AgGateway Members Get Policy Update
The 2026 AgGateway Annual Meeting & Conference this week in Nashville featured an ag policy update from one of the most well-respected analysts in the industry. Mary Kay Thatcher has been working for agriculture in Washington D.C. for over 40 years between her work with American Farm Bureau and then Syngenta.
Considering the new Congress that will be taking over in January, Thatcher says there’s a lot of opportunity for agriculture to educate some new members. “We’re going to have more new members of Congress than we’ve had in a very long time, 20% in the Senate, new members, and 25% in the House. So certainly it’s going to be a lot of work to get to know those folks, to do some education, to try to get them on our friendship side, but the opportunities are really great,” said Thatcher.
While there will be many new faces on the agriculture committees, Thatcher says there are many other committees that impact the industry. “It’s always sexy to say who’s going to be on the Senate Ag Committee, who’s going to be on the House Ag Committee, and certainly those are important, but the fact is a lot of the issues that we really care about in agriculture don’t go through the Ag Committee,” Thatcher said. “Think about immigration policy, taxes, trade, water resources and all the money for transportation issues, environmental regs, oversight of EPA, none of those things come through the Ag Committee. They come through commerce and energy and commerce and environment and ways and means, et cetera. So we need to focus on making sure that we have people who understand agriculture represented on those committees, too.”
As far as the rest of this Congress goes, Thatcher does not expect much. “I don’t look for a lot to happen in lame duck, hence the name lame duck, but there are some things. I mean, we run out of federal government funding on December 11th, so we have got to pass an extension of that or the government shuts down….And then I think we have to do a farm bill extension. Everyone would like there to be a full skinny farm bill or farm bill part two, whatever you call it. I think that’s less likely than an extension. Extension will get done. And then beyond that, it’s kind of anybody’s guess about how hard do people really want to work.”
Hear more of MKT’s election reaction and comments on ag policy in this interview:
Interview with Mary Kay Thatcher 12:40
Students Network at AgGateway Annual Meeting
L-R: Sharma, Hicks, Boyd, Platt, Britt, Bernstein, and Davu
The students are part of the Gateway to Ag Careers program, hosted by AgGateway and sponsored by the AgCIO Roundtable, with additional support from Syngenta.
“It’s been a really successful program for us over the years, and we’ve got a cohort of seven this year that have just knocked it out of the park,” said Brent Kemp, AgGateway President and CEO. “They’re embedded, they’re having a great time, they’re asking questions, and they’ve got some really exciting stories to share. I look forward to keeping up with them in the future.”
The following students (pictured from left to right above) are:
Aryan Sharma, Purdue University
Madison Hicks, North Dakota State University
Anslee Boyd, Mississippi State University
Kristen Platt, Arizona State University
Ella Britt, Mississippi State University
Eleanora Bernstein, Arizona State University
Avyukta (Avi) Davu, Purdue University
AgGateway started the program because agriculture’s long-term sustainability will rest on its ability to attract the best and brightest among the next generation of college graduates to build long-term careers in the industry. The nomination process requires students to submit an essay and a letter of recommendation and additional supporting documentation from their instructor or adviser.
Listen to brief interviews with each of the students here:
Interview with AgGateway scholarship winners 5:59
AgGateway Driving the Future of Connected Agriculture
CEO Brent Kemp addresses AgGateway conference
“I can say that the energy is high, the conversations are very positive and engaging, and I think we’ve been successful at ruffling a few feathers and we always get some really great work when people’s feathers are ruffled,” said AgGateway president and CEO Brent Kemp.
AI is obviously having a major impact on agriculture just like any business, while policy issues are always changing. “We’re not here to influence policy. But it is important for our attendees to understand the environment in which they operate,” said Kemp. “And some of the work that we do in data interoperability is reflected in ongoing legislation and discussions that get into data ownership, data portability, data sovereignty. So the work that we do is very adjacent and very informed by that legislation.”
Kemp makes an analogy of what AgGateway does in the agribusiness industry to plumbing.
“We live in a world here in the United States where we turn on the tap and water comes out. And we don’t worry about the plumbing under the sink. We don’t worry about it being connected to a civic water supply or a well,” said Kemp. “We just know that there’s water and we can do things with it. We can wash the car. We can cook dinner. We can bathe. We can make lemonade…And if we at AgGateway do our job right, we’ve connected the plumbing and data flows like water. And then it’s up to the user, to the marketplace, to determine how they’re going to make the best value out of that.”
Listen to this interview to learn more about what AgGateway has been doing lately.
Interview with Brent Kemp, AgGateway 17:00
Victrato at the Ready to Fight Red Crown Rot in 2027
Red Crown Rot (RCR) spread into new soybean-growing regions across the United States in 2026, reported in 35 new counties across eight states this year, including first-time reports in Iowa and Alabama. With no in-season treatment available, Syngenta advises growers that post-harvest is an important time to identify affected fields and incorporate those insights into their 2027 management plans.
Dale Ireland, Ph.D., technical product lead at Syngenta, notes that the above-ground symptoms of RCR often resemble Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), making accurate diagnosis more difficult as both soilborne diseases cause interveinal leaf chlorosis, stem discoloration and root rot. “As agronomists and growers are looking closer, fields that were assumed to have SDS are sometimes turning out to be RCR. If you suspect RCR in your fields, collect a sample and send to your local diagnostic laboratory for analysis and confirmation,” said Ireland.
