New AEI Premium Podcast Explores Farm Financing

Cindy Zimmerman

The third season of the award-winning AEI Premium Presents podcast series tackles how farm financing works, and when it doesn’t, in the latest podcast “Nothing Borrowed, Nothing Gained.”

This season, hosts Sarah Mock, Brent Gloy, and David Widmar are back, along with a team of experts. Together, they will shine a spotlight on the often mysterious world of agricultural lending. How does a farm loan work? Where, exactly, does the money that farmers borrow come from? How do interest rates impact lenders and borrowers? Farmers, agribusiness leaders, farm policy wonks, and students are each sure to glean insights.

“This season, we connect the dots from the farm to the Federal Reserve and ponder where the future of farm financing may be headed during uncertain times.” said AEI Premium co-founder and “Nothing Borrowed, Nothing Gained” co-host David Widmar. ”You’ll walk away with an answer to the question: just how risky is ag credit?”

“Nothing Borrowed Nothing Gained” builds on themes from the first two seasons of AEI’s podcast, “Escaping 1980” and “Corn Saves America.” Season one explored the causes, impacts, and lasting effects of one of the most infamous events in American agriculture history – the 1980s farm crisis – so listeners could better understand today’s farm economy. Season two explored the history of the ethanol boom for insights into what might be ahead for carbon markets.

Listen to a recent interview with Widmar here.
2022 Tech Hub LIVE interview with David Widmar, AEI 6:03

Audio, Farm Credit, Farming

Export Exchange Underway in Minneapolis

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2022 Export Exchange welcomed hundreds of buyers and sellers of U.S. coarse grains and co-products to Minneapolis Wednesday evening for a reception prior to the official kickoff of the event Thursday.

“It’s looking great,” said Chad Willis, a farmer from Minnesota and past chair of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC). “After COVID, everybody wanted to get out and be in person again so our attendance is phenomenal.”

It was 2018 when the Export Exchange was last held and being a biennial event, missing 2020 due to the pandemic means four years have gone by since international buyers have been able to visit and meeting grain suppliers face to face. “What I’ve noticed is how important it is for these countries to know where their grain comes from,” said Willis. “A lot of buyers from overseas have been here the last few days and some will be staying on and going on tours of farms, ethanol plants, elevators, ports.”

Listen to an interview with Willis here.
Export Exchange interview with Chad Willis, MN farmer 3:16

2022 Export Exchange Photo Album

Audio, Exports, Feed, Grains, USGC

Corn and Soybean Crop Down from September

Cindy Zimmerman

Corn and soybean production took another step down this month compared to September 2022, according to USDA’s latest Crop Production report.

Based on conditions as of Oct. 1, corn yields are now expected to average 171.9 bushels per harvested acre, down 0.6 bushel from the previous forecast and down 4.8 bushels from 2021. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 80.8 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast. Corn production is down 8% from last year, forecast at 13.9 billion bushels.

Also based on conditions as of Oct. 1, soybean yields are expected to average 49.8 bushels per acre, down 0.7 bushel from the previous forecast and down 1.9 bushels from 2021. Area harvested for beans is forecast at 86.6 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but up slightly from 2021. Soybean production is expected to be 3% lower than 2021, forecast at 4.31 billion bushels.

The report also included a production forecast for U.S. cotton. All cotton production is forecast at 13.8 million 480-pound bales, down slightly from the previous forecast and down 21% from 2021. Based on conditions as of Oct. 1, yields are expected to average 842 pounds per harvested acre, down 1 pound from the previous forecast but up 23 pounds from 2021.

USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates for this month’s 2022/23 U.S. corn outlook is for reduced supplies, greater feed and residual use, lower exports and corn used for ethanol, and smaller ending stocks.

Corn supplies are forecast at 15.322 billion bushels, a decline of 172 million bushels from last month, as lower production and beginning stocks are partially offset by higher imports. Exports are lowered 125 million bushels reflecting smaller supplies and slow early-season demand. Projected feed and residual use is raised 50 million bushels based on indicated disappearance during 2021/22. Corn used for ethanol is lowered 50 million bushels. With supply falling more than use, corn ending stocks for 2022/23 are cut 47 million bushels.

Lower soybean production is partly offset by higher beginning stocks, supplies are reduced 31 million bushels. Soybean exports are reduced 40 million bushels to 2.05 billion with increased competition from South America.

Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA

Precision Ag News 10/12

Carrie Muehling

  • According to Syngenta agronomists, environmental conditions in many geographies are prime this year for above-ground ear-feeding insects such as corn earworm and western bean cutworm. As corn harvest begins, Syngenta agronomists remind growers to assess this year’s pest pressure and use the information to build a plan that protects yield potential in 2023.
  • The Walmart Foundation has awarded the National FFA Foundation Inc. a grant of $750,000 to incorporate sustainability principles in school education. The National FFA Foundation will leverage the expertise of the National FFA Organization to develop these educational resources.
  • Fusionware, a leading end-to-end ‘cloud-based’ supply chain platform, announces integration with John Deere Operation Center™ precision ag, data management software.
  • American Farmland Trust, Edelen Renewables and Arcadia announced a partnership, Farmers Powering Communities, to combat climate change through solar energy development while protecting America’s farmland and ranchland for growing food, fuel and fiber. The partnership provides more farmers with the opportunity for a new revenue stream and brings renewable energy to communities where it has not yet been available.
  • Farmers for Sustainable Food, a collaborative, industry-supported effort to promote and support farmer-led solutions to environmental challenges, released its first annual progress report. The nonprofit organization of food system partners grew to 40 members in 2021, up 14 from 2020.
  • Isaac Mazor, Founder and CEO of Nanovel Ltd. reveals a revolutionary autonomous tree fruit harvester. Mazor is a successful serial entrepreneur in the field of semiconductors leveraging his experience to solve this complex technological challenge in agriculture.
  • In honor of National Farmer’s Day on Oct. 12, the National Inventors Hall of Fame is proud to celebrate 2022 Inductee Frank Zybach, inventor of center-pivot irrigation. In the mid-20th century, Nebraska farmer Frank Zybach invented center-pivot irrigation and transformed agricultural production worldwide. Using Zybach’s machine, farmers in the semi-arid regions of the Great Plains could efficiently irrigate acres at a time and thereby increase yields on previously marginal land. By 2013, center pivots irrigated nearly 28 million acres on 57,000 U.S. farms, making it the most widely used irrigation technology in the country.
  • AMVAC announced the launch of AMVAC Academy, a new online learning management system (LMS) for continuing education and training in agriculture. The state-of-the-art LMS provides retailers, farmers, advisors, and consultants a new opportunity to stay current with technical, agronomic, and product information. Registration verified by AMVAC and a login utilizing the user’s email address and password are required for access to AMVAC Academy.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Congratulations to NAMA 2022 PDA Award Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

Lori HallowellDuring the 2022 NAMA Fall Conference the winners of the organization’s Professional Development Awards of Excellence are presented their awards. In the photo is Lori Hallowell, Bader Rutter, who received the PDA for Public Relations. Presenting are NAMA President, Deron Johnson, Curious Plot and Don Tourte, Farm Progress, the sponsor of the awards.

Lori made remarks after receiving her award which includes her background and how passionate she is with her career, company and NAMA. You can listen to her remarks here:
Remarks from Lori Hallowell (6:53)

Also receiving a NAMA 2022 PDA Award was Bob Wilhelm, Bayer CropScience, for Marketing Communications. Bob could not attend but sent a recorded video from which I pulled his remarks which you can listen to here: Remarks from Bob Wilhelm (1:13)

2022 NAMA Fall Conference Photo Album

Agencies, Audio, Marketing, NAMA, Public Relations

Jacqui Fatka Joins Agri-Pulse Team

Cindy Zimmerman

Jacqui Fatka and Secy Vilsack at 2022 Farm Progress Show

Agri-Pulse Communications proudly announces the addition of veteran farm policy reporter Jacqui Fatka as associate editor to continue expanding the firm’s coverage of key food, feed, fiber and farm policy issues.

“Jacqui is an experienced journalist with a strong reputation for providing readers with balanced and comprehensive coverage,” says Agri-Pulse Founder and Editor Sara Wyant. “Her expertise, drive and dedication will be valuable assets on our team and will play an integral role in growing Agri-Pulse’s already outstanding coverage.”

Fatka most recently worked as a policy editor for Farm Progress, where she covered a wide variety of topics including the farm bill, agricultural trade, federal regulations and court rulings. During her 19-year career at Farm Progress, she also covered grain and biofuels issues for the weekly newspaper Feedstuffs, providing news and insights related to the feed and protein industries.

A native of Iowa, Fatka grew up on a diversified livestock and grain farm in the southwest part of the state. She graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications and a minor in agriculture education. She currently lives with her husband and three children on a small acreage north of Columbus, Ohio. She also serves as executive secretary-treasurer for the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) where she helps coordinate member activities.

Fatka will join the Agri-Pulse editorial staff Oct. 17. Congrats to both Jacqui and Agri-Pulse!

Agri-Pulse, Media, people

Animal Ag News 10/10

Carrie Muehling

  • Families can expect to pay record high prices at the grocery store for turkey this upcoming holiday season thanks to the impacts of the bird flu and inflation. American Farm Bureau Federation economists analyzed turkey and egg costs in their latest Market Intel.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 CME Group Beef Industry Scholarship. Ten scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded to outstanding students pursuing careers in the beef industry.
  • Vytelle released their participation in a pilot project that is part of the USDA Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative. This project, led by Low Carbon Beef, a certification company, will implement climate-smart methods in beef production, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, expanding climate-smart markets, and generating carbon credit revenue for producers.
  • The National Bison Association, in cooperation with Ruhter Bison LLC and the Illinois/Indiana Bison Association, will hold its next Regenerative Bison Ranching Field Day in and around Crystal Lake, IL on Saturday, October 15th.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, The National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Farmers of America, issued a study quantifying the benefits of modern dairy technologies and how they have positively impacted consumers, dairy farmers and cows over the past 15 years.
  • The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, opened its new research facility during a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the U.S. National Poultry Research Center.
  • Register for the free Stockmanship & Stewardship virtual event to be held Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. This online version of the popular in-person event provides an opportunity for cattle producers to learn about beef sustainability and livestock welfare, how consumer concerns have impacted the industry, and the role that Beef Quality Assurance plays in the conversation.
  • Trust In Beef has named Chad Ellis, a rancher from Lohn, Texas, and CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, as founding chair of the collaborative value chain program. Ellis is a longtime conservation agriculture executive whose deep experience includes leadership roles at Noble Research Institute and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Industry Ag News 10/7

Cindy Zimmerman

  • Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. has announced that Willie Loh, Ph.D., was named to the Company’s Board of Directors effective October 4, 2022. Dr. Loh previously served as a Special Commercial and Technical Advisor to the company and was formerly Vice President, Market Development of Cargill Inc.’s Global Edible Oils Solutions group in North America.
  • Bushel, an independently-owned software technology company focused on developing solutions for the grain supply chain, has named Kevin Donalds as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Donalds will be leading efforts in the company’s budgeting, long-term planning, reporting, legal, regulatory and auditing processes.
  • Four leading independent agricultural organizations from Australia, Canada, the European Union, and United States have formed a collaborative initiative known as the Global Forum on Farm Policy and Innovation (GFFPI) to increase the sustainability of agriculture across the world. Farm Foundation, together with Australian Farm Institute, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, and Forum for the Future of Agriculture have been working together informally for the past year to better understand key issues and seek areas of alignment for collaboration. Leaders from the four organizations recently convened at Farm Foundation’s offices in Illinois for the purpose of taking this further step in formalizing the collaboration.
  • In advance of the Canadian Agri-food Marketers Alliance’s (CAMA) Best of CAMA awards event next month, the organization announces the winners of this year’s top three industry awards – Ben Lanthier, National CAMA Honour Roll Award, Rob Hannam Agri-Marketer of
    the Year and Len Kahn, CAMA Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • Commodity Classic is bringing the agriculture industry together again in-person March 9-11, 2023, in Orlando. There is still time for exhibitors to submit a proposal by October 14 to sponsor “What’s New” and “Mini What’s New” educational sessions.
  • Registration is open for the 2023 Beltwide Cotton Conferences (BWCC) January 10-12 at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, La. The BWCC, coordinated by the National Cotton Council, annually brings together university and USDA researchers, regulatory agencies, extension personnel/agents, consultants, and industry sales/support personnel to share the latest cotton industry information.
Ag Groups, Agribusiness, ZimmNews

Dairy Industry Faces Labor Shortage

Cindy Zimmerman

A coalition of organizations representing farm labor, dairy business, cooperatives, and the food industry held a press event this week at World Dairy Expo to draw attention to the labor shortage being faced by dairy farmers.

The American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action), Edge Dairy/Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, National Milk Producers Federation, the American Dairy Coalition, Indiana Dairy Producers, the Cooperative Network, AmericanHort, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and Midwest Food Products Association hosted the event entitled “Lower Food Prices, Keep Shelves Stocked: Common Sense Solutions to Wisconsin’s Farm Labor Shortage.”

With Senate negotiations ongoing, the event called attention to the urgency of fixing Wisconsin’s and the nation’s farm labor shortage by passing new Senate agriculture workforce solutions.

“Dairy is a unique industry with a different set of challenges than any other sector of the ag economy,” said Brody Stapel, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative Board President and a member of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. “Our cows must be milked at least twice a day, every day, and our raw product is extremely perishable. So a steady workforce is all the more important. Farms cannot function if they aren’t fully staffed to harvest crops, and feed and care for the animals. And that creates a risk to a safe, nutritious and affordable food supply. The severity of the issue cannot be overstated. Congress needs to act to provide farms with meaningful access to a visa program for year-round workers.”

Read more

Dairy, labor, World Dairy Expo

Precision Ag News 10/5

Carrie Muehling

  • Biome Makers BeCrop® technology is used across the globe to deliver insights into soil biology and sets the standard for soil health. Syngenta’s R&D-led LIVINGRO™ program will utilize BeCrop® to make science-based decisions that support the production of safe, healthy food while preserving and improving biodiversity and soil quality in agricultural ecosystems.
  • COUNTRY Financial entered into an agreement with GROWMARK on the sale of the Financial Services Building, located at 1705 Towanda Ave in Bloomington, Illinois. The two organizations anticipate the sale to be finalized later this year.
  • The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a 2020 report finding that the vast majority of fruits and vegetables sampled in the state meet federal pesticide safety standards. The California Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Report shows 95% of domestically grown and imported produce samples collected in 2020 had either no detectable pesticide residues or had residues within the allowable tolerance, based on federally established thresholds. In addition, more than 97% of produce samples labeled as “grown in California” had no residues or allowable tolerances.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced it is awarding more than $1.8 million to support the work of the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) being led by Iowa State University in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Idaho.
  • During their 2022 Annual Meeting, CropLife America elected Andy Lee, president and CEO, Valent North America, as its newest chair of the CLA Board of Directors. Lee will hold the position for two years and use his diverse background to help guide the association. Andy succeeds Paul Rea of BASF Corporation who led the board from 2020 – 2022.
  • New for 2023, Brevant® seeds brand Bovalta™ BMR silage corn builds on the high level of fiber digestibility that producers count on from BMR, with improved agronomics, tonnage and starch. Brevant seeds brand Bovalta BMR silage corn is built with the newest, elite genetics from Corteva Agriscience to help producers boost milk production and their bottom line.
  • American Farmland Trust and the Natural Resource Conservation Service have signed a two-year, $2 million cooperative agreement to further develop and improve AFT’s soil health economic and environmental tools, including the Excel-based Retrospective Soil Health Economic Calculator (R-SHEC), the Excel-based Predictive Soil Health Economic Calculator (P-SHEC) and the Online-Soil Health Economic Calculator (O-SHEC).
  • “Biologicals: Farmer Value, Perception and Potential,” a comprehensive market research effort focused on understanding farmer opinions on the current use, issues and potential for biologicals at field-level has announced the support of another six major players. “We’re pleased to announce that Evoia, the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA), Certis, AMVAC, Lalleman and Redox have joined our forces,” said Cam Camfield, Founder and CEO of Stratovation Group in announcing the news.
  • The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture for expanding the Post-Application Coverage Endorsement insurance option for corn farmers who “split-apply” nitrogen.
  • Syngenta Crop Protection is launching the world’s first commercial digital solution to diagnose infestations of plant-parasitic nematodes in soybean crops by analyzing photographs taken from satellites.
  • Climate change is threatening agriculture globally, and small-scale farmers in low and middle income countries are particularly vulnerable. To strengthen their resilience, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) awarded a $300,000 competitive grant to World Vision through AgMission, an initiative co-created by FFAR and the World Farmers’ Organisation to unlock agriculture’s potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. World Vision is providing additional funding for this project. The joint investment will enable in-depth examination of small-scale farmer adoption of climate-smart agriculture in India, Kenya and Bangladesh.
  • AMVAC recently concluded a 12-stop Technology Summit road tour showcasing the expanding SIMPAS-applied Solutions™ portfolio and SIMPAS® application system.
  • The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is encouraging growers to join its call-to-action and submit comments to the EPA on the important role atrazine, a popular herbicide, plays in their work. Comment period ends October 7. EPA is proposing a level of concern for atrazine at 3.4 parts per billion, down from the current level of 15 parts per billion.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture