Carbon Markets Take Spotlight at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman

The growing role of carbon management in agriculture is such an important topic right now that the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo devoted a special general session to it on Wednesday. Two panels, with an introductory keynote from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), explored carbon management from the local to the global scale, and what is new in the carbon marketplace.

LtoR: Elizabeth Fastiggi, Amazon; Sheila Remes, The Boeing Company; Bruce Knight, Strategic Conservation Solutions; Jason Weller, Truterra

Bruce Knight, Strategic Conservation Solutions, moderated the carbon marketplace panel featuring three major companies making news in the carbon space.

Sheila Remes, The Boeing Company, talked about the opportunities for the seed industry in sustainable aviation fuels. “A week ago, I was on the first 100 percent biofuel flight, sustainable aviation fuel flight, with United leaving from Chicago to Washington D.C.,” she said. “It was seed to sky.”
Sheila Remes, The Boeing Company (9:28)

Elizabeth Fastiggi with Amazon shared today’s major announcement from Bayer, Bushel and Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiling Project Carbonview. “This is designed currently for the ethanol supply chain and specifically for..ethanol processing facilities and the information they need to make good procurement decisions.”
Elizabeth Fastiggi, Amazon (6:34)

Finally, Jason Weller, Truterra/Land O’Lakes, was able to show how they are helping farmers monetize their carbon with the results of its first year carbon program. “We launched our program in February, it was national in scale, we were a little bit blown away by the response from growers,” he said. “Thousands of producers were interested in enrolling in a carbon program.” Truterra’s 2021 offering made more than $4 million in cash payments upfront to participating farmers, who sequestered over 200,000 metric tons of carbon.
Jason Weller, Truterra/Land O'Lakes (6:30)
Interview with Jason Weller, Truterra (11:15)

2021 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, carbon, Seed

Basse Provides Annual Ag Economic Update at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman

AgResource Company president Dan Basse was back in person with his annual update on the global agricultural market at the 2021 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo on Tuesday.

Basse has presented at the event every year since 2012 and, as always, he packed a lot of information into an hour. Among the trends he noted for the coming year – a commodity “super cycle” and peak farmland; the role of farming and biofuels in carbon reduction; hog hotels in China and renewable diesel driving demand for corn and soy; and skyrocketing food prices.

Basse sees rising demand for renewable diesel as especially disruptive for the agriculture industry. “The problem we have in every bushel of soybeans as you put it through processor you get 47 and a half pounds of soybean meal and 11.6 pounds of bean oil,” said Basse. “I need more bean oil. If U.S. seed breeders could give me more bean oil, you’re going to have a very glorified future.”

Listen to an interview with Basse, as well as some of his insights from the presentation:
ASTACSS - Interview with Dan Basse, AgResource (6:44)

ASTACSS - Dan Basse, AgResource, trends overview (5:34)

ASTACSS - Dan Basse, AgResource, China hog hotels and renewable diesel (8:16)

2021 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Corn, Seed, Soybean, Swine

Seed Industry Opportunities in Alternative Proteins

Cindy Zimmerman

Demand for plant-based proteins is skyrocketing and that means seed to grow the plants being used to make alternative proteins is in high demand.

One of the first panels of the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo kicking off Monday explored the rapidly growing world of plant-based proteins and how the seed industry can help meet the increased consumer demand. Plant Based Foods Association (PDFA) president Nicole Sopko with Upton’s Naturals gave an overview of the rapid growth in the industry – 43% in the past two years – and the opportunities it creates for farmers and rural communities. “The top crops used to make plant-based ingredients are soybeans, dried peas, chick peas, oats and wheat,” said Sopko. “Our goal at the PDFA is to provide our members with increased opportunities to source their ingredients domestically.”

Ingredion Corporation, which makes ingredients for food and consumer products, is investing heavily in plant-based proteins because it is a key consumer trend right now. “We’ve been in corn protein forever, but we’re investing in pulses,” said Mark Macrander, Director, Specialty Grain Contracting & Plant Science.

