Something is Brewing at the 2021 NAMA Fall Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

2021 NAMA Fall ConferenceRegistration is open for the 2021 NAMA Fall Conference.

Something’s Brewing in St. Louis October 4-6 with NAMA. You don’t want to miss Fall Conference – it’ll inspire you to push yourself and your company forward as you prepare for a new year with excellent educational sessions and unbeatable networking opportunities. Sign up today!

Keynotes to Keep You Focused for Success
Karen Post will show you how to bounce back from challenges better than ever to experience radical recovery and a return to glory. Hear Christopher Carter’s secrets to gaining credibility with body language so that people buy you – and will buy your product or service.

Breakouts with Big Ideas and Practical Advice
Get tips on building a brand that sticks, find out what you need to know about carbon and learn from a local company’s case study. Plus, the Grand Champion Best of NAMA Winner will provide the inside scoop on what helped them create such an outstanding campaign.

Fall Conference wraps up with a view from the C-Suite. Anthony Osborne leads North America Marketing for the Crop Science Division of Bayer. He’ll share insights and thoughtful observations on the industry, and discuss emerging trends and issues.

Make Connections That Matter
From the Gateway Ag Tour and Opening Reception to a special event at Brighton Agency, there are fantastic opportunities for you to network with NAMA friends and colleagues and have fun.

Book your hotel room before the cutoff on September 13 and register for the 2021 NAMA Fall Conference now! The hotel for this year’s Fall Conference is The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis. The room rate is $200.

NAMA

Animal Ag News 8/24

Carrie Muehling

  • For years, World Dairy Expo® has been the place to introduce new ideas and innovations to the global dairy industry. The World Dairy Expo Tech Spotlight takes this tradition to the next level by creating a platform, both virtually and in Madison, for dairy technology start-ups to formally present their ideas to dairy producers around the globe. The 2021 World Dairy Expo Tech Spotlight will be hosted virtually on September 16 at 1 p.m. (CST) with free event registration available now at https://www.wdetechspotlight.com/ This online component will be followed by an in-person event during World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin on September 28 at 10:30 a.m. (CST).
  • The Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative issued a statement in support of an announcement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that $350 million will be used to help dairy farmers who lost revenue due to the pandemic.
  • Anyone who owns livestock in Texas, including horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, fowl and honey bees in a managed colony, need to be aware of key changes to the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act that will be effective Sept. 1, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural law expert. The Texas Legislature passed and Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 365, making important changes to the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act, said Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, AgriLife Extension agriculture law specialist, Amarillo. Previously, a sign was required only for farm animal professionals, but farm and ranch owners and lessees must also now hang a sign at or near their arena, corral or stable to get the statute’s protections.
  • The Iowa Corn Promotion Board® (ICPB) was proud to sponsor Cornivore, the corn-fed steer, at this year’s 39th Annual Governor’s Charity Steer Show on Saturday, August 14, 2021, at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. This year’s steer was accompanied by the incoming Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) President Lance Lillibridge, a corn and beef producer from Vinton, Iowa, and Tate Haughenbury, a high school junior from Coggon, Iowa.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

2021 NAFB Convention Registration is Open

Chuck Zimmerman

2021 NAFB ConventionIt is already time to look ahead to the NAFB Convention!

Start making your plans to attend the 2021 NAFB Convention today. Join more than 650 agricultural industry leaders November 17-19 in Kansas City for three days of learning, newsmaker sessions, networking, and more.

NAFB Convention kicks off Wednesday morning, November 17. Click here for additional Convention information.

Early-Bird Registration is now available. Be an early bird! Register by Thursday, September 30, 2021, and you will be entered for a chance to win one of five $100 giveaways. All full convention registrations are eligible. See website for more details. Early registration sponsored by WinField United.

The Westin Crown Center Room Block is open. Be sure to reserve your hotel room today at the Westin Crown Center. The 2021 NAFB Convention rate at the Westin Crown Center is $159 plus taxes/night. Our 2021 room block closes Tuesday, October 12. Click here for the 2021 hotel room block.

Media, NAFB

Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services – Episode 13

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.

Soil Cation Exchange Capacity

In this episode, we’ll debunk another myth with the help of Koch Agronomic Services. Listen and learn about soil cation exchange capacity, or CEC, and its impact on nitrogen management. Koch’s technical agronomist Derek Rapp and senior agronomist Edwin Suarez discuss what you need to know about soil CEC, the common misconceptions growers have and why knowing your CEC number is a critical component for growers as they develop their nitrogen management plan.

