Industry Ag News 11/12

Carrie Muehling

  • Syngenta is donating $12,050 to local chapters of the National FFA® Organization to help support ongoing training and programming for future agriculture leaders and their communities.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced its 2022 officers and directors elected to the AEM Board of Directors and Agriculture and Construction Equipment Sector Boards during its annual business meeting this week. AEM President, Dennis Slater, who announced earlier this year that he will retire after 23-years at the helm of the organization, was bestowed the honor of an AEM Life Honorary Director. The designation is traditionally conferred upon past board chairs.
  • The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) and Alltech have announced that nominations are open for the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism. The award will be presented during the Alltech ONE Conference in 2022. Journalists aged 40 years or younger by Dec. 31, 2021, can be nominated through their IFAJ guilds via the online application form.
  • Make plans to attend the 45th annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 19-20, 2022, at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia. Wednesday’s hours will be 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. and Thursday’s hours will be 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The two-day show is free and open to all farmers and industry representatives to attend.
  • Team SI announces the introduction of a new ag-marketing company, SI EQ, a TraDigitalTM, data-driven marketing firm focused on the agriculture community. Originating out of Team SI, the experts at SI EQ have worked with agriculture equipment dealers for nearly a decade and are well-known as result-oriented marketers in the ag industry.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF) announced that Rebecca Picard has joined the WFPF team as the new Sr. Program Manager, Internships and Youth Impact.
  • Class is now in session at the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of 14 members to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board. Eight members are new appointments, and six members are reappointments. Of those new appointments, one was Dr. Dana Allen-Tully. She serves as Minnesota Corn Grower Association treasurer and NCGA Sustainable Ag Research Action Team vice chair.
  • In observance of Veterans Day, Kubota Tractor Corporation announced all five of its 2021 “Geared to Give” farmer veteran tractor recipients in partnership with the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) from Buck Commander’s E3 Ranch in Fort Scott, Kansas. While all five program recipients are being honored and recognized for their past U.S. military service and their continued service to their communities through farming, currently serving North Dakota Army National Guard 1st Lt. Ryan Blumhagen was honore in a special ceremony hosted by Buck Commander’s Adam LaRoche, a former Major League Baseball player and owner of the E3 Ranch and Foundation.
  • John Deere has partnered with the Trust for the National Mall to support events on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., including this month’s Veterans Day ceremonies commemorating the hardworking men and women of the United States military. The company has provided three of their XUV835M Honor Edition Gator Utility Vehicles (Honor Gators) to be used by onsite staff throughout the ceremonies and one Honor Gator will remain with the National Mall as a donation to support future events.
  • The Northern Soy Marketing (NSM) group welcomes the Nebraska Soybean Board to its growing list of Qualified State Soybean Boards that have joined forces to promote the high-quality of northern-grown soybeans.
  • Directions, a top U.S. insights and analytics firm, and Aimpoint Research, a global strategic intelligence firm, announced they have finalized an agreement under which Directions will acquire Aimpoint Research.
Zimfo Bytes

Benson Hill Deepens Expertise with Senior Strategic Hires

Cindy Zimmerman

Benson Hill, Inc. has announced senior strategic hires as the company prepares to commercialize its soybean ingredient portfolio and identify new pathways for the growing meat alternative market.

Andres Martin joins Benson Hill as Executive Vice President and General Manager, International, to focus on expanding the company’s customer base and introducing Benson Hill’s proprietary, non-GMO soybean portfolio to markets outside the United States. Martin brings over 25 years of experience in supply chain operations and agribusiness, most recently as President of Bunge North America and as Head of Grains and Oilseeds at Bunge. Martin is a member of Benson Hill’s Executive Leadership Team reporting to Benson Hill CEO Matt Crisp, and is located in Barcelona, Spain.

Trent Collins joins the Company as Senior Vice President, Ingredient Operations. Before joining Benson Hill, Collins held various engineering, manufacturing and operational roles during his 28-year tenure with Archer Daniels Midland, most recently as Global Director, Proteins Technology. Collins will report to Bruce Bennett, President of the Company’s Ingredients business segment, who joined the company in July 2021.

Ratna Mukherjea, PhD., joins the Company as Senior Director, Food Innovation. Mukherjea has more than 20 years of experience in clinical and translational research at academic institutions and in the food industry, most recently at International Flavors & Fragrances, formerly DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences.

