At its annual Laureate Award Ceremony, the World Food Prize Foundation surprised 2023 Laureate, Heidi Kühn, with the announcement of a doubling of prize amount to $500,000, up from $250,000 in previous years. The ceremony, held at the Iowa State Capitol building, is frequently referred to as “the Nobel Prize for Agriculture” and is held in parallel with the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, which drew over 1,300 participants from more than 75 countries this year.
U.S. soybean meal exports set a record at an estimated 13.2 million tons in MY 2022/23 (Oct-Sep), valued at nearly $7 billion, driven by increased soybean crush to supply feedstock oil for growing U.S. biomass-based diesel production. The new record came from substantial expansion in shipments to the European Union and Vietnam as drought in Argentina, usually the world’s largest soybean meal exporter, severely reduced its exportable supplies.
Louis Dreyfus Company announced the construction of a soybean processing plant in Upper Sandusky (OH), US, with integrated crushing, vegetable oil refining and lecithin production and packaging capabilities.
Syngenta Group is honored to again be recognized as one of the globe’s top five leading employers in the 2023 Science Careers Top Employers Survey, reflecting its ongoing commitment to its employees, research and development, collaboration, and innovation leadership.
Fifteen farm and ranch women leaders graduated from the fall session of Women’s Communications Boot Camp hosted by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The agricultural leaders completed an intensive four-day course that featured hands-on sessions focused on public speaking, working with the media and messaging. Program graduates will use their training to strategically support Farm Bureau’s priority issues. This includes participating in local media opportunities, sharing information with elected officials and joining social media campaigns that spotlight modern agriculture.
The Renewable Fuels Association welcomed its newest producer member, The Andersons Marathon Holdings LLC. The company, formed by The Andersons Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Corporation, owns four ethanol biorefineries in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Iowa, with a combined production capacity of approximately 475 million gallons of fuel annually. Joining the RFA board to represent the company is Dan Short, Fuels and Low Carbon Policy Manager for Marathon Petroleum.
Syngenta announced the names of eight students who each received a $1,000 scholarship award. The scholarship program is a partnership between Syngenta and CropLife America Foundation. The scholarship application is through National FFA Foundation. University students based in the United States and pursuing bachelor’s or associate degrees in crop-related agricultural disciplines are eligible to compete for the scholarships.
Yield10 Bioscience announced that it signed a LOI with BioMar Group, a prominent global aquafeed producer, to commercialize Camelina engineered to produce omega-3 oil for use as a high-quality supplement to the scarce supply of marine long-chain fatty acids used in aquafeed.
