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The article states that the agency the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 20, 2015, that a flock of 5.3 million chickens at an Osceola County, Iowa, farm had contracted avian influenza. The article discusses bird flu outbreaks in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The article also states that Austin, Minnesota, turkey processing company Hormel Foods Corp. announced that bird flu outbreaks created challenges to its turkey supply chain.

The article reports that farmland values fell in the first quarter of 2014, focusing on prices for farmland without irrigation systems in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Kansas district and average prices for agricultural land in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Missouri district.

The article discusses declining farmland values in the U.S. Midwest in 2013 and contributory factors, including corn prices, high interest rates, and poor weather.

The article discusses the impact on the U.S. wheat crop and wheat futures of drought conditions in Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. Through May 1 prices for wheat futures have risen 15% during 2014. By one estimate Kansas' 2014 wheat harvest will be the lowest it has been since 2007. Industry group Oklahoma Grain & Feed forecasts a 37% decline in Oklahoma's wheat harvest.

The article reports on the severe winter storm that hit the U.S. Midwest on February 1, 2011.