Precision Ag News 5/11

Carrie Muehling

  • The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program announce the launch of a pilot project in Western Kansas for sorghum farmers to generate high quality carbon, greenhouse gas, water quality and biodiversity credits in ESMC’s market program.
  • UPL and AgBiTech announce a strategic partnership to bring a range of sustainable biosolutions to crops in California, Arizona and Hawaii. Through the collaboration, UPL will distribute AgBiTech’s biosolutions through its Natural Plant Protection business unit, starting with two bioinsecticides this year.
  • Anuvia Plant Nutrients is hosting The Future of Fertilizer Tour in early summer 2022 to give farmers the opportunity to learn more about new SymTRX XP, the first in a series of products designed to improve crop nutrition by combining Anuvia’s proven bio-based technology with the advanced microbial technology from Novozymes.
  • 3Bar Biologics has partnered with AgBiome on innovative, non-spore forming bacterial strains to be evaluated in the LiveMicrobe technology platform. Through its GENESIS discovery platform, AgBiome has discovered multiple lead strains with encouraging trials showing fungal disease and nematode control against important pests for growers in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Set for June 13-16 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, the AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting will return to a fully in-person experience for the first time in two years. The event connects the companies, organizations, and professionals that are actively working to bring seamless digital connectivity to the agriculture industry.
  • Building on the success of last year’s inaugural event, Meister Media Worldwide will hold the 2022 Tech Hub LIVE Conference & Expo in Indianapolis July 19-21 at the newly renovated Indiana Convention Center.
  • Ag tractor and combine unit sales in April 2022 declined for the second month in a row, owing largely to supply chain difficulties, according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. U.S. total farm tractor sales fell 22.3 percent for the month of April compared to 2021, while U.S. self-propelled combine sales for the month declined 5.6 percent to 459 units sold.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Cargill RegenConnect Expands Program Eligibility

Cindy Zimmerman

Enrollment opens this month for Cargill RegenConnect, a market-based regenerative agriculture program, which is expanding to 15 states For the 2022-23 crop season. Cargill has expanded grower eligibility to include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

“In our first year, Cargill has received a tremendous response from growers about RegenConnect,” said Nathan Fries, program lead for Cargill RegenConnect. “It is our goal to deliver a best-in-class program that is economically viable for farmers and improves their profitability through the tools, resources and market access they need to make the shift to regenerative agriculture.”

Cargill will once again offer one-crop-year contracts to producer customers in eligible states to sequester carbon through implementation of new or expanded regenerative agriculture practices such as cover crops, no-till or reduced-till. Eligible acres must have a primary crop of corn, soy or wheat. Farmers can choose the practices that are best suited to their operation’s unique growing conditions. For the 2022-23 enrollment, Cargill will offer a market competitive price of $25 per metric ton of carbon sequestered per acre.

Farmers looking to unlock the profit potential of their farm through adoption of regenerative agriculture practices can enroll in the 2022-23 RegenConnect program starting mid-May by visiting the Cargill RegenConnect website or by connecting with their Cargill relationship manager.

AgWired Precision, carbon, Corn, Precision Agriculture, Soybean

Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services – Episode 19

Chuck Zimmerman

The Field Notes podcast series from Koch Agronomic Services (Koch) breaks down the science and technology behind agronomy to help growers do more with less.

The experts we’ve heard from on our previous episodes have covered topics ranging from how different crops use nitrogen to the 4R’s of Nutrient Stewardship and how growers and retailers work together to choose the best input for an operation. If you haven’t checked out the previous episodes, you can find them on your favorite podcast platform.

Protecting Your Nitrogen Investment: Spring Weather and Other Limiting Factors

In this episode, we sit down with agronomist Jake Heitshusen from Ag Partners Co-op in LeSeuer, Minn., and Chris Buckentin, KAS territory business manager. They’ll discuss how important it is to have a spring nitrogen protection plan as part of your overall crop nutrition plan. The duo share real-life examples of when a stabilizer saved nitrogen applications that would have been lost to the limiting factors of spring weather.

