Industry Ag News 1/30

Carrie Muehling

  • Deputy Secretary Dr. Jewel Bronaugh announced that she is leaving the Department of Agriculture in the weeks ahead to spend more time with her family. Her service, presence and leadership will be sorely missed. She has been an incredible partner over the last two years, and she has been instrumental in helping the department seize opportunity and address a host of challenges.
  • Delegates at the National Cotton Council’s upcoming annual meeting will review and approve resolutions to help U.S. cotton’s central organization guide the U.S. cotton industry in the coming year. At this forum, set for February 10-12 at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, industry representatives from the 17 cotton-producing states and all seven industry segments will establish policies reflecting common interests and promoting mutual benefits for its broad membership and ancillary industries.
  • GROWMARK, Inc. announced the acquisition of Allied Seed, LLC., based in Nampa, Idaho. Allied Seed offers a full line of forage, turfgrass, and cover crop seed as well as custom production, blending, packaging, and seed treatment services.
  • The nation’s leading agriculture experts and well-known personalities will be featured on the Main Stage during the 2023 Commodity Classic held March 9-11 in Orlando. The Main Stage, presented by Successful Farming and Commodity Classic, is located right on the trade show floor. Presentations are scheduled during trade show hours, and highlights of the Main Stage line-up for 2023 include: Strategies for Success: Where’s the Market Going? with Farm Credit and Kluis Commodity Advisors; Cashing In On Carbon with Garth Boyd of Context Network, sponsored by Truterra; How to Make the Most Success with XtremeAg, sponsored by FMC Corporation; Bring Soil Health to Life, sponsored by Ducks Unlimited; and Generation Next: A Retiring Couple’s Journey to Find a Successor to the Family Farm, presented by Syngenta.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation has named Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor and U.S. ambassador to China, as its next president.
  • The Propane Education & Research Council announces its 2023 Propane Farm Incentive Program, which provides financial incentives of up to $5,000 toward the purchase of qualifying propane equipment — including irrigation engines, power generators, agricultural building and water heating systems and flame weed control systems.
  • The two groups that comprise Minnesota Soybean earned nine first-place awards at the National Agri-Marketing Association’s (NAMA) Region 3 Awards Jan. 19 in Minneapolis.
  • Southern States Cooperative is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023 with events focused on its customers and employees. The agricultural cooperative operates in eight states across the Southeastern U.S. with more than 100 Southern States Cooperative branded retail locations.
  • The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol announced the membership of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO). AEO is a leading global specialty retailer offering high-quality, on-trend clothing, accessories and personal care products through its American Eagle, Aerie, OFFL/NE by Aerie, Todd Snyder and Unsubscribed brands.
  • Silent Shade Planting Company is the 2023 winner of Farm Journal’s annual Top Producer of the Year award. The operation, led by Jeremy and Elizabeth Jack, Stacie Kroger and Willard and Laura Lee Jack, is based in Belzoni, Miss., and includes 11,500 acres of soybeans, corn, cotton and rice, as well as a trucking company. The team also includes 10 full-time and 10 seasonal employees.
  • Beginning February 7, Farm Action and a coalition of organizations representing agriculture, health, faith, academia, conservation, labor, and animal welfare will co-host the Food Not Feed Summit in Washington, D.C., with participants across the country joining virtually. The Summit brings together a first-of-its-kind coalition of diverse perspectives to demonstrate the need and momentum to fundamentally change America’s agriculture policies ahead of 2023 Farm Bill negotiations.
  • Agri-Pulse is pleased to welcome the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives as the Platinum sponsor for the 2023 Ag & Food Policy Summit. The summit offers in-person and virtual attendance options on March 20. This year’s theme is “Next-gen farm and food policy.”
Zimfo Bytes

Making Autonomy Work in Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

L-R: John Appel, Biome Makers; Gabe Sibley, Verdant Robotics;
Michael Kohen, SparkAI; and Omar Gomez, Hectre

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers growers greater efficiency, from self-driving technology to a multitude of applications in the field from planting to postharvest. But in the unstructured environments of agriculture nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

The recent VISION Conference explored that topic in a session called “Making Autonomy Work in Agriculture,” featuring insights and perspectives from companies that are successfully integrating AI in ag.

John Appel, Head of Commercial Sales for Biome Makers, moderated the panel. “What was clear to me is the (companies) that are successful … are really looking to offer tangible cost reductions to a grower that they can measure themselves,” he said.

VISION 2023 interview with John Appel, Biome Makers (4:49)

Verdant Robotics founder and CEO Gabe Sibley says they are already saving growers 50-70 percent because the technology has that kind of value. “We want the growers to know that there’s significant cost savings to be had now,” said Sibley. “We’re really led by what the growers need.”

