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Legislative Reception, Major Donation, Ag Legislation Watch, Market News and More! · Alabama AgCast

• 0:00
  Mike Moody: Hello and welcome to the Alabama Ag Cast.
• 0:03
  Mike Moody: I'm your host, Mike Moody.
• 0:04
  Mike Moody: Here's the AgCast news for the week of January 26, 2026.
• 0:09
  Mike Moody: Nationally, we'll look at a new law aimed at helping dairy farmers grow their market to schools.
• 0:15
  Mike Moody: Statewide, we'll recognize farmers and ag leaders appointed to the state FSA Committee and hear from the winner of the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association's Horizon Award.
• 0:25
  Mike Moody: Federation News features the Taste of Alabama annual event and a major donation to Children's of Alabama.
• 0:33
  Mike Moody: Finally, we'll check the fields with the commodity column, find out how ag interests are doing at the Alabama legislature, and check in with the markets for any movement.
• 0:43
  Mike Moody: Let's begin with news from Washington.
• 0:49
  Mike Moody: The Whole Milk and Healthy Kids Act was signed into law January 14th by President Donald Trump.
• 0:57
  Mike Moody: The legislation will allow schools to serve whole milk and 2% milk.
• 1:02
  Mike Moody: Our own Colton Christian explains how this law will impact dairy farmers.
• 1:06
  Colton Christjohn: Well, Mike, it's a good day to talk about dairy in a positive light, especially in the economic crisis that the dairy industry has been in for the past several years, especially for the uh outlook in Alabama.
• 1:18
  Colton Christjohn: We're not known as a very big dairy state, but but this news is good news, and so we'll take the win.
• 1:23
  Colton Christjohn: This uh act is an act that's been uh in the legislature for a while now.
• 1:28
  Colton Christjohn: It's nothing new, but has finally come to fruition under uh President Trump's leadership.
• 1:34
  Colton Christjohn: This dates back to the Obama administration when they pulled the whole milk from these schools uh due to the saturated fat calculations that is used uh to calculate all these foods that are allowed.
• 1:47
  Colton Christjohn: Basically, three and a half percent is about what fat is in whole milk, three and a half, four percent.
• 1:53
  Colton Christjohn: So a big misnomer is just the marketing behind the reduced fat and whatnot, but basically whole milk, three and a half to four percent fat, you have the reduced fat, which is two percent, one percent skin milk, so on and so forth.
• 2:08
  Colton Christjohn: Up until this past January, the only thing that has been allowed in schools is the one percent or fat-free.
• 2:16
  Colton Christjohn: So this option will allow dairy farmers that are able to bottle their own milk.
• 2:21
  Colton Christjohn: We have a few in in the state of Alabama who do have the option to bottle their own milk, they're state permitted, they can sell directly to uh their local communities who choose to put the whole milk back into in the in their schools and their cafeterias.
• 2:35
  Colton Christjohn: Uh we again we are not a very big dairy state, so those dairies are few far and in between, but the few that are uh processing that do have those processing capabilities will have a little bit of more flexibility uh in their in their marketing, which is good.
• 2:52
  Colton Christjohn: Overall for the rest of the dairy industry, it's just another avenue for those processors, those major processors to be able to market their milk.
• 3:02
  Colton Christjohn: It's not a huge chunk of the pie, but again, it's just another avenue for these major processors who most of our dairymen sell through a cooperative and they sell to major processors who are then able to just then diversify a little bit more.
• 3:20
  Colton Christjohn: And again, this act is not mandatory.
• 3:23
  Colton Christjohn: Schools have the option to still stick with their fat-free or one percent options, but it allows them to now, if they would like to have two percent or whole milk into their schools, it allows them to to do so without any of the uh saturated fat restrictions.
• 3:41
  Mike Moody: Closer to home, here are some of the ag highlights from around Alabama.
• 3:45
  Mike Moody: Five leaders in agriculture were recently appointed to serve as the U.S.
• 3:51
  Mike Moody: Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency State Committee.
• 3:55
  Mike Moody: They are Shep Morris, Chair from Macon County, Wallace Drury of Hale County, Billy Hickson of Pike County, Mike Reeves of Morgan County, and Dr.
• 4:06
  Mike Moody: Mykel Taylor with the Auburn University Agricultural Economics Department in Lee County.
