- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the award of more than $9 million in USDA Farm to School Program grants that will increase the amount of healthy, local foods served in schools and create economic opportunities for nearby farmers.
- The challenges and opportunities of implementing a new biotechnology regulation review process will be the topic of the Farm Foundation® Forum on Tuesday, July 23, 2019.
- Applied GeoSolutions, the Conservation Technology Information Center and The Nature Conservancy have spearheaded the development, testing and application Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), a new tool that has the potential to unlock conservation solutions for a variety of food and agricultural supply chain stakeholders. These data document the level of adoption of soil health practices for Illinois, Indiana and Iowa from 2005 to 2018.
- Tractor Supply Company‘s Mobile Fair Tour will journey across the Midwest again this summer, traveling through Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Each day, the first 50 booth visitors will receive a $5 coupon towards a future purchase at their local Tractor Supply store.
- Recently implemented policies based on National Cotton Council resolutions regarding warehouse bale shipment reporting are aimed at enhancing the industry’s reputation for timely delivery by getting U.S. raw cotton into customers’ hands faster. The policies, which are now included in the USDA Cotton Storage Agreement, call for warehouses to 1) report their weekly shipments electronically in a more detailed manner and 2) respond promptly to shipping orders from merchants via computer.
- Three USDA scientists with the Agricultural Research Service have been named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The ARS winners are: Heather Allen at the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa; Jo Anne Crouch at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland; and Sara Lupton, at the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, North Dakota.
- The annual photo contest of National Corn Growers Association started in 2014 to help tell the story of farming field corn in America. A few updates have been made for the 2019 contest. Visit Fields-of-Corn today to enter your best farm photos, and vote for your favorite photos. Open to all, entries will be accepted through Nov. 30 and will be available to accumulate Facebook “likes” through December. Winners will be announced in January of 2020.
- The Bayer Trendlines Ag Innovation Fund, set up by Bayer CropScience LLC and The Trendlines Group Ltd., announced that it established EcoPhage Ltd., a new company focused on discovering and developing environmentally friendly products for disease control in agriculture.
- Harvest Returns has launched the Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund to create a positive impact for farmers in Qualified Opportunity Zones.
- Excessive moisture and flooding in 2019 have prevented or delayed planting on many farms across most of the country. USDA knows producers are facing tough times and is offering extended deadlines to file acreage reports in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Producers in these states now must file by July 22. USDA is also offering special sign-ups to cover part of the costs of planting cover crops on acres prevented from planting and earlier date to hay, graze, or chop cover crops planted on acres prevented from planting.
- Growth Energy announced the addition of three new innovative businesses to its membership: Frazenburg, headquartered in Des Moines, IA; Brown Tank, LLC, headquartered in St. Paul, MN; and Bioleap, Inc., headquartered in Tampa, Fla.
- The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator announced the program’s next executive director, Nadilia Gomez. Nadilia joins The Accelerator from Corteva Agriscience — one of the Accelerator’s six investor companies — where she served as a senior research scientist in Predictive Ag and as digital pillar leader of the Disruptive Business Innovation Portfolio.
- The 33rd annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be September 17-19, 2019 at Lake Blackshear Resort & Golf Club, Cordele, Ga. Register here.
- Glen R. Smith has been designated by President Donald Trump as chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration.
- “A Berry Good Project,” a free downloadable book geared toward third- to fifth-grade students, is now available from Feeding Minds Press. The book helps students understand farmers’ choices related to pest management. It also introduces students to careers in agriculture, including Extension agent and strawberry farmer.
- National Corn Growers Association President Lynn Chrisp presented NCGA’s 2019 President’s Award to Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer. The President’s Award is given annually at NCGA’s Corn Congress meeting in Washington, D.C. to a leader who has worked to advance issues important to corn growers and agriculture.
