USMCA Implementation Celebration Roundtable

Cindy Zimmerman

To celebrate the July 1 implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst held a virtual roundtable Tuesday to discuss the importance of USMCA to farmers, rural communities and ag exports. The roundtable was hosted by Farmers for Free Trade, which showed support for USMCA with an 11 state, 4,300 mile RV tour across the country.

Participating were:
– Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN)
– U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
– Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA)
– Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI)
– Blanche Lincoln, former U.S. Senator
– John Bode, President, National Corn Refiners
– Tamara Nelsen, Executive Director, Minnesota AgriGrowth Council
– Dave Milligan, President, National Association of Wheat Growers
– Michelle Erickson Jones, Farmer & Owner, Gooseneck Land and Cattle, Broadview, MT
– John Paul Dineen, Farmer & Owner, Dineen Farms (TX)
– Max Moncaster, Associate Director, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA)
– Angela Marshall Hofmann, Co-Executive Director, Farmers for Free Trade

USMCA implementation roundtable (53:06)

Audio, Exports, Trade

House Committee Releases Climate Crisis Plan

Cindy Zimmerman

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis today released a comprehensive plan titled “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.”

The Climate Crisis Action Plan, released as a majority staff report, recognizes the role agriculture plays in providing valuable climate and ecosystems benefits. Investing in American agriculture is one of 12 pillars in the plan, recommending an increased investment to support the voluntary efforts of America’s farmers and ranchers to employ climate stewardship practices. The report also recommends setting climate stewardship practice goals across all U.S. farmland and incentivizing producers to incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy on-farm.

Biofuels groups are pleased to see the inclusion of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in the recommendations.

“The Committee correctly points out that the LCFS policy model already has a proven track record and that renewable fuels have played a crucial role in achieving the objectives of the California LCFS,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We also concur with the Committee’s position that high-octane, low-carbon fuels could deliver substantial carbon benefits at a low cost in the years ahead.”

RFA and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) were among a broad coalition of stakeholders that worked together to developed a framework and set of guiding principles for a Midwest LCFS program.

“The Select Committee’s report not only cites our Midwest Clean Fuel Policy framework as a positive example of progress, it also mirrors our recommendations to reflect the best-available science for lifecycle assessments and reward farmers and biofuel producers using climate-smart practices that reduce carbon emissions, store soil carbon, and reduce nitrous oxide emissions,” said ACE CEO Brian Jennings.

Biofuels, Environment, Ethanol

Farm Progress and Husker Harvest Shows Cancelled

Cindy Zimmerman

For the first time in history, the Farm Progress Show won’t go on.

It was announced yesterday that both Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days are being cancelled for 2020 due to rapidly changing conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While state and local officials had expressed support for both shows, Don Tourte, Senior Vice President, Farm Progress said that in a very short time it became apparent that the situation across the US had rapidly changed.

“We have been working with officials in Iowa and Nebraska for our shows, and we appreciate the support they expressed for us to hold the events,” Tourte says. “They are critical partners to us, and we are all disappointed to not host the events this year, but feel confident that this is the right decision for our community.”

One of the key features of both shows is their attraction to visitors from across the country, and across the globe.

Farm Progress Events Manager Matt Jungmann says they were committed to hold both shows until more than half the United States saw a significant spike in new cases of COVID-19. “Within the next two weeks tents and other work would be underway on site. We had to make a decision based on the current landscape so that our exhibitors and suppliers wouldn’t potentially waste valuable time and resources,” said Jungmann. “While we are hopeful that case numbers throughout the country will decrease soon, we felt compelled to make a proactive decision on our community’s behalf, given the information we have today.”

A virtual experience was already being planned as an extension to the live event, so Jungmann says the events team is gearing up to deliver a “robust and dynamic digital experience.”

“Market factors are changing fast, and we’ll have more information in the coming weeks about how our virtual experience will be expanded,” Jungmann says. “We have 400 acres of corn at two sites that have to be harvested. Ground that must be tilled. We’re looking at all of our options to ensure we keep our community connected and engaged.”

