch.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: USDA's monthly supply and demand report is due today at noon eastern, 9 Pacific.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Watch the corn, soybean, and wheat estimates.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Surprises can move prices.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now our high-tech moment.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: We have petunias that glow in the dark.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the light comes from the plant itself.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Light Bio's Firefly Petunias were genetically engineered using the light-making system of glowing mushrooms.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The plant's own chemistry keeps that system running.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a living flower quietly making light while it sits on your windowsill.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: The glow is soft, you need real darkness to see it well.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And photographs can make it look brighter than it does to your eyes.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: The youngest flowers and new growth shine the brightest.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: These plants have already been sold commercially.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Light Bio says this year's sales season has ended with a return planned for spring.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So this has made it out of the laboratory and into people's homes.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: We've reached the point where you can water the flowers, turn out the lights, and still see the flowers.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let's open the old farmer's almanac for a moment, because that hillside turning red and gold has more going on than you think.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: First, shorter days tell trees to start getting ready for winter.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: The green pigment in the leaves starts breaking down.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: That lets the yellow and orange come through.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Those colors were there all summer.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The green was covering them up.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Red is a different story.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Some trees actually make new red pigments in autumn.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Bright days help leaves make sugar, and cool nights help keep that sugar in the leaves.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: That combination can encourage those brilliant reds.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: One scientific theory is that the red pigment works a little like sunscreen, helping protect the leaf while the tree recovers useful nutrients before winter.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of thought we'd already know how that works.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm surprised.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the maple isn't simply fading away, there's still work going on.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: The best color often comes with sunny days and cool nights that stay above freezing.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: A hard frost can shorten the show, drought can make the leaves drop early, and every tree has its own look.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Aspens and birches bring the gold and yellow, red maples can go scarlet, oaks can finish in russet and brown.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's why the view changes as you move down the road.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And those leaves that fall in your yard, compost them.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic for the soil.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Keep them damp, it could take a year or two, but it is really good for the soil.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: If those leaves are on your lawn, avoid leaving a thick, wet blanket that smothers the grass, chop a light layer finely with a mower, or collect the excess.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: The trees give you a spectacular show and then they give you something useful for next year's garden.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Farm payments, flying pumpkins, a very expensive hei, glowing flowers, and the fall tree show.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And there you have it, that's your FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Friday, October 9th.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX Empowering Farmers.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portanova.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you Monday morning.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is your show, and we're working very hard to give you something informative, educational, and entertaining.
• 6:36
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• 6:40
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• 6:44
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• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: That would be fantastic.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you Monday morning.