Tyler Jameson with Impossible Foods gave a history of the company which was founded in 2011 and is currently sold in more than 20,000 stores worldwide. He said they really took off in 2018 when they changed their formula. “We completely switched protein source from wheat gluten to soy TVP Textured Vegetable Protein,” said Jameson. “That was entirely from our R&D team to look at what’s going to make this ground beef replacement product perform exactly like ground beef.”

Listen to opening remarks from the panel and an interview with Sopko:
ASTACSS Alternative Protein panel (34:04)

Interview with Nicole Sopko, Upton's Naturals (5:41)

2021 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, plant protein, Seed, Soybean

Remembering Bob Dole

Cindy Zimmerman

Many members of the agricultural community have fond memories of former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), who passed away Sunday at the age of 98. Here’s mine.

In 2008, Dole was honored with the World Food Prize, along with former Democrat Sen. George McGovern, for their work in creating the McGovern-Dole international school-feeding program. They both remind us of a time when people in Congress worked together for the good of the people, no matter what their political parties were.

Both of the senators took questions from the media at the World Food Prize on a variety of topics ranging from funding for the school lunch program, to biofuels, to the world financial situation. Sen. Dole quipped during their conversation on Wednesday night that “two losers finally won something” referring to the fact that both ran unsuccessful bids for the White House.

Listen to that press conference here:
2008 World Food Prize press conf

See photos of the World Food Prize event here.

Audio, politics, World Food Prize

Truterra Carbon Program Reports Successful First Year

Cindy Zimmerman

POST UPDATED with audio

Truterra, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes, Inc., is reporting high farmer interest and participation in its inaugural carbon program, launched in February 2021 and plans for 2022.

Truterra’s 2021 offering made more than $4 million in cash payments upfront to participating farmers, who sequestered over 200,000 metric tons of carbon. Designed to be the most farmer-favorable contract on the market that generates high quality, verified carbon assets, the 2021 Truterra carbon offering delivered an average payment per participating farmer of $20,000, with some payments of more than $100,000.

For the coming year, Truterra will offer its 2022 carbon program, which is similar to the Truterra 2021 carbon program and focuses on generating carbon assets in partnership with farmers who have recently adopted soil health management practices that store additional carbon in their soils. In addition, Truterra is offering a second approach designed as an “on-ramp” for farmers just getting started with climate-smart practices.

Farmers participating in the 2022 carbon program may be eligible for a one-time, upfront payment of $20 per ton of carbon based on recently adopted changes in soil health practices, including significant reduction in tillage and the addition of cover crops. Eligible cropping systems include corn, soybean, wheat, or cotton as part of farmers’ crop rotations.

New in 2022, Truterra is also launching a forward-looking approach for farmers implementing climate-smart practices for the first time and interested in potentially participating in carbon markets in the future. Truterra’s carbon market access program will engage and support farmers through the process of implementing new practices. Participating farmers may be eligible to receive one-time payments of up to $2 per acre for enrolling in the carbon market access program. Truterra will be developing and testing a suite of support services designed to streamline and facilitate conservation practice finance access, agronomic assistance, and data management.

For more information and to get started, visit www.TruterraAg.com/Carbon.

POST UPDATE
Jason Weller spoke at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo this week about carbon markets and the Truterra carbon program. “We launched our program in February, it was national in scale, we were a little bit blown away by the response from growers,” he said. “Thousands of producers were interested in enrolling in a carbon program.”
Jason Weller, Truterra/Land O'Lakes (6:30)
Interview with Jason Weller, Truterra (11:15)

