Dealers tote the note (farmdoc Daily): Increasingly, farm implement dealers provide financing for their sales, and they now hold $10.7 billion in long-term notes from farmers — 27 percent of the sector’s non-real estate debt.
Award cut in North Carolina suit (Raleigh News & Observer): Federal judge Earl Britt, citing a state law that limits damages in nuisance lawsuits to $250,000 per person, reduced the jury award against a large hog farm from $50 million to $3.25 million.
A game of chicken (Akron Beacon Journal): A farmer near Lordstown, Ohio, is threatening to build a giant chicken farm — and bring the foul odor created by factory farms — if his neighbors won’t allow a large distribution center to be built on his property.
Where the blue wave ends (Daily Yonder): As the midterm elections approach, statistics show that the shift to Republican dominance of the rural vote has been accelerating since 2010.
Midwestern farmland values stabilize (Chicago Federal Reserve): Ag lenders say the value of good-quality farmland held steady in the first quarter of this year, and they overwhelmingly believe values will be unchanged this spring.
Perdue hits the road (USDA): Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will conduct his fourth “Back to our roots” RV tour next week, a four-day trip through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Three state governors will take part.