Confirming RCR is the first step in preparing for next season. Victrato® seed treatment is the first federally labeled seed treatment for RCR suppression.
“Harvest gives growers a clearer picture of where disease affected performance and where they need added protection from a seed treatment like Victrato,” Ireland said. “Confirming RCR now and documenting where it occurred can help growers and build a more informed management plan for the future.”
This was the first year that Victrato was available for soybean growers and Ireland says the return on investment is fantastic. “Because something like sudden death syndrome, for instance, or nematodes, you can’t reach back and treat those. If you don’t proactively treat, prophylactically treat, you don’t have a chance to protect yourself against those. And the same is true with red crown rot. So if you’re aware that that is even a potential, it’s something that you need to do and get your seed treated with these products.”
Learn more in this interview with Ireland from the 2026 Commodity Classic.
Classic26 - Dale Ireland, Syngenta (6:11)
Ethanol Report on Midterm Election Results
As the dust is beginning to settle on the midterm election blow-out putting Democrats back in charge of Congress, what will this mean for the ethanol industry going forward?
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper discusses the results of the midterm elections and what might happen in the lame duck session to address high gas prices and a suffering farm economy.
Ethanol Report 11-6-26 20:02The Ethanol Report is a podcast about the latest news and information in the ethanol industry that has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008.
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AgGateway Announces New Regional Director for Europe
AgGateway leadership is pleased to announce that Matthias Nachtmann has been appointed as the organization’s Europe Regional Director, effective January 1, succeeding Conny Graumans, who is retiring at the end of the year.
An agriculture engineer and digital agriculture executive, Nachtmann brings more than 25 years of international experience in digital farming, agriculture data interoperability, and value chain collaboration, including more than a decade leading digital initiatives at BASF Agricultural Solutions.
Matthias Nachtmann
“AgGateway has a strong history of bringing the agricultural industry together to enable efficient data exchange and interoperability,” says Nachtmann. “Building on the foundation Conny has established in Europe, I see a tremendous opportunity to extend connectivity beyond traditional business transactions to the growing range of data needed across agricultural operations and value chains for efficient farm operation and sustainable productivity.”
“Matthias has great knowledge about data sharing developments and challenges in agricultural production chains and brings an enormous network covering agricultural industries, research institutions, and governmental bodies,” says Graumans. “I have known him personally for many years and I am very pleased that he will be leading AgGateway’s efforts in the region in the years ahead.”
Industry Ag News 11/2
DWFI Podcast 57 – Lab Director Dan Snow to Retire
After nearly four decades of pioneering work in water science, Dan Snow, director of the Water Sciences Laboratory at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, part of DWFI, is preparing to step down and transition into retirement.
From his early days cleaning out his family’s farm well to leading advanced water quality research through mass spectrometry, Dan’s career has significantly advanced nitrate isotope fingerprinting, regional groundwater tracking and global scientific collaboration.
Join Dan and host Frances Hayes as they reflect on his enduring legacy of environmental stewardship and international research partnerships.
DWFI podcast episode 57 32:07The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska was founded with the mission to have a lasting and significant impact on achieving more food security with less pressure on scarce water resources by conducting scientific and policy research, using the research results to inform policy makers, and sharing knowledge through education and communication.
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USDA Funds Eight Domestic Fertilizer Projects
Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins this week announced the selection of eight fertilizer manufacturing projects to receive funding through USDA’s Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long-Term Domestic Supply (FIELDS) Program.
The eight selected projects represent more than $1.34 billion in total proposed investment, including approximately $573 million in proposed USDA funding, to strengthen domestic fertilizer manufacturing, reduce America’s dependence on foreign suppliers, and increase long-term fertilizer availability for American farmers.
“What this means is that 32 thousand farmers, farming over four million acres all across America, they’re going to have fertilizer at a lower cost and made by American hands right here in the United States of America,” said Vance at a campaign rally in North Platte, Nebraska.
The eight projects selected to move forward in the FIELDS funding process include:
TalusAg – Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois, and South Dakota
Peace Valley – Florida
PCI Nitrogen – Texas and Oregon
Intrepid Potash – New Mexico
AdvanSix – Virginia
SUL4R-PLUS Illinois – Illinois
True Organic Products – California, Oregon, and Arizona
Agriculture Project Holdco – Kansas and Indiana
USDA economic analysis estimates that the additional production could reduce nitrogen fertilizer prices by 4.4% and potash prices by 5.3%, while increasing domestic nitrogen production by 3.7% and potash production by nearly 40% once the projects are operational.
During a press briefing on the announcement, Sec. Rollins admitted it will take some time before prices come down significantly. “We used to produce about 80% plus of our own fertilizer in America,” said Rollins. “Now we only produce about 50% of our own, so we think by the time we walk out of office will have shifted that 50% significantly higher, especially with some of these big capacity plants that were breaking ground and building. But I believe we’ll see a significant drop in fertilizer prices once the Iranian conflict is wrapped.”
Listen to the announcement from VP Vance and press briefing by Sec. Rollins below:
JD Vance announcement in Nebraska 4:19