VISION 2023 interview with Gabe Sibley, Verdant Robotics (5:03)

Michael Kohen is Founder & CEO of SparkAI which is focused on perfecting the technology. “AI is hard to perfect,” he said. “It’s easy to build an AI model that works 95 percent of the time, but it’s that last five percent of unpredictability is a critical barrier that prevents the products from actually getting into the world and providing value.”

VISION 2023 interview with Michael Kohen, SparkAI (5:25)

Also on the panel was Omar Gomez, Washington lead at Hectre, an award-winning fruit tech start-up delivering data visibility via computer vision AI early fruit sizing solutions, and digital orchard management apps.

2023 VISION Conference Photo Album

AI, Audio, robotics, Technology

Soybean CEOs United For Clean Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman

The heads of several state soybean organizations and the American Soybean Association (ASA) sat down together at the first Clean Fuels Conference in Tampa this week to share their perspectives on the changing landscape for agriculture and clean fuels.

Kansas Soybean Association CEO Kaleb Little moderated the conversation with ASA CEO Steve Censky, Iowa Soybean Association CEO Kirk Leeds, North Dakota Soybean Council Executive Director Stephanie Sinner, and New York Corn & Soybean Growers Association Executive Director Colleen Klein.

Clean Fuels soybean CEOs panel (33:13)

While the clean fuels industry has expanded into other areas and other feedstocks, it’s good to remember where it started. “Certainly, it was soybean farmers that founded the biodiesel industry as we know it today…and it still is soybean farmers showing the strong support for the industry,” said Censky in an interview at the conference.

Clean Fuels interview with Steve Censky, American Soybean Association (7:52)

Clean Fuels Conference Blog

2023 Clean Fuels Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Clean Fuels Alliance, Soybean

Precision Ag News 1/25

Carrie Muehling

  • The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) awarded two AE50 recognitions to Case IH. The award-winning innovations include: Early Riser® 2150S front-fold split-row planter and Steiger® series tractor with 3-point hitch system.
  • CNH Industrial announces a minority investment in the US-based ag tech company EarthOptics through its Ventures arm. EarthOptics’ proprietary sensor technology precisely measures the health and structure of soil through a combination of ground-based sensors, satellites, physical soil samples, machine learning models and agronomic expertise.
  • John Deere released Operations Center PRO, an all-new level of the John Deere Operations Center built specifically for ag service providers requiring specialized fleet and logistics management capabilities beyond what is currently provided with Operations Center.
  • Congratulations to the 2023 winners of the World Ag Expo Top-10 New Products Competition. Click here to view product photos and descriptions of the Top-10 New Products.
  • Bayer and the agricultural biotech company Oerth Bio announced a new collaboration seeking to develop the next generation of more sustainable crop protection products. The unique protein degradation technology used by Oerth Bio has the potential to generate products that support Bayer’s sustainability objective to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, via lower application rates and favorable safety profiles.
  • EVOIA and Albaugh announced an agreement to bring an innovative seed treatment solution to seed companies and farmers. Under the supply and distribution agreement, Albaugh’s experienced seed treatment team will now offer the new AmpliFYR product for their customers. This innovative and proprietary seed treatment for row crops improves crop establishment, increases seedling root and shoot growth, and enhances the ability of the seedling to tolerate abiotic stress.
  • Nutrien Ag Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of Nutrien Ltd., and John Deere jointly announced the release of advanced digital connectivity between the John Deere Operations Center and Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Digital Hub. This connectivity enables both companies to better serve growers by optimizing logistics and enabling variable rate agronomic recommendations to be seamlessly transferred to their equipment for execution. In addition, the two companies announced a multi-year commitment to deepen the integration and jointly develop streamlined solutions so that growers can more easily benefit from precision ag technology.
  • Seven new agtech startup companies that are addressing today’s most pressing farm and food production and sustainability issues have been selected to participate in AgLaunch365, a world-class accelerator program conducted by Memphis-based AgLaunch Initiative.
  • Crop Nutrition Week will connect growers and agronomy experts for five days of online learning Feb. 6-10. The week, in its inaugural year, will feature a wide range of topics that answer growers’ biggest questions, from how to balance fertilizer input costs and yield goals to how to understand and act on soil test results.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

BHN Announces Leadership Expansion

Cindy Zimmerman

Bio Huma Netics, Inc. (BHN), a leading miner and manufacturer of raw humates (humic and fulvic acids) as well as creator of soil amendments and crop nutrients based on humic technologies, has announced new leadership to better align with the company’s continued growth and strategic goals. In addition, the BHN Research and Development Center has welcomed two new members from Brazil. The newly promoted and appointed individuals stepped into their new roles this month as BHN prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.

With these new developments, the BHN executive leadership team includes Lyndon Smith, Jonathan Plehn, Justin Smith, Steve Lunt, Melanie Parkinson, Mike Boyd and Fred Nichols.

Jonathan Plehn is the new president of BHN. He succeeds Lyndon Smith, who will continue to serve as chief executive officer. Plehn joined BHN in 2020 as the chief financial officer (CFO) with more than 20 years of experience as a proven leader in the global finance sector.

Steve Lunt has been promoted to chief financial officer, succeeding Plehn. Lunt is a finance and accounting professional with a career spanning 17 years in progressive leadership within world-class business environments including Big 4 experience.

Fred Nichols came on board as the chief marketing officer in October 2022. Having worked in 20 countries with a range of clients, Nichols brings more than 30 years of agricultural marketing experience.

Dr. Mirella Santos and Dr. Daniel Zandonadi are married visiting scientists from Brazil joining the research and development center. Santos has joined BHN as senior plant cell and molecular biologist and Zandonadi is senior plant physiologist/agronomist.

AgWired Precision, Nutrient Management, people, Precision Agriculture, Soil

Clean Fuels Industry United as One

Cindy Zimmerman

Clean Fuels Alliance America CEO Donnell Rehagen welcomed representatives of an industry united as one for a sustainable energy future at the first ever Clean Fuels Conference in Tampa, Florida Tuesday. Formally the National Biodiesel Conference, the new focus encompasses biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

“We are united with federal and state legislators and regulators who are looking for ways to reduce emissions,” said Rehagen. “We’re also united with consumers. They are the ones who are driving the demand for clean fuels.”

Rehagen says the industry is very optimistic about the demand for clean fuels but admits they face a policy hurdle with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Renewable Fuel Standard volumes. “We didn’t think these RVOs were very consistent with the last announcements for the previous year where they were much more aggressive on the biomass diesel side,” Rehagen said during a press availability. Noting that the EPA proposal includes multiple years, Rehagen said, “That could be a good thing when you start thinking about signals. If they get it right, it’s a really good thing. We believe they got it wrong for our industry, so that makes it not a very good thing at all.”

Listen to Rehagen’s remarks and press conference below:

Opening general session – Clean Fuels Alliance America CEO Donnell Rehagen annual address
Clean Fuels CEO Donnell Rehagen opening remarks (21:41)

Clean Fuels CEO Donnell Rehagen press conference
Clean Fuels CEO Donnell Rehagen presser (11:09)

2023 Clean Fuels Conference Photo Album

Clean Fuels Conference Blog

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Clean Fuels Alliance

Truterra Launches Sustainability Services

Cindy Zimmerman

Truterra, LLC, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes cooperative, is announcing the launch of Truterra™ sustainability services, a comprehensive suite of agronomic and financial resources designed to meet farmers where they are at every stage of their sustainability journey and to encourage adoption of regenerative farming practices by working to remove one of the biggest barriers to practice change – fear of lost profitability and productivity of their acres.

Truterra sustainability services focuses on working with farmers to plan, make and maintain sustainability practice changes, including:
Making a plan: The Truterra™ soil health assessment and plan sets quantifiable soil health baselines and provides custom recommendations to improve overall soil health and resiliency. The soil health assessment brings much-needed locally relevant context to soil health measures for farmers to understand more about their soil health status, potential for improvement and to help create a roadmap toward improved soil health. After a successful 2022 pilot across several states including Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, Truterra is expanding the soil health assessment to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The soil health assessment offering builds on the robust conservation agronomy support already being delivered through Truterra and Winfield United networks of trusted local ag retail advisors and its farmer support team.
Creating a pathway to make change: Truterra’s market access program is an on-ramp for eligible farmers considering adopting new regenerative practices on their fields. Farmers can potentially receive $2/acre to begin building the baseline data required to participate in future carbon program opportunities. In addition, farmers have the opportunity to participate in the WinField United Advanced Acre® Rx prescription plan1 – a component of which provides a warranty to offset part of the risk of this practice change implementation.
Being rewarded for transition: For fields that have made eligible practice changes within the last four years, qualified farmers can potentially earn between $15-$30 per tonne of new carbon stored through Truterra’s 2023 carbon program which is now open for enrollment through February 28. Truterra offers farmers earning potential by paying based on results – carbon stored – rather than a set payment per acre.

As part of sustainability services, Truterra’s 2023 carbon program is now open for enrollment and Truterra is also working to develop additional opportunities for farmers to be rewarded for their stewardship, such as the USDA-funded Climate SMART (Scaling Mechanisms for Agriculture’s Regenerative Transformation) project to scale production and demand for climate-smart corn, soybean, wheat, cotton and milk production.