• 4:11
  Mike Moody: We got this reaction about the appointment from Wallace Drury.
• 4:15
  Wallace Drury: It's just an honor and a privilege uh to serve on this committee.
• 4:18
  Wallace Drury: Um I look forward to working with all of the other committee members and learning more about these programs and how we can uh help the farmers all across this uh great state of Alabama.
• 4:28
  Mike Moody: Members of the FSA State Committee are responsible for oversight of farm programs and county committee operations, resolving program delivery appeals, maintaining cooperative relations, and keeping producers informed about FSA programs.
• 4:42
  Mike Moody: Mobile County's Dillon Turk received the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association's Horizon Award last week during the Gulf State's Horticultural Expo in Mobile.
• 4:55
  Mike Moody: Dillon reflected on his family's history in the green industry following the announcement.
• 5:00
  Dillon Turk: You know, this award, it really is a big honor, but I can't accept it solely on my behalf.
• 5:05
  Dillon Turk: You know, I I've got to give a lot of credit to my my dad and my grandfather who both have have kept up a long tradition of uh keeping a high standard and selling quality products, and they've instilled in me my work ethic and taught me how to do business.
• 5:19
  Dillon Turk: So, you know, this award means a lot to me, but I think it means a lot to my family as well.
• 5:23
  Dillon Turk: You know, it's an incredible honor, not just because of the award itself and what it stands for, but it it's also because of the list of folks that have received it in the past.
• 5:31
  Dillon Turk: You know, I consider many of those people to be mentors to me, and it's it's really humbling to be able to follow in their footsteps.
• 5:38
  Mike Moody: The Horizon Award recognizes an individual for outstanding service in horticulture.
• 5:43
  Mike Moody: Recipients must be active in the industry, younger than 36, and considered progressive, innovative horticulturists who hold active association membership.
• 5:53
  Mike Moody: Among the attendees were Representative Paul Lee, who represents District 86 and is a resident of Dothan.
• 6:12
  Mike Moody: While impressed with all the people he was able to be with, Representative Lee was a little biased towards one commodity in particular.
• 6:21
  Rep. Paul Lee: Well, there's a lot of reasons, but I get to see some of my folks from back home, and then obviously the people that are up here that are making things happen.
• 6:28
  Rep. Paul Lee: But uh, I guess one of my favorite is getting to see all the things that opportunities of why the little cities, the big cities and the regions are are doing well because of their farming activity.
• 6:40
  Rep. Paul Lee: From the Gulf Coast to North Alabama, the honey.
• 6:44
  Rep. Paul Lee: Uh, I saw some turnips and things.
• 6:47
  Rep. Paul Lee: Obviously, my favorite is the peanut butter and jelly.
• 6:50
  Rep. Paul Lee: Being from the Wiregrass and the peanut capital of the world, I'm a little bit uh selfish that I think that's probably the best.
• 6:58
  Rep. Paul Lee: And looking at what I just saw just a few minutes ago, that was where the biggest crowd was.
• 7:04
  Rep. Paul Lee: So I had to elbow myself in there to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
• 7:07
  Rep. Paul Lee: You know, there are stories that I could tell.
• 7:12
  Rep. Paul Lee: I'm 65 years old, so I grew up on my dad was a farmer, and my grandparents were farmers, and uh I am one of those that remember the old two two-row peanut pickers, and I've I've plowed and dissed pool weeds and peanuts.
• 7:28
  Rep. Paul Lee: Um, you know, I remember hauling peanut wagons till midnight to the dryer, trying to get them in.
• 7:35
  Rep. Paul Lee: So I understand, of course, we raised cattle and um had soybeans.
• 7:41
  Rep. Paul Lee: That were the three things that we did.
• 7:43
  Rep. Paul Lee: I did it enough, actually enjoyed it.
• 7:46
  Rep. Paul Lee: I actually had cows until I got in politics and and uh just time wouldn't allow it to do it.
• 7:52
  Rep. Paul Lee: My wife said it was an expensive hobby, which it was.
• 7:55
  Rep. Paul Lee: I enjoyed it, but made some dear friends, still have family members that are involved with it, and I see the struggles that they go through.
• 8:04
  Rep. Paul Lee: Um, you know, it is a it's a challenge.
• 8:07
  Rep. Paul Lee: If you want to be a farmer today, you want to be a farmer.
