Managing Bt Resistance in Cotton

Carrie Muehling

The Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference featured a panel on a very important topic for cotton growers in recent years, which is managing resistance to Bt insecticides that control bollworms. One of those on the panel was Mississippi State entomologist Dr. Jeff Gore.

“An important thing that we need to always remember is that these Bt traits are still extremely valuable for us,” said Gore. “I think it’s important to just always remember that even though we’re seeing some resistance and we’re having to spray some, it’s not the end of the world. The Bt is still providing a lot of value.”

Gore encouraged growers to avoid Bt corn varieties in order to help fight Bt resistance in cotton, noting that planting Bt corn in this region do not typically see the same return on investment as planting the same varieties in other parts of the country. Although he recognized the Bt trait can also be an important tool for corn, he urged growers across the Mid-South to save it for cotton.

2021 Beltwide - Jeff Gore, Mississippi State 7:47

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

Heliae® Agriculture and Rizobacter Collaborate

Cindy Zimmerman

Heliae® Agriculture has announced a new strategic collaboration with Rizobacter, a subsidiary of Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., a global leader in sustainable solutions for agriculture, to deliver unique soil and crop nutrition technologies for farmers.

Through this collaboration, Heliae® Agriculture will integrate Rizobacter’s world class biological solutions into their comprehensive product and technology offerings, starting in January 2021. Adoption of inoculants and other biological solutions is growing, driven by increased farmer awareness and demand for more environmentally sustainable agricultural practices to increase yields and profits.

Eric Lichtenheld, President and CEO of Heliae stated, “Creating this strategic collaboration between our PhycoTerra® microalgae products and Rizobacter’s biological products enables growers nationwide to focus on building soil structure and root performance that drives higher yields and healthier fields.”

“Rizobacter has a strong focus in biologicals and sustainable crop solutions,” said Ricardo Yapur, CEO of Rizobacter. “This new collaboration enriches our offering of an integrated natural nutrition program provided by selected microorganisms, providing a variety of plant and soil health solutions for growers.”

Heliae® Agriculture is focused on developing microalgae products and bringing them to the market. The groundbreaking development of PhycoTerra® provides a balanced food for the soil microbiome to improve plant vigor and crop performance, even under stressed conditions.

Norm Davy, Chief Revenue Officer at Heliae® Agriculture, says the collaboration between Rizobacter and Heliae® Agriculture will provide farmers throughout the United States and Eastern Canada with new solutions that will add value to their farming operations. “Rizobacter’s understanding of local growers’ needs and their exceptional research and development talent makes them an excellent supplier partner that will allow us to bring incremental biological solutions like the PhycoTerra® and Rizoliq TOP® HC to more farmers.”

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture

Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Rise to Meet New Opportunities

Cindy Zimmerman

The biodiesel and renewable diesel industry kicked off the 2021 Virtual National Biodiesel Conference and Expo Tuesday with an optimistic outlook for the future of America’s sustainable petroleum diesel replacement.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Rise 2021” and in his annual state of the industry address, National Biodiesel Board CEO Donnell Rehagen pointed to several factors contributing to increased demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel.

“Last year we unveiled Vision 2020, our plan to grow to over six billion gallons by the year 2030, and, with advancements in feedstocks, 15 billion gallons by 2050,” he said. “The biodiesel and renewable diesel industry believes, with strong data I might add, we will have the production and market demand to reach this previously unimaginable goal by 2030.”

Specifically, Rehagen said states across the country have embraced sustainable fuels as part of their own efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions within their borders. Those efforts took on greater significance during the pandemic as Americans witnessed natural reduction of smog and pollution from drivers staying home and using less petroleum.

Beyond the growth in demand for traditional biodiesel and renewable diesel in on-road and off-road transportation applications, the increasing use of Bioheat® as an oilheat replacement, as well as interest in renewable jet fuels, are expanding new markets for the industry.

Rehagen also reminded virtual attendees that at last year’s conference in Tampa, the industry was celebrating the recently reinstated biodiesel tax incentive, which continues to encourage growth.

“By renewing the biodiesel tax incentive through 2022, Congress sent a strong signal that it supports growth in the biodiesel market and provided a much-needed economic lifeline to biodiesel producers and farmers across this country,” he said.

Listen to Rehagen’s state of the industry address and follow up press conference below:
2021 Biodiesel Conference state of the industry address - NBB CEO Donnell Rehagen (18:43)

2021 Biodiesel Conference NBB CEO Donnell Rehagen press conference (28:44)

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, National Biodiesel Conference

Social Media Platform Decisions Causing Fear & Indecision

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired TwitterWe are still reeling from the events that occurred in Washington, DC recently and wonder where it will all end. We have been social media pioneers in this industry and started our company the same year Facebook started, but now we are concerned about what the future holds. We’ve already had some issues with the major platforms just from the standpoint of how some of their policy decision are affecting publishers and most recently how the latest Apple iOS update is affecting apps with their new privacy restrictions.

