Larry Rasmussen farm in Buchanan County, Iowa. Image courtesy: Travis Smock, Peoples Company. When a 213-acre farm in Buchanan County, Iowa, went up for auction, it seemed like a typical land sale in the northeast part of the state. But what made it extraordinary was what longtime owner Larry Rasmussen decided to do with the proceeds. Rasmussen, who passed away in 2020, had no living children. Instead, he left his farmland in a trust to be sold, with all profits going to five

The wine sector—long considered a steady pillar of agricultural value—is facing a cascade of interlocking pressures: falling demand, over-supply, vineyard removal, and volatile global trade. Recent reports highlight how growers, especially in key regions such as California, are being forced into hard decisions. California’s wine-grape sector has become emblematic of the turmoil. California growers ripped out nearly 40,000 acres of vineyards -- which is approximately 7% of the

Jon Kinzenbaw has been a tractor guy for most of his life. The founder and CEO of Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg, Iowa, has a lot of them in his personal collection — more than 600, to be precise. But he decided it was time to let some of them go. On November 4, Kinzenbaw held a long-awaited auction, handled by Sullivan Auctioneers, a BigIron company, marking the first time he had ever sold part of his collection. The tractors up for grabs were mostly duplicates, but tha

Some rural communities provide the perfect setting for the nation’s growing demand for data centers to provide artificial intelligence for an industry that is exploding. But many residents in town are kept in the dark until the deal for a new data center is done. Rural America offers large tracts of land, cheap power and favorable zoning regulations to build high-capacity data centers. But an increasingly common feature in the development process is the use of non-disclosure

President Donald Trump’s plan to quadruple beef imports from Argentina has drawn sharp criticism from U.S. cattle ranchers who warn the move could devastate domestic producers. Ranchers, already strained by drought, wildfires, and high input costs, say cheaper Argentine beef could undercut a recovering U.S. market. While the administration argues that increased imports may lower prices for consumers, industry leaders like Justin Tupper of the U.S.

At the Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, world-renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés called on President Donald Trump to restore the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Andrés—whose nonprofit World Central Kitchen has fed millions in disaster zones—warned that dismantling USAID endangers lives worldwide by cutting off access to food, water, and health aid.