• 8:11
  Rep. Paul Lee: There's no question about that, because it's in it's just bred into farmers today that they're gonna have struggles, they're gonna have obstacles, and I would suggest that they have a prayer line every day for the best that can happen and have God speed on them because it is a challenge, uh, not only with the weather, but the things that are that come out of the the out of DC that put obstacles in front of them.
• 8:39
  Rep. Paul Lee: So they're they're fighting an uphill battle.
• 8:43
  Rep. Paul Lee: I don't think that we give them the credit that they deserve.
• 8:48
  Rep. Paul Lee: Simply because I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but today one farmer's feeding 50 times more than they were 50 years ago.
• 8:59
  Rep. Paul Lee: And they're so valuable to us, then we need to make sure that that uh they have the ability to do that because we don't appreciate them enough.
• 9:08
  Rep. Paul Lee: We're just so um used to going to the store, grocery store, getting what we want.
• 9:15
  Rep. Paul Lee: And uh we don't really a lot of people don't understand.
• 9:18
  Rep. Paul Lee: There was a lot of work that went into that.
• 9:20
  Rep. Paul Lee: A lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into it to get it to that point.
• 9:24
  Mike Moody: Also attending the annual event was Pike Road Native and State Senator for District 25, Will Barfoot.
• 9:31
  Mike Moody: Senator Barfoot noted a variety of food and opportunities to fellowship with fellow Alabamians from around the state.
• 9:39
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Wow, it's uh it's actually one of the greatest events that we get an opportunity to go to.
• 9:44
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Uh lots of different reasons.
• 9:46
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Uh you see some wonderful people that you don't get to uh see as often as you'd like.
• 9:51
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Number one.
• 9:52
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Number two, you get to uh you get to meet people from other parts of the state that uh are certainly enthusiastic and make a living and are proud of the ag that we have here in Alabama.
• 10:02
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And then lastly, um, you know, I love the food.
• 10:06
  Sen. Will Barfoot: It's great.
• 10:07
  Sen. Will Barfoot: I mean, you get samplings of everything from uh steak to catfish to uh quail.
• 10:14
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Um there's just so many things to enjoy, and and the fellowship is wonderful.
• 10:18
  Sen. Will Barfoot: My daddy was a farmer and a policeman.
• 10:21
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Had an uncle, his middle brother was a farmer and a policeman.
• 10:24
  Sen. Will Barfoot: Their youngest brother was a farmer and a policeman.
• 10:27
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And so um I grew up um knowing what it was like to live on a farm.
• 10:32
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And going back to 2018, um, I I told people, I said, hey, I've never been a farmer, but my family, um, my my family um were in farming and and supported their family and made a living.
• 10:46
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And my daddy said, son, stop telling people that.
• 10:48
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And I said, why, Daddy?
• 10:49
  Sen. Will Barfoot: He said, it's not true.
• 10:50
  Sen. Will Barfoot: We didn't make a living farming, we just love farming.
• 10:53
  Sen. Will Barfoot: He said, we made a living doing other things.
• 10:56
  Sen. Will Barfoot: We just love farming.
• 10:57
  Sen. Will Barfoot: And I think that's uh that's a huge thing.
• 10:59
  Sen. Will Barfoot: I mean, you know, ag for the state of Alabama is uh so important.
• 11:02
  Sen. Will Barfoot: I mean, just from a historical standpoint, family value standpoint, what what farmers and and uh what those folks represent, and and and it's just we gotta carry that on, carry it forward, and do everything we can to support our farmers.
• 11:19
  Mike Moody: 150 leaders from across state government visited the Federation office as members from all 67 counties welcomed them with all that Alabama agriculture has to offer.
• 11:30
  Mike Moody: Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Insurance President Jimmy Parnell presented a $30,000 check to Children's of Alabama president and CEO Tom Shufflebarger January 20th to support the Alpha Care's Closet.
• 11:47
  Mike Moody: They were joined with children's social workers and Federation employees who coordinated the fundraiser.
• 11:54
  Mike Moody: The Federation's Hunter McBrare was on hand during the event.
• 11:58
  Hunter McBrayer: Last week we had the opportunity to go up with Mr.
• 12:01
  Hunter McBrayer: Parnell, Matthew Durden, and Jeff Elms to visit with the folks at Children's Hospital.
