Todd Hanten Farm

10/08/2026

THANK YOU, President Trump and Governor Rhoden! 🇺🇸🚛

Just filled my semi with 148 gallons of red-dyed farm diesel, and the bill was STILL almost $800! That’s approximately $5.69 per gallon!

But thank you, President Trump and Governor Rhoden, for temporarily allowing farmers and truckers to use red-dyed diesel in their highway vehicles! Apparently, we’re getting a little relief from those fuel taxes, although it’s still unclear whether some of those taxes are actually forgiven, deferred, or still owed!

Diesel prices are still outrageously high and nearly DOUBLE what we were paying not that long ago!

Now, as a lifelong farmer and former trucking company owner, I have NEVER minded paying fuel taxes. I know firsthand how important good roads, bridges, and infrastructure are to farmers, truckers, businesses, and ALL Americans.

So I have just one little question.

How are we going to replace the highway funding that normally comes from those fuel taxes?

I’m SURE there’s a plan. Or at least a CONCEPT OF A PLAN! Maybe we’ll hear about it in TWO WEEKS? 😂

After all, giving up tax revenue doesn’t make the cost of maintaining our roads and bridges disappear!

And I hope everyone noticed the BIODIESEL stickers on my truck!

I’m PROUD to support biodiesel and renewable fuels made from American-grown soybeans!

When you choose biodiesel, you’re helping support AMERICAN farmers, AMERICAN companies, AMERICAN workers, and AMERICAN energy production!

That includes jobs right here in the Midwest and across the country, including states like Minnesota, New York, and California, where renewable fuel production, blending, and clean-fuel policies create markets for American agricultural products.

And as an added bonus, biodiesel can help reduce certain emissions and improve air quality!

AMERICAN-GROWN. AMERICAN-MADE. AMERICAN JOBS! 🇺🇸🌱

I believe we can support American energy independence, renewable fuels, cleaner air, AND responsible investment in our infrastructure. None of those things should be partisan issues!

Now, Mr. President, about those diesel prices…

Is there a plan to bring those down, too? Or should we check back in two weeks? 😉

10/06/2026

We started the soybean harvest yesterday, finally, after chomping at the bit and worrying they were ready.While I attended my granddaughter's 3rd birthday and took the Sabbath off instead!! They were, but not completely; we are having to leave areas, but what we are doing is perfect moisture! Yields are below average so far, but doing hilltops and the worst part of the field, so I have hope as they look at least average or better🤞🤞. Prices are better, and that will help, as diesel is record high, parts and labor are higher than ever, tires and equipment are record high, along with fertilizer and other inputs we will buy for next season. Cattle prices have dropped like a rock, DOWN 50 dollars per cwt. less than they were, so 750 dollars less per head for a fat steer. Yet prices in the grocery store have not come down, as I did some investigating at the Sam’s meat market in Sioux Falls. American Soybean AssociationSD SoybeanU.S. Soybean Export Council - USSECSouth Dakota CornNational Cattlemen's Beef AssociationCertified Angus Beef ® brandBeef. It's What's For Dinner.

10/05/2026

Soybeans are “notably absent” from a list of tariff-exempted ag exports after the U.S.-China summit.

09/28/2026

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/really-worth-keep-going-economic-090029010.html

John Yeley has spent the last 26 years working on his farm, which his family has owned since 1852.

09/25/2026

https://www.reuters.com/?fbclid=IwRlRTSAUjsMlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBWZkaWQWUPHjtBAC_iB_A2SSerZ5sTL7fZZNNHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7auJ2dJj_R270FeOm38jih9jlV9EpKpJzSwwU2r5gXX7Ng3QZrfayRv6Rzng_aem_iMnuXHmZdwh5kjQxWjSsKg

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.

09/18/2026

Family farm time!!!!! 3 little superheroes waiting for my favorite birthday cake baked by Grandma, confetti cake with white mountain frosting!!!

08/25/2026

America first and renewable fuels, something for both sides of the aisle!!

If EPA approves small refinery exemption petitions at levels that significantly exceed EPA’s earlier assumptions embodied in current biofuel blending rules, the result will be long-term damage that effectively undercuts the positive actions taken by the Trump Administration. ow.ly/pz2i50ZFber

08/07/2026

MCOOL! Here are my personal thoughts and opinion, as I have had many reach out wondering what I think and know. Plus information for my customers, friends, and all consumers.

I support MCOOL, Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, and I think this is an issue that should matter to both cattle producers and consumers.

