RFA Ethanol Podcast

2020 Economic Outlook

Carrie Muehling

Economist Bob Young told those attending the 2020 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting that the general economy is not in a bad place, and he expects some economic growth in the year ahead.

When it comes to the agriculture sector specifically, Young has questions about what will happen with all of the acres that were not planted in 2019. Other potential challenges to agricultural prices include disease pressure in China that could affect demand there. But Young said agriculture is persisting through some difficult times.

“The data doesn’t bear out this notion that we’re a sector clinging on by our fingernails,” said Young. “It’s doing okay.”

One example of that is the fact that agricultural lending is down, which Young views as a positive indicator.

2020 Economic Outlook
Remarks from Bob Young, Agricultural Prospects (39:53)

Interview with Bob Young, Agricultural Prospects
Interview with economist Bob Young (6:47)

2020 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting Photo Album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Secretary Perdue Announces New Innovation Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

At the start of USDA’s 2020 Agriculture Outlook Forum on Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, a new initiative to stimulate innovation so American agriculture can achieve the goal of increasing production by 40 percent while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture in half by 2050.

Secretary Perdue outlined the four components of the initiative:
The first component of the Ag Innovation Agenda is to develop a U.S. ag-innovation strategy that aligns and synchronizes public and private sector research. The second component is to align the work of our customer-facing agencies and integrate innovative technologies and practices into USDA programs. The third component is to conduct a review of USDA productivity and conservation data. USDA already closely tracks data on yield, but on the environmental side, there’s some catching up to do. Finally, USDA has set benchmarks to hold us accountable. These targets will help measure progress toward meeting the food, fiber, fuel, feed, and climate demands of the future.

Listen to the secretary’s announcement here:
USDA Outlook 2020 Secretary Perdue 21:33

Audio, Sustainability, USDA

Catching up with NCGA President Kevin Ross

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s not always easy to catch up with Minden, Iowa farmer Kevin Ross who has spent a lot of time in the past few months at the White House as president of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), mostly celebrating new trade agreements beneficial to American farmers.

Most recently, Ross attended a White House ceremony last month commemorating the signing of the phase one deal between the United States and China. “One of the biggest pieces for corn is really the biotech portion of the China deal,” said Ross. Another big piece of the deal would be increased access to the Chinese market for U.S. ethanol.

Speaking of ethanol, NCGA was one of the parties in the lawsuit over Environmental Protection Agency’s small refinery exemption (SRE) program under the Renewable Fuel Standard that was recently decided in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. “Just a fabulous result for us and everybody in the industry,” says Ross. “And moving forward, they’re going to have to adjust the way they’re administering the SRE program.”

Ross discusses these topics and gives a preview of Commodity Classic in this interview from the National Ethanol Conference.
RFANEC Interview with NCGA president Kevin Ross, Iowa 5:43

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Exports

Ag Groups Form Farmers for a Sustainable Future Coalition

Cindy Zimmerman

More than 20 farm and ranch groups representing millions of U.S. farmers and ranchers are launching Farmers for a Sustainable Future (FSF), a coalition committed to environmental and economic sustainability to serve as a primary resource for lawmakers and policymakers as they consider climate policies.

The coalition will share with elected officials, media and the public U.S. agriculture’s commitment to sustainability and the incredible strides already made to reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint. As policy proposals are developed and considered, the goal is for the coalition and its guiding principles to serve as a foundation to ensure the adoption of meaningful and constructive policies and programs affecting agriculture.

Representatives from five of the FSF founding organizations announced the new coalition in Washington, D.C. yesterday.
• Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation
• Ethan Lane, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
• Ben Mosely, USA Rice
• Michael Formica, National Pork Producers Council
• Robbie Minnich, National Cotton Council

Learn more about the new coalition at SustainableFarming.us.
Farmers for a Sustainable Future launch 21:16

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio, Environment, Sustainability

CIRB Emerging Leaders Class Grows

Carrie Muehling

The Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) named 13 industry professionals to its 2019-2020 Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) class. In its 5th year, this is the largest class to date, with participants selected from CIRB’s membership. The program gives the opportunity for selected professionals to increase their knowledge of advocacy and communications while providing networking experiences with industry leaders.

Most members of the current class attended the 2020 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting in Bonita Springs, Florida and we got to interview a few of them. Take a listen to these future crop insurance industry leaders:

Interview with Zach Allsup, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance (2:03)

Interview with David Stewart, Crop Risk Servies (2:55)

Interview with Neely Phelps, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services (1:54)

Interview with Jaya Hahn, Hudson Crop Insurance Services (1:35)

Interview with Lexi Schroeder, Hudson Crop Insurance Services (2:02)

Interview with Craig Conroy, COUNTRY Financial (1:42)

2020 Crop Insurance & Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting Photo Album

Audio, CIRB, Crop Insurance

NAMA 2020 Agribusiness Leader of the Year is Scott Druker

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) 2020 Agribusiness Leader of the Year is Scott Druker, General Manager, Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production. Now in its 20th year, the award will be presented at the 2020 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 15-17, in San Diego, California.

Druker joined the Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition business unit of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. as senior business manager in November 2009. He was promoted to director of animal nutrition in 2012 and to his current position of general manager in 2017.

During these years, Druker led Church & Dwight through multiple acquisitions in the livestock and food safety sector, transforming the company’s focus from a primarily North American dairy feed ingredient business to a global, multi-species and multi-channel livestock production and food safety enterprise. Under his leadership, Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production has met its business vision of becoming the only food chain partner integrating diverse technologies for animal and food production systems, providing solutions from on-farm through processing to improve the safety and reliability of the world food supply.