We have (or had) personal and multiple company accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others. Now we’re wondering what the impact will be with the fragmenting of audience as these platforms lose users and other platforms start growing.

Cindy and I are appalled by the violence in the nation’s Capitol, but also appalled at the attack on free speech and the way this is continuing to snowball. We are in a very scary time right now and we are praying a lot for the future of our nation.

For this reason, we’re looking into alternatives. I’ve already opened a Gab account (running slow with huge amount of traffic) and I had a Parler account for a day. I haven’t had time to evaluate them, but I will. And I’ll keep looking at new ones. Maybe it’s time for new media to be new media again.

We would love to discuss this with anyone, any time. Feel free to contact us. And just in case that becomes more difficult on “traditional” social media, please subscribe to our weekly e-newsletters to keep in touch with what’s new with ZimmComm. Also, please feel free to email either of us and put us on your contact lists if you decide to drop social media accounts. chuck@zimmcomm.biz and cindy@zimmcomm.biz.

Social Media, Social Networking

Animal Ag News 1/18

Carrie Muehling

  • The Federation of State Beef Councils, on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, has partnered with the Daytona International Speedway to sponsor the 40th season-opening race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series – the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.® 300. The event is set for a 5 p.m. ET start on Saturday, Feb. 13, the day before the 63rd Annual DAYTONA 500.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association‘s (NCBA) Senior Director of International Trade and Market Access, Kent Bacus issued a statement in response to reports of another reported occurrence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Namibia.
  • The Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program managed by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, has launched updated advocacy training modules – MBA NextGen. MBA NextGen updates the popular MBA training modules making it easier than ever for a new generation of farmers and ranchers to share their story and advocate knowledgeably for the beef industry.
  • For more than two years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dragged its feet on the development of gene-edited livestock, an emerging technology with tremendous promise for livestock agriculture, causing American agriculture to fall behind in the global race to advance its development. Under a recently proposed rule, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will have primary regulatory jurisdiction, which “will foster innovation, allow for producer access to this technology, and preserve the preeminence of American agriculture globally,” the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) wrote in comments submitted to the agency.
  • The National Pork Producers Council introduced a multimedia campaign, “Farming Today for Tomorrow,” to showcase U.S. pork producers’ long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health announced the appointment of Randolph Legg as its U.S. President. He succeeds Everett Hoekstra, who retired in December.
  • The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs and International Poultry Welfare Alliance announced Candace Bergesch as the new director of communications for both organizations, beginning Jan. 11. The move aims to strengthen the collaboration between the organizations as well as promote individual success in addressing issues related to poultry welfare and sustainability.
  • The American Gelbvieh Association is pleased to announce the addition of Katie Harbert to the AGA staff as Gelbvieh Media Productions Coordinator. Harbert will be responsible for design, production, and ad sales of official AGA publications and will also provide design services for AGA members and the Association.
  • Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative has hired Mykel Wedig, who has worked on federal ag policy issues in Washington, D.C., to join its government affairs team.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

USDA Announces Final Rule on Hemp Production

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the final rule regulating the production of hemp in the United States.

“With the publication of this final rule, USDA brings to a close a full and transparent rule-making process that started with a hemp listening session in March 2019,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Greg Ibach. “USDA staff have taken the information you have provided through three comment periods and from your experiences over a growing season to develop regulations that meet Congressional intent while providing a fair, consistent, science-based process for states, tribes and individual producers. USDA staff will continue to conduct education and outreach to help industry achieve compliance with the requirements.”

Key provisions of the final rule include licensing requirements; record keeping requirements for maintaining information about the land where hemp is produced; procedures for testing the THC concentration levels for hemp; procedures for disposing of non-compliant plants; compliance provisions; and procedures for handling violations.

Cannabis, hemp, USDA

Mixed Bag of Last Minute EPA Proposals for Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

With just days before a new administration takes office, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a mixed bag of last minute proposals for biofuels producers.

First, in Friday’s Federal Register, EPA proposed to extend compliance deadlines for 2019 and 2020 renewable volume obligations, stating that the agency would “take no position on the availability of SREs for the 2019 compliance year.”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper saw that as good news. “We do agree with EPA that the outgoing administration should refrain from any further action on the pending small refinery petitions. To that end, we see EPA’s statement in this proposal that it is not taking a position on 2019 SREs as a good sign.”

Also on Friday, EPA announced a final determination that no additional measures are necessary to mitigate “potential adverse air quality impacts” associated with the Renewable Fuel Standard, and Cooper says RFA agrees. “We agree with EPA that no additional ‘fuel control measures’ are necessary to mitigate ‘adverse air quality impacts’ from the RFS, because there are no ‘adverse’ impacts!”

