NCBA 2021 Policy Update

Cindy Zimmerman

2021 has been a busy year for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association working for the nation’s one million cattle farmers and ranchers. Members of the NCBA policy team took some time to update reporters on wins and losses this year and where the industry stands going into 2022.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Ethan Lane, NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs, provided an overview of 2021, including fighting against proposals such as stepped-up basis and capital gains tax increases.
Ethan Lane, NCBA (11:17)

Tanner Beymer, Government Affairs and Market Regulatory Policy, discussed the recent House passed bills supported by NCBA and how it differs from Senate legislation.
Tanner Beymer, NCBA (4:59)

Danielle Beck, Director of Government Affairs, updates on lab grown meat policy
Danielle Beck, NCBA (2:58)

Scott Yager, Chief Environmental Counsel, on WOTUS redo and EPA agenda
Scott Yager, NCBA (3:50)

Full Q and A with reporters –
NCBA presser Q&A (26:51)

Audio, Beef, Livestock, NCBA

Animal Ag News 12/20

Carrie Muehling

  • The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) joins the Trust In Beef program as a founding partner and technical advisor. Trust In Beef is a new effort to empower beef producers to accelerate the adoption of their sustainability journey and provide consumers with real-life proof of the continuously improving environmental performance of American beef. The program is led by Farm Journal‘s social purpose division, Trust In Food, and its industry- leading beef brand, Drovers.
  • PIC (Pig Improvement Company) announces the PIC Total Carcass Value Handbook, a new business resource for pork processors and producers.
  • The Animal Agriculture Alliance announced the winners of the 2021 College Aggies Online scholarship competition. Students from Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University, West Texas A&M University, Kansas State University, University of Florida, and University of Wisconsin-River Falls took home the top prizes as they were named overall winners of this year’s nine-week program. The Alliance awarded more than $20,000 in scholarships to students and clubs this year.
  • Applications are being accepted until March 11, 2022, for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award. Established in 1991, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program annually recognizes outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of cattle producers across the nation.
  • USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is providing more than $200,000 dollars in Farm Bill funding to support the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) in developing movement decision criteria for sheep and cattle grazing public land allotments during a potential foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak.
  • “Everything is bigger in Texas,” and that includes the speaker lineup for the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show to be held Feb. 1-3, in Houston. General session speakers will hit audiences hard with powerful messages that educate, motivate and inspire.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Jeremy Wilson to Join AgGateway as Executive VP

Cindy Zimmerman

AgGateway has announced that Jeremy Wilson is joining the organization as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and North America Regional Director, effective January 1, 2022.

Wilson takes the job of 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 this year.

Wilson brings more than three decades of diverse agriculture experience to AgGateway, working within organizations serving farmers including crop insurance, data collection and analysis, systems development, and field agronomy as a consultant. For nearly a decade, he has been a dedicated AgGateway volunteer and a passionate advocate for the organization’s mission. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, Field Data Solutions with agriculture software manufacturer EFC Systems of Brentwood, TN.

AgGateway is a global, non-profit organization that develops the resources and relationships driving digital connectivity in global agriculture and related industries. Wilson will be part of a brand new AgGateway team in 2022 which also includes Paul Schrimpf, who is joining the organization as its new Director of Marketing and Communications.

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year from USSEC

Chuck Zimmerman

USSEC HolidayThis holiday greeting comes from Jim Sutter and the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

2021 was a challenging yet deeply fulfilling year that brought many milestones – record participants in our programs, numerous recognitions for U.S. Soy, larger volumes than ever before and great partnerships around the world as we work together to sustainably enable food security and nutrition globally.

Thank you for the collaboration and we wish you and yours a happy and successful 2022!