You can listen to the program here: Soil Cation Exchange Capacity (13:25)

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, Audio, Podcasts, Soil

USDA Adopts Market Transparency Policies Backed by NCBA

Carrie Muehling

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association continues work toward and support policies that will help those working in all areas of the cattle industry.

“There is no such thing as a silver bullet, one size fits all, policy solution to these issues. It’s going to have to be a multi-faceted broad approach where we kind of take little chunks out of the marble until we get to the finished statue at the end,” said NCBA’s Tanner Beymer.

Beymer said new USDA reports are providing more transparency into the base price when it comes to cattle markets. He said there is currently a supply and demand imbalance at the fed cattle level, and more processing capacity is needed. Beymer pointed out the importance of continued work towards price discovery, as well as other market drivers like transparency and confidentiality.

CIC2021 Interview with Tanner Beymer, NCBA 8:06

Cattle Industry Convention virtual news room.

2021 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, Marketing, Markets, NCBA

Industry Ag News 8/20

Carrie Muehling

  • The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and South Dakota Farm Bureau (SDFB) presented Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) with the Outstanding New Member of Congress Award. This award recognizes a member of Congress who was recently elected and has already proven to be a reliable partner for agriculture.
  • The Georgia Peanut Tour Committee has decided to cancel the 2021 Georgia Peanut Tour due to the uptick in COVID cases.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has elected Casey Niemann, President and CEO of West Des Moines, Iowa-based AgriSync, to its Ag Sector Board as its newest member.
  • Presented by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and Agri-Pulse Communications, the 2021 Ag Outlook Forum will be held in downtown Kansas City on September 20, 2021. Both in-person and virtual options are available here.
  • Six students looking to study everything from agronomy and crop science to environmental engineering have earned a $2,500 scholarship, plus a donation to the charity of their choosing, through the Accelerating a Generation Syngenta Scholarship Program. A talented crop of students applied to the 2021 scholarship program, in a partnership with Syngenta and run by the National FFA Organization.
  • Agricultural Retailers Association President and CEO Daren Coppock expressed disappointment in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action against chlorpyrifos.
  • Conference registration is now open for American Seed Trade Association‘s CSS & Seed Expo 2021, December 6-9 in Chicago.
  • Benson Hill, Inc. announced it has been selected as winner of the “Overall FoodTech Company of the Year” award in the 2021 AgTech Breakthrough Awards conducted by AgTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global AgTech market. Benson Hill was previously honored in the awards’ inaugural year for “2020 AI-based AgTech Solution of the Year.”
  • Farm Journal announces the acquisition of the international United Pork Americas conference and trade show from Flavia Roppa of Brazil. For the past two decades, more than 150,000 international swine producers, veterinarians and industry stakeholders have experienced the event Roppa established — Pork Expo Brazil. An extension of Pork Expo Brazil, the United Pork Americas conference, is set for April 19-21, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla.
  • GROWMARK and Legacy Farmers Cooperative are excited to announce they are forming a joint venture to purchase and operate a grain facility west of Defiance, Ohio. Together, GROWMARK and Legacy Farmers Cooperative will form a new Retail Grain Unit called Apex Grain Marketing, LLC which will purchase the facility from Consolidated Grain and Barge Co.
Zimfo Bytes

On a Mission to Find AgriTech Startups

Cindy Zimmerman

Good Company, Agoro Carbon Alliance, Strauss Israel, Smart Agro Fund, alongside LeumiTech, Meitar, ERB and AWS have launched their AgTech Mission seeking startups that re-envision how food and other agricultural products are grown, harvested, packaged, stored, transported, processed and sold. Startups may be focused on all sectors of the “operation system” of food – to be more efficient, sustainable and resilient to protect the earth’s resources, human rights and animal welfare and help solve the world’s hunger problem.
] A selected number of startups will have the opportunity to pitch in front of an experts’ panel from the participating corporations, investors and larger startups already innovating in this space. Good Company is offering an opportunity for investment of up to $250,000, as well as from Smart Agro Fund, pending approval of the investment committee. In addition, possible opportunities to pilot with Strauss and Agoro Carbon Alliance and gain support on go-to-market and commercialization and access to new networks as well as consultations with LeumiTech’s senior management. The most promising companies will receive free legal advice and general commercial consulting from Meitar Law Offices.