Farm Progress Show, Farm Shows

Animal Ag News 6/29

Carrie Muehling

  • U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is now accepting nominations for the 2021 Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award. The award recognizes exemplary environmental stewardship by family farmers engaged in poultry and egg production. Those eligible for the award include any family-owned poultry grower or egg producer supplying product to a USPOULTRY member or an independent producer who is a USPOULTRY member. Nominations are due Oct. 31.
  • The Holstein Association USA 2020 Distinguished Leadership Award honoree is Patricia Gifford of Groton, N.Y. This award recognizes an individual who has made a career of providing outstanding and unselfish leadership for the betterment of the dairy industry.
  • As of June 1, there were 79.6 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up 5 percent from June 2019, and up 3 percent from March 1, 2020, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
  • The American Feed Industry Association has opened registration for its popular biennial Feed Industry Institute, which will be offered in a self-paced, virtual learning environment over a span of a few weeks later this summer. The conference, which kicks off Aug. 17 and culminates on Sept. 23, brings together industry newcomers to learn the fundamentals of the animal food manufacturing process – from the types of ingredients used to the animals served to federal policies that shape the output of the industry.
  • The National Pork Producers Council strongly supports legislation being discussed during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing that creates important elements needed to support a private carbon credit offset market. The bill would reward the valuable current and future contributions by pork producers and other sectors of agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Growing Climate Solutions Act, introduced by Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a program to provide transparency, legitimacy and informal endorsement of third-party verifiers and technical service providers that help private landowners generate carbon credits through a variety of agriculture and forestry related practices.
  • The economic disruption impacting nearly all sectors of the U.S. bison business far exceeds the threshold required to qualify bison producers for assistance being offered to agriculture through USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, according to formal comments that the National Bison Association filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Industry Ag News 6/26

Carrie Muehling

  • UPL North America recently announced the addition of David Haas as territory sales manager. In his new role, David will work directly with customers in California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley, representing the UPL product portfolio for the Kern and Tulare county regions. He will report to Gene Vernon, Western Region Sales Manager.
  • Farm Foundation and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute are partnering to host a Digital Dialogue series entitled Managing Agricultural Trade in an Increasingly Chaotic World.
  • Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture and the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol announced a new agreement that formalizes a partnership between the two organizations to document and accelerate sustainable outcomes for U.S. cotton production.
  • Odessan Royce Bodiford, age 83, passed away June 22, 2020. Royce began his broadcast career in 1959 at KGNC Radio/Television in Amarillo, Texas, moved to KEEL Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana, for three years, and then returned to KGNC. In 1977, he became general manager of KGNC until moving to public broadcasting in the 1990s as general manager of KOCV Radio/Television at Odessa College. His involvement in the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) included serving as Chats editor, Mid-South Region Vice President, and 1976 NAFB President. He was named 1976 Farm Broadcaster of the Year and was inducted into the NAFB Hall of Fame in 2014. Royce was a 61-year member of the NAFB.
  • The GROWMARK Foundation is a longtime supporter of the American Red Cross, donating funds to its overall mission along with specific disaster relief over the years. People looking to donate blood can go to RedCrossBlood.org and enter their respective zip code to find local donation sites. In addition, the Red Cross has an updated app that you can download that not only tells you where you can donate, but also gives you an update weeks later on how your blood donation was used.
  • Internationally recognized experts in consumer insights and the food industry will reveal the latest research on consumer trends, the current environment in food and agriculture and what the future holds during a free fundraiser webcast to help those experiencing hardship. “CFI NOW: COVID-19 Pivot from Panic to Progress,” Tues., July 14, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT, is hosted by The Center for Food Integrity and will benefit the Feeding America COVID-19 Relief Fund and the National Restaurant Association Employee Relief Fund.
  • INTL FCStone Inc. announced that it is rebranding the firm as StoneX Group Inc. The StoneX Group name was approved by an overwhelming majority at a recent shareholder meeting and effective July 6, 2020 the Company will be traded under the symbol SNEX.
  • Purdue University announced June 24 that Beck’s, a family-owned and -operated seed company, intends to open a satellite location in Purdue’s Discovery Park District. Officials from Beck’s worked with Carr Workplaces – a pioneer and leader in the co-working industry – to establish a location in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration. Convergence is located in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus.
  • Cargill is pleased to announce that Hank Gray has joined the team as the U.S. Origination Manager for cotton within Cargill’s Agricultural Supply Chain business, effective June 22. In this new role, Hank will focus on setting and executing on Cargill’s farmer-facing strategy in the cotton space.
  • Amy McEvoy, head of Earned Media at Rhea + Kaiser was recently announced as a fellow for the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation Class of 2022. McEvoy was selected to be part of the 20th class following a competitive application and interview process.
  • The International Agri-Center®, World Ag Expo® and the Central Valley Toyota Dealers presented a check in the amount of $90,100 to the Guilds of Valley Children’s Healthcare on May 14 in Madera, CA. Due to COVID-19, the All Guild Picnic could not be held in 2020. The Picnic is a time for the Guilds to celebrate their fundraising success and present annual checks to Valley Children’s. In place of the in-person event, a check presentation video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1n5Q3SsVvM&feature=youtu.be.
  • The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Fan-Li Chou as Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Policy. Building on the strong legacy of Dr. Bernice Slutsky – who is retiring after 15 years with ASTA – in this high-profile position, Dr. Chou will work closely with ASTA’s diverse membership, key government officials and stakeholders at the domestic and global level to ensure a strong future for innovation in plant breeding and plant sciences.
Zimfo Bytes

ZimmCast 648 – Trent Loos in The Stand at Paxton County

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast, featuring weekly interviews with agribusiness industry leaders and all about what’s new, with a focus on agricultural marketing. This week we’re going to hear from someone whose goal is to bridge rural and urban America. You probably have heard of him. Maybe you haven’t. But in this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Trent Loos, Loos Tales, Rural Route and more.

