Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto, at $128 per share, is the largest cash bid on record. Bayer and Monsanto have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Bayer will acquire Monsanto for USD$128 per share in an all-cash transaction ($66 billion). Based on Monsanto's closing share price on May 9, the day before Bayer's first written proposal to Monsanto, the offer represents a premium of 44 percent to that price.The combined agriculture business will have its global seeds and traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. [node:read-more:link]

Most crops got off to a decent start this year in Ohio and Pennsylvania. But the success of the crop from mid-season onward all depended on who got the rain — and who did not.  For most of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and especially upstate New York, rain was a spotty thing that came in time for some counties, while going around others, leaving behind an unusual and unfortunate path of drought across the three states.  On the upside, heavy rains came by mid- to late August. But for many crops, especially corn, the damage had already been done. According to the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has scheduled some must-see TV for farmers and other involved in the seed, biotechnology and chemical mergers.  Grassley released a witness list late Wednesday for the Sept. 20 hearing by his committee -- Consolidation and Competition in the U.S. Seed and Agrochemical Industry. [node:read-more:link]

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides 4 million low-income elementary students in 8,000 schools with a fresh fruit or vegetable snack every day at school. [node:read-more:link]

In another sign that the economic recovery is moving very slowly for rural America, median household incomes for rural Americans didn’t improve from 2014 to 2015 while they did for metropolitan areas.  The Census Bureau’s newly released income and earnings report for 2014-2015 showed that median household incomes rose last year for the nation for the first time since 2007. Nationally, median household income grew by about $2,800 to reach $56,516 in 2015. [node:read-more:link]

Pale green and 8 feet tall, tightly packed corn stalks reach to the horizon throughout the Midwest in what is likely to be the biggest harvest the U.S. has ever seen.Aside from a sense of pride in breaking the previous record by nearly a billion bushels, farmers won't benefit. They'll lose money on virtually every cob.It'll be the third consecutive year in which most corn farmers will spend more than they'll earn. The growing has been too good and the resulting glut of corn depressed prices to a decade-low. [node:read-more:link]

Allowing homely fruits and vegetables to compost in the field has some benefits, but many of Connecticut’s 6,000 farms are choosing to process sub-standard produce into wine, jellies and pickeled goods, in addition to donating leftovers to food banks. “We’ll take ugly fruit, there’s nothing wrong with it,” James Arena-DeRosa, president and CEO of Foodshare, told students. Foodshare moves over six million pounds of donated shelf stable and perishable food into Connecticut communities every year, Arena-DeRosa said. [node:read-more:link]

The Canadian government has awarded CA$690,000 (US$523,436) to poultry industry group Éleveurs de volailles du Québec (EVQ) to study the possible reduction of the use of antibioticsfor preventative purposes in the Quebec poultry industry. Under the project, the Poultry Research Chair at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will assess various alternative strategies and their effects on flock performance. [node:read-more:link]

Research has found that pig farm workers likely spread methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to swine in Norway. Scientists observed signs of the human-to-pig infection while working on a campaign to stamp out MRSA in Norway. The researchers asserted that disease-prevention programs like Norway’s could reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, especially in countries with little or no import of live pigs, since farm workers could introduce the disease to pig herds. [node:read-more:link]

Survey Results at a Glance: For a 12th straight month, the Rural Mainstreet Index fell below growth neutral. Farmland prices remained below growth neutral for the 33rd consecutive month. Bank CEOs expect farmland prices to fall by another 6.9 percent over the next 12 months. Approximately 56.5 percent of bank CEOs expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates before the end of 2016. [node:read-more:link]