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

Beef Checkoff Celebrates 35 Years

Cindy Zimmerman

It was 1986 when the beef cattle industry came together in an effort to help itself as prices were plummeting and consumer demand was flagging. A rancher from Wacahoota, Florida by the name of Jo Ann Smith was named as the first chair of the newly formed Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB).

Fast forward 35 years and today beef prices are near record high, and consumer and wholesale beef demand are both at 30-year highs. The phrases “Real Food for Real People” and “Beef It’s What’s for Dinner” have become iconic. And the price is still just $1 per head.

As part of the 35th anniversary celebration of the Beef Checkoff at the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Nashville last week, CBB presented its first ever Checkoff Visionary Award to Jo Ann Smith.

“Jo Ann’s tenacity, hard work and leadership turned the dream of a Beef Checkoff into reality,” said Greg Hanes, CEO of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. “She has truly been a trailblazer, and all of us in the beef industry are grateful for what she has accomplished – not just in her role with the CBB, but also with the many other local, state and national beef industry organizations she’s been involved with over the years. Truly, there’s no one more deserving of our first Checkoff Visionary Award.”

CIC2021 Interview with Greg Hanes, CBB CEO 10:12

Jo Ann was not able to attend the convention this year, but we did have the opportunity to speak with her at the 2020 convention about her role in making the beef checkoff happen.
CIC2020 Interview with Jo Ann Smith, Former NCBA President 3:02

Watch the CBB video tribute to Jo Ann Smith


Cattle Industry Convention virtual news room.

2021 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Cattle Industry Conference, Video

Marty Smith Honored for Year as NCBA President

Cindy Zimmerman

To say that Florida rancher Marty Smith had an unusual year as president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is an understatement.

“It was damn tough,” said Smith during an interview at the Cattle Industry Convention last week in Nashville.

Smith was honored for his service to NCBA during the annual Board of Directors meeting, and he had the opportunity to address two of the general sessions, as well as accept the Cattlemen’s Beef Board first Checkoff Visionary Award, which went to his mother Jo Ann Smith, who was the first chair of the newly formed Cattlemen’s Beef Board in 1986.

CIC2021 Interview with Marty Smith, NCBA past president 6:20

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, NCBA

Good News in CattleFax Outlook at #CattleCon21

Cindy Zimmerman

The popular CattleFax Outlook Seminar, held as part of the 2021 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Nashville, had some positive news for producers last week.

The beef cattle industry is bouncing back from the pandemic, and continued progress is expected in 2022. Beef prices are near record high, and consumer and wholesale beef demand are both at 30-year highs as the U.S. and global economy recover. While drought remains a significant concern with weather threatening pasture conditions in the Northern Plains and West, strong demand, combined with higher cattle prices, signal an optimistic future for the beef industry, according to CattleFax.

According to CattleFax CEO Randy Blach, the cattle market is still dealing with a burdensome supply of market-ready fed cattle. The influence of that supply will diminish as three years of herd liquidation will reduce feedyard placements. As this occurs, the value of calves, feeder cattle and fed cattle will increase several hundred dollars per head over the next few years.

Kevin Good, vice president of industry relations and analysis at CattleFax, reported that the most recent cattle cycle saw cattle inventories peak at 94.8 million head and that those numbers are still in the system due to the COVID-19 induced slowdown in harvest over the past year.

Read more here. Listen to interviews with Blach and Good here.

CIC2021 Interview with Randy Blach, CattleFax 4:39

CIC2021 Interview with Kevin Good, CattleFax 3:57

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, NCBA