We don’t talk about the movie, The Stand at Paxton County, now on Netflix, but I have to mention it here. I didn’t know about Trent’s role in the movie. I watched it last night though and I highly recommend it. Here’s what the story is about – “A military veteran comes home to find her father harassed by a sheriff intent on confiscating the livestock on their ranch under shady pretenses.” Trent plays a neighbor farmer named Tom Gardner. If you know Trent you won’t be surprised that he does a great job acting. I Trent Loos - The Stand at Paxton Countywonder when his next movie will come out. The photo is one from the production. By the way, the Executive Director is Forrest Lucas, Lucas Oil founder, president/CEO and also founder of Protect the Harvest.

What we talk about in the program is mostly the whole idea of trying to bridge the gap between rural and urban communities. It is something we’ve worked on throughout our careers. We both think the divide is wider than ever. Trent has some good ideas on why this is and how ineffective some of the methods that have been tried are. We also ramble around on some other topics like Impossible Foods and virtual events.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Post Update:

After thinking about it, I got Trent on the phone to talk about the movie he had a role to play in, The Stand at Paxton County. I have edited it into the beginning of this week’s episode. I think you’ll find his comments about being in a movie entertaining and informative. He says that the movie has been in the top five watched on Netflix for a couple of the weeks since it debuted in April! Now we’re hoping we can have a screening party at a theater in Pensacola someday when they are allowed to open again.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: Conversation with Trent Loos

Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

Animal Activists, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Media, ZimmCast

Farm Groups Support Climate Solutions Act

Cindy Zimmerman

The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the Growing Climate Solutions Act, legislation designed to break down barriers for farmers and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices.

The bill has the support of numerous agribusinesses and farm organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, and National Farmers Union.

“Farm Bureau’s grassroots-developed policy supports market-based incentives and compensation to farmers for planting crops or adopting farming practices that keep carbon in the soil,” testified AFBF president Zippy Duvall. “We also recognize that a number of companies, coalitions and consortiums are working to develop carbon market exchanges or programs. Rather than allowing it to become the Wild West, we support empowering USDA to help farmers navigate this new frontier.innovation.”

NFU President Rob Larew told the committee that climate change “is the single greatest long-term challenge facing family farmers and ranchers, rural communities, and global food security” but that “farmers and ranchers, if provided the right tools, can be a key part of a solution.”

Listen to opening remarks from Duvall and Larew at the hearing.
AFBF president Zippy Duvall (5:12)

NFU president Rob Larew (4:07)

AFBF, Audio, Environment

Bayer Agrees to Resolve Legacy Monsanto Litigation

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer announced a series of agreements reached on Wednesday that will “substantially resolve major outstanding Monsanto litigation, including U.S. Roundup™ product liability litigation, dicamba drift litigation and PCB water litigation” adding that the agreements “contain no admission of liability or wrongdoing.”

The main feature is the U.S. Roundup™ resolution that will bring closure to approximately 75% of the current Roundup™ litigation involving approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall. The resolved claims include all plaintiff law firms leading the Roundup™ federal multi-district litigation (MDL) or the California bellwether cases, and those representing approximately 95% of the cases currently set for trial, and establish key values and parameters to guide the resolution of the remainder of the claims as negotiations advance. The resolution also puts in place a mechanism to resolve potential future claims efficiently. The company will make a payment of $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current Roundup™ litigation, including an allowance expected to cover unresolved claims, and $1.25 billion to support a separate class agreement to address potential future litigation.

In a nutshell, Bayer will pay somewhere between $10.1 billion to $10.9 billion to resolve current and address potential future Roundup™ litigation, settles dicamba drift litigation for payment of up to $400 million and most PCB water litigation exposure for payment of approximately $820 million. Bayer had a win earlier this week when a federal judge reaffirmed his earlier decision that the state of California cannot require a cancer warning label on glyphosate-based products such as Roundup under its Proposition 65 law.

Bayer held an investor call Wednesday to announce the agreements, followed by an international press call. Participating were CEO Werner Baumann, CFO Wolfgang Nickl, Liam Condon, Member of the Board of Management and President of the Crop Science Division, and William Dodero, Global Head Litigation of Bayer.

Bayer settlement press call (42:29)

During the investor call making the announcement, Liam Condon said the dicamba drift litigation settlement is unrelated to the Ninth Circuit Court ruling this month halting sales of dicamba products, but allowing current stocks to be used until the end of July.

