RFA Ethanol Podcast

Precision Ag News 3/11

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Association of Conservation Districts announced the release of a free, first-of-its-kind curriculum, “A Guide to Conducting a Pollinator Conservation Field Day,” available for download through NACD’s new Conservation Education Hub.
  • Aerobotics technology has processed more than 5 million trees, 50,000 acres of groves and 15% of all citrus in Florida. These numbers are climbing ahead of the approaching mid-April deadline for growers to have their tree census data submitted for ‘2020 tree and crop insurance’ submissions.
  • Nominations are now open for the biggest accolade in agriculture. Called the “Nobel Prize for food and agriculture,” the World Food Prize is presented to an individual who has made an exceptional achievement in making hunger history. Nominate an inspiring individual making a measurable impact on reducing world hunger, and they could be the 2021 recipient of this USD $250,000 award. To learn more about awardee qualifications, visit www.worldfoodprize.org/nominate.
  • Agrisel USA, Inc., an emerging leader in the formulation and distribution of value-added products to dealers and distributors in the agricultural, poultry, turf and ornamental, golf course, home and garden, and specialty pest control markets, announced two new staffing appointments: Bob Forreider and Bobby Hopkins as Sales Representatives for the Southern U.S. territory.
  • IntelinAir announced it has joined the NVIDIA Inception program as a community member. IntelinAir is an analytics company that delivers crop intelligence to farmers through aerial imagery, computer vision, machine learning, agronomic science, and intelligent user interfaces. IntelinAir’s goal is to organize and digitize the world’s crop information and performance – making it universally accessible and useful to deliver high yields, greater efficiencies, and sustainable farming to feed the human race.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

Rural Leaders Urge Trump to Support Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

Farmer leaders and biofuel producers from the Midwest today expressed their concerns about news that the Trump administration has reversed course and decided to side with oil companies in their court battle against biofuels.

The debate centers around a unanimous court decision that would halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) abuse of Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which have destroyed demand for billions of gallons of homegrown biofuels. Days ago, more than 20 farm and biofuel groups sent a letter asking President Trump to reject “an appeal of the court decision, given the clarity, unanimity, and strength of the ruling.” In a blow to rural communities, the White House now appears ready to defend those exemptions, ensuring continued uncertainty for farm families and jeopardizing jobs for biofuels workers across the Midwest. An extension granted by the court this week gives the administration until March 24 to file a formal appeal.

Speaking for corn, soybean, ethanol and biodiesel producers, as well as rural communities around the Midwest that have been adversely impacted by EPA’s waiver policy, the presidents of the National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association, and two biofuel producers held a press call on Wednesday.

Kevin Ross, a corn farmer near Minden, Iowa
Dave Walton, a soybean farmer in Wilton, Iowa
Erik Huschitt, CEO & general manager of Badger State Ethanol in Monroe, Wisconsin
Mitch Miller, CEO of Carbon Green BioEnergy in Lake Odessa, Michigan

Listen to the call here:
SRE case appeal call 50:32

Ag Groups, ASA, Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA

Herbicide Acquisitions Enhance AMVAC Portfolio

Cindy Zimmerman

AMVAC was pleased to announce 10 new products at the 2020 Commodity Classic, including the recent acquisition of four herbicide brands from Corteva Agriscience™.

These products are complementary tank-mix partners for a variety of primary herbicides used in the U.S agricultural market. They are particularly valuable for enhancing weed control performance against increasing numbers of troublesome weed species. The products include:

• Classic® Herbicide: Expands the postemergence weed control spectrum in soybeans.
• FirstRate® Herbicide: Provides preemergence and postemergence control of key broadleaf weeds in soybeans.
• Hornet® Herbicide: Delivers postemergence broadleaf weed control of glyphosate resistant weeds in field corn.
• Python® Herbicide: Allows flexible broadleaf weed control in soybeans and field corn.

AMVAC Marketing Manager Nathaniel Quinn explains more in this interview.

Interview with Nathaniel Quinn, AMVAC Marketing Mgr. 2:28

2020 AMVAC Product Launch photo album

AMVAC, Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Herbicide

Ethanol Case Groups Disappointed in Appeal Extension

Cindy Zimmerman

The four organizations involved in the case against the Environmental Protection Agency over granting of small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are disappointed the Trump Administration has been granted more time to consider an appeal of the court decision siding with the plaintiffs.

The petitioners in the case—the Renewable Fuels Association, National Corn Growers Association, American Coalition for Ethanol, and National Farmers Union—offered the following statement:

On March 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit approved requests by the U.S. Department of Justice, HollyFrontier, and CVR Energy for an extension of the deadline to file motions asking for a rehearing en banc of Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA, in which the Court found EPA vastly exceeded its authority in granting compliance exemptions to three refineries from 2016 and 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. The new deadline for requesting a rehearing in the Tenth Circuit is March 24.
Read more.

ACE, Corn, EPA, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Alltech ONE Goes Virtual Over COVID-19 Concerns

Cindy Zimmerman

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE) will go virtual for its 36th year conference due to global health concerns related to coronavirus.

Alltech has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak, with particular consideration for ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE). The annual event was scheduled for May 17–19 in Lexington, Kentucky, and typically assembles more than 3,500 attendees from 70 countries for an exploration of innovative solutions across the global food supply chain. In light of rising health concerns related to coronavirus, Alltech will present ONE session topics online, transitioning to a virtual experience instead of a live event in 2020.

“Our first priority remains the health and safety of attendees, our colleagues and the communities in which we live and work,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. “With that in mind, we have decided to host this year’s international conference on a virtual platform, allowing registrants from around the world to engage in industry-leading content in a way that is accessible for everyone.”

The Alltech ONE Virtual Experience will provide access to agricultural topics, including agri-business, aquaculture, beef, crop science, dairy, the future of food, pig and poultry. Live-streamed keynote presentations and on-demand video content from some of the world’s leading industry experts, including the most impactful presentations from past years’ events, will be available beginning May 18, 2020.

Learn more and register here.

Alltech, Events

Animal Ag News 3/9

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Pork Producers Council elected new officers and members to its board of directors at its National Pork Industry Forum. Howard AV Roth, a hog farmer from Wauzeka, Wis., was elected NPPC president.
  • At the National Pork Producers Council’s National Pork Industry Forum, delegates adopted several important resolutions, including those that call on NPPC to: strengthen efforts to prevent African swine fever; advocate for accurate and truthful labeling of plant-based and cell-cultured products, while supporting enforcement of fair labeling by the Food and Drug Administration and USDA; support reauthorization of and increased export data transparency in the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act; and reaffirm plans to increase the contribution rate of NPPC’s strategic investment program from 10 cents to 20 cents per $100 of hogs marketed, effective July 1, 2021.
  • The National Pork Board presented its Distinguished Service Award to Bret Marsh, DVM, during the National Pork Industry Forum in Kansas City. Marsh is the state veterinarian at the Indiana Board of Animal Health.
  • The pork industry announced that nearly 40,000 servings of pork will be donated to Harvesters – The Community Food Network. The donation, made by Prairie Fresh® Pork on behalf of attendees at the industry’s annual meeting, will help fight food insecurity in the Kansas City area.
  • The World Cheese Championship Contest, held in Madison Wisconsin this past week, announced results featuring the top 20 final candidates in the running for the top prize out of a record 3,667 international entries. Jasper Hill Farm is pleased to announce that they made two of these winning cheeses.
  • Liz Miles recently joined Dairy West as innovation partnerships manager.
  • As part of the USPOULTRY Foundation’s continued efforts to support the recruitment and training of the brightest students and to promote careers in the poultry and egg industry, the National FFA Officer Candidates were invited to the 2020 International Poultry Expo, part of the International Production & Processing Expo. The opportunity for them to participate was made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from Tyson Foods.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Bayer Initiatives Focus on Sustainability

Carrie Muehling

Bayer is focused on sustainability with three specific commitments to bring about positive changes within the agriculture industry over the next 10 years.

“Bayer has the opportunity and the responsibility to really be part of the solution when we think about the major challenges that are facing ag today, and those might include climate change, growing population and limited resources,” said Becky Langer, Biodiversity Stakeholder Affairs. “So we have made, as a company, three bold transformational commitments that we will work to achieve by the year 2030.”

Those commitments include reducing greenhouse gases by 30 percent, reducing the impact of crop protection by 30 percent, and empowering 100 million small holders in developing countries with the access, knowledge and technologies to allow them to sustainably grow crops.

Langer was at the 2020 Commodity Classic in San Antonio.

Becky Langer, Biodiversity Stakeholder Affairs at Bayer
Interview with Becky Langer, Bayer Biodiversity 2:52

2020 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, Commodity Classic, Sustainability

Bayer Launches Soybean Products, Programs for 2020

Carrie Muehling

Bayer continues to roll out new products and efforts to help farmers fight weed resistance during the coming growing season. The company plans to launch XtendFlex soybeans in spring of 2020, pending regulatory approval.

“It’s really important when you think about all the challenges growers have on their farms from the resistance to the tough to manage weeds where growers need more tools and flexibility to control those weeds, and XtendFlex soybeans will provide that,” said Lisa Streck, Bayer North American Soybean Launch Lead.