• 12:06
  Hunter McBrayer: From their development office, their CEO, their social workers, we were able to present a $30,000 check sponsoring and then naming their care closet, the Alpha Care's Closet.
• 12:17
  Hunter McBrayer: The whole point behind this donation in that closet is a lot of families end up in children's hospital unexpectedly.
• 12:25
  Hunter McBrayer: They go in for a routine checkup and they end up having to be admitted into the hospital.
• 12:29
  Hunter McBrayer: And oftentimes they don't have the bare necessities, a toothbrush, deodorant, uh clothes, oftentimes, even the adults, the parents of the kids that are going in there.
• 12:39
  Hunter McBrayer: And nobody wants to have to leave their child in the hospital to go to the store or to go home, or oftentimes they said there's a lot of kids there that are out of state.
• 12:47
  Hunter McBrayer: They're traveling through, something happens, and they end up in children's hospital.
• 12:50
  Hunter McBrayer: So we wanted to be able to provide through the alpha care's closet the necessary resources that they need just for an overnight stay, or sometimes that ends up being a lot longer.
• 13:00
  Hunter McBrayer: And it's not something that people are going to have and be able to use for months at a time.
• 13:05
  Hunter McBrayer: But if you need an extra pair of pants or a shirt or, like I said, a toothbrush or deodorant or something like that, it provides that.
• 13:13
  Hunter McBrayer: And knowing that Alpha is there, Alpha is a grassroots Alabama homegrown company here that cares about people all across Alabama, not just in Jefferson County.
• 13:22
  Hunter McBrayer: Um, it it really is amazing to see how many people have a connection to children's hospital.
• 13:27
  Hunter McBrayer: And this is a no-brainer for Alpha to be able to go in and provide that.
• 13:30
  Hunter McBrayer: And of course, we want people to see Alpha and know that we care about them, but more importantly, we want those families to feel taken care of when they're going through something pretty difficult.
• 13:38
  Mike Moody: This past November, students attended the Alpha Youth Leadership Conference.
• 13:42
  Mike Moody: Event organizer McBrare recalled the youth event and how the message of service will continue.
• 13:48
  Hunter McBrayer: The first couple of years we we partnered with Children's Hospital and we made little toys.
• 13:53
  Hunter McBrayer: It was nothing spectacular, little wooden toys, something that they could put in their closet at at Children's Hospital for kids to be able to go and pick up and color or paint or to play with or whatever it was.
• 14:03
  Hunter McBrayer: But we said, you know, we can do even more than this.
• 14:06
  Hunter McBrayer: We can do something that can actually make a difference in someone's lives.
• 14:09
  Hunter McBrayer: We talked with their their office of giving and their social workers there and said, what do you need?
• 14:14
  Hunter McBrayer: What can we do here at Alpha?
• 14:17
  Hunter McBrayer: We have a pretty captive audience at youth leadership conference and we have the ability to get something done.
• 14:23
  Hunter McBrayer: What do you need?
• 14:24
  Hunter McBrayer: And they asked for the simple things shower kits, dental kits, toothbrushes, deodorant, um, the things that you might need if you were being checked in and you didn't have all the resources that you were expecting, or if you had an unexpected visit to the hospital that kept you there for a few days.
• 14:41
  Hunter McBrayer: We put out a call, uh, we kind of developed a program, I guess, and then put out a letter and an email to all of our county presidents, county boards, our state board, um, and their response was simply over uh overwhelming, to be completely honest with you.
• 14:56
  Hunter McBrayer: Um we had enough materials donated to do 11,000 care packages.
• 15:02
  Hunter McBrayer: We know that it makes a difference in people's lives.
• 15:05
  Hunter McBrayer: We were called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and we at Alpha and in a youth leadership conference, we're not shy about talking about that.
• 15:12
  Hunter McBrayer: We're not shy about um performing acts of kindness to people that we don't know and the impact that that can make, not only in their walk, as they're going through obviously something very difficult there, um, but in their walk with Jesus as well.
• 15:24
  Hunter McBrayer: And so we're always uh willing and able to share that message, and I think that this is something that we are going to continue to do.
• 15:30
  Hunter McBrayer: I told our friends at Children's Hospital they better buckle up.
• 15:33
  Hunter McBrayer: It was just the beginning.
