• Agri-Pulse is pleased to announce that Danielle Brinkmann has joined the digital media company as its western sales associate.
• The 56th installment of the National Corn Growers Association’s National Corn Yield Contest is drawing to a close, so you must submit your harvest results by November 30 to be included in the 2020 rankings. Harvest entries can be submitted online here. Login for the site is your membership number and postal code. The contest email address is ncyc@ncga.com if any assistance is needed.
• The National Corn Growers Association submitted formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week to ensure future access and continued success with the use of Bt technology.
• The National Corn Growers Association will accept applications for a broad variety of college and graduate programs but act now. Applications are due on December 4, 2020.
• The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) and Alltech have announced the call for nominations for the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism. The award will be presented during the Alltech ONE Virtual Experience in 2021. Entries must be made via an online application form. Deadline for entries is December 18, 2020.
• IFAJ members are welcome to participate in the Fourth African Conference of Science Journalists, which will be held online on November 17-20. Registration is free.
• Plastomics Inc., an agricultural biotech start-up developing the next generation of trait delivery technology, has been awarded a competitive grant from the United Soybean Board (USB) to develop disease resistant soybeans. Plastomics’ novel trait delivery system harnesses the natural powerhouse of the cell – the chloroplast – to efficiently build higher yielding crops to help farmers nourish the growing global population.
• Effective immediately and as part of the previously released John Deere Smart Industrial organizational announcement, the Agriculture & Turf Division has expanded and reorganized its public relations team.
• Created as a free platform exclusively for farmers and other agricultural professionals, AgFuse has introduced major new features including AgAnswers and The Leaderboard to help community members share information and build solid networks.
• Come together with the potato industry and leading potato industry representatives as we connect online at this year’s Potato Expo 2021. All the excitement you have come to expect from the potato industry event of the year will stream live, January 5-7.
• This year’s Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute annual report features not only the outcomes and impacts of FY2019-2020, but also celebrates the institute’s 10-year anniversary. The report highlights the achievements of a decade of collaborative work both in Nebraska and around the globe.
• The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has been invited to join Cotton 2040. Convened by sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future, the Cotton 2040 coalition is a unique partnership that brings together representatives from standards, producers, brands and retailers, and existing industry initiatives specifically to build on and accelerate collective action to scale up and overcome barriers to sustainable cotton uptake across multiple standards.
• National Industrial Hemp Council announced it received $200,000 in U.S. Department of Agricultural Market Access Program funding to support export market development of industrial hemp.
• Nominations are now open for the Outstanding Georgia Young Peanut Farmer. The state winner will be announced at the Georgia Peanut Farm Show on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Tifton, Georgia. The award is sponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission and BASF. Applications are due to the GPC office by Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020.
• The California Walnut Board encourages growers to participate in an upcoming referendum vote to amend the Federal Marketing Order for walnuts. The proposed amendment would provide authority for the CWB to conduct a credit-back program. Specifically, it would authorize the CWB to credit handlers for eligible market promotion activities of 70¢ per $1 of spend, up to a cap of available dollars based on prior year crop acquisitions.