Today, Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production is the industry’s only comprehensive animal nutrition, food production and food safety solutions provider, employing about 130 across the globe—and still growing—compared with 19 employees in North America before 2015.

NAMA

2020 #RFANEC is a Wrap

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) just concluded an annual meeting that will be remembered for many reasons, including an appearance by the 43rd President of the United States, and the celebration of recent significant victories for the ethanol industry as it focuses forward on the future.

RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper says there is a lot of optimism and inspiration coming out of the 25th National Ethanol Conference. “I just continue to be very bullish about the intrinsic value proposition that comes with our product,” said Cooper in a wrap-up interview.

RFANEC Geoff Cooper wrap up interview 6:18

This episode of The Ethanol Report features some of the highlights of the conference, with a particular focus on the recent 10th Circuit Court decision regarding EPA’s Small Refinery Exemption program and what it will mean for the ethanol industry.

Ethanol Report 2-14-20 (26:12)

The Ethanol Report is a podcast about the latest news and information in the ethanol industry that has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008.

Photos, audio and video from the 2020 National Ethanol Conference, including presentations, can be found here:
2020 National Ethanol Conference Virtual Newsroom

Audio, EPA, Ethanol, Podcasts, RFA

‘Nicely Done, Beef’ Ads Address Misconceptions

Carrie Muehling

A new series of ads from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) shares facts about beef with consumers in an open, transparent and conversational way.

“For the first time, we’re really getting out there and being more aggressive in defending beef, and specifically addressing some of those myths and common misconceptions when it comes to beef,” said Season Solorio, NCBA Brand Marketing and Communications.

The ad campaign is running on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.

CIC2020 Interview with Season Solorio, NCBA 3:48

2020 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

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

Precision Ag News 2/19

Carrie Muehling

  • The non-profit Soil Health Academy announced it has received a $1.65 million grant from global food company General Mills to educate and mentor wheat and oat producers in targeted regions of the U.S. and Canada as they transition from conventional agricultural practices to soil health-focused regenerative agriculture practices.
  • Bayer announced pipeline project advancements and newly unveiled research in a dedicated research and development (R&D) pipeline update for the Crop Science Division. In 2019, Bayer’s pipeline delivered 55 key project and formulation advancements while providing farmers around the world with more than 450 newly commercialized hybrids and varieties of corn, soybeans, cotton and vegetables.
  • December 2020 saw mixed results in overall U.S. sales of tractors and self-propelled combines. Total farm tractor sales grew compared to January of last year while combines fell by a quarter, according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
  • Kubota Tractor Corporation unveiled its newest compact tractor, the B2401, adding two new models to its popular B01 Series of compact tractors – the new B2401DT and the B2401DT Narrow.
  • Kubota Tractor Corporation also unveiled its new LX Series to the company’s compact tractor line.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts recognized winners of its national service awards at the organization’s 2020 Annual Meeting Appreciation Banquet.
  • The Southern Weed Science Society recognized University of Florida professor Stephen Enloe with its 2020 Outstanding Educator Award at the organization’s 73rd annual meeting in late January in Biloxi, Mississippi.
  • With the recent launches of the Speed-Tiller™ high-speed disk and AFS Soil Command™ seedbed sensing technology, and a new configuration for the Ecolo-Til™ 2500, Case IH is continuing its commitment to develop and provide agronomically correct soil management solutions for use in the 2020 season.
  • The Soil Health Institute has made significant enhancements to its Soil Health Research Landscape Tool, an online library and search engine of soil health-related research papers, reports, and other publications.
  • Valley® Irrigation is announced a partnership with Cordoba Technologies, Inc., an innovator in automated, high-precision application systems for crop protection products.
  • Florida blueberry growers can now use an updated web-based tool to fight anthracnose fruit rot (AFR) with more precision, thanks to work by UF/IFAS experts. The weather-based Blueberry Advisory System, released on Jan. 31, sends growers alerts that tell them when environmental conditions favor the development of AFR, a fungus that can severely damage blueberries.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

Energy Ag News 2/18

Cindy Zimmerman

  • Minnesota’s ethanol industry contributed $2.31 billion to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year, according to a new study by ABF Economics. In 2019, the industry produced 1.31 billion gallons of ethanol, 3.6 million tons of dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) and 327 million pounds of corn oil. This generated $6.7 billion in gross sales for Minnesota businesses and supported 18,974 jobs last year.
  • The Nebraska Ethanol Board invites fuel retailers to E15 Workshop Feb. 20 at Hyatt Place in downtown Lincoln, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The workshop is free thanks to the event sponsors.
  • During the National Ethanol Conference, NextChem and Saola Energy announced a new collaboration to license technology for the production of Renewable Diesel from vegetable oils and residual fats to the international market.
  • According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending Feb. 7, ethanol production dropped 4.4%, or 48,000 barrels per day (b/d), to 1.033 million b/d—equivalent to 43.39 million gallons daily. The four-week average ethanol production rate declined 1.4% to 1.048 million b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 16.07 billion gallons.
  • The Renewable Fuels Association has released its 2020 Ethanol Industry Outlook and handy Pocket Guide. Both contain key statistics, trends, insight, and analysis on the latest developments in the U.S. renewable fuels industry, as well as commentary on what to expect in 2020.
  • The Nebraska Ethanol Board will hold a board meeting in Lincoln on Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00 am. Agenda is posted on NEB website.
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