• 15:34
  Hunter McBrayer: You give Hunter and Matthew and the rest of the team at Youth Leadership Conference a project for us to get done.
• 15:40
  Hunter McBrayer: You better know that it's going to be done.
• 15:42
  Hunter McBrayer: It's going to be done in excess, and so to open up the storage closets.
• 15:50
  Mike Moody: After the short break with our sponsor, Alabama Ag Credit, we'll check out the commodity column, get the latest happenings from the State House, and see how the markets are going.
• 16:02
  Alabama Ag Credit: I'm a lender here at Alabama Ag Credit, and I think being a lender in this role is very important to our rural communities of Alabama.
• 16:10
  Alabama Ag Credit: I believe in providing, and I know Alabama Ag Credit, along with myself, as I'm a producer myself, takes pride in bringing great customer service as far as to the rural communities by providing tailored financing.
• 16:22
  Alabama Ag Credit: That could be from going to the farm and seeing what the farm plans are for this operation, if they're beginning farmers, if they're existing farmers, and just seeing really what we can do at Alabama Ag Credit to make drinks come true.
• 16:35
  Alabama Ag Credit: And that's why I'm so passionate about working here and being a lender in rural Alabama is bringing that tailored financing, seeing what the farm plan is, and just seeing that life come true for somebody.
• 16:46
  Alabama Ag Credit: If you'd like to find out more about Alabama Ag Credit or find a local office, visit our website at AlabamaagCredit.com or call us at 334-270-8687.
• 17:00
  Mike Moody: Here's Marley Jackson with our commodity column.
• 17:04
  Marlee Jackson: We have some exciting commodity trends, but then also some upcoming events that we're going to cover today.
• 17:09
  Marlee Jackson: First up for our poultry farmers.
• 17:12
  Marlee Jackson: Global poultry production and consumption continue to grow as poultry remains affordable.
• 17:17
  Marlee Jackson: That's good news.
• 17:19
  Marlee Jackson: Raboban's outlook indicates poultry will lead the protein sector in 2026, with beef and pork production expected to contract.
• 17:27
  Marlee Jackson: Poultry's strong market position has helped companies like Tyson Foods perform better in chicken than in beef operations.
• 17:34
  Marlee Jackson: Ongoing challenges such as highly pathogenic avian influenza trade and pricing could still impact margins.
• 17:42
  Marlee Jackson: Next up for our peanut farmers, the Alabama Peanut Producers Association is hosting a series of peanut grower production meetings in conjunction with Alabama Extension and Auburn University's College of Agriculture.
• 17:55
  Marlee Jackson: Growers are encouraged to attend.
• 17:57
  Marlee Jackson: A meal will be provided at each meeting, and you can learn more about those at alpeanuts.com.
• 18:03
  Marlee Jackson: Next up, we're talking to our fruit and vegetable growers.
• 18:07
  Marlee Jackson: Y'all registration is still open for the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association annual conference and trade show coming up in Gulf Shores.
• 18:15
  Marlee Jackson: Now, this is February the 4th through the 6th.
• 18:18
  Marlee Jackson: You can register online and you can also view the agenda at AFVGA.org or walk up registration is available.
• 18:25
  Marlee Jackson: Next up, let's talk to the bee and honey producers.
• 18:29
  Marlee Jackson: The 31st annual Alabama Extension Beekeeping Symposium is February the 7th at Wallace State Community College.
• 18:37
  Marlee Jackson: The cost to attend is $45, and you can register by February the 1st.
• 18:41
  Marlee Jackson: That link will be available in your show notes.
• 18:44
  Marlee Jackson: Switching over to Forestry and Wildlife, the Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment's annual Emmett and Vianne Thompson Lecture in Forest Economics and Policy is February the 25th.
• 18:58
  Marlee Jackson: This is at the Hotel at Auburn University in Auburn, and the keynote speaker is Cade Warner, President and CEO of Westerbelt.
• 19:06
  Marlee Jackson: To round us out today, we're talking to all those beef cattle producers.
• 19:11
  Marlee Jackson: Alabama Extension has excitedly launched a new master beef producer training program where cattle farmers can learn the newest technologies and best management practices during 15 classroom sessions.
• 19:24
  Marlee Jackson: Workshops are in Northport and are a joint effort between Tuscaloosa County Extension and the local cattlemen's association.