You can listen to the program here: Protecting Your Nitrogen Investment (13:04)

And to make sure you don’t miss an episode, choose an option to subscribe

For Spotify on your computer download the desktop app.

Agribusiness, Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Koch Agronomic Services, Podcasts, Soil

ZeaKal and Perdue Agribusiness Work for Sustainable Poultry

Cindy Zimmerman

Perdue AgriBusiness and ZeaKal have announced a multi-year development agreement to raise more sustainable poultry through improved soy genetics and feed quality.

ZeaKal’s PhotoSeed® trait technology increases photosynthetic capacity, converting more carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy for the plant. In soybeans, this has consistently resulted in improved oil and protein content while improving the sustainability index of the crop. As the main protein source in poultry feed, U.S. farmers and food companies have been eager to secure access to higher value soy.

“As we evaluated our supply chain, it became clear that moving upstream to access better seed genetics could improve value and sustainability in ways other solutions simply could not. As PhotoSeed soy develops, we expect it will be transformative for Perdue across soy processing and specialty oils, while improving the quality of feed,” said Perry Aulie, senior vice president of Value-Added Products for Perdue Agribusiness. “Together with our farmers, we are working towards delivering better carbon capture and overall nutritional composition using the power of the sun.”

ZeaKal CEO Han Chen said, “With operations spanning the entire soy value chain, Perdue can uniquely capture the full value of PhotoSeed. Together, we can deliver higher value crops with broad benefits accruing to growers, consumers, and everyone in between.”

Aulie and Chen talk about the partnership in the sound bites below, and more in depth in the full interview.
Han Chen, co-founder and CEO of ZeaKal 1:56

Perry Aulie, Perdue Agribusiness 1:49

Full interview with Chen and Aulie
ZeaKal/Perdue Agribusiness interview 10:00

Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Poultry, Soybean

Agri-Pulse Plans 2022 Food & Ag Issues Summit West

Cindy Zimmerman

In person or virtual options are available for the 2022 Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Issues Summit West, July 11 in Sacramento.

Another year of western drought, supply chain disruptions, labor challenges and regulatory hurdles have prompted industry leaders to rethink how to adapt, transform and innovate in order to be resilient and stay in business. The 2022 Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Issues Summit West will discuss the top economic and policy issues impacting California farmers and food companies, including innovations to produce more crops with less water, opportunities to advance climate-smart practices, new strategies for job training and political engagement and much more.

To view the draft program and register today visit agri-pulse.com/2022-West-Summit.

Agri-Pulse, Events

Animal Ag News 5/9

Carrie Muehling

  • Pork industry professionals will get the latest in production and management education through topical seminars at the 2022 World Pork Expo, presented by the National Pork Producers Council. World Pork Expo takes place June 8-10 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa.
  • USDA Scientist Douglas Gladue, a research microbiologist for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has received the 2021 Arthur S. Flemming award for his exceptional achievements in basic science.
  • The American Feed Industry Association announced the addition of Rebecca Kane, CMP, as its director of events and the promotion of Victoria Broehm to senior director of communications.
  • FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative awarded $27,000 in scholarships to 19 deserving individuals this year. This year marks the tenth year the cooperative has been generously giving scholarships, for a grand total of 224 recipients totaling nearly $208,000.
  • The National Institute for Animal Agriculture welcomed members and guests to Kansas City for the 2022 Annual Conference: Producing Protein for a Food Insecure & Uncertain World – Leading Food Security, Sustainable Production, and Innovation, April 20 –22.
  • “NMPF looks forward to the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in more than 50 years, to advance the goals of ending hunger, increasing healthy eating and physical activity, and decreasing the prevalence of diet-related diseases across our nation,” said National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern.
  • The National Bison Association selected Jim Matheson as their new executive director. Matheson replaces Dave Carter, who recently resigned as executive director after serving in that position for 20 years.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

ZimmCast 691 – Update from CropTrak

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

Before getting to our featured guest I did a little look into the way back machine of AgWired. I found a ZimmCast I did with an interview with PrecisonEarth, owned by Cogent3D, Inc, and that’s where I met Aaron Hutchison. We were at the InfoAg Conference in 2011 where the company was showcasing a new iPad soil collect and display app called PrecisionEarth. At the time that was still early use of iOS devices for precision ag. The company then moved on to a product called CropTrak.