The final pitch event will be at Start-Up Nation Central’s headquarters in Tel Aviv and judges will include: Ido Fishler, Managing Partner, Good Company; Michal Benishti, Strauss Israel; Sam Aloni, Agoro Carbon Alliance; Dganit Vered, Smart Agro Fund; Nir Inbar, LeumiTech; Yael Nardi, Meitar; Yael Gal, AWS; Shubhang Shankar, Syngenta Ventures; Omer Davidi, BeeHero; Kimberly Drory Lev-ran, ERB and Gilad Pinhas, ERB.

Applicants to the AgTech Mission will need to submit a short application form sharing details about its founders, purpose and product. Following a round of meetings with select startups, approximately 5 companies will be given the opportunity to pitch to an expert panel of judges as part of our live final hybrid event. Applications are open until September 30, 2021.

Find out more – Agoro Carbon Alliance release

AgWired Precision, carbon, Technology

Minnesota Ethanol Champion Addresses ACE

Cindy Zimmerman

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) may be from a more suburban area of Minnesota, but she clearly recognizes the value of agriculture and biofuels to her state.

“I care about ethanol because I care about good ag and energy policy in this country,” said Craig during remarks today before the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) conference. “Ethanol drives rural investment, it provides markets for our family farmers and it helps us address climate change.”

As Co-Chair of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, Craig immediately jumped into action after a federal appeals court struck down an EPA rule that lifted restrictions on the year-round sales of E15 and introduced the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act. “I’m headed back to Washington on Monday and I’m gonna fight like hell to get year-round sales of E15 into the reconciliation bill, I’m going to fight for corn ethanol infrastructure in that infrastructure bill, and I’m gonna keep hounding the administration for those RVO targets.”

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) – interview and address
ACE 2021 interview with Rep. Angie Craig 3:35
ACE 2021 Rep. Angie Craig remarks 19:29

2021 Annual ACE Conference Photo Album

ACE, Audio, Ethanol

NCBA Tackles Environmental Issues

Carrie Muehling

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) continues to advocate on behalf of cattle producers when it comes to environmental policies regarding climate change and the nation’s waterways.

“At the end of the day it’s opposing overburdensome regulation of the cattle industry, and supporting the science,” said Scott Yager, NCBA chief environmental counsel. “Making sure we have good common strategy and making sure that our producers have the opportunity to participate in these carbon markets if they want to, keeping it voluntary, no government mandates.”

Yager said many cattle producers are early adopters when it comes to carbon sequestration, but they can’t get paid for what they’ve already done. He said there is science to prove that cattle are part of the solution and not part of the problem. Yager said NCBA is also following the recent revival of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) legislation as the Biden administration looks to repeal and replace the Navigable Waters Protection Rule that was put in place by the Trump administration.

CIC2021 Interview with Scott Yager, NCBA 8:05

Cattle Industry Convention virtual news room.

2021 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Environment, NCBA

Precision Ag News 8/18

Carrie Muehling

  • Topcon Agriculture has further strengthened its commitment to the industry through a major sponsorship with the National FFA Organization. Topcon committed to becoming a sponsor of the National FFA Agricultural Proficiency Award for “Grain Production – Entrepreneurship.” The sponsorship also includes a series of five Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Grants to help FFA members fund their individual projects in any area of agriculture. Topcon will also continue the ongoing support for the National FFA Convention & Expo, being held this year in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Pro Farmer scouts will fan out across the Corn Belt to measure this year’s corn and soybean yield potential during the 29th annual Pro Farmer Crop Tour Aug. 16-19. The Tour is an August ritual covering seven Midwestern states and capturing the attention of the industry and national media. Observations and results will be shared nightly at in-person events and live streamed online. Free registration is required and available at www.ProFarmer.com/register.
  • Farmers Edge Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire CommoditAg.
  • DEKALB will launch 27 new corn products for next season in the U.S. across all maturity groups, offering standability, drought tolerance and disease resistance. DEKALB products for 2022 will include — at no additional cost to farmers — Acceleron ® Seed Applied Solutions ELITE with Enhanced Disease Control, which is designed to help improve and extend early-to-midseason disease control by reducing infections from pathogens.
  • Benson Hill, Inc., a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants with its cutting-edge food innovation engine, launched its advanced yellow pea breeding and commercialization program.
  • Regrow, a pioneering software company that is transforming the sustainable agri-food supply chain industry, announces the close of its $17 million oversubscribed Series A funding round with new investors Ajax Strategies, Tenacious Ventures and Cargill. Existing investors include Microsoft’s venture fund M12, the Jeremey and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities fund, CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures, AirTree, and others.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture