Agri-Pulse Newsmakers debuts on RFD-TV in 2023

Cindy Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse Communications is launching its national news show, Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, on RFD-TV, Rural America’s Most Important Network. The show premiers on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, at 11 a.m. ET.

“Our editorial team has demonstrated a strong ability to bring people together for high-level discussions that can both inform and engage,” said Agri-Pulse Founder and Editor Sara Wyant. “We have had great success with Agri-Pulse Newsmakers since our launch in February and this is the next step in bringing this unique policy programming to an even larger audience with RFD-TV.”

The new television show features members of Congress, federal and state officials, ag and food leaders, farmers and roundtable panelists for debates and discussions. These issues will be extremely important with the farm bill being debated in a new Congress, along with many other critical ag and food policy issues.

In addition to Agri-Pulse’s unique distribution to Capitol Hill and viewers across the country, RFD-TV will air the 30-minute program as an encore on Saturdays at 11 a.m. ET, rebroadcasting later in the week for 52 weeks. It will also be available for live streaming and on demand on RFD-TV Now.

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers is currently broadcast on Agri-Pulse.com and distributed through other partner channels. It is also available in podcast form on Agri-Pulse.com, iTunes, Google Play and Spotify.

Agri-Pulse, Farm Policy

Animal Ag News 12/19

Carrie Muehling

  • Students from Oklahoma State University and Auburn University took home the top prizes in the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2022 College Aggies Online scholarship program. Participants reached more than 8.5 million people online and in their local communities over the course of the nine-week competition. More than $18,000 was awarded in scholarships to students and clubs.
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association welcomed Steve Johnson back as Associate Director of Policy Communications. Steve most recently worked for the Office of Spokane County Board of Commissioners in Washington state. He previously worked at NCBA in the D.C. office from 2019 – 2021.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) opened the application for public policy internships for the fall 2023 semester. This internship program is conducted in conjunction with the Public Lands Council (PLC) and offers interns an opportunity to support the advocacy work of NCBA and PLC in Washington, D.C.
  • Ralco announced that Dr. Josh Knapp has joined the company as an Associate Swine Nutritionist on their growing Swine Technical Team. Dr. Knapp will be responsible for working with Ralco’s customers and sales team to formulate diets and solve customer problems using patented natural approaches.
  • Updated research, supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, quantifies the U.S. poultry industry’s on-farm antibiotic use, including a new section on layer production. The new report shows further improved antibiotic stewardship and commitment to disease prevention within poultry production. As part of its commitment to the transparency and sustainability of a safe food supply, the poultry industry aims to strike a balance between the responsible use of antibiotics “medically important” to human health and keeping poultry flocks healthy.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Industry Ag News 12/16

Carrie Muehling

  • Registration is now open for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s 59th Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held February 8-10, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, FL.
  • GROWMARK, Inc. announced the election of a new Chairman to its Board of Directors. Kevin Malchine of Waterford, Wisconsin will serve as chairman effective immediately. Malchine previously served as a vice chair on the GROWMARK Board of Directors, in addition to operating a corn and soybean farm with his wife Kelly, and his brother and nephew. He has served on the Board since 2012.
  • A new survey of more than 150 equipment manufacturing companies released today by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) warns that U.S. equipment manufacturers continue to face supply chain issues and a persistent labor shortage nearly three years after the onset of the pandemic.
  • The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC), US Cotton Trust Protocol, Manulife Investment Management, and Forum for the Future announce the launch of an Eco-Harvest pilot project in Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee. This project will work with cotton farmers to generate high quality carbon and greenhouse gas credits on over 2,300 acres.
  • After five years of outreach and education by farm groups, a new poll shows increased awareness and willingness to talk about the opioid crisis among rural adults, compared to 2017. Sixty percent say adults in their community are more aware of the crisis than they were five years ago, and nearly 8 in 10 adults (77%) report feeling comfortable having a conversation about opioids. However, survey results also reveal that more rural adults believe there is a higher rate of opioid misuse in rural communities than in the rest of the country (urban and suburban areas), compared to five years ago. The percentage of rural adults who say they know someone who is or has been addicted to opioids or prescription painkillers remains close to half. To help increase awareness of mental healthcare resources, American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union have consistently worked to publicize and compile useful material to help address rural stress, mental health challenges and opioid misuse.
  • The American Soybean Association announced Melanie Fitzpatrick will join its senior management team Jan. 3. Fitzpatrick, who most recently worked as vice president of The Center for Food Integrity and Look East Public Relations, will fill the vacancy of Bill Schuermann, who retired this month after 15 years serving soy in the role.
Zimfo Bytes

Beltwide Cotton Conferences Will Ring in New Year

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Cotton Council and its cooperating partners will welcome in the new year at the 2023 Beltwide Cotton Conferences January 10 through 12 in New Orleans, which for many of us will be the first meeting of the year.

Beltwide is three days of individual reports, panel discussions, hands on workshops and seminars designed to provide attendees with information they need to help producers make key cotton production/marketing-related decisions. A dynamic program, along with the opportunity to network with peers from across the Cotton Belt, make this conference both educational and enjoyable.

Lauren Krogman is the National Cotton Council’s Manager for Marketing & Processing Technology and serves as coordinator of the event. “What the Beltwide Cotton Conferences are is 12 concurrent conferences from sustainability, to consultants conference, and weed conference,” said Krogman.

Something new this year is that independent crop consultants and producers are now offered the same discounted registration rate as students, which is $80 through midnight central time today and only $100 starting tomorrow, compared to $250. “We want to make sure we are getting in as many producers and consultants as we can,” Krogman said.

Learn more about the 2023 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in this interview with Krogman.
2023 Beltwide Cotton preview - Lauren Krogman, NCC 6:23

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

Precision Ag News 12/14

Carrie Muehling

  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing an additional $325 million for 71 projects under the second funding pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities effort, bringing the total investment from both funding pools to over $3.1 billion for 141 tentatively selected projects.
  • Due to its achievements in digital transformation, Ceres Solutions has been named the 2022 recipient of The Scoop’s Business Innovation Award, sponsored by EFC Systems by Ever.Ag. The award was presented at the Agricultural Retailers Association Conference and Expo on Dec. 1 in San Diego.
  • CNH Industrial unveiled the next step in alternative power for agriculture at its Tech Day event in Phoenix, Arizona. New Holland Agriculture, one of our global agricultural brands, presented the T7 Methane Power LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) pre-production prototype tractor.
  • Results are in for World Ag Expo’s 2023 Top-10 New Products Competition. The winners will be showcased February 14-16, 2023 during the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.
  • JUA Technologies International, an agriculture technology startup that manufactures solar-powered crop dehydrators, has received a two-year, $600,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to further develop its technology.
  • ExoPolymer, Inc., a winner of the Consider Corn Challenge II, recently announced a new partnership with CP Kelco, which takes ExoPolymer’s technology one step closer to commercialization. The partnership with CP Kelco will help ExoPolymer scale up production of a polysaccharide-based biopolymer. ExoPolymer is creating a new profile of customizable, polysaccharide-based hydrocolloids that are domestically produced by microbial fermentation using corn sugar as a feedstock.
  • Combine harvester sales remain positive, joined by 4WD units for both the U.S. and Canadian markets, while total tractors fell in both countries according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Total U.S. ag equipment unit sales fell overall, though the largest units grew. U.S. total farm tractor sales fell 20.8 percent for the month of November compared to 2021, with the sub-40hp segment leading losses at 27.9 percent.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

ZimmCast 703 – Introducing AgriCap Group, LLC

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

As you know, our theme here on AgWired has always been, “What’s new in the world of agribusiness.” And in this program we’re going to learn about a relatively new way for farmers, ag processors and cooperatives to have more control over their own risk protection. There is more to the story in my interview with Dennis Daggett, a partner with AgriCap Group, LLC out of Minnesota. We had a great conversation during the recent AgGateway Annual Meeting.

Dennis DaggettOur team has cultivated relationships with top insurance companies to develop unique and cost-effective insurance solutions. By bringing together top re-insurers, captive insurance managers, and service providers we help farmers, ag processors and cooperatives retain the investment and tax advantages being lost to commercial insurance companies.

We are experienced professionals with a ‘hands-on’ approach to Ag Risk Management and Protection. Our reinsurers have earned an ‘Excellent’ rating from A.M. Best for over 50 years. This rating proves that they have the financial strength to pay your claims and give you peace of mind when you need it most.

So, listen in as Dennis tells us all about AgriCap and how farmers and their ag partners can find out more.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 703 - Introducing AgriCap Group, LLC (20:54)

Want to sponsor the ZimmCast? Just let me know and we can talk through ideas for your company. I’m AgriBlogger on Twitter or just email me at chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

Agribusiness, Audio, Crop Insurance, Insurance, ZimmCast

Truterra and SWCS Research Shows Cover Crops’ Value

Cindy Zimmerman

Truterra, LLC, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes, Inc., and the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) have just announced preliminary findings from the first of a three-year on-farm trial to evaluate the use of cover crops to build soil health, reduce erosion, sequester carbon and improve return on investment. The research was conducted across more than 2,400 acres in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Key findings from the first year of the trial include:
 
· Trial acres were net carbon negative, sequestering nearly three times as much greenhouse gas than check fields without cover crops emitted, on average;
·  Sheet and rill erosion was cut in half and wind erosion was reduced by nearly three quarters (72%); and
·  Analytics from the Truterra sustainability tool, which quantifies trial participants’ stewardship actions, found that cover-cropped fields showed an average improvement of 8 points to their sustainability score. The 0-100 scale looks at overall sustainability of the field; the higher the number the better.

The trial is part of a $1.5 million USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant On-Farm Trials (CIG-OFT) awarded in 2019 and is being conducted in partnership with Truterra-aligned retailer cooperatives Alliance Ag and Grain, Frontier Cooperative and Heartland Cooperative. Participating farmers and retailers use the Truterra™ sustainability tool to measure the performance of trial acres that implemented cover crops against the performance of a non-cover cropped control group. Participating farmers are also receiving scientific support through SWCS to help evaluate environmental outcomes, giving them the information needed to consider adopting these regenerative practices more widely across their operations in the future.