Audio, carbon, Farming, Soil, Technology

Animal Ag News 12/6

Carrie Muehling

  • The annual Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit will once again be held at the 2022 International Production & Processing Expo in Atlanta. Sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the American Feed Industry Association and the North American Meat Institute, the Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, and is offered free of charge to all registered IPPE attendees.
  • Join the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association for its next one-hour webinar, “Practical Considerations Before Implementing a Monitoring System for Breeding Age Heifers,” set for December 9, at 2:00 p.m. Central time.
  • Recordings from the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2021 Virtual Summit are now available for public viewing. The 2021 event, themed “Obstacles to Opportunities” was the largest to-date with nearly 600 registered attendees who tuned in.
  • AgLaunch is excited to welcome four early-stage technology startups as the inaugural cohort of the AgLaunch365 Livestock Challenge. This program builds off the success of the AgLaunch365 Row Crop Challenge that AgLaunch has been running in partnership with Farm Journal.
  • The National Pork Producers Council announced Bryan Humphreys has been chosen as the organization’s new chief executive officer, effective Dec. 21, 2021, following the retirement of long-time leader Neil Dierks.
  • Thousands of dairy farmers worldwide milk their herds using GEA robots. These farmers depend on GEA’s reliable systems to harvest high-quality milk, maximize production and collect individual cow data to manage their herds. With GEA’s push for continual excellence, the intelligently designed DairyRobot R9500 just got smarter.
  • Six Midwestern dairy groups on a taskforce studying improvements to the Federal Milk Marketing Orders issued a statement in response to the introduction of the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has recognized six individuals whose work in federal legislation and food and agricultural policy has helped to advance the economic impact of the U.S. dairy industry. At the annual Celebration of Dairy event overlooking the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., IDFA President and CEO Michael Dykes, D.V.M., recognized Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. David Scott of Georgia, Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, and Jason Hafemeister and Bruce Summers of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the IDFA Leadership Award.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) submitted comments to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service related to the labeling of meat or poultry products that contain lab-grown animal cells. NCBA believes that the term “beef” should only be applicable to products derived from livestock raised by farmers and ranchers.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Enogen in the MILK Business

Cindy Zimmerman

Now in its 19th year, the MILK Business Conference is a must-attend event for commercial dairy farmers seeking seeking insight to better manage their dairy and their bottom line and one of this year’s elite sponsors was Enogen Feed from Syngenta.

The Farm Journal event last week was an opportunity for Enogen Strategic Account Manager Todd Axtell to tell the Enogen Feed story. “It really is nothing more than about better starch digestion,” said Axtell. “Enogen with the alpha amylase inside that kernel of corn is going to help that animal digest that starch more efficiently (and) effectively and we’re going to get more out of every dollar that we’re spending for that starch.”

University studies have found Enogen corn provides about five percent more starch digestive efficiency and Axtell says that not only helps with a dairy producer’s bottom line, it helps the environment as well. “If I can get that much more energy out of a ton of feed, that is going to be less land use, less water use,” he said.

Learn more in this interview.
Interview with Todd Axtell, Syngenta (5:36)

Audio, Corn, Dairy, Farm Journal, Feed, Syngenta

USDA Announces $633 Million in Climate-Smart Investments

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Pennsylvania Friday to announce $633 million in investments to reduce the impacts of climate change on rural communities.

In a press call with reporters, Vilsack highlighted 791 investments that USDA is making in five programs specifically designed to help people and businesses in rural areas. These programs include Community Facilities Disaster Grants, Electric Loan Program, Rural Energy for America Program, Rural Energy Savings Program, and the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program.

Vilsack also answered questions from reporters, several focused on the biofuels sector and delayed action from the Environmental Protection Agency on Renewable Fuel Standard obligations, as well as COVID aid for producers.

USDA Sec. Vilsack presser 12-3-21 (19:27)

Audio, USDA

Partnership Acquires Willamette Egg Farms

Cindy Zimmerman

Breaking news in the egg industry today.

Northwest Farms and Proterra Investment Partners (Proterra) has acquired the operations and assets of Willamette Egg Farms (Willamette) in the Pacific Northwest from Michael Foods, Inc., a subsidiary of Post Holdings.

Northwest Farms is a newly formed company that includes several egg farming families who also are owners in Versova Management (Versova). Versova, headquartered in Sioux Center, IA, has assumed day to day management of the farms, located in Washington and Oregon.

The acquisition includes Willamette’s egg farms in Moses Lake, WA; and Canby and Molalla, OR. The farms include three egg-laying sites housing more than three million hens in production and two feed mills. The sale closed December 2, 2021.

Poultry

Industry Ag News 12/3

Carrie Muehling

  • The U.S. Court of International Trade said that it will review an amicus brief submitted by the National Corn Growers Association and other ag groups in a case it’s considering on tariffs of phosphorous fertilizers imported from outside the country. But farmers, faced with severe shortages and high fertilizer costs, are calling on the Mosaic Company to withdraw the petition that led to the tariffs.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Department has begun accepting applications for up to $1.15 billion in loans and grants to help people in rural areas get access to high-speed internet. This announcement comes on the heels of the recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides another nearly $2 billion in additional funding for the ReConnect program. USDA anticipates issuing a new Notice of Funding Opportunity to make the additional funds in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law available in 2022.
  • Blue Diamond Growers, the world’s leading almond marketer and processor, is pleased to welcome Aubrey Bettencourt as President and CEO of the Almond Alliance of California. The depth of Bettencourt’s experience will accelerate the heightened advocacy to protect and promote almond farmers and the industry at large.
  • The National FFA Foundation announced its new chair for the Sponsors’ Board during the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis. Paul Rea, senior vice president, BASF agricultural solutions North America, was named the chair for the upcoming year. Rea, born and raised on a farm in New Zealand, holds a master’s degree from the University of Sydney, graduate school of management and lives in Raleigh, N.C.
  • Register now to attend the 2022 American Farm Bureau Convention and catch these funny, motivating and inspiring speakers as they light up the general session stages. The speaker lineup includes comedian Jeff Allen, motivational speaker Jim “Murph” Murphy, and current AFBF president Zippy Duvall.
  • Sakata Seed America announces the appointment of Eduardo Flores to the role of Chief Operations Officer for Sakata Seed America, effective November 29th, 2021. Flores will assume responsibility for all of Sakata’s logistics, operations and seed production activity in North/Central America, reporting to John Nelson, Executive Vice-president, and administratively to Dave Armstrong, President-CEO. Flores will be based in Sakata’s Morgan Hill, CA headquarters.
  • National Sorghum Producers and the United Sorghum Checkoff Program recently strengthened Team Sorghum, hiring Hailey Gilbreath as communications manager and Jessi Lopez as administrative manager. Current team members Haleigh Erramouspe and Amanda Garcia will also take on new roles.
  • World Ag Expo® and E.M. Tharp, Inc. have teamed up for the 15th annual “We Believe in Growing” scholarship, created to support agriculture education. High school seniors from Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and Kern counties are encouraged to apply by January 14, 2022, to be considered. A $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to two students who attend a four-year university to major in an agricultural field. The scholarships will be disbursed over four years at $2,500 per year.
  • American Agri-Women (AAW) elected its national officers at its 2021 national convention recently in Phoenix, Ariz. AAW, a national coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women, is in its 47th year of advocating for agriculture. Heather Hampton+Knodle of Fillmore, Ill. is the new president.
  • Austin Walter, a farmer from Grand Ridge, Illinois, is the 2021 Syngenta#RootedinAg Contest grand prize winner. Online voters and a panel of judges were charmed by Walter’s story of how his grandfather’s influence drove his decision to return to the family farm.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the theme and program of the 98th Agricultural Outlook Forum, a virtual event that will be held on February 24-25, 2022. The 2022 Forum theme is “New Paths to Sustainability and Productivity Growth” and the program will focus on innovations to minimize the environmental footprint of agriculture and ensure sustainability while improving crop yields.
  • The National Pork Producers Council announced Bryan Humphreys has been chosen as the organization’s new chief executive officer, effective Dec. 21, 2021, following the retirement of long-time leader Neil Dierks.
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