Study Finds Gas Car Ban Would Hurt Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) has just released a study on the impacts of increased electric vehicle penetration on U.S. biofuels, agriculture and the economy. Proposals to ban internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035 and 2050 served as the economic models for the study, along with a base case provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook.

The study found that U.S. light-duty and freight vehicle consumption of ethanol and biodiesel could decline up to 90 percent to 1.1 billion gallons and up to 61 percent to 0.8 billion gallons, respectively.

Corn and soybean consumption could decrease by up to 2.0 billion bushels and up to 470 million bushels, respectively. Corn prices fall up to 50 percent to $1.74 per bushel, while soybean prices fall up to 44 percent to $4.92 per bushel.

Overall, U.S. net farm income would decrease by up to $27 billion due to a proposed ban.

This study makes clear that an internal combustion engine vehicle ban could devastate the agriculture community. Proposals that seek to rush this ban to 2035 have the most severe impacts, but any ban results in dramatic decreases in ethanol, biodiesel, corn and soybean prices, and demand for fertilizer and other agricultural products. These are burdens carried disproportionately by the agriculture community.

The study found that economic losses throughout the biofuels value chain range from $105 billion to $185 billion, and cumulative federal, state, and local tax revenues losses range from $39 billion to $69 billion through 2050.

Richard Gupton, ARA Senior Vice President Public Policy & Counsel, talks about the study in this interview.
ARA gas car ban study (4:21)

Read the entire study

Agribusiness, ARA, Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Soybean

Benson Hill Raises Funding to Grow Food Innovation

Cindy Zimmerman

St. Louis-based Benson Hill has just closed a $150 million Series D funding round led by Wheatsheaf Group and GV (formerly Google Ventures) to scale its commercial operations and its platform food innovation engine CropOS™ across multiple food and ingredients markets.

The company’s leading food innovation engine CropOS™ taps nature’s genetic diversity to develop and commercialize healthier and more sustainable food and ingredient options that benefit farmers, food companies of all kinds, and ultimately, consumers. This funding round will accelerate the food tech company’s efforts to deploy its platform technology, expand partner development across the supply chain, and scale product commercialization efforts.

Benson Hill leverages Cloud Biology®, a discipline combining the power of data science, machine learning and AI techniques with plant biology and genomics. CropOS™ is the platform that makes this discipline actionable, significantly accelerating the precision and speed of product development. Benson Hill’s technology platform and collaborations empower the creation of healthier and more sustainable feed, food and ingredient options that consumers are seeking, while also delivering strong crop performance that farmers demand.

Benson Hill intends to use this new round of funding to advance Cloud Biology® and its innovation engine CropOS™ and accelerate the commercial launch of the first Ultra-High Protein soybean varieties in 2021, among other product launches. The company’s portfolio of soybean varieties offer in-demand premium attributes, such as better digestibility, omega fatty acids, and higher protein to serve the plant-based food, healthy oils, animal feed and aquaculture markets.

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Farming, Food, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Precision Ag News 10/28

Carrie Muehling

  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new 5-year registration for XtendiMax® herbicide with VaporGrip® Technology, an important weed-control tool for many U.S. growers. The new EPA registration for XtendiMax herbicide follows Bayer’s recent launch announcement for XtendFlex® soybeans, which brings additional yield potential and weed-control flexibility to the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System.
  • BASF announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved its registration of Engenia® herbicide for over the top application in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. The registration has an announced term of five years and includes new label enhancements to further reduce the potential for off-target movement. The new registration makes this critical tool available to farmers as they battle weed populations grown increasingly resistant to other herbicides.
  • Vytelle announced the exclusive licensing of the Synomics Insights Platform to increase the accuracy of predicting cattle performance using phenotype and genomics data. By bringing this new capability in-house, Vytelle is uniquely positioned to fast forward cattle genetic progress – bringing certainty to producers’ high-stake management decisions.
  • FarmVisionAI announces the release of their mobile app designed to engage growers in-field with vision AI stress detections. The mobile app brings FarmVisionAI’s horticulturist trained AI to a smart phone platform that can be used while scouting plants and walking the farm. Location specific information allows the grower and FarmVisionAI to validate detections and supplement imagery with close-up pictures taken with the phone’s camera. The grower’s pictures are geo-tagged to the location and show up in the desktop application that displays the grow in a “google-earth” like visualization. Notes, recommendations, and actions can be added to the imagery to add value and highlight what is happening in the grow and what needs to be done.
  • Nichino America, Inc. has formed a new subsidiary, Nichino Mexico de S. de R.L. de C.V., to manage and promote the crop protection business in Mexico.
  • The next 2020 Water for Food Global Webinar Series, titled “Advancements in Agricultural Water Management and Regulation: Lessons and Opportunities,” is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2020 from 10-11 a.m. CDT. Register now for the program, which is free via Zoom.
  • Kubota Tractor Corporation announced the launch of the new L60LE Series. With the success of the launch of the L3560HSTC-LE last year, three new models have been added to complete the new L60LE series, which now offers a total of four models – two cab models and two ROPS models.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Successful Opening Deer Days with a Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

We had the best weather for opening days of the deer season at the Crystal Pig Hunt Club that we’ve had yet and took advantage of it to harvest a few deer. I’m looking forward to getting back on site in a couple weeks.

