Latest / Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief / China Farm Tariffs, Soybeans, Beef Labor & Harvest Progress | Daily Farm Brief – Sept. 29, 2026

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China Farm Tariffs, Soybeans, Beef Labor & Harvest Progress | Daily Farm Brief – Sept. 29, 2026 · Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Farm Nation, and Hello Truck City.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is FarmTale's unplugged daily farm brief for Tuesday, September 29th.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Cordonova.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: And joining me for the first time is Brit.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Morning, Farm Nation.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've got coffee, and apparently someone decided Rick needed supervision.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not how it's explained to me.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you'll adjust.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Today's Daily Farm Brief is brought to you by World TradeX, empowering farmers.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: A big thank you to World TradeX for sponsoring this show.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Coming up this morning, China is cutting tariffs on a long list of American agriculture products, but soybeans got left off the list.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: We've also got a developing situation in Kansas beef country, the latest USDA crop progress numbers, and Market Watch actually has something worth talking about today.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, artificial intelligence is now watching your corn while it flies through a forage harvester.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: So apparently, even the corn has somebody looking over its shoulder now.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: So AI watches the corn and I watch you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll finish things off with the old farmer's almanac.
• 1:08
  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.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: China announced tariff reductions covering a broad range of U.S.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: agricultural products, including corn, wheat, meat, and dairy.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds pretty good.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a very noticeable exception.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Soybeans.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: They were left off the tariff reduction list, and considering China has historically been the biggest foreign customer for American soybeans, that omission got the market's attention immediately.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Soybean futures got hammered Monday.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they did.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So apparently there's really two stories here.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: For corn, wheat, meat, and dairy producers, lower Chinese tariffs potentially make American products more competitive.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: For soybean growers, though, the biggest question remains unanswered.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: When does China come back aggressively for U.S.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: beans?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: For corn, wheat, meat, and dairy producers, lower Chinese tariffs potentially make American products more competitive.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: For soybean growers, though, the biggest question remains unanswered.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: When does China come back aggressively for U.S.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: beans?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So everybody else got invited to the party, and soybeans are standing outside chucking their phone.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's pretty much the situation.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And this matters beyond just soybeans, because when beans get hit hard enough, they can drag sediment across the grain complex with them.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to exactly what happened in about a minute.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Our second story takes us to Southwest Kansas, where immigration enforcement activity has affected communities around major feedlots and beef processing plants.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: From an agriculture standpoint, the issue is pretty straightforward.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Cattle keep arriving, plants still need workers.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Processing schedules still have to be met.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And disruptions in serious cattle country are worth paying attention to.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Cattle organizations representing producers in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas say the enforcement activity has created workforce disruptions, including delayed shipments of fed cattle to processors.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Federal officials have disputed some descriptions of the enforcement activity, including saying ICE was not conducting work site operations in Kansas.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing people forget.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever's happening outside of the plant, the cattle still show up.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're not predicting some giant nationwide beef shortage here.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: But Kansas is a major cattle and beef processing state.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So anything affecting the workforce around those operations is something agriculture has to look at.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now the new USDA crop numbers are out.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Corn harvest nationwide is now 18% complete, basically even with the five-year average.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Corn maturity is at 72%, and the USDA rates 57% of the crop good to excellent.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Winter wheat is where things are dragging.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Planting is only 27% complete compared with a 34% five-year average, and 8% has emerged compared to an 11% average.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: So corn and beans are behaving themselves.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: And wheat apparently hit the snooze button.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently so.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Winter wheat planting is definitely where the lag is showing up.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for a quick market watch.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Soybeans got smack Monday.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they did.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: November soybean futures finished around$12.88 a bushel, down roughly 31 cents.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: December corn settled around$5.23, down about$0.00.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And December Chicago wheat finished around$6.89, down roughly$14.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: The big driver in beans was disappointment over China leaving soybeans out of those agricultural tariff reductions.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: 30 cents and beans?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'll get your attention.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it certainly does.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, don't get hypnotized by the national board.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Your local cash bid, your basis, your storage situation.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's the market that actually matters when you're standing there deciding whether to sell grain.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now for our technology moment.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: New Holland has something called Forage Camp, an AI-powered camera mounted on a forage harvester that watches chopped corn moving through the machine in real time.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: The system continuously looks at how well the kernels are being processed and can automatically help adjust the kernel processor while you're harvesting.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, instead of finding out later that the corn wasn't processed properly, the machine can recognize what's happening while the crop is still moving through it.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: With all these cameras, screens, and sensors on these things, is there any room for a driver?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a really good question.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: At some point they're gonna run out of room.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So let me get this straight.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: It watches the corn, does its job, and doesn't invite you to a meeting afterwards.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And properly processed kernels matter, especially when that silage is heading to dairy or beef cattle.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Better processing means the animal has better access to the energy and nutrients inside that corn kernel.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: So this isn't technology looking for a problem, that's technology solving a real farm problem.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And as we wind the show down, as you know, we visit the Old Farmer's Almanac.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: September 29th is traditionally Mycomoss, an old seasonal marker with deep agricultural roots.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Historically, this was around the time crops had been gathered, surplus crops were sold, rents and accounts were settled, and communities held large harvest fairs.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And apparently the traditional Mycomoss dinner included goose.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Finally, agricultural history with a dinner plan.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The Almanac also lists September 29th as one of its traditional best days for harvesting below ground crops.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've got potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, or turnips to bring in, apparently today is your day.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh joy.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that'll do it for this morning's Farm Tales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portonova.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still brick.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today, China lowered tariffs on a long list of American agricultural products but left soybeans sitting on the sidelines.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're keeping an eye on the situation in Kansas beef country.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: The latest USDA numbers show corn harvest at 18%, soybeans at 17%, while winter wheat planting is running behind its five-year average.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Soybeans took a pretty good hit on Monday, and we looked at technology that can actually watch and adjust corn processing while the forage harvester is running.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Brit survived her first day on Daily Farm Brief.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Survived?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I was told I was here to keep you under control.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good luck with that.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Don't need luck.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Take care of yourselves.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Take care of each other.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the wheels turning and the fields growing.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you tomorrow morning, Farm Nation.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And Chuck City.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: This has been FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Bye-bye.