USDA Announces More Trade Aid for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced several actions that USDA will be taking to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption.

President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, the President has authorized USDA to provide up to $16 billion in programs, which is in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. These programs will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.

Details of the aid package were announced in a press call with USDA officials, including:

• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
• USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson
• Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Bill Northey
• Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach
• Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney
• Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Brandon Lipps
• USDA’s Trade Counsel Jason Hafemeister

Listen or download here:
USDA Announces Trade Aid Package

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GROWMARK Serves Energy Customers in Various Ways

Carrie Muehling

GROWMARK continues to serve customers in the energy sector, not just in the Midwest but across much of the United States.

The agricultural cooperative markets 2.2 billion gallons on energy products throughout the territory it serves, including gasoline fuel, propane and lubricants. This presence includes 140 different fuel terminals and 235 retail stations. GROWMARK is also the fourth largest propane retailer in the United States, according to Scott Long, manager, marketing and business development at GROWMARK. He said the cooperative puts the customer first.

“We try to listen to what they’re trying to accomplish and then find a package, whether that’s gasoline, diesel fuel, we’ve done some solar projects,” said Long. “We deal quite a bit with the additive business, trying to make sure that the fuel that they’re purchasing stays like it was originally intended to go through today’s equipment.”

Logistics are a continual concern as there are not always enough truck drivers to move products, especially during the busiest times. Very wet conditions have slowed fieldwork considerably during the 2019 planting season, but Long predicts an extremely busy season for energy as farmers get back into the fields.

Listen to Carrie’s interview here: Interview with Scott Long, GROWMARK

Audio, Cooperatives, Energy, GROWMARK

FCA Board Chairman Dallas Tonsager Dies

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm Credit Administration board chairman and former USDA under secretary Dallas Tonsager died Tuesday of lymphoma in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 64.

Tonsager was appointed to the FCA board by President Barack Obama in 2015 and was designated chairman and CEO in 2016. Prior to that, he served as under secretary for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013. Tonsager grew up on a dairy farm near Oldham, South Dakota and was a graduate of South Dakota State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture in 1976.

FCA Board Member Jeff Hall has been designated acting CEO. “Dallas dedicated his life to helping farmers, ranchers, and other rural Americans,” said Hall. “Both at USDA and FCA, he worked hard to promote investments in rural communities. As chairman of FCA, he urged the Farm Credit System to work with borrowers experiencing stress as a result of the current downturn in the farm economy.”

“He worked especially hard to ensure the success of the biofuels industry, as well as highlighting the healthcare and broadband needs of rural America,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota. “His leadership and dedication to rural communities will be greatly missed.”

The Tonsager family plans to host a funeral service in South Dakota and a memorial service in Washington.

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IBM Expands Global Agriculture Platform

Carrie Muehling

IBM is forging into the global agriculture industry, using predictive technology to provide solutions for farmers in various geographies.

IBM announced the global expansion of Watson Decision Platform for Agriculture, with AI technology tailored for new crops and specific regions to help feed a growing population. For the first time, IBM is providing a global agriculture solution that combines predictive technology with data from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and IoT data to help give farmers around the world greater insights about planning, plowing, planting, spraying and harvesting.

By 2050, the world will need to feed two billion more people without an increase of arable land[1]. IBM is combining power weather data – including historical, current and forecast data and weather prediction models from The Weather Company – with crop models to help improve yield forecast accuracy, generate value, and increase both farm production and profitability.

New crop models include corn, wheat, soy, cotton, sorghum, barley, sugar cane and potato, with more coming soon. These models will now be available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, as well as new markets across Europe, Africa and Australia.

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Weather

Alltech Young Scientists in #ONE19 Spotlight

Cindy Zimmerman

2019 Alltech Young Scientist regional winners Renata Oselame Nobrega, Deeksha Shetty and Anouschka Middelkoop

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE19) brought together some of the brightest international minds in science as part of the Alltech Young Scientist (AYS) competition.

Four regional AYS winners were selected but only three were able to make it to the conference. Asia region winner Bing Liu, Jiangnan University, China was unable to attend. The others were:

North America – Deeksha Shetty, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
South America – Renata Oselame Nobrega, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil
Europe/Africa – Anouschka Middelkoop, Wageningen University, the Netherlands

Shetty was selected as the global 2019 Alltech Young Scientist after presenting her research to a panel of international judges as the final stage of the world’s largest agriscience competition for graduate university students. Winnings include $10,000, career mentorship and networking opportunities with innovative scientists from around the world. Now in its 14th year, the AYS competition has received entrants from a total of 120 universities and 40 countries.

Listen to interviews with the three brilliant young scientists as they talk about their research.

Interview with Deeksha Shetty, Alltech Young Scientist

Interview with Anouschka Middelkoop, Alltech Young Scientist

Interview with Renata Oselame Nobrega, Alltech Young Scientist

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

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Precision Ag Bytes 5/22

Carrie Muehling

  • While farmers struggle to get crops in the ground, barge traffic ferrying fertilizer north is at a standstill. As concerns about fertilizer availability intensify, Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC is working with farmers to find alternative ways to meet the nutritional demands of their crops this season, especially nitrogen. Helena recommends adding a nitrogen stabilizer to stretch supply as far as possible, spreading out applications, and applying nitrogen as close to uptake as possible to minimize the amount of time nitrogen is susceptible to loss in the soil.
  • IBM has announced the global expansion of Watson Decision Platform for Agriculture, with AI technology tailored for new crops and specific regions to help feed a growing population. For the first time, IBM is providing a global agriculture solution that combines predictive technology with data from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and IoT data to help give farmers around the world greater insights about planning, plowing, planting, spraying and harvesting.
  • The 2019 Farm Progress Show will host a competitive soil judging contest for Illinois and Indiana FFA chapters at its show site near Decatur, IL. The contest will be held Tuesday, August 27, the first day of the show. The 2019 show dates are August 27, 28 and 29. FFA chapter advisors should pre-register their teams by Aug. 14.
  • To enable the Soil Health Partnership to fully leverage its unique data set, SHP established Data Supporters as a new sponsorship level. Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) is the first organization to earn the title. The SHP Data Supporters are investing in the SHP as the organization builds its infrastructure, knowledge and analytical might in data creation, collection, management and analysis.
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Alltech Researcher Honored at #ONE19

Cindy Zimmerman

Dr. Richard Murphy, who has been the research director at the Alltech European Bioscience Center in Ireland for 17 of his 25 years with the company, is the recipient of this year’s Alltech Medal of Excellence. The award, which is Alltech’s highest distinction, was presented this week at ONE19, the annual Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, KY.

Murphy was recognized for his pioneering work in the areas of organic trace element assimilation, microbial enzyme technology, and the mitigation of antimicrobial resistance in livestock production.

In this interview, Dr. Murphy talks about his work at Alltech and his passion for research.
Interview with Alltech research director Dr. Richard Murphy

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

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GROWMARK Launches AgValidity Platform

Carrie Muehling

GROWMARK is partnering with startup technology companies with its AgValidity testing platform to bring new research and developments to its member companies and farmer customers.

“We kind of saw this opportunity where we potentially could be the conduit or the connecting point between these really smart, innovative people that had great ideas but maybe didn’t have farm experience or access to the farm gate to talk to a farmer or test their product with an actual farmer to see if it’s valuable,” said Lance Ruppert, director of agronomy marketing technology for GROWMARK.

Ruppert hopes the partnership will be a “win-win-win” as GROWMARK will help to identify cutting edge companies and help them to gain credibility with farmers and agricultural customers who will ultimately benefit from their products and services. Current projects include the areas of remote sensing, biologicals, and soil health.

Listen to Carrie’s interview with Lance here: Interview with Lance Ruppert, GROWMARK

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Bear Grylls Receives Alltech Humanitarian Award

Cindy Zimmerman

Outdoor adventurist Bear Grylls provided the keynote address for the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference opening plenary session, and was surprised to be presented with the Alltech Humanitarian Award at the conclusion of his remarks.

The ONE audience was riveted by Grylls’ stories and inspired by his “NGU” (Never Give Up) spirit. Dr. Mark Lyons joined him on stage after his remarks and both shared stories of how their late fathers inspired them.

Listen here to their conversation:

Bear Grylls and Dr. Mark Lyons

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

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Alltech ONE, Day One

Cindy Zimmerman

Alltech CEO Dr. Mark Lyons is hosting his second Alltech Ideas Conference since the passing of his father and company founder Dr. Pearse Lyons early last year – and since disruption and change is what Alltech is all about, nothing has changed.

“Dad always said that the only constant in this company is change,” said Dr. Lyons. He talked about how Alltech continues to evolve in his opening address where he announced a new collaboration to fight African Swine Fever (AFS) and a partnership with the University of Kentucky Healthcare.

Dr. Mark Lyons opening remarks

After the opening session, Dr. Lyons participated in a press conference with representatives of UK Healthcare, as well as Alltech Research Director Dr. Richard Murphy and Robbie Walker, CEO of Alltech subsidiary Keenan. Dr. Lyons answered questions from the media on a variety of topics, including AFS and the trade war with China, where he lived for six years.

Alltech Press Conference

Alltech ONE19 continues through Tuesday.

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

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