Now look forward to today and I just interviewed Aaron, President and Co-Founder, about CropTrak, a cloud technology solutions company that helps multinational food, beverage, agriculture, and protein customers increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of their supply chain management processes and systems. CropTrak just released a platform update that expands its capabilities to provide multi-stakeholders complete visibility of the financial transactions across their ingredient supply chain. For the first time, food and beverage companies managing grower contracts and settlements can do so in one seamless platform optimized for collaboration and insights. Aaron says “Our goal is to continue to lead the food industry with ongoing innovation and process improvements to help assure food is safe, affordable, and sustainable, while making paper contracts a thing of the past.”

Sounds like a lofty goal and it is as CropTrak is working with companies like Del Monte, Bolthouse Farms, Corteva, Pivot Bio, Benson Hill and more.

It is amazing to see how fast technology has changed in the precision ag area. For all the agnerds out there it is a constant learning experience as innovation receives more investment.

On a last note about technology, I was very sorry to hear this week that the in-person Corn Utilization and Technology Conference has been cancelled again but we are told there will be more information to come on virtual opportunities. And in just a couple weeks I’ll be in Lexington, KY for the Alltech ONE Conference where we always see new technology on display

If you would be interested in sponsoring the podcast please let me know. Just email chuck@zimmcomm.biz or message me on social media.

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

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 691 - Update from CropTrak (17:32)

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, Precision Agriculture, Technology, ZimmCast

Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: EPA Administrator Regan

Cindy Zimmerman

The latest episode of Agri-Pulse Newsmakers is out and the big news maker this week is EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

The Biden administration is approaching a key deadline to publish annual volume targets for biofuel blending. There’s also the ongoing effort to redefine the definition of a Water of the U.S. and looming concerns about the loss of crop protection tools through the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval processes.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan joins Newsmakers to discuss the work the agency is doing on the long list of food and ag policy concerns at the agency. There’s also thoughts from industry leaders like Chris Bliley at Growth Energy, Michael Formica at the National Pork Producers Council, and Richard Gupton at the Agricultural Retailers Association about what the EPA is doing – as well as what they’d like the agency to do instead.

Newsmakers is also available as a podcast and/or you can sign up to get free access to Newsmakers.