• 19:32
  Marlee Jackson: These classes start March the 2nd and are every Monday and Tuesday evening through April the 20th.
• 19:38
  Marlee Jackson: You can also learn more in your show notes.
• 19:41
  Marlee Jackson: Reporting for the Alabama Ag Cast, this is Marley Jackson.
• 19:50
  Mike Moody: Morgan DeSell keeps us up to date on legislation affecting farmers.
• 20:00
  Morgan Desselle: Thomas Ellis and Jomestican Parham were confirmed by the Alabama State Senate to serve on boards last week.
• 20:07
  Morgan Desselle: Ellis was confirmed to the Alabama Exhibition Center Corporation Board, and Jomestican Parham was confirmed to the Alabama Forestry Commission.
• 20:16
  Morgan Desselle: Congratulations to both members.
• 20:18
  Morgan Desselle: Senator Clyde Chambliss recognized Americans top farm family, our very own Drew and Lauren Winland, with a Senate joint resolution celebrating their achievement award win at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Conference.
• 20:34
  Morgan Desselle: State budgets have not been addressed yet.
• 20:36
  Morgan Desselle: House Bill 238 by Representative Danny Garrett represents the 2027 Education Trust Fund budget, and Senate Bill 146 by Senator Greg Alberton carries the 2027 general fund budget.
• 20:51
  Morgan Desselle: While the reported recommendations by the governor show level funding for the Alabama Farmers Federation priorities in the Education Trust Fund budget, state agencies receive significant decreased funding in the general fund.
• 21:05
  Morgan Desselle: These decreases reflect reductions for state programs and federal funding, with state item appropriations remaining level funded.
• 21:14
  Morgan Desselle: The team continues to monitor bills our members would be interested in, such as House Bill 87 by Representative Chris Sells that would exempt corn sold as deer feed from state sales taxes.
• 21:28
  Morgan Desselle: This bill passed by the House is now sent to Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee.
• 21:34
  Morgan Desselle: House Bill 69 by Representative Matthew Hammond related to well driller licensing passed out of the House and now awaits committee referral in the Senate.
• 21:45
  Morgan Desselle: Senate Bill 85 by Senator Larry Stutz amends veterinary practice laws to define and regulate the veterinarian client-patient relationship.
• 21:56
  Morgan Desselle: This bill was referred to Senate Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Committee, where it awaits action.
• 22:02
  Morgan Desselle: The team has also been monitoring two environmental standards bills, House Bill 162 by Representative Choice Stubbs, and Senate Bill 71 by Senator Donnie Chesting.
• 22:14
  Morgan Desselle: These bills restrict state agencies from adopting environmental protection rules that are more stringent than federal standards in specific areas, such as drinking water and air quality, ensuring the best available science is used when setting environmental standards.
• 22:31
  Morgan Desselle: Senate Bill 71 passed out of committee and now awaits action in the Senate.
• 22:36
  Morgan Desselle: The bills concerning utility tax, House Bill 244 by Representative Danny Crawford, and Senate Bill 159 by Senator Jack Williams still await committee action.
• 22:48
  Morgan Desselle: These two bills would exempt natural gas and electricity used in commercial greenhouses, pivot irrigation systems, and poultry houses from certain utility taxes.
• 22:58
  Morgan Desselle: On the rural health care front, House Bill 245 by Representative Terry Collins would amend the Alabama Rural Hospital Investment Program to enhance oversight, expand the definition of utility tax eligible for tax credits, and modify board composition and administration.
• 23:18
  Morgan Desselle: The bill was passed out of the House and now awaits action in the Senate.
• 23:22
  Morgan Desselle: Week three at the State House kicks off today with day seven of a possible 30.
• 23:27
  Morgan Desselle: With over 500 bills dropped so far, this has been a fast-paced session.
• 23:32
  Morgan Desselle: For the full report each week from our external affairs team, check the show notes to subscribe to our legislative newsletter, Capital Connection.
• 23:41
  Morgan Desselle: Tune in next week for another AdCast legislative update.
• 23:45
  Morgan Desselle: This is Morgan DeSell reporting for Alabama AdCast.
• 23:51
  Mike Moody: To find out what's going on in the markets, here's Chris Provat.
• 23:56
  Chris Prevatt: You're in the markets with Chris Provat.
• 23:59
  Chris Prevatt: So this last week, nearby corn futures finished at $4.29 a bushel.
• 24:07
  Chris Prevatt: Last week we were $0.00 per bushel higher.
• 24:10
  Chris Prevatt: Those major lows occurred in August 2024 and 2025.
• 24:15
  Chris Prevatt: And since those lows occurred in August 2025, we're up about 17%.
• 24:20
  Chris Prevatt: So a good week last week for corn, up $0.00 per bushel.
• 24:25
  Chris Prevatt: Moving to soybeans, uh nearby soybeans, they ended the week at $10.63 per bushel.
• 24:33
  Chris Prevatt: We were 10 cents higher on soybeans, uh, for the most part, sideways to higher on soybeans since July 2024, where they made their bottom.
• 24:44
  Chris Prevatt: Uh so we've got a good structure building now on soybeans.
• 24:47
  Chris Prevatt: We're building a foundation.
• 24:48
  Chris Prevatt: We're looking to continue to head higher into 2026.
• 24:52
  Chris Prevatt: Very excited about opportunities for soybeans.
• 24:56
  Chris Prevatt: Wheat was the one that made the most news this last week, so 11 cents higher on wheat.
• 25:01
  Chris Prevatt: Um wheat futures closed the week at $5.22 per bushel.
• 25:06
  Chris Prevatt: Uh, and that's mostly due to uh some of the damage concerns uh that would be due to wheat due to the uh cold and icy weather in those uh southern plains and Texas and Oklahoma and Kansas.
• 25:19
  Chris Prevatt: Um some of that winter wheat out there can definitely get damaged uh due to these that cold weather, just depending on the growing point of the plant.
• 25:28
  Chris Prevatt: And uh that's probably gonna impact our total yield when we get out to late spring, early summer 2026.
• 25:35
  Chris Prevatt: So wheat overall, it's really been sideways since July 2024, building a base, uh getting ready for wheat's next bull run.
• 25:43
  Chris Prevatt: It can be violent once it gets started, especially due to supply uh disruptions.
• 25:48
  Chris Prevatt: Cotton, it had the it had a rough week uh just given the positive moves in corn, soybeans, and wheat.
• 25:57
  Chris Prevatt: Cotton futures were down one cent per pound lower, so just sideways to lower continuing.
• 26:03
  Chris Prevatt: As we mentioned last week, we really don't want to start seeing new lows on cotton.
• 26:07
  Chris Prevatt: It's been trading sideways, hopefully building a base, uh, but we definitely need to see some demand come in here and hold cotton prices higher.
• 26:15
  Chris Prevatt: But it's been trading at 63 cent a pound.
• 26:18
  Chris Prevatt: So moving to feeder cattle futures.
• 26:21
  Chris Prevatt: So nearby feeder cattle futures at 366, definitely a positive on the livestock complex.
• 26:28
  Chris Prevatt: We had $3 higher on feeder cattle futures.
• 26:30
  Chris Prevatt: Feeder cattle again's been hot since uh 2023.
• 26:34
  Chris Prevatt: Uh in October, November 2025, we dipped down to $300 a hundred weight.
• 26:41
  Chris Prevatt: And now we've bounced back $66 a hundred weight from that $81.100 weight dip that we saw.
• 26:48
  Chris Prevatt: Again, the all-time high there at $381.02 $100 weight remains our target.
• 26:55
  Chris Prevatt: We're gonna need to close above that if we're gonna continue this bull run and move higher.
• 26:59
  Chris Prevatt: Live kettle again had a great week this last week, up uh $3.100 weight.
• 27:05
  Chris Prevatt: Uh nearby futures closed at $237 a hundredweight.
• 27:09
  Chris Prevatt: Beautiful chart on live kettle.
• 27:11
  Chris Prevatt: Target remains that all-time high there of two hundred and forty-eight dollars and thirty cents per hundredweight.
• 27:18
  Chris Prevatt: That's going to remain our target.
• 27:19
  Chris Prevatt: We want to see it close above that level and just continuing to trend higher.
• 27:24
  Chris Prevatt: This is Chris Provat in the markets for the Alabama Agcast.
• 27:32
  Mike Moody: Tune in this Thursday for a special Ag Cast feature with FarmPack Endorsed candidate for U.S.
• 27:38
  Mike Moody: Senate, Steve Marshall.
• 27:39
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