News

Provide Your Crew With Meaningful Performance Data to Influence Project Outcomes

No, this is not another shameless reflection on a certain National Championship basketball team. However, if you are a fan, feel free to insert those superstars in this scenario. Consider two major teams in basketball are playing a back-and-forth game. Scoring in this game will quickly escalate to triple digits for both teams.

Fleet Solutions Offer Real-Time Asset Visibility & More

Managing construction and heavy fleet assets is a time-consuming job. While many fleets are still tracking data with pen and paper or on spreadsheets, more and more are turning to digital solutions to help control costs and improve operational efficiencies.

UD DOT Issues Final Rules on CDLs for Foreign Drivers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) this week issued a final rule on nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and commercial learner’s permits (CLPs), limiting the ways that states can issue and renew these driving credentials for noncitizens.

Suicide/Drug Overdose Deaths in Construction Decline

The death rates from drug overdose and suicide among the construction workforce have dropped according to recent data released by North America’s Building Trades Unions and CPWR — The Center for Construction Research and Training.

Deadline for E15 Deal Missed - Negotiations Continue

The deadline for a congressional council to come up with a plan for E15 legislation has passed with no apparent breakthrough in ending a stalemate between large and mid-sized oil refiners.

Biofuel and corn producers are caught in the middle as their goal of making higher ethanol fuel blends, known as E15, at gas pumps year-round remains out of reach.

House Republicans Release New Farm Bill Text

House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson on Friday proposed a five-year farm bill to tweak conservation programs, boost logging and wildfire prevention on national forests, and limit states’ ability to put their own health warnings on pesticides. The Pennsylvania Republican included many Democratic-backed provisions on conservation and agricultural research in an effort to draw bipartisan support.

Soil Health Tour 2025: Two-Stage Ditch Focus

Take the soil health tour with a two-stage ditch focus from the Ohio State University Extension.

Scroll through information on the screen or use the navigation buttons at the top to jump to different sections of the StoryMap. Some of the content is interactive, so go ahead and play around!

Tour now

Is Controlled Drainage Worth the Extra Bucks, Time & Effort in Soybean Fields?

The Midwest United States is one of the world’s leading soybean-producing regions. According to a 2017 Food and Agriculture Organization report, the region accounts for more than 34% of global soybean production. Over the years, soybean yields have increased steadily thanks to improved genetics and better management practices. While growers can influence genetics and management, weather remains largely out of our control.

New: OSHA Safety Champions Program

The Safety Champions Program is a new program for employers to develop and implement an effective safety and health program. The main goal of safety and health programs is to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths. The Program incorporates the seven core elements of Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs.

Be Mindful of These 2026 OSHA Safety Deadlines

OSHA is signaling one thing clearly heading into 2026: Contractors should prepare for higher expectations around planning, documentation and proactive hazard control.

Saturated Buffer Performance Under Alternative Weir Settings

Saturated buffers are important edge-of-field conservation practices to reduce nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) loading from subsurface (tile) drainage systems to downstream waters. The impact of seasonal management of weir elevations in the water control structure on NO3-N removal has not been well studied.

Estate Planning for 2026 and Beyond

Until recently, much tax uncertainty surrounded estate planning. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the federal gift and estate tax exemption to an inflation-adjusted $10 million, but only for 2018 through 2025.

Why Conservation?

As an Iowa soybean farmer, you know that keeping your farm productive and profitable is non-negotiable. But the pressure to conserve soil, reduce nutrient loss and adapt to changing weather is growing. That’s why I see conservation not as a trade-off, but as an opportunity.

Public Drainage Systems Already Subject to Strict Regulation: The Latest in a Minnesota Lawsuit

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) and Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) have formally released various environmental activist organizations as defendants from litigation filed against them and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). By releasing the environmental organizations as defendants, the MCGA and MSGA will proceed with the complaint against the MPCA as the sole defendant at this time.

The Drainage Crystal Ball

Thanks to a powerful computer simulation model known as DRAINMOD, and the results from a new study by researchers from three different Universities in the U.S., we now have a pretty good idea what future weather patterns will look like in the Upper Midwest of the U.S., and the impact they’ll have on drainage needs as farmers try to maximize crop yields.

EPA Guidance Eases Right to Repair Prohibition

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance this week allowing farmers and repair shops to temporarily override emission control systems for repair purposes. The guidance says procedures and tools to temporarily take products "out of certified configuration as necessary to perform maintenance and repair" are not prohibited under the Clean Air Act.

FY Funding Legislation Largely Completed - Construction Levels Maintained/Increased

By a vote of 217-214 the House completed action this week on five of the remaining six FY 2026 appropriations bills and President Trump has signed the measure. As part of the agreement to get the funding package completed the Department of Homeland Security measure was extended under a continuing resolution for two weeks while negotiations continue on ICE enforcement reforms.

Check it Out: LICA Drainage Conference 2026

It’s seemingly become a tradition for the Land Improvement Contractors of Ontario (LICO) annual Ontario Drainage Conference to be marked with a day of heavy snowfall or frigid temperatures – but once again, that didn’t stop a large group of contractors from descending on London, Ont. at the Best Western Conference Centre and Lamplighter Inn to take in a day of education, networking and a trade show.

FHWA Issues Further Guidance on Buy America Requirements for Manufactured Products

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued Q&A guidance on January 5 further clarifying the application of Buy America requirements to manufactured goods in Federal-aid highway funded construction projects. This new requirement became effective on March 20, 2025 when FHWA terminated its longstanding Manufactured Products General Waiver (in place since 1983).

Year Round E15 Not Included in Funding Measure - Council Established to Develop Proposal

A last ditch attempt made by Midwest Republicans with House leadership to add authority for year-round use of E15 to the fiscal 2026 appropriations package was rejected.