Iowa farmland value rises slightly (CARD): The annual ISU Land Value Survey says the average acre of farmland in the state is worth $7,432, up by 2.3 percent from 2018 and only the second increase in six years. (Note: Updates with current data).
More time for aid signup (USDA): Due to the “prolonged and extensive impacts” of bad weather, the deadline to sign up for trade war payments through the Market Facilitation Program and for dairy subsidies through the Dairy Margin Coverage program was extended to Dec. 20.
Farms expand in arid Arizona (Arizona Republic): Agricultural empires are pumping millions of gallons of water from beneath the sere landscape of Arizona, and this “free-for-all is draining away the water that homeowners also depend on, leaving some with dry wells.”
Arctic crosses a threshold (Washington Post): Federal scientists say that the Arctic is moving into a new climate state that will include far less ice and a vast increase in the release of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost.
China buys more U.S. soy (USDA): With a deadline looming for additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese consumer goods, U.S. exporters reported the sale of 585,000 tonnes of soybeans worth $192 million for delivery to China in coming months.