Truterra’s 2022 carbon program is expected to pay farmers more than $4.5 million total in cash payments for nearly 237,000 tonnes of carbon stored in soils. The program delivered 220 participating farmers an average payment per participating farmer of $24,842. Full results for the 2022 program will be released in the coming months once all payments have been finalized.

Interested farmers can learn more and find the program that is right for them at Truterraag.com/enroll or contact their local Truterra retail partner.

carbon, Sustainability

How Technology Will Help Future Food System

Cindy Zimmerman

Rob Dongoski is the Global Food & Agribusiness Lead with the corporate consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young) which has as its purpose to build a better working world. His purpose as keynote speaker for day two of the 2023 VISION Conference was to discuss How Technology Will Enable the Future Food System – from Producers to Consumers.

As consumers want to know more about their food and there is a bigger focus on sustainability, “the opportunity to leverage technology in the food system is phenomenal right now,” said Dongoski. “As a society, what we’re leaning in on is friendliness to our planet, so how do we improve some of our practices using technology to make it more planet-friendly.”

At the same time, farmers need to know more about consumer trends than ever before to be able to respond to them in the marketplace. “So as consumers shift away from certain types of foods, are they producing something on the down cycle or could they shift over to something that may be on the growth cycle,” Dongoski explained.

More and more we are all getting information and making decisions with our phones as it relates to food, which provides new opportunities for interaction. “People want to be served by their phones. Particularly the Gen Zs and Millennials have grown up always having a phone, their channel starts with the phone,” said Dongoski. “Whether it’s delivery folks, or directly through stores or restaurants, I think we’re just starting to see the opportunity.”

VISION 2023 interview with Rob Dongoski, Ernst & Young (4:55)

AgWired Precision, AI, Audio, Food

Alltech Releases 2023 Agri-Food Outlook

Cindy Zimmerman

Alltech released its 2023 Alltech Agri-Food Outlook today, showing global feed production remained steady in 2022 at 1.266 billion metric tons, a decrease of less than one-half of one percent (0.42%) from 2021. The annual survey, now in its 12th year, includes data from 142 countries and more than 28,000 feed mills.

Europe bore the brunt of the impact, including significant disease challenges, severe weather and the impacts of the invasion of Ukraine. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had major impacts on the agri-food sector, contributing to supply chain challenges and accelerating the adoption of new technology and environmental sustainability practices.

The top 10 feed-producing countries over the past year were China (260.739 million metric tons [MMT]), the U.S. (240.403 MMT), Brazil (81.948 MMT), India (43.360 MMT), Mexico (40.138 MMT), Russia (34.147 MMT), Spain (31.234 MMT), Vietnam (26.720 MMT), Argentina (25.736 MMT) and Germany (24.396 MMT). Together, the top 10 countries produced 64% of the world’s feed production, and half of the world’s global feed consumption is concentrated in four countries: China, the U.S., Brazil and India. Vietnam experienced a great recovery in terms of its feed tonnage in 2022, entering the top 10 ahead of Argentina and Germany and crowding out Turkey, which reported reduced feed tonnage. Russia overtook Spain, where there was a significant reduction in feed production.

Key observations from the survey:

Feed production increased in several regions, including Latin America (1.6%), North America (0.88%) and Oceania (0.32%), while Europe decreased by 4.67%, Africa by 3.86% and the Asia-Pacific region also dropped 0.51%.

Globally, increases in feed tonnage were reported in the aquaculture, broiler, layer and pet food sectors, while decreases were reported in the beef, dairy and pig sectors.

Although it experienced a narrow reduction in feed production, China remains the largest feed-producing country in the world, followed by the United States and Brazil.

See the survey results here.

Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Feed, Food, Livestock, Poultry

Agri-Pulse Expands California Staff

Cindy Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., is pleased to announce the addition of Burke Kennedy as western sales associate for the digital media company.

“Burke will support the continued expansion of Agri-Pulse West subscriptions, advertising and event sponsorship in the California market,” said Jason Lutz, Agri-Pulse sales and marketing manager. “We’ve experienced steady growth since our launch in 2019 and look forward to continuing that upward trend.”

Kennedy has a background in the grower/shipper industry and precision agriculture. Most recently, he worked for Green Rubber Kennedy Ag, providing solutions to food processors and growers through various agricultural and industrial product lines. He also worked with PlantTape to increase crop yield, improve efficiency and lower per-acre cost for growers through automated transplanting systems.

He was born and raised in California’s Salinas Valley, where his family grows, both conventionally and organically, leafy greens, fresh vegetables and strawberries. Kennedy graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business.

Agri-Pulse, Media