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)

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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

Taxing Concerns for Cattle Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the biggest concerns of cattle producers meeting last week at the Cattle Industry Convention is the potential negative impact imposing new transfer taxes would have on them.

“Everybody’s talking about it being a death tax, but it actually occurs on gifting as well,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President Todd Wilkinson of South Dakota. “If they pay for all this infrastructure on the back of rural America, it’s going to put us out of business.”

Wilkinson says he has never seen a tax proposal that would be so devastating to small business and to the farming and rancher community.
CIC2021 Interview with Todd Wilkinson, NCBA vice president 4:04

NCBA Policy Division Vice Chair Buck Wehrbein, a cattle feeder from Nebraska, says regulatory and tax issues are always the most important for the industry but the good news is that NCBA representatives are well respected in the nation’s Capitol.

“When we have our legislative conference up there they call it ‘when the hats are in town,'” said Wehrbein. “Legislative issues are going to be tough with this Congress (but) we’ll be working hard to get a different Congress in the next election.”

Wehrbein says tax policies can either “kill us or help us sustain” since one of the legs of the three-legged stool of sustainability is economic.

CIC2021 Interview with Buck Wehrbein, Nebraska 7:38

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, NCBA

ZimmCast 676 – Ethanol and Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

Last week I attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, working primarily in the Buffalo Chip Campground with the Renewable Fuels Association. This is the 8th time I’ve had this opportunity to work with a group of great people, creating content during the various sponsorship activities. It is both an educational as well as promotional effort, helping motorcycle riders understand the value and safety of using an E10 blend of ethanol and gas in their machines, which is included in all motorcycle manufacturers warranties.

RFA Free Fuel Happy HoursThe Free Fuel Happy Hours on the Buffalo Chip property is the major component of RFA’s activities as bikers line up to fill their bikes with E10, 93 octane, fuel. It provides a great opportunity to talk one on one with bikers about ethanol and answer questions they may have. RFA pumped more than 3,000 gallons of fuel during the four days of Free Fuel Happy Hours for three hours per day.

Robert White, VP of Industry Relations for RFA, spearheads this project and has done so for all of the 13 years the organization has been involved with the Sturgis Rally. I talked to him about how things went this year as we were wrapping up the activities, as well as to several of the motorcycle riders who stopped by to get some free fuel.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 676 - Ethanol and Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (13:57)

2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Photo Album

In case you didn’t know it you can find more podcasts we produce in all your favorite podcast apps. That includes the Golden ZimmComm Mic Podcast, The Ethanol Report, Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services and the Daugherty Water for Food Podcast. We hope you enjoy listening to them.

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:

Audio, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, RFA, ZimmCast

Animal Ag News 8/16

Carrie Muehling

  • Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack granted the organizers of the National Beef Checkoff Petition Drive until October 3, 2021 to collect the necessary signatures on the petition calling for a producer vote of the National Beef Checkoff Program.
  • Zoetis announced a new combination product to treat bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and control related fever (pyrexia): Draxxin® KP (tulathromycin and ketoprofen injection) Injectable Solution. It’s a new single-treatment option for beef and dairy producers. Draxxin KP includes the well-known effectiveness of Draxxin® (tulathromycin injection) Injectable Solution and adds ketoprofen, a fast-acting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in a single treatment approved for use in beef steers, beef heifers, beef calves two months of age and older, beef bulls, dairy bulls and dairy replacement heifers.
  • Ten students pursuing careers in the beef industry were awarded $1,500 scholarships for the next school year by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and recognized during the 2021 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville. The CME Group Beef Industry Scholarship program recognizes talented and thoughtful students emerging as industry leaders.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association announced that registration for Dairy Forum 2022 is now open. Dairy Forum is back live and in person in 2022 in Palm Desert, Calif.
  • Despite competitive wages and an expanding workforce, the U.S. pork industry continues to struggle with a labor shortage that will require access to more foreign-born workers to remain sustainable, according to a study by Iowa State University economists that was recently updated to reflect the current state of the labor market. The study underscores the urgent need for agriculture labor reform, a top priority for the National Pork Producers Council.
  • Cargill, Continental Grain Company, and Sanderson Farms, Inc. announced they have reached a definitive agreement for a joint venture between Cargill and Continental Grain to acquire Sanderson Farms for $203 per share in cash, representing a total equity value for Sanderson Farms of $4.53 billion.
  • Previous research has shown that feeding a red seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis (AT), to cattle can dramatically reduce enteric methane emissions; however, AT is not readily available in large quantities for livestock. To address this challenge, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) recently awarded a $200,000 grant to Greener Grazing, LLC, a subsidiary of Australis Aquaculture, LLC, to develop the world’s first seed bank and ocean cultivation techniques for AT. Australis Aquaculture, together with several other philanthropic funders are providing matching funds for a total $603,500 project investment.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites