House to Vote on Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act led by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), a package of legislation designed to address supply chain issues for the American energy and agriculture sectors, combat rising fertilizer prices and increase the availability of higher ethanol blends and other biofuels.

The legislation includes Spanberger’s Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act— also known as the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act — which would tackle anticompetitive practices and increase fairness in the American meat and poultry industry. Specifically, her bill would establish a new “Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters” at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It also includes the Butcher Block Act to expand regional livestock and meat processing capacity, co-sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act also includes contributions from Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA) to help lower prices at the pump by moving forward with voluntary year-round sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol — known as E-15 or Unleaded 88.

Rep. Spanberger held a press conference Wednesday with Rep. Axne, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH), Dean Phillips (D-MN), and Susie Lee (D-NV).

House Food and Fuel Costs bill presser 23:35

Audio, Ethanol, Food, Livestock, Meat, Poultry

Familiar Faces With AgGateway Staff

Cindy Zimmerman

There were several new staff members at the AgGateway mid year meeting this week in Altoona, Iowa.

A familiar face in the industry, Jeremy Wilson joined the organization as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and North America Regional Director, effective January 1, 2022. Wilson replaced Brent Kemp, who was selected to serve as the organization’s President and Chief Executive Officer with the retirement of Wendy Smith at the end of 2021.

Wilson had already been actively involved in AgGateway as a board member working for EFC Systems and he brings more than three decades of diverse agriculture experience to the organization.

2022 AgGateway Mid Year - Jeremy Wilson, AgGateway 7:11

This week was Ben Craker’s first on the job as Portfolio Manager for AgGateway, succeeding Dan Berne, who retired from the organization on April 30.

Craker most recently worked at Kuhn North America as Senior Product Manager and is also deeply committed to collaborative work as a volunteer and member of agriculture organizations, including the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Agriculture Industry Electronics Foundation, and the Agricultural Data Coalition, in addition to extensive volunteer work at AgGateway.

2022 AgGateway Mid Year - Ben Craker, AgGateway 2:43

Photos

2022 AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting Photo Album

ag retailers, AgGateway, Audio, data, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Precision Ag News 6/15

Carrie Muehling

  • To help growers address challenges this season, Grow More Experience sites across the U.S. are showcasing how agronomist expertise and flexible, innovative crop protection practices may help improve yield potential, economic return and crop safety. Those in the Midwest and Plains regions can also access insights any time through the Grow More Experience Virtual Tours. The content features local agronomic videos, photos, trial data and results.
  • Reinhold Claas, a long-standing member of the Shareholders Committee and Supervisory Board of the CLAAS Group, passed away on June 7, 2022, at the age of 91.
  • U.S. ag tractor and combine monthly unit sales in May 2022 fell below the five-year average for the first time since March 2020, while Canadian sales remained above the line, according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
  • BRANDT is rolling out two new nutrient-based seed treatments: BRANDT EnzUp® Grain ST and BRANDT SeedZone™ Zn. Designed for use on corn, wheat, rice and potatoes, BRANDT EnzUp Grain ST is a breakthrough in the enzyme category.
  • UPL, a global leader in sustainable agriculture solutions, announces a strategic collaboration with Agrauxine by Lesaffre, a subsidiary of Lesaffre company specializing in biological crop solutions. The exclusive license and supply agreement will allow UPL to commercialize a new biocontrol technology from Agrauxine in the United States.
  • Grow Pro Genetics announces the addition of three new varieties to their already strong wheat portfolio.
  • The 7th Soil Health Institute Annual Meeting is an engaging virtual event bringing people together from across the agriculture industry to share their knowledge, experience, and ideas for Scaling Up Soil Health. Register today.
  • The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) has launched a newly-redesigned, updated guide that allows farmers, land owners and others to easily locate and contact professional seed suppliers for quality environmental, conservation, and cover crop seed. The interactive Conservation, Environmental, and Cover Crop Seed Resource Guide allows buyers to find lists of specific seed types by geographic location to support production and sustainability goals.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Agri-Pulse to Host Food Security Webinar

Cindy Zimmerman

American farmland and ranchland are rapidly disappearing, threatening our food security, undermining the agricultural economy, and making us vulnerable to climate shocks. What can be done? That question is at the heart of an upcoming June 29 Agri-Pulse webinar, “Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future.”