“At Benson Hill, we have built a category-defining company striving to make a meaningful environmental and social impact in food production by evolving beyond the traditional commodity system,” said Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. “Andres, Trent and Ratna share our bold vision and bring extensive experience and diverse expertise to drive execution and innovation across our company.”

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Soybean

Precision Ag News 11/10

Carrie Muehling

  • AgGateway, a global non-profit organization leading the industry’s transition to digital agriculture, announced that Paul Schrimpf is joining the organization as its new Director of Marketing and Communications, effective January 1, 2022.
  • Heliae® Agriculture, an algal tech company specializing in regenerative agriculture solutions, announced that its new seed treatment, PhycoTerra® ST, received the 2021 Product of the Year Award by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO).
  • AgMission™, a global collaboration to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture, announced that McDonald’s USA has partnered to develop and implement climate-smart farming solutions with a $5 million commitment over the next five years. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action (USFRA) and the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) established AgMission to unlock agriculture’s potential to reduce GHG emissions.
  • Smart Fertilizer Software partners with leading precision agricultural technology company SupPlant to create a sensor-less precision plant nutrition platform designed for smallholder farmers across the globe. The platform, developed by Smart Fertilizer Software named GroPlant, will offer farmers of all capabilities access to data and satellite driven information designed to improve water and fertilization efficiency, while taking into consideration weather events.
  • AEI Premium, the online community for agricultural decision makers, presents the second season of its award-winning podcast series: “Corn Saves America.” Episodes are available to stream now at aei.ag/season2 and cornsavesamerica.com, along with additional reading about the topics discussed on the show.
  • 3Bar Biologics walked away from Western Growers/S2G Ventures’ AgSharks® Competition with a $250,000 equity investment offer to take its microbe technology from development to market. The seed funding was awarded by S2G Ventures after 3Bar Biologics competed against four other companies inventing new technology solutions to solve agriculture’s most pressing issues.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

ZimmCast 680 – Learning About Zeolite from Ida-Ore

Chuck Zimmerman

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

Ida-Ore ZeoliteIn this week’s program, we meet a new sponsor – IDA-ORE ZEOLITE. I have a conversation with Ida-Ore Sales Manager Matt Lott about the company and just what is Zeolite. Matt will provide us with background on the company and then focus on their products. Zeolite is used in a variety of industries like turf, soil amendment, animal feed additive, water filtration and waste and more. One that I found interesting was the use of Zeolite in pet products that include bedding and cat litter. It has enormous odor eliminating properties. Home Depot is a large retailer of their products.

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

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 680 - Learning about Zeolite from Ida-Ore (14:17)

This week’s podcast is sponsored by IDA-ORE ZEOLITE. Zeolite is a miracle mineral that is rapidly taking over the agricultural, turf, and water filtration industries. Visit www.ida-ore.com or call 208-515-6966 to get a quote for bulk orders.

Mention discount code “CHUCK” for savings!

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, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Soil, Water, ZimmCast

Bayer Crop Science Business up 26 Percent

Cindy Zimmerman

The Bayer Group saw a significant increase in sales and earnings in the third quarter of this year with substantial growth in the agricultural business. In Crop Science, sales rose by nearly 26 percent due to a substantial increase in volumes and prices.

“We delivered strong operational performance, with all divisions showing strong growth momentum,” said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management, on Tuesday when presenting the company’s third-quarter results.

Growth was particularly strong at Corn Seed & Traits, driven by gains in North America due to lower product returns and the later receipt of license revenues. As expected, these license revenues were recorded in the third quarter this year as opposed to the second quarter as in 2020. Sales also advanced in Latin America due to the launch of the new VTPro4 trait for improved pest control as well as higher volumes and prices. Soybean Seed & Traits also registered strong growth, driven by gains in North America – due to lower product returns and higher license revenues – and in Latin America as a result of higher prices and volumes. Herbicides also posted a substantial increase in sales, with the business recording encouraging gains in North America and Europe/Middle East/Africa, mainly due to an increase in prices for glyphosate-based products and higher volumes.

“Our seed and traits business registered particularly strong gains,” said Wolfgang Nickl, CFO of Bayer AG. “In North America, this was mainly due to lower product returns compared with the prior-year quarter as well as higher license revenues. Our seed and traits business in South America benefited from higher prices and volumes, as well as the launch of a new corn trait. Our herbicides business expanded as a result of higher prices, particularly in North America.”

Regarding the glyphosate litigations in the United States, I would like to briefly point to our five-point plan, which we had provided specific information on this summer. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether to accept the Hardeman case for review. A positive outcome in the coming year could then effectively end the litigation. In the event of a negative outcome, we already made an additional provision of $ 4.5 billion before taxes and discounting in the second quarter to cover possible long-term risks as communicated.

Nickl says Bayer has raised its prices for glyphosate because of reductions in product availability and expects further price increases in the next quarter.

Listen to comments on Bayer Crop Science business from Nickl during the Tuesday news conference call.
Bayer CFO Wolfgang Nickl - Crop Science 3rd quarter (2:15)

Bayer CFO Wolfgang Nickl - glyphosate supply and prices (:49)

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Bayer Announces New President of Crop Science

Cindy Zimmerman

Liam Condon

After more than 30 years with Bayer, Liam Condon has decided to pursue a new career challenge as of the end of this year.

Bayer announced today that Rodrigo Santos will succeed Condon on the company’s Board of Management and as President of the Crop Science division, effective January 1, 2022. Santos is currently Chief Operating Officer of the Crop Science Division of Bayer and responsible for the global commercial operations of the company’s agriculture business.

Rodrigo Santos

Santos has been Chief Operating Officer of Bayer’s Crop Science division since June 2021. After the acquisition of Monsanto in 2018, he led the Crop Science business in Latin America. A Brazilian national, Santos has spent 23 years with the company in sales, marketing, strategy, and business development roles located in Brazil, the United States and Eastern Europe. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz – ESALQ/USP and holds a Master of Business Administration from FGV/Ohio University. Santos is married with three children.

“I’d like to sincerely thank Liam for the many years of trustful collaboration we have shared. He has been of great service to Bayer, and we’ll give him an appropriate send-off at the end of the year,” said Werner Baumann, Bayer Chairman of the Board of Management.

Bayer Chairman Werner Baumann re: Condon and Santos (1:17)

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Animal Ag News 11/8

Carrie Muehling

  • Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative announced the hiring of Travis Senn to help drive the company’s social media strategy and public relations development.
  • A letter seeking signatures from a wide-range of organizations supporting the recently introduced American Beef Labeling Act of 2021 (S.2716) is now being circulated among organizations representing farm, ranch, rural, faith, environmental, farm/food worker, manufacturing, and cattle/farm industry support businesses. R-CALF USA is among the participating groups circulating the letter in an effort to secure swift passage of S.2716. Senate Bill 2716 would reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling (M-COOL) for beef within 12 months of enactment.
  • For the first time, the sustainability of the full U.S. chicken, turkey and egg supply chains will be measured through a scalable and independent tool developed by all poultry stakeholders — the US-RSPE Sustainability Framework. US-RSPE announced the successful completion of key development milestones and the launch is set for early 2022.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) announced the formation of a Supply Chain Task Force to develop policy recommendations to address severe supply chain disruptions affecting the U.S. dairy industry.
  • Wisconsin Cheese is on a nationwide hunt for the most creative holiday cheese boards. Their six-week competition is open, and any aspiring cheese board aficionado could be named champion, winning a year’s supply of cheese for themselves and a friend, plus a cheese donation to the food pantry of their choice. Enter now at WisconsinCheese.com/CheeseBoardAwards.
  • Emerging leaders in agriculture now have a new opportunity to gain next-level leadership and professional development training specifically focused on the animal agriculture segment of the industry. Advanced Training for Animal Agriculture Leaders, a new leadership development program created and sponsored by the United Soybean Board and National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), will empower professionals in the early or middle part of their careers to build on previous leadership development experiences and collaborate with peers across the industry.
  • Cumberland, a manufacturer of poultry production solutions, unveiled an updated brand identity and website. The changes reflect the brand’s commitment to helping their customers raise their best birds by delivering the highest quality solutions and real support when they need it. The refreshed identity includes a modernized logo that has evolved from the original. As one of the five main brands in AGCO’s Grain & Protein business unit, Cumberland helps poultry producers increase both animal welfare and farm productivity with innovative climate control, housing, bio-security, feeding and watering.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

New Podcast Compares Corn Ethanol with Carbon Markets

Cindy Zimmerman

“Corn Saves America” is the captivating title of the second installation of the podcast series from AEI Premium, the online community for agricultural decision makers.

The new podcast explores agriculture’s role in environmental solutions, comparing and contrasting the rise of corn ethanol with today’s carbon markets.

