Farmers and Ethanol Producers Need Relief Now

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol producers and corn farmers held a telephone press conference Wednesday to spotlight recent research on the impacts of ethanol plant closings, a new survey on voter attitudes about ethanol, and a potential White House agreement to promote further renewable fuels use.

The main message from Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper, new National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Ross, and others on the call, is that they need to see the EPA do something to account for gallons lost to small refinery exemptions, as required under the law.

Commenting on news reports this week that the administration is close to making an announcement on a package to help, Cooper said it can’t come soon enough. “Each day that passes without a resolution is one step closer to the abyss” for farmers and ethanol plants. He talked about 18 plants that have closed permanently or temporarily recently and how that impacts the community.

RFA Chairman Neil Koehler with Pacific Ethanol, which has shut down one of its plants, says he has been in the ethanol business for 35 years. “This is the worst year we have ever experienced,” and it is the direct result of EPA granting the small refinery exemptions without redistributing those gallons.

“We are not asking for anything other than for EPA to uphold the RFS,” said Ross. “This issue has certainly hurt a lot of markets for farmers and created more of an issue going into a fall where we need markets opened up and we need crops to move.”

Also on the call were farmer Brian Thalmann, immediate past president of Minnesota Corn Growers, and Al-Corn Clean Fuel CEO Randy Doyal.

Listen to opening remarks:
RFA call on ethanol industry issues

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Bayer Maintains Strong R&D Commitment to Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

A year after its acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer remains more committed than ever before to investments in new data science and technologies for food production.

“We are very proud of our leading R&D pipeline with 75 projects in seed & traits, crop protection and Digital Ag pipelines,” said Bob Reiter, Head of Research and Development for the Crop Science Division. “With hundreds of new hybrids and varieties commercialized annually, we are best-positioned to discover, combine and tailor solutions for growers around the world.”

In 2018, Bayer invested about $2.5 billion in Crop Science R&D on a pro forma basis – more than any other competitor in the industry. Some 7,300 scientists are working in over 35 R&D sites and more than 175 breeding stations to deliver innovation. Most recently, the company finalized an agreement with biopharmaceutical research company Arvinas to create a joint venture – newly named Oerth Bio (pronounced “Earth”) – and explore how molecular-degrading proteins found in plants and animals can protect crops against threatening pests and diseases.

Listen to Reiter’s remarks during the Bayer Future of Farming Dialogue held this week in Germany.
Bob Reiter, Head of Research & Development, Bayer

2019 Bayer Future of Farming Dialogue Photos

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer

New Pig Farmer of the Year is From Pennsylvania

Cindy Zimmerman

America’s Pig Farmer of the Year for 2019-2020 is Chris Hoffman from McAlisterville, Pennsylvania. The award recognizes the pig farmers who exemplify industry leadership, a demonstrated focus in raising pigs following the We Care ethical principles and a commitment to connecting consumers with the farmers who raise the pork they consume.

Hoffman was named America’s Pig Farmer of the Year after an on-farm audit of animal health, safety and management practices, a series of personal interviews and an online vote. Since being named to the position, Hoffman said he’s excited to lead discussions with consumers and food retailers in order to help promote pig farming and demonstrate farmers’ commitment to always doing the right thing for their animals, the environment and the families who consume their product.

Though he originally aspired to work in law enforcement, Hoffman found himself in the business of raising pigs and discovered it to be his ideal career. He’s faced challenges unique to being a first-generation pig farmer, but with a progressive yet realistic philosophy, he’s been able to gradually grow and evolve his Lazy Hog Farm to integrate the next generation and secure a bright future.

Learn more about Hoffman and the America’s Pig Farmer of the Year Award at americaspigfarmer.com.

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, NPPC, Pork

Precision Ag Bytes 10/2

Carrie Muehling

  • New DEKALB® corn and Asgrow® soybean products for 2020 feature exclusive genetics, industry-leading trait technologies and strong agronomic packages for consistent performance and high-yield potential. DEKALB is introducing a total of 28 new products next season. Twenty-six new Asgrow® Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean products are being offered for planting next season. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
  • South Dakota State University is the first land-grant university to offer a precision agriculture major, a precision agriculture minor and an engineering for precision agriculture minor, as part of their curriculum. Corteva Agriscience is donating $600,000 to help expand facilities for student learning and engagement with precision ag tools.
  • The American Sugar Alliance has launched SugarSustainably.org to highlight the commitments that the industry has made over the last several decades to preserve natural resources, family farms and rural communities for future generations.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

USDA Urged to Establish Foot and Mouth Vaccine Bank

Cindy Zimmerman

Representatives of the National Pork Producers Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and Iowa State University are urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to move quickly to establish a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank.

At a press conference Tuesday, the groups recognized steps USDA has already taken to establish the bank, but called for “expedient use of mandatory funding included in the 2018 Farm Bill to purchase the volume of vaccines required to effectively contain and eradicate an FMD outbreak.” Currently, the USDA, which has prescribed vaccination for dealing with an FMD outbreak, does not have access to enough vaccine to avoid devastating economic consequences to the U.S. economy, should an outbreak occur.