“With the war in Ukraine, drought in the Western U.S. and ongoing supply chain disruptions, there is grave concern about our ability to produce adequate amounts of food – both in the U.S. and round the globe,” says Agri-Pulse Founder and Editor Sara Wyant, who will moderate the event. “This is a great opportunity to discuss those challenges and options for conserving and preserving our precious farmland.”

The webinar will take place at 12 p.m. ET and is sponsored by the American Farmland Trust. Speakers will address a new report from American Farmland Trust, which maps three alternative futures out to the year 2040, which will be released earlier that day. This webinar will highlight findings and what they mean for the future of agriculture.

Participants in the webinar include:
– USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Terry Cosby
– Ambassador Kip Tom, CEO of Tom Farms
– John Piotti, president of American Farmland Trust
– Katharine Burgess, vice president of land use and development at Smart Growth America (SGA).

Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant will moderate. Register here.

Agri-Pulse, Food, land

Landus Ag CEO Offers Insights at AgGateway Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

“The Transformative Power of Connected Data in Ag Retail” was the theme for Matt Carstens keynote address to the AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting Monday in Altoona, Iowa.

Carstens, who is President and CEO of Landus Ag, drove home the importance of the farmer and the ag retailer in unlocking the full potential of ag data. “We’ve got to have those two people at the center of this discussion,” said Carstens. “The journey starts and stops with all the data, not a flash drive of yields and applications, but the whole journey of data that happened on that farm.”

Carstens says he is excited about the new direction for AgGateway and he is looking forward to moving forward with them.

Listen to an interview with Carstens here:
2022 AgGateway Mid Year - Matt Carstens, Landus Ag 2:31

2022 AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting Photo Album

AgGateway, Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, data, Precision Agriculture

AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting Kicks Off in Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

AgGateway is celebrating its 2022 Mid-Year Meeting as a 100% in-person experience once again this week at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, IA.

AgGateway President and CEO Brent Kemp says this summer meeting, which brings more than 250 industry professionals together, is where the work of the organization gets done. “The majority of the work that we do is really the heads down, identify business problems, figure out where the technical solution is, create a working group to address it, and very quickly develop a guideline to go out to the industry,” said Kemp during a pre-opening interview.

AgGateway’s mission is to develop the resources and relationships that drive digital connectivity in global agriculture and related industries and they just recently reorganized in 2020 to facilitate agile, cross-sector, global solutions through the creation of the Portfolio Management Center and Digital Resource Center.

Learn more about the priorities for AgGateway this year in this interview.
2022 AgGateway Mid Year - Brian Kemp, AgGateway 8:23

2022 AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting Photo Album

AgGateway, Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Technology

Animal Ag News 6/13

Carrie Muehling

  • The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12. The state law seeks to ban the sale of pork from hogs that don’t meet the state’s arbitrary production standards, even if the pork was raised on farms outside of California.
  • Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced that it will cease all harvest and processing operations in Vernon, California in early 2023 and, at the same time, align its hog production system by reducing its sow herd in its Western region. The company will decrease its sow herd in Utah and is exploring strategic options to exit its farms in Arizona and California. Smithfield harvests only company-owned hogs in Vernon. Smithfield will service customers in California with its Farmer John brand and other brands and products from existing facilities in the Midwest. Smithfield is taking these steps due to the escalating cost of doing business in California.
  • The Animal Agriculture Alliance recently announced that its annual College Aggies Online (CAO) scholarship program will return this fall, kicking off September 12. This nine-week program brings together college students from across the country to help them become confident communicators for agriculture. Undergraduates, graduate students, and collegiate clubs and classes are invited to sign up now.
  • The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) announced the culmination of a strategic planning and repositioning effort that will drive momentum in shaping the future for the next generation of pork producers and their businesses. Under the direction of new leadership and guided by a long-range strategic plan and additional financial resources, NPPC unveiled a new brand identity to symbolize the organization’s transformation and energized focus on driving growth for the U.S pork industry.
  • Indiana pork producer Heather Hill was elected to serve as president of the National Pork Board (NPB) for the 2022-2023 term. NPB’s 15 producer directors represent the 60,000 U.S. pig farmers who pay into the Pork Checkoff – a program funding research, promotion and education efforts for the benefit of the whole industry.
  • Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, announces it has reached an agreement to acquire Prodap, a Brazilian animal nutrition and technology company that combines technology offerings, consulting services, and customized nutritional solutions to drive efficiency and sustainability in animal farming.
  • Cattle producers voiced their concerns with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers’ ongoing Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rulemaking attempt at a roundtable organized by the Kansas Livestock Association. A recording of the roundtable is available here.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

RIP Cowboy Poet Baxter Black

Chuck Zimmerman

Chuck with Baxter in 2007

Baxter Black, nationally popular cowboy poet, storyteller, and comedian died June 10 at the age of 77.

I had the pleasure of meeting Baxter in 2007 when he was working with the Beef Checkoff on radio spots and he would entertain at the Beef Board dinners during the annual meetings. He was the real deal, a rodeo cowboy and and large animal vet with a clever wit and a lot of energy. He was hilariously funny, so funny that he gained a national attention as a regular guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson between 1987 and 1992.

Baxter was a prolific writer. According to Wikipedia, he wrote over 30 books of poetry, fiction—both novels and children’s literature—and commentary, selling over two million books, CDs, and DVDs and his weekly syndicated column, On the Edge of Common Sense, was carried by more than 150 publications.

He did a lot of radio too. During 2002–2009, he was a regular commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Baxter Black on Monday, the weekly syndicated radio program, went on the air in 1989.

The last time we saw Baxter was at the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio where he was two-stepping in the trade show and snapping pictures with fans. So many pictures and memories of him are on Facebook this weekend. He touched a lot of lives and will be missed.

Listen to my 2008 interview with Baxter and two clips of his stories at Beef Board meetings in 2007 and 2008.
Baxter Black Interview 2008

Baxter Black story 2007

Baxter Black story 2008
Audio, Beef, Beef Checkoff, people

Passing of Don Funk, Seedsman

Cindy Zimmerman

We are sad to report the passing of Don E. Funk, fourth generation seedsman and grandson of seed industry pioneer, Edward J. Funk, who died June 9, 2022 of natural causes, according to his family.

Don became president of Edward J. Funk & Sons at the age of 25. It was later purchased by British Petroleum. In 1999, Don formed a new company, Channel Bio Corp, which is now owned by Bayer and is one of the major providers of corn and soybean seed to the U.S. market.

At a time when most would slow down, Don put his foot to the pedal. An unwavering optimist, Don re-acquired and re-launched the brands Midwest Seed Genetics and NC+ to provide American row crop farmers a true choice, independent of the ever-growing corporatization of the seed industry. His driving mission was to establish a team focused on earning the partnership, season after season, of progressive farmers and the agriculturalists who serve them. The sustained, record-setting growth of the three brands is a testament that Don’s relationship-based approach remains valued and vital.

Don’s hometown was Kentland, Indiana, and he is survived by his wife Abby, children Matt (Marcy), Dan (Grith), Katya (Mike) and Luke, and grandchildren William, Isla, Jens, Stella, True, and Sasha.

people, Seed

ZimmCast 693 – Stay Curious with Alltech Crop Science

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

By the time many of you will listen to this podcast episode I will be on my way to Altoona, Iowa for the AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting, “Catalyzing E-Commerce.” I’ll be conducting interviews and taking photos, so you can keep on the lookout for that on AgNewsWire.com.

But this week, let’s look back a little bit. The Alltech ONE Conference, in-person, may be over but the conference is still live virtually. Yes. You can still register and have access to all the recorded sessions and speakers. So, for this week’s podcast I’m going to share a couple of speakers who have just been added to the AgNewsWire virtual newsroom for the event. I thought you might be interested in their topics.

Let’s start out with Amy Bell-Elmohammed, Quality Manager for Alltech. Amy managed the Stay Curious Track for the conference. She will explain what that means.

Next let’s turn to a topic area many of you are involved in which is crop science. Learn what Alltech is doing in this area from Steve Borst, Vice President of Alltech Crop Science.

So, if you liked these topics you can find more if you register for the Alltech ONE Conference and look through all the virtual content.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 693 - Stay Curious with Alltech Crop Science (18:29)

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, Alltech, Audio, ZimmCast