AgWired Precision, carbon, Conservation, cover crops, Soil, Water

Announcing the Alltech ONE World Tour 2023

Cindy Zimmerman

The Alltech ONE Conference is coming to a country near you in 2023.

Alltech is transforming its annual Alltech ONE Conference (ONE) in 2023 into a series of international events that will invite collaboration on the greatest challenges facing the agri-food industry. Instead of welcoming the world to Alltech’s home in Lexington, Kentucky, as it has for the past 38 years, the Alltech ONE World Tour will bring the ideas and inspiration of the ONE Conference to communities throughout the world.

Stops are planned in Brazil, Canada, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, the Middle East the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, the United States and Vietnam, providing the opportunity for more people than ever to experience the power of ONE and to hear from experts on trending topics in the agriculture industry. Additional stops are expected to be announced in 2023.

“As our customers and partners continue to face many challenges and uncertainties, we determined that 2023 would be dedicated to meeting them in their market,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO. “This special edition of the ONE will endeavor to deliver global expertise to locally relevant issues. In the midst of economic and political uncertainties that fuel regionalization, this ONE reflects the responsibility we have as a global company to be a connector of people and ideas, ever advancing our purpose of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty.”

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Health, International

Animal Ag News 12/12

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Pork Producers Council is pleased to announce that Julie Schwalbe has accepted the director of industry resource development position for the National Pork Producers Council. Schwalbe will oversee the Pork Alliance membership retention and recruitment, serve as a member of the World Pork Expo team, assist with raising Pork PAC funding and attract revenue from sponsorships thru business development.
  • The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) recently announced that it has extended the enrollment and coverage election period for 2023 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) to Jan. 31, 2023. The program’s previous deadline was Dec. 9, 2022.
  • At the annual Celebration of Dairy event held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., International Dairy Foods Association President and CEO Michael Dykes, D.V.M., recognized Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, Congressman John Garamendi of California, Congressman Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Mr. Daniel Maffei, and Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Mr. Frank Yiannas of the Food and Drug Administration, with the IDFA Leadership Award.
  • Ralco has announced the expansion of their poultry line with Essential Dry XP, a litter treatment for targeted ammonia control. Essential Dry XP contains diatomaceous earth (DE), yucca schidigera and patented essential oils and is OMRI Listed for organic production.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) welcomed the release of a final rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stand up the Cattle Contract Library Pilot Program. This program was authorized following NCBA’s engagement with Congress on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.
  • The U.S. is facing an alarming shortfall of veterinarians to treat livestock and poultry in rural areas, threatening public health, food safety, and economic growth in communities that depend on agriculture, according to a new report commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation.
  • Vytelle announced the relocation of their global headquarters from Hermiston, Oregon to Lenexa, Kansas effective immediately. Kansas City – located 25 minutes from the Vytelle’s new global headquarters – is home to largest concentration of industry professionals devoted to the health, well-being, and genetic progress of animals.
  • The Heart of America Grazing Conference will take place Feb. 20-21 at the Ferdinand Community Center in Ferdinand, Indiana. Hosted by the Indiana Forage Council, with input from Purdue Extension, the annual event will feature forage and grazing experts from across the nation.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

#ASTACSS Looks at Political Lay of the Land

Cindy Zimmerman

L-R: Davie Stephens, Mary Kay Thatcher, Karis Gutter, Jon Doggett

The closing panel before the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo 2022 bid farewell to Chicago last week took a look at the political lay of the land with some industry experts offering insights into what the midterm elections mean for agriculture and the impacts of the new Farm Bill.

The panel was moderated by ASTA Senior Director of Government Affairs Janae Brady and featured Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta; Karis Gutter, Corteva Agriscience; Jon Doggett, National Corn Growers Association; and Kentucky farmer and past chair of the American Soybean Association Davie Stephens.

Brady says major current issues for ASTA include climate, competition, intellectual property rights, trade, supply chain, and the bioeconomy, but most important in the coming year will be the farm bill. “ASTA was directly involved in the 2018 Farm Bill getting policies in place that impact the industry, particularly in the research title,” she said, noting that ASTA is already providing input on the upcoming farm bill discussions, providing testimony last week at a Senate Agriculture committee hearing.

Lots more in the conversation from different perspectives:
ASTACSS Political Lay of the Land panel 47:48

Doggett, who is retiring as CEO of NCGA at the end of the year after more than 20 years with the organization, lamented the ability of Congress to even do basic tasks like pass spending bills on time. “The House and Senate ag committees are the last bastions of bipartisanship in Washington DC and that is eroding,” said Doggett. “A Congress that can go ahead and blow off the deadlines for spending bills and not deal with really important things that effect millions of Americans…what are they going to do with a farm bill when things get more and more contentious.”

Chuck talked with Jon a little bit about his career on Capitol Hill for the past 34 years as he prepares to move on to whatever comes next.
ASTACSS Interview with Jon Doggett, NCGA 6:06

2022 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo Photo Album

Find more audio from ASTACSS in the virtual newsroom for the event

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio, Corn, NCGA, politics, Syngenta