However, Condon says they are feeling more confident about the re-registration process for Bayer’s XtendiMax and similar products from BASF and Corteva. “So we continue to expect a new registration for XtendiMax in the fall of this year.”

Condon also comments on commodity market trends in the U.S. and crop conditions that indicate a “plentiful harvest.”

Bayer settlement Liam Condon (2:41)

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Precision Ag News 6/24

Carrie Muehling

  • National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2020, and the National Corn Growers Association says it is an excellent time to think about the best management practices to protect critical pollinators like honeybees and Monarch butterflies.
  • AGI SureTrack released a mobile application, for iOS and Android, that enables seed selection, production planning, traceability, marketing and bookkeeping from the palm of your hand.
  • BASF is pleased that the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted BASF’s emergency motion to intervene in the case vacating the registrations of three dicamba-based herbicides, including BASF’s Engenia® herbicide. BASF is also pleased that the court’s decision will permit the continued use of existing stocks pending further court proceedings.
  • The National Cotton Council is pleased with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s denial of an emergency motion to halt dicamba use — a ruling that provides U.S. cotton producers with a very important weed control tool this season and prevents devastating financial losses.
  • Merck Animal Health announced the completion of its acquisition of Quantified Ag®, a leading data and analytics company that monitors cattle body temperature and movement in order to detect illness early. In April 2018, Merck Animal Health invested in Quantified Ag® and partially funded their development work in data analytics in livestock. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
  • Drexel Chemical Company is pleased to announce the promotion of Mark Stewart to president of Drexel Chemical Company, effective June 2020.
  • Agtegra recently improved its Ag technology capabilities with a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system.
  • Farm Shield has emerged from stealth mode to address the needs of crop protection companies with their proprietary platform technology. Farm Shield’s unique supramolecular host chemistry can broadly improve crop protection product performance and lower use rates, leading to an eco-friendly solution to safeguard crops globally.
  • Registration is open for AgGateway’s Virtual Mid-Year Meeting July 7-10, which will feature an array of sessions and networking opportunities for companies seeking to realize the many benefits of digital agriculture. Details and a registration link are available on the Mid-Year Meeting page at www.AgGateway.org.
  • Kwizda Agro has received federal registration in the US for the biological plant protection product Trico®. This means that the top selling repellent Trico®, which is produced in Lower Austria, will be made available to wholesalers in North America for the use in home & garden as well as forestry and agriculture effective 2021. Trico® scores with its simple application, long-lasting and efficient effect as well as its biological active ingredient. Registration filed in Canada is expected in late 2021.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

ASTA Announces New Leadership and Award Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) held a virtual annual meeting last week where the organization announced new leadership and annual award winners.

Members of the FY2020-21 ASTA officer team as of July 1 are:
Chair: John Latham, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, Alexander, IA
First Vice Chair: Brad May, BASF, Research Triangle Park, NC
Second Vice Chair: Jim Schweigert, Gro Alliance, LLC, Cuba City, WI

Here are interviews with Latham and May from the 2019 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo in December.

ASTACSS19 Interview with ASTA officer John Latham, Latham Seeds (8:23)

ASTACSS19 Interview with ASTA officer Brad May, BASF (4:49)

ASTA also announced the winners of its Distinguished Service and Honorary Lifetime Member Annual Awards.

ASTA’s Distinguished Service Award was presented to two industry leaders for 2020:
Mary Smith, Arkansas State Plant Board: Serving as the Arkansas State Seed Division Director and Seed Control Official since 1990, Mary is retiring this year after her long years of dedicated service during which she made significant contributions to the seed industry.
Wayne Parrott, University of Georgia: Wayne has been a tireless advocate in efforts to reach the public, elected and regulatory communities to address evolving plant breeding methods, including testifying before Congress and serving in a recent Plant Breeding Innovation session for federal regulators in Washington, D.C.

ASTA’s 2020 ASTA Honorary Member Award was also presented to two outstanding professionals:
Tom Moore, HM. CLAUSE: Tom is retiring this year, after having served the seed industry for 24 years. He has been a consistent leader within ASTA, participating on numerous committees including the Phytosanitary Committee, the International Executive Committee and the Emerging Diseases Committee. He also served as ASTA representative to the International Seed Federation Phytosanitary Committee.
Bernice Slutsky, ASTA: Having served on the ASTA staff for the past 15 years, Senior Vice President for Innovation Bernice Slutsky is entering retirement. The coordination and focus that Bernice brought to the association enhanced ASTA’s strong leadership role in furthering policy around emerging and evolving plant breeding innovation; intellectual property rights policies regarding plant genetic resources; and international trade and policy.

Agribusiness, ASTA, Seed