Members in the News: August 31, 2026

Sandro Steinbach, North Dakota State University
Shawn Arita, North Dakota State University

“NDSU Ag Trade Monitor Honored” By: RRFN – August 17, 2026 “The North Dakota State University Agricultural Trade Monitor has earned the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association’s Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis. The award recognizes the Monitor, a monthly publication providing data-driven analysis of agricultural trade patterns and policy developments. NDSU Farmers Union Endowed Professor of Agribusiness and Applied Economics Sandro Steinbach and NDSU Associate Professor Shawn Arita accepted the award.” (Continued...) Read more on: RRFN Ricky Volpe, California Polytechnic State University “As California Demands Less Plastic in Packaging, Manufacturers Say You’ll Pay More For Stuff” By: Cal Matters – August 20, 2026 “Federal data show grocery prices dipped slightly in July from June, though prices have climbed year over year and that rate is accelerating… Retailers, who run on thin margins, will eventually pass  costs on to consumers — but probably not right away. It will not happen overnight and it will still be relatively small, mostly on the order of pennies on the dollar.” (Continued...) Read more on: Cal Matters Shawn Arita, North Dakota State University “An Evolving Tariff Strategy” By: RRFN – August 24, 2026 “In many ways taking account the industry concerns that have been raised various groups, from the American Farm Bureau through American Soybean Association, and NCGA, who had voiced many concerns given that production costs were already high and that these tariffs we’re going toa make con production costs even higher.” The Trump Administration didn’t remove tariffs completely but started granting exemptions. “Unfortunately, machinery didn’t find the same luck.  That one, because it is lumped in with these steel and aluminum, they are fairly high.” (Continued...) Read more on: RRFN David Ortega, Michigan State University “Shrimpers Are the Latest Group Seeking Protection From Washington” By: The Economist – August 27, 2027 “Even if tariffs do remain, they are unlikely to solve the economics of shrimping. “Tariffs may buy time but won’t make the industry competitive or make the underlying issues go away.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Economist Yangxuan Liu, University of Georgia “OBBBA Levels the Playing Field for Different Farm Business Structures for USDA Payment Limitations” By: Oklahoma Farm Report – August 20, 2026 “Authors Yangxuan Liu and Michael R Langemeier write in Southern Ag Today: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) changes how U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) payment limitations apply to different farm business structures. On June 2, 2026, USDA released the final rule (link) explaining how this provision will be administered beginning with the 2026 program year.”   (Continued...) Read more on: Oklahoma Farm Report Or Georgia Cotton Commission, Farms.com Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University “AI Use is Growing in Healthcare. An Oklahoma Researcher Found Rural Hospitals Are Slow to Adopt It” By: KGOU – August 19, 2026 “The takeaway message from our paper is that the gap is real – the urban-rural gap is real… Urban and rural hospitals adopt predictive AI for different reasons. Rural facilities are less likely than urban ones to use it for clinical decision-making or treatment recommendations, but equally likely to apply AI to billing and other operational tasks.”   (Continued...) Read more on: KGOU Mckenzie Boyce, Oklahoma State University “Data Centers Bring Opportunities and Challenges to Rural Oklahoma” By: Oklahoma Farm Report – August 19, 2026 “Growing demand for data centers across the country is creating a need for additional locations, and rural communities can offer one important resource: available land. As we see data center development or the demand for data center development increasing across the country, these data centers need additional places to locate.” (Continued...) Read more on: Oklahoma Farm Report Jaime Luke, Michigan State University “Will Trump's Latest Beef Plan Make Your Hamburger Cheaper? Not Much, Experts Say” By: NPR – August 28. 2026 “An additional 300,000 metric tons of ground beef would represent about a 2% increase in the domestic beef supply. "So when we look big picture, it maybe isn't as big of a number as you might think when you first see it outright.” (Continued...) Read more on: NPR William Ridley, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign “Canada Retaliatory Tariffs Set To Impact $20 Billion of American Goods” By : Courthouse News Service – August 29, 2026 “They’re not just casting out a wide net; they’re going after products that are exported from politically sensitive or battleground states. I think the goal here is to impose pressure or impose pain from a political angle of attack.” (Continued...) Read more on: Courthouse News Service Eric Belasco, Montana State University “The U.S. Faces a “Historic” Cattle Shortage as the Size of the U.S. Herd Shrinks to the Smallest Since 1951” By: Economic Collapse Report - August 20, 2026 “The biggest thing has been drought. Years of dry weather have depleted grasslands across the West and Plains, leaving ranchers without enough feed or water to sustain their herds. Many have been forced to sell cattle early, including cows needed to produce the next generation of calves, making the road to recovery even longer.” (Continued...) Read more on: Economic Collapse Report Success Okafor, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute “Processing, Pastures Show Huge Mismatch” By: Agri-View – August 19, 2026 “Wisconsin Meat Processing Deserts Limit Growth For Livestock Producers” By: Brownfield – August 21, 2026 Michael Langemeier, Purdue University “The Bottom Line: Marketing Matters Now More Than Ever” By: Agri News Pub – August 24, 2026 “Long-term profitability will depend less on producing a good crop and more on earning a profitable price for it. That’s an important shift because it tells us where producers think profitability will be won or lost in the years ahead,” (Continued...) Read more on: Agri News Pub Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University “Economists Don’t Expect Reopening the US to Mexican Cattle Imports to Reduce High Beef Prices” By: The Wyoming Truth – August 24, 2026 “The potential effect on beef prices from the smaller supply of cattle was lessened because the U.S. beef industry is more efficient and has been able to get more meat from each animal than in past years.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Wyoming Truth Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute “What’s Driving the Financial Crisis on Minnesota Farms?” By: Twin Cities Business – August 25, 2026 “The tariffs had mixed effects on U.S. agricultural exports, with exports to China and Canada falling partly because of retaliatory tariffs and consumer reactions. Soybean farmers were particularly hard hit by the U.S. tariff actions. China implemented retaliatory tariffs against a wide range of U.S. agricultural products in February 2025 following U.S. imposition of so-called fentanyl tariffs against China.” (Continued...) Read more on: Twin Cities Business Do you have international, national, state or local news to share? Submit your 'Members in the News' now!