Happy Friday. Parton us, but a country music icon has taken over the vaccine promo scene, and it's got us screaming 'Ooooh Dolly.'

Not only did the Queen of Country swap out 'Jolene' for 'vaccine' while humming along during her shot, but remember, she donated $1 million to Moderna's vaccine efforts last year. #Legend

Friday's news:

• Crop Insurance Creeps Up
• Pork's PRRS Problems
• Coffee Needs A Lift

P.S. Magnetic needs help. Our team is on the hunt for a witty, creative, community-building Social Media Intern. Think you or someone you know has got the goods? Apply here.

Oh, snap. With planting season just around the corner, farmers might be experiencing a bit of “sticker shock” when making their crop insurance decisions this month.

Up, up, and away: According to ag economists, crop insurance prices have experienced the largest increase in more than a decade.

Here’s a breakdown of the USDA-set limits serving as “floor prices”:

• Corn: Up 18%, at $4.58/bushel, the highest price since 2014.
• Soybeans: A 30% spike has prices at $11.87/bushel, not seen since 2013.
• Cotton: A 22% jump has prices set at $0.83/pound, a 22% jump.

And as Successful Farming noted, producers will be incentivized to take supreme advantage of prices and plant “fencepost to fencepost and ditch to ditch.”

Go big or go home: With more export demand [see: China] and less of a stash of crop inventories than originally anticipated, prices are expected to drive higher.

But with higher prices, come higher premiums, and producers have seen a surge in crop insurance quotes as a result.

+ While we’re here: The latest trillion-dollar COVID-19 aid package has the House and Senate at odds. Recent bill tweaks left out help for farmers who suffered crop losses from 2020’s Iowa derecho and California wildfires. The Senate is working to reinstate what was stripped, but Democrat and Republican fisticuffs are expected before a resolution is agreed upon.

*as of market close 3/4/21*

→ Blue light saves blueberries. Research at the University of Georgia found blue light can extend blueberry shelf life with no effects on fruit quality or disease development.

→ See it. Spray it. John Deere introduced its first factory-installed option in the See & Spray tech category with the ability to identify and spray growing plants at 12 mph.

The 4-1-1 on the newish porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRS) strain 1-4-4 is that it hits incredibly hard and moves fast.

"The last thing the world needs right now is another virus." Say it again for the folks in the back Russ Quinn, DTN reporter.

Pork producers in the U.S. are not strangers to PRRS, but this highly infectious strain is turning heads. Popping up last October, PRRS 1-4-4 has a distinct MO: pigs going off feed, abortions, increased sow and piglet mortality, and increased mummies.

Infected herds also see higher post-weaning mortality and slowed growth in the finishing phase. One site saw a drop of 1.4 lbs of daily gain.

Pair 1-4-4 with another disease like the flu?  Things hit the fan. Not. good. things.

By the grim numbers:

• 4-7 weeks of production aborted
• 10-20% sow death losses in a matter of weeks
• 50-80% weaned pig losses in the nursery

Zoom out: It’s not time to sound the alarms just yet. The strain is a fairly regional outbreak in the upper Midwest and positivity rates are comparable to what’s expected seasonally.

But you don’t hear about your neighbor’s house invasion and do nothing. You batten down the hatches.

Farmers’ response: Check your [biosecurity plan] before you wreck your [herd]. Experts note the importance of doubling down on biosecurity procedures ASAP.

Tom Farms doesn’t do things small.

The 69-year old global operation has always been a forward-thinker and early-adopter in production agriculture. And the same is true when it comes to increasing public awareness of the industry.

Just ask the 65,000+ social media followers they have.

That’s why they created Tom Farms Thread - a social, public relations, and branding consulting offering for farmers by farmers.

Kassi can help you and your team:

• Build your farm’s brand voice.
• Drive agriculturally-rich social engagement and education.
• Measure your operation’s influence across your audience.

Just take it from Elizabeth at the Silent Shade Planting Company,

“Tom Farms Thread & Kassi inspired our farm to begin telling our ag story on social media.  Kassi was an outstanding sounding board for how to get started and how to effectively communicate our message to the public.”

Level up your farm brand game and contact Kassi today.