Climate Change and Risk Management
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Rostin Behnam spoke at the 2020 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting about the impact of weather and climate change on risk management and an initiative he is spearheading at the Commission.
“In my view, it’s critical to have private sector and public sector participants, a public-private partnership, contributing to this evolving, but critical conversation,” said Behnam. “Further, we cannot rest while waiting for the perfect. Action is required now, and every step – however big or small – is a positive step towards addressing these risks.”
Commissioner Rostin Behnam, CFTC (23:57)
2020 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting Photo Album
Animal Ag News 2/24
- Mark Frasier of Fort Morgan, Colo., was elected 2020 president of CattleFax at the organization’s annual meeting, held in conjunction with the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas.
- Public Lands Council Executive Director and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Executive Director of Natural Resources, Kaitlynn Glover released a statement applauding the court ruling in a case related to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to remove more than 1,700 wild horses from the Caliente Complex in Nevada complied with federal laws.
- Phibro Animal Health Corporation’s new nutritional specialty product, OmniGen Pro, increases dairy profit potential by supporting immune competence, optimizing rumen health and helping cows be and stay healthy.
- Thanks to continued vigilance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. pork industry, the United States has so far prevented an outbreak of African swine fever, an animal disease affecting only pigs with no human health or food safety risks. To ensure the U.S. swine herd remains free of the disease, the National Pork Producers Council and 30 state pork producer associations asked Agriculture Secretary Perdue to take additional measures, including restricting imports of organic soy products for animal feeds from all ASF-positive countries.
- PenCheckTM, a highly anticipated, new rapid test for African swine fever, demonstrates impressive results in a clinical study. Silver Lake Research Corporation makes and manufactures PenCheckTM,, the only low-cost rapid African swine fever test on the market with accuracy rates greater than 95%. PenCheckTM can be easily administered pen-side with results in just 20 minutes, to help prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
- In a formal letter sent to the Packers and Stockyards Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, R-CALF USA requests that the agency extend the comment period in its proposed rule regarding undue preferences or advantages for at least 90 additional days beyond the current deadline of March 13, 2020.
- National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Senior Director, International Trade and Market Access, Kent Bacus released a statement voicing “serious concerns” in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture restoring access to the U.S. for Brazilian beef.
- The now-ubiquitous term “plant-based” seems to exclude meat, poultry, milk and eggs – but that’s not the whole story. Join registered dietitians Cara Harbstreet, Street Smart Nutrition; Nicole Rodriguez, Enjoy Food, Enjoy Life and Alison Webster, International Food Information Council, at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2020 Stakeholders Summit for a candid conversation about the latest consumer buzzwords.
ZimmCast 637 – Ethanol Conference & Hauk Designs
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast where ethanol is our topic today.
We attended the 25th National Ethanol Conference last week, our 14th in a row. But this one was definitely a history maker with an appearance by George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States. We talked with Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Senior Strategic Advisor Bob Dinneen about 25 years of ethanol advancement and being able to hear from the former president who signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, creating the original Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
We also have an interesting interview from the conference with Kenny Hauk of Hauk Designs, who built a custom Jeep Wrangler for RFA that runs on up to 85 percent ethanol. It is a monster machine that will be touring the country with RFA and Kenny loves to talk about how he learned of ethanol’s high octane capabilities while building it. Kenny is pictured in front of the Jeep with Robert White, RFA; Derek Tidd, Tidd Racing; and Brian Sowers, Crappie Masters who all participated in a panel on the off-road benefits of ethanol. You can watch Kenny’s show, Hauk Machines, on Amazon Prime. The shows on the Jeep build are in season two.
I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 637 - 25th NEC and Hauk Designs
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Industry Ag News 2/21
- Sunny skies, large crowds and optimistic attendees defined the 53rd edition of World Ag Expo. The world’s largest annual outdoor agricultural exposition came to a close on Thursday, February 13 and boasted 1,442 exhibitors on 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space. The three-day show hosted 106,357 attendees representing 46 states, the District of Columbia and 56 countries.
- Creative Art Director Heather McKendree and Account Coordinator Marisa Miller are the newest BLNKPGers to join the Blank Page Marketing team in Indianapolis.
- National Farmers Union hosted 75 students in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last weekend for its annual College Conference on Cooperatives. The three-day conference provides an interactive learning experience for American agriculture’s next generation on the importance, structure, and operations of various types of cooperative groups.
- FLM Harvest – a strategic consulting, marketing and communications agency – announced Midwestern BioAg has selected the agency to build awareness and create demand for its new and innovative TerraNu products.
- The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska is pleased to welcome Felicia Marcus as a new member of its board of directors. Marcus is an attorney/consultant with 35 years of experience in organizational management, policy development, program implementation, and public engagement at the federal, state, and local levels.
Farm Credit System Optimistic for 2020
2019 may have been a challenging year for many of the farmers and ranchers served by the nationwide Farm Credit System, but the recent trade agreements are generating a lot of optimism for 2020.
“We’ve been here for a hundred years in the good times and the bad and last year was kinda one of the bad times and we’re looking at the good times,” said Pat Shields with Capital Farm Credit of Texas at the recent Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. “We think that there’s a better propensity for profits this year with higher feeder prices and fed cattle market as well.”
CIC2020 Interview with Pat Shields, Capital Farm Credit 2:34
Marshall Hansen with Farm Credit Services of America talked about investments the system is making in rural America.
“Ultimately we hope to bring not only investment in job growth but also innovative ideas that in the long run benefit our customers,” said Hansen.
FCS of America serves farmers and ranchers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. “Looking into 2020 a lot of our customers are more optimistic and so we’re optimistic when they’re optimistic,” Hansen says.
2020 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show Photo Album
CIC2020 Interview with Marshall Hansen, Farm Credit Services 3:58Next week at the Commodity Classic, which is coincidentally back in San Antonio, we will spend some more time with Farm Credit Services of America, and also Farm Credit Mid-America, which serves Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee to learn more about their outlook for 2020.
CIRB Hemp Perspectives
One of the most timely sessions at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting last week was Hemp Perspectives, moderated by CIRB Executive VP Michael Torrey.
The session offered a look at the volatile world of the new U.S. hemp industry through the eyes of a processor, a farmer and an insurance provider.
Steve Bevan, president of GenCanna Global, which just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, gave the perspective of a major CBD oil processor impacted by the evolving market which is now in an oversupply situation.
Processor Perspective - Steve Bevan, GenCanna Global (25:13)
USDA recently announced the availability of a pilot hemp insurance program through Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage.
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors approved the Hemp Actual Production History (APH) Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) that was developed by AgriLogic Consulting’s AgVersity analytical team. Clif Parks of AgriLogic talked about the current market conditions and the challenges of putting together a crop insurance program for hemp.
Insurance Perspective - Clif Parks, AgriLogic (39:53)
The farmer perspective came from Ron Conyea of Conyea Farms in Kentucky who grows hemp as a rotational crop with corn and tobacco.
He talked about the benefits of hemp farming as an alternative to tobacco and the frustration of regulatory uncertainty.
Farmer Perspective - Ron Conyea, Conyea Farms (19:07)Interview with Ron Conyea, Conyea Farms
Interview with Ron Conyea (5:51)
2020 Economic Outlook
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
Secretary Perdue Announces New Innovation Initiative
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
Catching up with NCGA President Kevin Ross
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