MCOOL simply means consumers would be told where the beef they are buying came from, including where the animal was born, raised, and harvested. My T-shirts, hats, and many things tell me where they came from; why not our food?

This isn't a new issue for me. More than 20 years ago, many of us with the Coteau Hills Cattlemen in northeast South Dakota worked for Country of Origin Labeling and worked with then-SD Senator Tim Johnson to get it passed. We eventually got COOL, but the United States lost challenges at the World Trade Organization involving Canada and Mexico, and Congress repealed the mandatory beef and pork requirements in 2015 rather than face retaliatory tariffs. I understand why Congress faced a difficult decision at the time.

Today, my man, Senator John Thune is supporting an effort to bring mandatory beef labeling back while specifically trying to develop a system that will comply with our international trade obligations. I support Senator Thune's effort. Thank you to you and your excellent staff!

I realize cattlemen are divided over this issue. There are legitimate concerns about added recordkeeping, segregation and processing costs, and I don't dismiss those concerns. I also won't claim MCOOL automatically means higher cattle prices. Nobody can honestly guarantee that.

But I keep coming back to one basic question: why shouldn't the consumer know?

As a cattle feeder, I am selling cattle to the packer. The packer and I are rarely sitting on the same side of the negotiating table. Packers understandably want the flexibility to buy cattle and beef wherever it makes the most economic sense and move that product through their plants as efficiently and profitably as possible. I understand their position, but that doesn't necessarily make their interests the same as mine as an American cattle producer.

Consumers already pay premiums for Wagyu, Certified Angus Beef, Prime, organic, grass-fed, locally produced products and countless other attributes. We also put "Made in USA" on all kinds of products because origin matters to many consumers. I believe American beef has a story and a value too, and consumers should at least be given the opportunity to decide whether that matters enough for them to pay more.

There is another part of COOL that I believe deserves much more discussion: restaurants. Restaurants and food-service establishments have generally been exempt from federal COOL requirements. When I walk into Culver's, McDonald's, a steakhouse or another restaurant, I would like to know whether the beef I am eating came from cattle born and raised in the United States. I'm not saying a restaurant shouldn't be allowed to serve imported beef. I'm saying I would like them to tell me what I'm buying so I can make that decision myself.

I'M NOT DEMANING ANYONE MUST BUY AMERICAN BEEF. I'M SIMPLY ASKING THAT CONSUMERS BE GIVEN ENOUGH INFORMATION TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES.

That is really the heart of MCOOL for me.

If consumers don't care where their beef comes from, then American producers won't receive much of a premium and the market will tell us that. But if consumers do care, why should we deny them the information they need to demonstrate it with their dollars?

We learned some hard lessons from the original COOL law and the WTO dispute. I don't believe the answer should be to ignore those lessons and simply recreate the exact same system. Let's find a compromise that protects our trade relationships, keeps unnecessary costs and paperwork away from producers as much as possible, and still gives the American consumer honest information.

To me this shouldn't be Republican versus Democrat, packer versus producer, or one cattle organization versus another. It should be about transparency and consumer choice.

Tell people where their beef came from and let the American consumer decide.

08/06/2026

I am selling my air cart, no-till drill that we ran with it, and a strip-till machine that we ran with it on Big Iron online auction currently through August 19th. Both the strip-tiller and drill have all run blockage monitors that worked!! We have discontinued planting small grain and are going to buy a planter to do our soybeans. I will miss that big 430-bushel cart that we could plant all day without filling if full to start. It was used this spring and a month ago to drill 15- and 7.5-inch soybeans and cover crops. We used the strip-till machine and air cart last fall to apply variable-rate fertilizer with prescriptions I made myself in SMS software and Climate/fieldview. We are going to get a different strip-till machine or hire custom done, as we love it and think it is the only way to go for saving high fertilizer costs and still producing the same yield or better, as well as soil erosion is better, and there is less loss of soil moisture. Labor and input costs such as fuel are better also. Please message me with any questions and/or stop by to see if interested. Thank you, and here is the link to the auction. I have used Big Iron to buy and sell and have been very happy also.

Agricultural equipment, construction equipment, industrial equipment, livestock, collector cars & realty available at BigIron Auctions.

07/12/2026

Tassels are showing up in Northeastern South Dakota on my 98 day maturity corn variety!!! 60 days to black layer or maturity, and 40%moisture corn. Corn crop looks excellent but soybeans look below average. Plenty of moisture currently with forecast of high heat and humidity is excellent for the corn but very tough on man and my fat, black Angus cattle😬