However, Cooper says they do not agree with a proposal to be published in Tuesday’s Federal Register to seek public comments on requests from refiners and oil state governors to provide a general waiver from 2019 and 2020 RFS renewable volume obligations due to COVID-19. “This is nothing more than one last desperate attempt by the refiners to undermine the RFS and protect their chokehold on the nation’s fuel markets. But it cannot succeed because EPA has no authority to waive RFS volumes unless the petitioners show that the RFS itself is the cause of the ‘severe economic harm’ to a state, region, or the nation.”

The final proposal out of EPA to be published on Tuesday would remove certain barriers to expand sales of E15, which Cooper says is strongly supported by the industry. RFA will be providing comments on all of these matters and testifying at the public hearings scheduled on several of these proposed actions.

Cooper summarizes RFA’s reaction to all of these proposals, in addition to the Supreme Court taking up the Tenth Circuit Court decision on small refinery exemptions, and rumors EPA would grant waivers on the way out the door.

RFA president and CEO Geoff Cooper summarizes week of ethanol news (9:36)

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, EPA, Ethanol, RFA

Beltwide Cotton Conference Shares Weed Management Research

Carrie Muehling

New weed science research from the University of Georgia (UGA) was on the agenda at the 2021 virtual Beltwide Cotton Conference.

“We must reduce the selection pressure that’s being placed upon these herbicides in order to preserve our ability to use this technology,” said Taylor Randell, UGA Weed Science student, who presented the research in response to the evolution of herbicide resistance and the ongoing threat to the sustainability of cotton production.

Randell shared with participants that integrated weed management strategies like the use of cover crops, pre-emergent and residual herbicides, herbicide tank mixtures, and timely post-emergence applications can reduce selection pressure being placed upon any one control measure, therefore delaying the spread of herbicide resistance. The study aimed to quantify any reduction in selection pressure through a combination of these strategies.

2021 Beltwide Interview with Taylor Randell, UGA 6:40

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton, weed management

Industry Ag News 1/15

Carrie Muehling

  • Farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 102nd Annual Convention have adopted policies to guide the organization’s work in 2021. Key topics ranged from farm diversity to farm labor and dairy policy to livestock marketing. For the first time in AFBF history, delegates met and voted virtually due to COVID-19.
  • The GROWMARK Foundation is once again offering a $1,500 scholarship program for students in the United States and Ontario, Canada, pursing two- or four-year degrees or trade school certification in an agriculture-related field. High school seniors or students at any level of higher education may complete the application, which can be found at www.growmark.com/about-us/corporate-commitments. Applications are due by midnight Central Time on April 15, 2021 and recipients will be notified by July 1, 2021.
  • Join ag public relations professionals for the Agricultural Relations Council’s (ARC) February 2 webinar, starting at 11 a.m. Central time. The topic is “Your work is great, but is your contest entry?” Register here.
  • Agri-Pulse is pleased to announce that Jesse Harding Campbell has joined the Agri-Pulse team as executive assistant. Campbell grew up on a farm near Marine, Il., and studied Agricultural and Environmental Communications at the University of Illinois. While in college, Campbell completed a farm broadcasting internship at WYXY. She also served as assistant farm director at the Wisconsin Farm Report and KRVN/Rural Radio Network in Nebraska. Most recently, Campbell served as director of communications with a law firm based in Omaha, Neb.
  • The American Soybean Association is pleased to announce a fifth addition to its in-house Washington, D.C., policy team. Ariel Wiegard will join ASA Jan. 19 as a director leading the portfolio for conservation, precision agriculture, nutrition, and other issues of importance to soy.
  • The third largest indoor U.S. farm show, presented by Farm Credit Services of America and AgDirect, will go on as planned February 2-4 in Des Moines, Iowa. Spread across 8 acres, the Iowa Ag Expo will be the first major indoor ag show to be held in the Midwest since spring.
  • A new GSI dealership, Innovative Grain Systems, has opened in Jonesboro, Ark., to serve farmers in a 300-mile radius and commercial grain operations throughout the mid-South.
Zimfo Bytes

USDA Offers Additional CFAP Aid for Some Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide additional assistance through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), expanding eligibility for some agricultural producers and commodities as well as updating payments to accurately compensate some producers who already applied for the program.

Among the announced updates:
Contract producers of swine, broilers, laying hens, chicken eggs and turkeys who suffered a drop in revenue in 2020 as compared to their 2019 revenue because of the pandemic now are eligible for assistance. Producers could receive up to 80% of their revenue loss, subject to the availability of funds.Producers of pullets and turfgrass sod also now are eligible for CFAP payments.

FSA adjusted the payment calculation to use the producer’s eligible 2019 calendar year sales, and 2019 crop insurance indemnities, NAP, and WHIP+ payments, multiplied by the applicable payment rate for all sales commodities, which include specialty crops, aquaculture, tobacco, specialty livestock, nursery crops and floriculture, for CFAP 2.

USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey and Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce provided details on the announcement in a call with reporters. Read more in the USDA press release.

USDA CFAP Update with Bill Northey and Richard Fordyce (19:34)

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, USDA