Streck said XtendFlex soybeans offer tolerance to dicamba, glufosinate and glyphosate. Bayer also encourages growers to spray early.

Lisa Streck, Bayer North American soybean launch lead
Interview with Lisa Streck, XtendFlex Soybeans 1:59

“Bayer is confident that if growers spray early, they’re going to have success with controlling those tough to control weeds,” said Megan McQuoid, Soybean Traits Marketing Manager.

The company is backing up that belief with its Spray Early With Confidence program, offering the promise of 15 dollars per acre to be applied towards respraying if farmers see less than commercially acceptable performance on labeled weeds. Bayer recommends using XtendiMax herbicide as a part of the program. For more information, visit roundupreadyxtend.com.

Megan McQuoid, Soybean Traits Marketing Manager
Interview with Megan McQuoid, Soybean Traits 3:00

2020 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, Soybean

Biofuels Interests Urge President to Protect RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

Biofuel and agricultural organizations are up in arms over news reports out late Thursday saying President Trump is now planning to appeal the 10th Circuit Court decision regarding EPA’s granting of Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs). Oil state interests, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), have been pressuring the White House to fight the unanimous court ruling that threatens to completely change the waiver program under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The National Corn Growers Association, Renewable Fuels Association, American Soybean Association, National Farmers Union, Growth Energy, American Coalition for Ethanol, National Biodiesel Board, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, and Fuels America issued a joint statement regarding the news reports:

“The president needs to understand that Ted Cruz doesn’t care about this administration or families across the heartland who are counting on the White House to keep its promises. Just days ago, thousands of farmers rallied behind Secretary Perdue, who expressed his confidence that we had finally reached the end of a long and painful fight against EPA demand destruction. Tearing open that wound, against the advice of rural champions and the president’s own advisors, would be viewed as a stunning betrayal of America’s rural workers and farmers. We cannot stress enough how important this decision is to the future of the rural economy and to President Trump’s relationship with leaders and voters across the heartland. Ted Cruz comes back year after year with the same lies about refinery profits, disproven over and over by economists, the EPA, and even by Big Oil. We urge the president to stand up now against this misguided effort to torpedo the rural recovery.”

Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said USDA legal counsel believes the case is solid and he doesn’t “think it would be worthwhile for the U.S. government to appeal that and I hope we won’t.”

Ag Groups, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Ethanol

Industry Ag News 3/6

Carrie Muehling

  • MGEX, a Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization, announced its best February in history with a total volume of 261,762 contracts. Alongside this accomplishment, this past month also entered the record book as the 10th best month of all time at the Exchange.
  • BRANDT has created a new global environment, health and safety function. Rick Cathcart, formerly BRANDT’s Director of Manufacturing/Process Development, has been tabbed to lead the new function and has been promoted to VP, EH&S.
  • For her work investigating the effects of consolidation and monopolization in the food and agriculture sectors, National Farmers Union awarded Leah Douglas with its 2020 Milt Hakel Agriculture Communications Award.
  • National Farmers Union also presented Dr. Neil E. Harl of Iowa and Dennis Sjodin of Minnesota with the Meritorious Service Award to Farmers Union and to American Agriculture.
  • The National Farmers Union 118th Anniversary Convention concluded following the adoption of the organization’s policy book and special orders of business. More than 500 family farmers and ranchers convened in Savannah, Georgia, to set policy positions and priorities that support American farm and ranch families and strengthen rural communities.
  • BASF announced an increased projected peak sales potential for its innovation pipeline of agricultural solutions of more than €7.5 billion. By 2029, the company will launch more than 30 key projects, including novel seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection, digital products and new formulations broadening its offer.
  • U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Bette Brand will serve as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary following the retirement of Donald “DJ” LaVoy.
  • The Center for Food Integrity has assembled a diverse panel of experts to offer insights into the tradeoffs between animal and plant-based diets during a free webinar, “Experts Weigh In: Evaluating Tradeoffs of Plant and Animal Proteins.”
  • Only a small fraction of farmers is aware of “right to repair” legislation that has been considered by state legislatures in recent years, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. The legislation would provide unfettered access to proprietary embedded code, jeopardizing the safety and sustainability of modern agricultural equipment, including tractors and combines. Out of more than 500 farmers surveyed, only 28% are aware of “right to repair” legislation. However, a majority of farmers believe that they should be able to repair their own equipment.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation has announced a Request for Proposals for a logo and visual brand identity refresh that depict their mission and values in a pronounced and distinguished way. Potential candidates must notify The World Food Prize Foundation of their interest to participate by March 20, 2020. All final proposals must be submitted to Nicole Barreca no later than 5 p.m. CDT on April 1, 2020.
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