We saw a lot of deer and mostly does. I had a spike buck walk up underneath me while sitting in my stand. He literally sniffed the foot of the ladder. I let him go since we have lots of better choices and maybe he’ll be back next year.

A couple of us were on site before opening day and glad we did that. Basically, all our feeders were not working for different reasons. We had to change motors, batteries, re-program and refill. Of course, it’s a good workout. But the property is in the best shape for hunting since we leased it. Taking bags of corn and other supplies around the property with a John Deere Gator made that task much easier than it would have been otherwise.

One of the most significant improvements to our camp is the installation of electricity. We’re run a lot of hours on generators over the years and now everything is quiet and we have lots of outlets to handle everything we need electricity for.

Big thanks go out to John Deere for the use of a new Gator which we’re test driving, making notes and will be writing about soon.

I’m collecting photos of this Gator during our trips to hunting camp here: 2020 Hunt with a Gator Photo Album

Hunting, John Deere

Cattle Industry Convention Postponed Until August 2021

Cindy Zimmerman

The Cattle Industry Annual Convention and NCBA Trade Show is one of the industry’s biggest events each year, bringing together cattlemen and cattlewomen from across the nation to do the work of our industry, normally held at the end of January. But next year, thanks to the pandemic, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has decided to postpone the in-person event to August 2021. NCBA will still hold some of its traditional business meetings in the January or February time frame, in accordance with the association’s bylaws.

“Decisions of this magnitude, which impact multiple organizations, stakeholders and companies, are never easy. However, the limits on the number of people who can gather at an event in Nashville and the travel restrictions facing many trade show exhibitors, makes it impossible for us to put on the world-class event our attendees expect this winter,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall.

Originally scheduled for February 3-5, 2021, the convention and trade show will now take place August 10-12, 2021. While the event may have a new date, both the convention and trade show will continue to take place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

EPA Announces Dicamba Registration Decision

Cindy Zimmerman

With a background of cotton ready for harvest, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Tuesday the approval of new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product for use by cotton and soybean growers. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting the environment, including non-target plants, animals, and other crops not tolerant to dicamba.

“With today’s decision, farmers now have the certainty they need to make plans for their 2021 growing season,” said Wheeler. “After reviewing substantial amounts of new information, conducting scientific assessments based on the best available science, and carefully considering input from stakeholders we have reached a resolution that is good for our farmers and our environment.”

EPA approved new registrations for two “over-the-top” (OTT) dicamba products — XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology and Engenia Herbicide — and extended the registration for an additional OTT dicamba product, Tavium Plus VaporGrip Technology. These registrations are only for use on dicamba-tolerant (DT) cotton and soybeans and will expire in 2025, providing certainty to American agriculture for the upcoming growing season and beyond.

Listen to the press call with reporters after the in-person announcement.
EPA press call on dicamba decision (16:58)

National Cotton Council Chairman Kent Fountain, a Georgia cotton producer and ginner, said they will be evaluating the label to ensure the herbicide can be effectively utilized in controlling weeds without undue restrictions.

“The economic damage that would result from not being able to use dicamba herbicides would be tremendous,” Fountain said. “We greatly appreciate EPA’s timely issuance of a new five-year label for this critical crop protection product for cotton producers.” Fountain noted that research conducted prior to availability of dicamba-tolerant varieties reported a minimum 50 percent yield-loss in fields with resistant pigweed.

Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President and CEO Daren Coppock says the decision, based on a rigorous scientific approval process, provides certainty and clarity for the industry. “Ag retailers and their farmer customers have already been working to make decisions for the 2021 growing season while waiting for clarity on if dicamba would be available for use. Now farmers and their retailers can make firmer plans for the next five years with this critical question answered.”

American Soybean Association (ASA) president Bill Gordon of Minnesota said, “We rely in great part on EPA support for the continued success of our industry, from measures encouraging biodiesel market expansion to these types of decisions regarding safe and effective use of crop protection tools. We thank EPA today for the many steps and time invested in coming to this decision to re-register a product relied upon by many soy growers.”

Read the EPA release for details.

ARA, Audio, Cotton, Crop Protection, EPA, Soybean

Syngenta Kicks Off Virtual Media Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2020 Syngenta Virtual Media Summit officially kicked off Tuesday morning with a live event featuring Syngenta North America leaders.