FMD is an infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hooved animals, including cattle, pigs and sheep; it is not a food safety or human health threat. The disease is endemic in many parts of the world and would have widespread, long-term fallout for livestock and crop agriculture, including the immediate loss of export markets. According to Iowa State University research, an outbreak would result in $128 billion in losses for the beef and pork sectors, $44 billion and $25 billion, respectively, to the corn and soybean farmers, and job losses of more than 1.5 million across U.S. agriculture over 10 years.

Taking part in the press conference were:
NPPC Chief Veterinarian Liz Wagstrom
Dr. James Roth, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine
Sarah McKay, director of Market Development at the National Corn Growers Association
Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., vice president for Sustainability & Scientific Affairs at the National Milk Producers Federation

Audio file:
Ag groups call for Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, NCGA, NPPC

Bayer Committed to More Sustainable Food System

Cindy Zimmerman

Farmers, industry experts, journalists and other stakeholders are in Monheim, Germany this week for the Bayer 2019 Future of Farming Dialogue to engage in a collaborative discussion on the future of agriculture.

“Agriculture needs to feed a growing world without starving the planet”, said Liam Condon, member of the Bayer Board of Management and president of the Crop Science Division. “Breakthrough innovations are needed so that farmers can grow enough food for a growing world population while preserving natural resources.”

Under the theme “Tomorrow belongs to all of us” the event gathers speakers and participants from around 40 countries for two days of robust panel discussions, talks and interviews on issues and opportunities facing the industry. Topics discussed include the need to find a balance between production of food and preservation of our planet; consumer demands to have a healthy diet with no negative impact on the environment; and the importance of crop protection tools for sustainable agriculture.

Condon shared that Bayer is introducing three ambitious commitments to address some of the most pressing challenges our world is currently facing by 2030:

1. Reduce the environmental impact of crop protection by 30 percent by developing new technologies that help farmers to scale down crop protection product volumes and enable a more precise application.
2. Reduce field greenhouse gases emissions from the most emitting crops systems in the regions Bayer serves by 30 percent.
3. Empower 100 million smallholder farmers in developing countries around the world by providing more access to sustainable agricultural solutions.

Listen to Condon’s comments here: Liam Condon, President, Bayer Crop Science Division

2019 Bayer Future of Farming Dialogue Photos

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Sustainability

BASF a New Market Leader in Canada

Carrie Muehling

The past year has brought a number of changes for BASF in Canada as the company is now the market leader in that country. That includes a new headquarters location in Calgary and a new distribution model, as well as the opportunity to rename themselves as an agricultural solutions company instead of an agricultural products company.

“That really drives us toward the 2030 strategy that we’ve been here discussing today which is how we fuse digital, seed and chemistry together, bringing superior solutions to growers and thinking more from a cropping system standpoint versus just a product to product standpoint,” said Jon Sweat, Vice President of Business Management, BASF Canada Agriculture Products.

Sweat said BASF is now developing hybrid wheat and also innovating new hybrids and traits in canola, which are both important crops for the Canadian market. The company is also focusing research on how climate affects the cropping system, which is important for Canada as the climate there is more dynamic than it is even in the United States.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Jon here: Interview with Jon Sweat, BASF Canada VP of Business Management

2019 BASF Global Media Event Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF

FMC Advice for 2020 Fall Preparation

Cindy Zimmerman

The record number of prevented plant acres around the country this year means a lot of weed fields for growers to manage this fall for the 2020 season.

FMC Technical Service Manager Drake Copeland says the problem is that some of those fields have already gone to seed. In this interview from the Farm Progress Show, Copeland shares some FMC advice on fall field prep this year.

Interview with Drake Copeland, FMC Technical Service Manager


AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show, FMC, Video, weed management

Animal Ag Bites 9/30

Carrie Muehling

  • As of September 1, there were 77.7 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up 3 percent from September 2018, and up 3 percent from June 1, 2019, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) wants to set the record straight when it comes to recent claims by the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM). NCBA CEO Colin Woodall assures members of the organization that NCBA does not use checkoff funds for lobbying or policy work. Read his complete response here.
  • The Meat Industry Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony is coming up January 27, 2020. Co-located with the International Production & Processing Expo, this social event is the perfect way to kick off the week in Atlanta. Register today to help honor the Class of 2019!
  • Randy and Judy Acker of Acker Farms in Middleton, Wisconsin and Kyle Levetzow of Model Dairy Farms in Dodgeville, Wisconsin both will compete on Tuesday, October 2, in the standard corn silage category for the Annual World Forages Analysis Superbowl. Both farms work with Insight FS and submitted samples using InVISION DairySelect FS 61SX1 Hybrid.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Ethanol Report on Crappie Masters Championship

Cindy Zimmerman

2019 has been another winning year for the partnership between ethanol and crappie fishing.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) just wrapped up a third year as co-title sponsor of the Crappie Masters All American Tournament Trail with the national championship in Grenada, MS, concluding September 28. Missouri Corn Growers and the National Corn Growers Association have also both been closely involved with this event for many years.

In this podcast interview, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White talks about how they have working with this family-oriented fishing event has been for promoting the use of E10 in boat engines and how it is getting even bigger.

Ethanol Report 9-27-19

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Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, Podcasts, RFA