Soybean, USSEC

Industry Ag News 12/17

Carrie Muehling

  • The VISION Conference 2022 will take place in-person January 18-19 at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa.
  • If you are unable to join the 2022 American Farm Bureau Convention in Atlanta, not to worry. Convention content is available online.
  • Join USDA and other industry leaders for the agricultural sector’s premier event, the 2022 Agricultural Outlook Forum. This year’s Forum, New Paths to Sustainability and Productivity Growth, will be held virtually on February 24-25, 2022.
  • Bushel announced the addition of Nathan Jennings as Chief Revenue Officer. Jennings will be leading efforts in building channel partnerships, growing accounts and sales team development.
  • The first phase of construction on the Ag Innovation Campus schedule is completed, as the non-profit crush and research facility moves a step closer to its 2022 production goal.
  • During the Sorghum Checkoff’s annual December meeting, leaders of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program elected Charles Ray Huddleston of Celina, Texas as the 2022 Chairman along with three additional elected officers.
  • Corn growers showed the amazing possibilities open to agriculture with the use of modern seed varieties, advanced production techniques and innovative growing practices this year as David Hula topped the 600 bushel-per-acre mark again this year in NCGA’s National Corn Yield Contest.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) mails the National Agricultural Classification Survey (NACS) this month to more than a million potential U.S. agricultural producers, in preparation for the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
  • The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance added one new member to its Board of Directors, re-elected two others and tabbed Rob Prather of Global Processing as its new board chair during its 2021 Annual Meeting.
  • During its annual meeting in St. Louis, the American Soybean Association (ASA) elected the leaders who will steer the organization through a new year of soybean policy advocacy, including planning for the 2023 farm bill and other soy priorities. Brad Doyle (AR) will serve as 2022 ASA president.
Zimfo Bytes

Archer Malmo Wins Second in State Corn Yield Contest

Cindy Zimmerman

Archer Malmo is an agency that really knows ag so well they can produce contest winning corn yields.

The ag team at Archer Malmo, in partnership with the research team at Agricenter International, achieved their Project 300 corn yield goal by growing 333 bushel per acre of corn on a 3.3-acre plot area. The agency also placed second in the state of Tennessee at the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Yield Contest.

As a top 3 finisher in their state (conventional tillage, irrigated category), the Archer Malmo ag team will be recognized by NCGA, along with the top farmers in the country, at the 2022 Commodity Classic trade show in New Orleans, March 10-12.

“Archer Malmo established Archer Acre, our agency’s very own farm, in 2016,” said Fred Nichols, senior vice president at Archer Malmo. “It was intended to educate our ag team on crop production. Over the years we’ve grown 15 different crops, tested various client products, conducted on-farm agronomic research trials and created our own line of branded food products.”

Last year, the team grew 268 bushels per acre of corn on one acre, which inspired them to enter the NCGA contest this year. The team will continue to enter the contest again next year and expand on the farm.

Several factors went into this year’s high yield: superior genetics, ideal planting conditions, outstanding crop nutrition and excellent pollination, to name a few. The corn was planted with AgriGold 6659, a 116-day corn hybrid. YaraVera® AMIDAS, a slow-release fertilizer, was used – helping to feed plants all the way through pollination. Biovante® products were applied to boost plant energy. During the critical phase of pollination, there were relatively mild temperatures, where irrigation occurred only twice during the time.

Read more about this accomplishment.

Agencies, Corn, NCGA

Hula Wins Corn Yield Contest – Again

Cindy Zimmerman

Not another world record, but Virginia farmer David Hula once again topped 600 bushels per acre this year in NCGA’s National Corn Yield Contest to take the number one spot.

Hula, who has won the contest for multiple years, produced 602.1694 bushels per acre, which is down from his previous world record of 616.1953 bushels per acre accomplished in 2019. The second-highest yield for 2021 came from David’s son Craig Hula with 583.07 bushels per acre in the no-till, irrigated category.

The National Corn Yield Contest is now in its 57th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members. The 27 national winners in 9 production categories had verified yields averaging more than 376.7593 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 177 bushels per acre nationwide. While there is no overall contest winner, yields from first, second and third place farmers overall production categories averaged 285.5971 bushels per acre.

Corn, NCGA

ZimmCast 682 – The Latest from Syngenta

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

Since Syngenta was at all the fall meetings I attended and they had many stories to tell I thought I’d share some of them in this week’s episode. We really appreciate Syngenta’s support which helps make what we do at ZimmComm possible. So let’s get started.

At the NAFB Trade Talk we heard about Syngenta’s sustainability efforts from Caydee Savinelli and Steven Wall.

Next, it was on to the Farm Journal MILK Business Conference where Enogen was in the spotlight to help dairy producers. Describing this are Todd Lunde, Ted Koehler, Liz Novotny, Katie Edmunds and from Penn State, Dr. Alexander Hristov.

Last but not least, Syngenta was a major sponsor at the ASTA CSS & Seed Trade Expo where I spoke with Eric Boeck and Mary Kay Thatcher.

So that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 682 - The Latest from Syngenta (40:53)

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, Syngenta, ZimmCast

Happy holidays from Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute

Chuck Zimmerman

It is that time of the year when we start receiving Christmas and holiday greetings from our friends. I always like to share some of them and the first one for this year is from the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. Executive Director Peter G. McCornick has this special message.


Happy holidays from all of us at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI)!

As we continue to navigate through this global pandemic, the mission of DWFI—to secure more nutritious food with less stress on our scarce water resources—is more relevant and urgent than ever. We must expand and accelerate efforts to produce more nutritious food with less water; catalyze the development and deployment of solutions to the next generation of producers, water managers and entrepreneurs; strengthen water and food systems to adapt to water-related shocks; and reverse the wide-spread trend of water quality degradation.

This past year required us all to find ways to adapt to constraints on how we work and highlighted the importance of our network of committed partners. Students, faculty fellows, university leaders, producers, water managers and other stakeholders—both here and around the world—have developed creative ways to adjust to the challenges brought on by the re-occurring waves of the pandemic.

Despite the challenges and constraints, it has been a productive year, which would not have been possible on our own. I’d like to thank our staff, partners, donors, grant funders, Faculty Fellows, students, supporters and board of directors for your tireless efforts this past year. We look forward to developing more productive and resilient water for food systems and, sooner than later, getting to do so in person.

We wish you all a peaceful holiday season and a new year filled with health and happiness.

You can find their Annual Report here.

Video, Water for Food

Benson Hill Harvests 1st Commercial Ultra-High Protein Soybeans

Cindy Zimmerman

Benson HillBenson Hill is celebrating the 2021 harvest of its proprietary soybean varieties, including the first commercial plantings of its Ultra-High Protein (UHP) soybeans and so far results from the field show the advantage of the company’s closed-loop supply chain and crop performance.

“The insights we have gained through this harvest demonstrate the combined power of CropOS® with our integrated supply chain. Thanks to the diligent efforts of our team members and farmer partners, we are particularly pleased with the data acquisition results, which have exceeded our expectations. This work is serving to further strengthen our prediction and simulation capabilities, which inform our product pipeline, field production efforts, and future revenues,” said Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. “It’s also clear from our progress on contracting 2022 acreage that we are well positioned to help meet growing farmer and market interest in our offerings.”

Benson Hill partners with farmers to optimize expression of protein and other quality traits and to improve sustainability practices on the farm. Contracting acres for 2022 is well underway and commitments have already exceeded the 70,000 acres planted and harvested in 2021. Many returning farmers have increased their acreage commitments, and new farmers seeking to plant Benson Hill’s innovative soybean varieties that can provide value-added consumer market opportunities.

“Growing with Benson Hill has changed the way I measure success. Working to optimize my crop for quality traits gives me access to growing consumer markets with new opportunities for profitability on my farm,” said Ben Thompson, B&A Thompson Grain Farm, Seymour, Indiana. “Benson Hill wants to make an impact on the health and sustainability of our food system. I like that, and I like that they treat me like a real partner to help achieve it.”

Farming, Harvest, Soybean, Technology