Corporate Communications Lead Paul Minehart moderated the discussion:
Vern Hawkins, North America President of Syngenta Crop Protection
Trevor Heck, President, Syngenta Canada
Justin Wolfe, North America Regional Director, Syngenta Seeds

Each provided an update on their businesses, offered an industry outlook and discuss how Syngenta is “Leading the Way in the New Decade.”
Syngenta media summit live opening session (1 hour)

Audio, Syngenta

Economic Impact of Agriculture on the St. Louis Region

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. This podcast was started back in 2004 with a theme of what’s new in the world of agribusiness focusing on agricultural marketing in particular. I really appreciate all the subscribers and listeners who have made this the longest running podcast about agriculture. The feedback and support has been great and I’ve had the opportunity to talk with many, many leaders in the industry.

So, what’s this week’s episode about? It’s about agriculture’s economic impact on a very urban region, specifically St. Louis. The St. Louis Agribusiness Club just announced the results of their Agricultural Economic Impact Study on the St. Louis Region. This study has been conducted every five years since the first one was conducted in 2004. And guess what. ZimmComm produced that first study and you can still see those results on the organization’s website.

To talk about the study I’m going to share conversations with Matt Amick, Missouri Soybean Association and President of the St. Louis Agribusiness Club. Then you’ll hear Alan Spell, University of Missouri Extension, who actually researched and prepared this year’s study.

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 658 - Agricultural Economic Impact on St. Louis Region (37:52)

Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

Agribusiness, Audio, Marketing, ZimmCast

Animal Ag News 10/26

Carrie Muehling

  • Steve Kopperud died Oct. 19 of a sudden and highly unexpected arrhythmia while in Minneapolis for a family wedding. Kopperud was senior vice president of legislative affairs at the American Feed Industry Association for more than 20 years and a government affairs consultant for almost 15 years, before officially retiring in 2017. He founded the Animal Industry Foundation, now the Animal Agriculture Alliance, in the 1980s as a forum for producer and industry organizations to counter the rising public relations and legislative challenges of anti-meat activists.
  • With the holidays looking a little different this year, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, is ensuring one thing remains the same – Beef. It’s What’s For Holiday Dinner. Whether gathering around the ‘Beef Drool Log’ or learning how to cook the perfect holiday meal with beef, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. has a little something for everyone this holiday season. To remind consumers across the country that beef is the only protein that they want to feed their families this holiday season, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. will return to broadcast television. For the first time since 2003, Beef Checkoff-funded advertisements and the iconic Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand will be on television, airing a limited number of ads during the Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas movies.
  • Keeping with the commitment to offering educational opportunities to the poultry industry despite abnormal circumstances, USPOULTRY recently held its 2020 Poultry Processor Workshop in a shortened, virtual format. Dr. Marcos Sánchez-Plata, associate professor of global food security at Texas Tech University, provided a comparison of chemical versus non-chemical interventions for Campylobacter in processing plants. He discussed the importance of addressing these issues in processing for the benefit of general public health.
  • The American Feed Industry Association honored Keith Behnke, Ph.D., with the AFIA-Kansas State University Feed Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong contributions to the feed industry through business and education.
  • In a special edition of NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen, seven of the nation’s top cattle operations were honored for implementing practices that make them true stewards of land, air and water resources. Each of these farms and ranches exemplify the commitment of all producers to protect the resources in their care and improve their operations for future generations of cattlemen and women. To see videos of each winning operation, visit NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen here.
  • NovaQuest Capital Management LLC, a leading investor in life sciences and healthcare, announced a $20 million product financing agreement with Mileutis Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, to help mitigate the use of antibiotics in animals. NovaQuest’s investment will drive the continued development and commercialization of Mileutis’ novel, biologically sourced, and residue-free therapies for animal health.
  • The North American Meat Institute and the Alliance for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation sent a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, calling on the agency to support mandatory labeling of cell-based/cultured meat and poultry products and to solicit input on what that labeling should look like through an Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

USDA and USTR Release Report on China Trade

Cindy Zimmerman

An interim report from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) highlights the progress made so far in implementing the agricultural provisions in the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement.

To date, China has implemented at least 50 of the 57 technical commitments under the Phase One Agreement. These structural changes will benefit American farmers for decades to come. China also has substantially ramped up its purchases of U.S. agricultural products. To date, China has purchased over $23 billion in agricultural products, approximately 71% of its target under the Phase One Agreement.

Highlights in the report include:
Outstanding sales of U.S. corn to China are record high 8.7 million tons. Soybeans sales for marketing year 2021 are off to the strongest start in history, double 2017 levels. U.S. pork exports to China hit an all-time record in the first five months of 2020 as beef and beef products exports through August 2020 are already more than triple the total for 2017.

In addition to these products, USDA expects 2020 sales to China to hit record or near-record levels for numerous other U.S. agricultural products including pet food, alfalfa hay, pecans, peanuts, and prepared foods.

Read the full report

Exports, Trade, USDA