- MGEX announces its best March and the fifth best overall month in MGEX history with a total of 277,629 contracts. This new record shatters the previous record by 37%, previously set in 2017. March’s volume is also 6% higher than February 2020.
- The House Agriculture Committee has launched a resources page for food and agriculture and COVID-19.
- CNH Industrial announces the temporary appointment of Brad Crews as General Manager North America. In this role, Mr. Crews will ensure cross-functional governance and coordinate all North American regional efforts during the COVID-19 situation. He will also temporarily join the Company’s Global Executive Committee, an operational decision-making body of CNH Industrial, which is responsible for reviewing the operating performance of the segments and making decisions on certain operational matters.
- American Farmland Trust started taking applications for its Farmer Relief Fund last week with Farmland®foods giving $25,000 and individual donors another $35,000 within the first 48 hours. The fund launched Tuesday and will award eligible farmers with cash grants of up to $1,000 each to help them weather the current storm of market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The initial focus will be on farms that sell at farmers markets or to restaurants, caterers, schools, stores, or makers who use farm products. That focus could change over time as the negative impacts of the crisis become more widespread within U.S. agriculture. All monies raised will go directly to farmers.
- The farm and ranch families of Farm Bureau donated 26.3 million pounds of food and raised more than $494,000 to assist hungry Americans in 2019 as part of the organization’s “Harvest for All” program. Combined, the monetary and food donations totaled the equivalent of 24.5 million meals.
- American Agri-Women’s President, Karolyn Zurn, stresses that America consists of farmers and ranchers from all over the U.S. and most are in very rural areas. Zurn says, “American Agri-Women is concerned that even though 5G implementation seems forthcoming to rural America where 3G and 4G services are now, there are still farmers and ranchers unable to get any coverage. We ask that Chairman Pai move forward making 5G connectivity and coverage available for all rural America.”
- Swanson Russell welcomes four new employees in its Lincoln office: Justin Anthony, Lana Erickson, Stephanie Havranek and Ryan Holt.
- To further the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) work on the Agriculture Innovation Agenda (AIA), USDA announced it is seeking public and private sector input on the most important innovation opportunities to be addressed in the near and long term. Using input provided, USDA will identify common themes across the agriculture customer base to inform research and innovation efforts in the Department, the broader public-sector, and the private sector.
- U.S. soy is now available in Skechers footwear, thanks to their collaboration with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company — opening the door to a new market for U.S.-grown soybeans. To learn more about these innovations and soy-based products, visit soynewuses.org or unitedsoybean.org.