This season, hosts Sarah Mock, Brent Gloy, and David Widmar are back, along with a team of carbon and ethanol experts, investors, and farmers. Together, they will unpack how corn-based fuel united farmers, energy companies, and environmentalists to transform markets and eventually became a political flashpoint. And do their best to answer a big question: are carbon markets on a similar trajectory?

“The old adage ‘history doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes’ is useful to consider during times of uncertainty, including today,” said AEI Premium co-founder and “Escaping 1980” co-host David Widmar. ”Our podcast shares lessons learned from the corn ethanol boom era to help strategic agriculture professionals better navigate what lies ahead for carbon markets in 2021.”

“Corn Saves America” builds on themes from AEI’s first podcast, “Escaping 1980.” Episodes are available to stream now at aei.ag/season2 and cornsavesamerica.com, along with additional reading about the topics discussed on the show. “Corn Saves America” is available for download on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Listeners can connect with AEI Premium on Twitter and Facebook to provide feedback.

carbon, Corn, Ethanol, Podcasts

USDA Secretary Vilsack from COP26

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had a busy week at COP26 last week, participating in numerous events to underscore the administration’s commitment to climate action.

Vilsack held a media call Friday afternoon from COP26 in Glasgow, UK. He discussed COP26 events, the recently-announced partnership with the EU and the Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate.

Taking questions from reporters, Vilsack also commented on trade issues, importance of the Build Back Better act, “climate smart commodities,” methane emissions and livestock, biofuels talk at COP26, CSAF timeline now that comment period has ended, and where USDA is on federal vaccine mandate with upcoming deadlines this month. Today is the second dose deadline for Moderna and Pfizer vaccine and first (only) dose deadline for Johnson and Johnson, and federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated by November 22.

Vilsack media call from COP26 (25:33)

Audio, Environment, International, Trade, USDA

Industry Ag News 11/5

Carrie Muehling

  • A new report, funded by the United Soybean Board and conducted by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, revealed that providing U.S. farmers and ranchers access to fast, affordable and reliable broadband will increase sustainability. It will also allow more reliable and efficient food production for a growing population and strengthen America’s rural communities.
  • The National Corn Growers Association joined four other agricultural groups in encouraging the U.S. Court of International Trade to overturn an earlier decision by the International Trade Commission, which imposed tariffs on imported phosphate fertilizers from Morocco.
  • The National FFA Organization awarded Kathy Eichlin, head of Internal Communications for Syngenta Crop Protection in North America, and Robin Thomas, Early Talent Acquisition manager for Syngenta in North America, Honorary American FFA Degrees at the 94th National FFA Convention and Expo on Oct. 29 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Kyle Walker, director of asset management at Peoples Company in Indianola, Iowa, was named the 2021 Professional Farm Manager of the Year. The award, co-sponsored by Syngenta, Farm Journal’s The Scoop magazine and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA), recognizes farm managers who display excellence in client service and a commitment to agriculture.
  • Beck Ag, Inc. is accelerating its focus on enabling execution excellence within client organizations. This approach addresses critical business initiatives for clients that will improve the performance of their organizations.
  • On the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit, European Union officials and the Biden administration brokered a deal that will ease tariffs on E.U. steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. while eliminating retaliatory duties from the E.U. on several U.S. goods, including U.S. Corn.
  • European Union Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and United States Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a statement on a newly created transatlantic collaboration platform on agriculture designed to take on the global challenges of sustainability and climate change.
  • On November 2, at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the United States and United Arab Emirates officially launched the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) alongside 31 countries and over 48 non-government partners. In remarks at the World Leaders Summit, President Biden announced that the United States intends to mobilize $1 billion in investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021-2025).
  • GROWMARK, Inc. is honored to have received the Corporate Innovation Award during Plug and Play’s 2021 Fall Summit. Plug and Play is a global innovation platform that connects startups with their corporate partner network. The Corporate Innovation Award is presented to its most active and engaged partners who embrace Plug and Play’s mission of open innovation and cross-collaboration.
  • A National Corn Growers Association staff member was recently elected to a national organization focused on the inland waterways system. Anne Thompson, who has served as director of PAC and political strategy at NCGA since January of 2020, was elected as a trustee for the National Waterways Foundation. Her three-year term will begin immediately.
  • The ASA Soy Scholarship is a $5,000 one-time award presented to a high school senior who plans to pursue agriculture as an area of study at any accredited college or university in the 2022-23 academic year. The scholarship is made possible through a grant by BASF Corporation. High school seniors may apply online Oct. 27-Dec. 31, 2021. Click here to apply.
Zimfo Bytes