Agri-Pulse, EPA, Ethanol, Video

Industry Ag News 5/6

Carrie Muehling

  • Leading climatologist, agronomist and former farmer Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig has been named the 2022 World Food Prize Laureate for her pioneering work in modeling the impact of climate change on food production worldwide.
  • C.O.nxt is excited to welcome a new employee-owner to its growing team. Jill DeLucero joins the team as a senior account manager, bringing with her over 20 years of experience in the agriculture industry.
  • International Fresh Produce Association applauds President Biden’s announcement that the Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health this September.
  • The American Soybean Association (ASA), United Soybean Board (USB), and soy states want to help farmers who may need a hand managing the stress of life on the farm. This May during Mental Health Month, the soy community will continue its proactive communications campaign to combat farm stress by offering #SoyHelp.
  • Register to attend Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association’s Annual Convention at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resorts & Spa in Orlando June 23-25.
  • Roxi Beck is the new president of Look East, a public relations and strategic communications firm that helps its clients in food and agriculture earn trust. Beck, who previously served in the role of vice president, joined Look East in 2007 and has received industry-wide recognition for her leadership and strategic insight.
  • The Renewable Fuels Association welcomed Summit Carbon Solutions as its newest associate member. In developing the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world, the company seeks to lower greenhouse gas emissions by connecting industrial facilities via strategic infrastructure to store carbon dioxide safely and permanently in the Midwestern United States.
  • The 3rd Annual Florida Industrial Hemp Conference & Exhibition is scheduled for May 20-22 at Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.
  • Agriculture and its related businesses continue to be a driving force in the regional economy, according to an analysis released by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. Using the most recent data available, 66 agriculture, food, and food processing sectors were analyzed to determine their overall contribution to the economy supported by the Kansas City Agribusiness Council. These 66 sectors have an estimated total economic impact of approximately $24.445 billion and support 98,655 jobs in the Greater Kansas City area.
  • FAPRI-MU has released a market snapshot of latest projections. An April 2022 snapshot of U.S. agricultural markets indicates higher farm commodity prices, higher production expenses, and higher consumer food costs than were reported in the FAPRI-MU 2022 baseline outlook. The war in Ukraine and reduced soybean production in South America are two of the factors that have pushed prices higher.
  • Join an exclusive look at the 2022 Ag Media Usage Study, produced by AM&P Network’s Ag Media Council, the National Agri-Marketing Association and Readex Research on May 9 at 11:00 a.m. Central. The webinar is free of charge. Register here.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, is seeking entrepreneurs to apply online for the 2023 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. Now in its ninth year, this national business competition showcases U.S. startup companies developing innovative solutions to challenges faced by America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities.
Zimfo Bytes

Precision Ag News 5/4

Carrie Muehling

  • National Corn Growers Association has cancelled the in-person Corn Utilization and Technology Conference due to continuing travel complications in the wake of COVID. NCGA will be refunding all registration fees and hotel arrangements will be automatically cancelled. The organization is working on alternative plans to disseminate the quality information in the confirmed sessions.
  • The FieldLink® Podcast from Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC debuted in March. With new episodes premiering every other week, it tells the story of agriculture through the eyes of farmers, industry experts and trusted advisors.
  • A new peer-reviewed research report published by the Soil Health Institute provides fresh insights into the vital role that soil organic carbon levels can play in preventing drought, reducing flooding and improving the health and water retention of the soils used to grow crops.
  • HELM Agro US, Inc announces Reviton™ herbicide has received approval for aerial application according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Reviton label expansion will increase aerial spring burndown options and soybean plant back intervals which have been troublesome for many growers.
  • Salford Group Inc. has announced it will be acquired by Linamar Corporation. The purchase is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approval.
  • Mark Williams, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist, was named a finalist for a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal in recognition of his pioneering research to protect water quality and aquatic life from pollutants in agricultural runoff.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation is currently accepting nominations for the renowned Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, Endowed by The Rockefeller Foundation. This award recognizes exceptional, science-based achievement in international agriculture and food production by an individual under the age of 40. Nomination criteria, the selection procedure and other information can be found at worldfoodprize.org/nominate. Nominations will be accepted through June 15, 2022, for the 2022 Award.
  • AGCO announced it has acquired JCA Industries, Inc. JCA, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, specializes in the design of electronic systems and software development to automate and control agricultural equipment.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 2 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and landowners through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup, the first of the program’s multiple signups occurring in 2022. With about 3.4 million acres expiring this year, Vilsack encourages producers and landowners to consider the Grassland and Continuous signups, both of which are currently open.
  • The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium and the Conservation Innovation Fund announced the kick-off of a project to streamline the creation and sale of environmental credits from dairy and beef producers in the Mid-Atlantic.
  • #Plant22 is underway and the BeSure! initiative is back with its fourth annual national campaign to promote best management practices (BMPs) when applying neonicotinoid insecticides.
  • Globally farmers are facing a massive fertilizer shortage due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising input costs resulting from supply chain constraints. To remain competitive, more growers are turning to bio-solutions like H2OExcel to conserve water and reduce inputs during these challenging times.
  • The Seed Association of the Americas invites you to the Seed Congress of the Americas, to be held in Punta del Este, Uruguay on Sept. 26-28, 2022.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture