Ag Secretary Nominee Ready to Make Ag Great Again

Cindy Zimmerman

After a fake news rumor late Friday naming a former U.S. Senator from Georgia, President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Texas native Brooke Rollins, president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute, to become the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

“As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country,” said Trump in a statement, adding that her “commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none.”

Rollins served in Trump’s previous administration as acting director of the Domestic Policy Council and oversaw the White House Office of American Innovation. She has a degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Rollins thanked Trump on X, saying it will be the honor of her life “to fight for America’s farmers and our Nation’s agricultural communities…WHO’S READY TO MAKE AGRICULTURE GREAT AGAIN?” She also shared congrats from her high school ag teacher and photos of herself in FFA.

Rollins has played an active role in the Trump 2024 presidential campaign and in work with the transition team. The day before she was nominated, Rollins sat down with talk show host Charlie Kirk to discuss the nomination of Florida’s Pam Bondi as Attorney General. She commented on this Trump presidency being an “inflection point in American history” and the team that he is assembling for his administration.

“I’m not sure that either one of us could have ever hoped for this sort of team of Game changers, of transformational figures all coming together to meet the moment to live in this miracle that we find ourselves in, the opportunity to really govern and take our country back is remarkable,” she said to Kirk. “We’re living in the middle of history.”

Brooke Rollins on Charlie Kirk Show (1:28)

Audio, politics, USDA

Industry Ag News 11/22

Carrie Muehling

  • The World Food Prize Foundation announced that Ambassador Terry Branstad will retire as President on January 31, 2025, and Foundation Chief Operating Officer Mashal Husain will become President. In addition, the Foundation will conduct a global search for a newly created chief executive role focused on organizational leadership and global diplomacy.
  • After nearly a decade leading the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, Peter McCornick announced he will step down as executive director in August 2025. He plans to transition to a full-time faculty role in UNL’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
  • Farm Foundation and National 4-H Council recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a focus on a deeper collaboration in leadership, education and youth workforce readiness for young people who seek careers in food and agriculture. The organizations’ current partnership on the Farm Family Wellness Alliance (FFWA) provides free access to mental health and wellness services to farm families across the United States, including youth ages 16 and up. Now, the two organizations will align on career exploration, leadership training and skill-building opportunities for youth through Farm Foundation’s Next Generation programs and 4-H’s recently launched Beyond Ready initiative. This collaboration will help strengthen young learners’ interest in food and agriculture career pathways as early as elementary school. Additionally, it will help create a ready pipeline of future leaders as they graduate high school and college.
  • The Farm Credit Administration recently selected Zachary Lund to serve as its deputy chief of staff. In this newly created role, Mr. Lund will support the Office of the Chief of Staff in planning, directing, and overseeing day-to-day control of operations for agency offices in accordance with the operating philosophy and policies of FCA Board Chairman and CEO Vincent Logan and the FCA board.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed five new farmer-leaders to the United Soybean Board (USB) and reappointed 12 others. In total, 17 USB directors and alternates will begin three-year terms, and one director will begin a two-year term. These U.S. soybean farmers, representing 16 states, will be officially sworn in at the USB December Meeting in St. Charles, Missouri, on Dec. 11, 2024.
  • Seeing a need in the agriculture media community, three women at varying ages and stages in their careers have teamed up to form the non-profit Association of Females in Agriculture Media (A-FAM). With its official launch on December 1, A-FAM seeks to provide networking, professional development, mentoring, and personal support for women in all realms of ag media, including broadcast, print, digital, podcasting, sales, and industry relations.
  • Rural Media Group officially announces the sale of The Cowboy Channel and The Cowgirl Channel to Teton Ridge. This sale allows us to strategically refresh and focus on our flagship network, RFD-TV, as it approaches its 25th anniversary, with the goal to expand our presence across multiple platforms.
  • FS GRAIN plans to upgrade and expand its existing grain elevator in St. Anne, Illinois, by adding a new state-of-the-art shuttle loader with mainline, Class I rail services provided by Union Pacific and CSX railroads.
  • The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) honored veteran broadcasters Mark Oppold and Curt Lancaster as the 2024 inductees in the NAFB Hall of Fame. Sabrina Halvorson was honored as Farm Broadcaster of the Year. Halvorson, an award-winning, 30-year media veteran, created and implemented California’s first all-agriculture morning news show in 2014. She currently reports for AgNet West, Hoosier Ag Today and Michigan Ag Today. Winning the prestigious Doan Award was Spencer Chase, senior director of communications for the Corn Refiners Association, for his audio report titled “Deep Dive on Farm and Food Policy Drivers” when he was managing editor at Agri-Pulse last year. Stephanie Hoff, Mid-West Farm Report Network, received the Horizon Award, which annually recognizes an outstanding member broadcaster in his or her first five years of professional work.
  • Emergent Connext, Inc., a leading provider of carrier-grade rural IoT connectivity solutions for agriculture and rural communities, is proud to announce the appointment of Andrew J. Weber to its Advisory Board. Weber, who recently retired after 23 years as CEO of Farm Journal, Inc., brings deep expertise in agricultural business innovation, media, and sustainability to Emergent.
  • The Georgia Peanut Commission hosted a photo contest throughout 2024 to fill the pages of the 2025 Georgia Peanut Calendar. Peanut farmers and industry representatives from across Georgia were encouraged to submit their best, high-resolution photo from the farm for a chance to feature the photo in the 2025 calendar.
  • Make plans to attend the 48th annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, from 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia. The one-day show is free and open to all farmers and industry representatives to attend.
    • Zimfo Bytes

    Senate Hearing on Disaster Relief Funding

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the $100 billion request for disaster funding from the Biden Administration.

    Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) kicked off the discussion by outlining some of the devastating losses experienced in Georgia by agricultural producers as a results of Hurricane Helene. “Hurricane-force winds and torrential rains destroyed fall crops still in the field, knocked down pecan orchards that growers spent decades cultivating, and damaged a million and a half acres of timberland,” said Ossoff. “Virtually every crop and commodity produced in Georgia has been seriously damaged, including poultry, cotton, timber, beef cattle, blueberries, pecans, peanuts, tobacco, vegetables, citrus, soybeans, nursery crops, and dairy.”

    Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) talked about the tremendous damage that has been felt by farmers and ranchers in his part of the country due to drought. “Drought is something that is so discouraging, so depressing,” said Moran, noting that drought reduced the wheat crop in his state of Kansas by almost 80 percent. “We’ve not had a wheat crop this small since 1961, because we can’t grow a crop.”

    USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small testified on the work the department has been doing to work with farmers and ranchers impacted by disasters. “Due to the level of devastation resulting not only from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but also from historic droughts, flooding, and wildfires over the past several years, USDA needs additional tools and flexibilities to comprehensively address the challenges being experienced across the country,” she said in her prepared testimony. “We urge Congress to work together to quickly provide funding for needed relief to farmers, ranchers, private forest landowners, and rural communities.”

    Senate hearing - Sen. Ossoff (11:11)

    Senate hearing - Sen. Moran (7:09)

    Senate hearing - Dep. Sec. Small (3:53)

    Audio, USDA, Weather

    Precision Ag News 11/20

    Carrie Muehling

  • Global initiatives to enable smallholder farmers to become more climate resilient are having an impact, but more investments are needed to support farmer livelihoods and global food and nutrition security in the face of increasingly volatile conditions, according to a panel organized by Farm Journal Foundation at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Climate-Smart Solutions for Smallholders: Taking Stock of Progress and Future Opportunities in Agriculture, included a fireside chat about growing challenges in agriculture from climate change and how USDA and the U.S. government are helping farmers.
  • Farmers for Sustainable Food, Houston Engineering, Inc. and Peninsula Pride Farms were honored at the Sustainable Agriculture Summit this week as Field to Market’s 2024 Collaboration of the Year for their work on the Peninsula Pride Farms Sustainability Project. The PPF Project is in its fourth year, involved 11 farms managing over 34,000 acres and 40,000 head of dairy cattle in two Wisconsin counties.
  • The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) webinar season opens on November 26 with ‘Understanding Plant Breeding’, the first in IFAJ’s new ‘Sharing the Knowledge’ initiative. Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel famously laid down the plant breeding framework in the 19th century; 21st century plant breeding still leans heavily on their original ideas. In this webinar, Syngenta’s Uri Krieger and Ian Jepson use the history of plant breeding as a context to better understand its importance in successful crop production, including how we can use it to develop the resilient crops needed to help growers tackle an increasingly volatile climate.
  • CropLife International expressed support for the G20 Leaders’ Declaration issued as the Rio de Janeiro Summit concluded, welcoming the central role of agricultural productivity and food system transformation in the commitments made by the world’s leading economic nations.
  • BASF Agricultural Solutions is introducing Endura® PRO fungicide, the newest broad-spectrum fungicide innovation for potato growers. Endura PRO fungicide provides long-lasting protection against some of the toughest diseases in potatoes, including early blight and white mold, helping farmers improve yield performance.
  • Join the Soil Health Institute on Wednesday, December 4 at 12 p.m. EST to hear U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund’s Soil Health Educator Jessica Kelton and Texas A&M University Agriculture Conservationist Jodie McVane discuss two fact sheets we developed with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Rodale Institute. VF Corporation Senior Manager, Global Sustainability Programs Alyse Russel will moderate a Q&A session.
  • Orbia’s Precision Agriculture business Netafim and Bayer announced an expansion of their strategic collaboration, starting with new digital farming solutions for fruit and vegetable growers. By simplifying primary data collection and delivering a system that can generate tailored recommendations from that data, the new solutions aim to help growers maximize crop production and optimize their use of resources, thus minimizing the impact on the environment.
  • Held in Miami, Biostimulant World Congress offered keynote speeches, expert panels, scientific presentations, and networking to attendees. Keynote speaker, Kynetec’s Warrick Steptoe, presented “Insights on biostimulant adoption, market sizing and trends in key crops and geographies”. With 20 years’ experience, Warrick’s expertise allows him to deliver market intelligence that drives positive business decision making.
  • Kubota North America announced it has been recognized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® for its innovation and design excellence earning it a “Best of Innovation” in the CES Innovation Awards® 2025 program for the Kubota KATR, a first of its kind, compact, four-wheeled robot with a stable cargo deck platform with stability control features that allow it to conduct work in demanding off-road agricultural and construction work environments, even on hills and slopes.
  • New research published in Scientific Reports describes a breakthrough in nitrogen fertilizer technology. Conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University and Pivot Bio, the study shows that gene-edited microbes can fix nitrogen from the air and feed it to cereal plants’ roots, providing the essential nutrient to crops.
    • AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

    Pivot Bio Names North American Distribution Head

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Ag tech company Pivot Bio today named former Bayer Crop Science executive Jason Hoag as head of North American commercial distribution. The role includes development and management of channels and distribution networks, retail expansion and ongoing fostering of commercial partnerships. Hoag will be based in St. Louis and will report to Chris Turner, chief commercial officer for Pivot Bio.

    Hoag most recently served as VP of North America Marketing Lead for retail distributed brands (DEKALB, Asgrow, Deltapine, Crop Protection) for Bayer Crop Science. Previously, he served as vice president regional business lead for the eastern Corn Belt region. He held additional marketing and brand roles at Monsanto and American Cyamamid.

    Hoag received his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

    AgWired Precision, people, Precision Agriculture, Technology

    Grassley Sounds Off on Senate Farm Bill Proposal

    Cindy Zimmerman

    During his weekly call with farm reporters Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) gave his opinion on the last minute Farm Bill introduced Monday by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow.

    “The timing of this bill is disappointing and unrealistic,” said Grassley. “It’s a sad commentary that Senate Democrats kept farmers waiting two years before even releasing a bill text, while grain prices fell below the cost of production.”

    Grassley says there clearly is not enough time to pass a bill before the end of the year. “After this week, we only have three weeks before Christmas. So I expect Congress to pass another short term extension.”

    Asked why he thought Sen. Stabenow would make such a move when she is retiring from Congress at the end of the year, Grassley speculated, “One, I think to show that she is willing to show her hand so she can’t be condemned without having at least her ideas put into text. And the second thing may be laying down a gauntlet for Democrats to follow in the next new Congress.”

    Grassley also gave his thoughts on who President-elect Trump should choose for Secretary of Agriculture. “Somebody with dirt under their fingernails, active farming. Nothing in regard to policy that I can think of, because I think those first two things I stated probably speaks for all I need to know about somebody that knows something about agriculture if they’re going to be Agriculture Secretary.”

    Grassley press call 11-19 (11:11)

    Audio, Farm Bill, Farm Policy

    ZimmCast 738 – Reaction to Elections

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

    In this episode I’m going to share some interviews from the NAFB Trade Talk about reactions from the recent presidential election.

    I’m going to include Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta Sr. Manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations; Brian Jennings, ACE CEO; Geoff Cooper, RFA CEO and Ethan Lane, NCBA, VP of Government Affairs.

    Adding to these interviews, Cindy recently interviewed Kip Tom, Indiana farmer and served as the Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture during President Trump’s previous term. You can listen to his reactions here.

    That’s the ZimmCast for now. Please let me know if you have ideas for a future podcast. Just email me at chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

    Listen to the episode here:
    ZimmCast 738 - Reactions to Elections (21:28)

    I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

    Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

    ACE, Ag Groups, Audio, NCBA, politics, RFA, Syngenta, ZimmCast

    Climate-Smart Soybeans Mark Milestone in U.S. Market

    Cindy Zimmerman

    An Illinois-based processing facility successfully completed its first run of climate-smart soybeans this fall, marking a significant milestone in the
    initiative to bring climate-smart commodities to market. These food-grade soybeans are now poised to enter the soy milk market as part of the Transforming the Farmer to Consumer Supply Chain project (Transform F2C) leads the effort, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant.

    The Scoular processor is the first of five processing facilities expected under the project and it is located at the company’s grain-cleaning facility in Andres, Illinois.

    “The ability to trace and build markets for climate-smart commodities throughout the supply chain has proven to be a barrier to widespread adoption,” said Nick Goeser, co-founder of Carbon A List, which administers the Transform F2C grant. “We’re thrilled that this project is already having success in demonstrating that a traceable approach can work with climate-smart agriculture in the supply chain. And this is only the beginning,” Goeser said.

    The Transform F2C project incentivizes producers to implement climate-smart practices, such as cover cropping, conservation crop rotation and reduced tillage practices. These practices reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote carbon sequestration and improve soil health. The project expects to engage farmers implementing these practices across the Midwest and Great Plains regions, with a goal to exceed the 36,000-acre target set forth at the beginning of the effort.

    Learn more at Transformf2c.com.

    Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, carbon, climate, Sustainability, USDA

    Agri-Pulse Adds International Trade Editor

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Agribusiness digital media company Agri-Pulse is pleased to announce the addition of Oliver Ward to the editorial team as international trade editor.

    Ward joins Agri-Pulse from Inside U.S. Trade, a print and digital trade publication that is part of the Inside Washington Publishers news service. Prior to that, he was a digital content producer at the Peterson Institute for International Economics – a non-partisan economics think tank. Ward authored newsletters and economic explainers, built data visualizations, and was part of a small team that maintained a widely cited PIIE tracker for goods purchased under the U.S.-China phase one agreement.

    Ward is a graduate of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom where he received a bachelor’s degree in history and sociology. He has a master’s degree in journalism and digital storytelling from American University in Washington.

    Agri-Pulse, Agribusiness, people

    Ayrstone® Announces AyrMesh® HubDuo Meshing Feature

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Ayrstone® has sold hundreds of its new AyrMesh HubDuo for better outdoor Wi-Fi across the United States and Canada since it was introduced in August and now they have announced an important new feature – Meshing Modes.

    Meshing Modes allow HubDuo users to adjust the Hub for either the traditional AyrMesh long-range meshing, with Hubs at least half a mile apart, or a new close-in mesh. Using the “close” meshing option, AyrMesh HubDuo units can be placed as close as 100 feet apart up to half a mile apart. It does this by shifting the meshing signal between the 2.4 GHz. radio and the 5.8 GHz. radio.

    The new AyrMesh HubDuo is an outdoor, high-power, meshing WiFi access point, like the existing AyrMesh Hubs, with one important difference: it is the first AyrMesh Hub to use dual-band technology. The new HubDuo is designed to deliver very high-speed outdoor WiFi to nearby devices, and standard high-speed WiFi at longer distances. Like the AyrMesh Hub2x2, using MIMO the AyrMesh HubDuo can provide broadband-class WiFi to hundreds or even thousands of acres of property.

    Ayrstone Productivity Presdient Bill Moffitt explains, “With ‘normal mode,’ the HubDuos mesh with all the AyrMesh Hub products on 2.4 GHz. ‘Close mode’ allows them to just mesh with other AyrMesh HubDuos on 5.8 GHz., so the Hubs can be placed as close as a hundred feet apart,” said Moffitt. “Best of all, there’s a ‘hybrid mode’ that uses the 2.4 GHz. mesh to communicate with AyrMesh Hub2 units half a mile to 2 miles away while using the 5.8 Ghz. mesh to communicate with other AyrMesh HubDuo units that may be as close as a few hundred feet.”

    This new feature is available immediately on all Ayrstone AyrMesh HubDuo units by selecting the appropriate mode in the “Network Settings” section of AyrMesh.com.

    More information can be seen at https://ayrstone.com/www/introducing-the-new-ayrmesh-hubduo/, and the AyrMesh HubDuo is available now at the Ayrstone store – https://ayrstone.com.

    data, Internet