InfoAg Featured Exhibitor – Iteris ClearAg

Cindy Zimmerman

As a global leader in applied informatics for transportation and agriculture, Iteris ClearAg is in the “e-intelligence business,” according to Joel Lipsitch, vice president of sales for the company’s Agriculture and Weather Analytics.

“That means we bring data and analytics of weather and soil to help our customers understand how to manage those variables and optimize their business around those variables,” says Lipsitch. “By managing the environment better and understanding it better we can help with product development, product positioning, risk management, logistics…key parts of their businesses.”

As a B2B company, Iteris ClearAg works with some of the biggest names in agribusiness, including BASF, Syngenta, and Bayer who use their solutions to make farmlands more sustainable, healthy and productive.

Learn more in this interview from last week’s InfoAg Conference. 2019 InfoAg Conference - Interview with Joel Lipsitch, Iteris/ClearAg

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Info Ag, Precision Agriculture

Coalition Goes to Court Over Biofuel Waivers

Cindy Zimmerman

A coalition of seven agricultural and biofuels organizations is seeking court action to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to account for lost biofuel volumes resulting from small refinery exemptions granted by the agency.

The coalition consisting of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy (Growth), National Biodiesel Board (NBB), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and National Farmers Union (NFU) had petitioned EPA for redress on this issue in June 2018 but has received no response from the agency. In the petition filed this week, they are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to lift a stay it placed on the joint 2018 petition asking the court to protect the renewable fuels industry from undue harm caused by EPA.

The coalition had asked for the stay to give EPA time to review its request to reconsider its current regulations. EPA’s response never arrived, but EPA’s statements and actions over the past 13 months indicate that EPA has effectively denied the request. Not content to wait further, the coalition asked the court to step in and restart proceedings.

“Thirteen months have passed since the filing of the petition, without even a proposed substantive response from EPA,” the motion states. “Meanwhile, the Agency has shown through various actions that it is not genuinely considering the Coalition’s administrative petition and has in effect denied it.”

Most of the organizations in the coalition were represented at a public hearing Wednesday in Ypsilanti, Michigan on the proposed rule to set 2020 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) and the 2021 RVO for biomass-based diesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Much of the comments from both sides of the issues centered on whether or not EPA should account for renewable fuel volumes waived under small refinery exemptions.

Among those who testified was Renewable Fuels Association chief economist Scott Richman, American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Communications Director Katie Fletcher, and National Biodiesel Board Chairman Kent Engelbrecht, Vice President of Federal Affairs Kurt Kovarik, and Chief Operating Officer Doug Whitehead.

RFA chief economist Scott Richman hearing testimony

ACE Communications Director Katie Fletcher hearing testimony

National Biodiesel Board hearing testimony

ACE, Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Companies Partner to Expand Corn Hybrid Choices

Cindy Zimmerman

Benson Hill Biosystems has entered into a partnership with Brownseed Genetics, a Wisconsin-based seed breeder of new corn hybrids that are higher in both oil content and essential amino acids.

The new Brownseed hybrids, developed through conventional breeding methods, yield about 9 percent corn oil – nearly triple the normal production – and are rich in the amino acids lysine and methionine, offering added value for growers, livestock, and ethanol and biodiesel producers.

“Brownseed’s focus on varieties with both quality and productivity benefits can generate greater profitability for growers, livestock producers, and the ethanol industry,” said Matt Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill. “Together, through this partnership, we will broaden the Brownseed portfolio so these hybrids can be grown across the Corn Belt.”

“For a small, family-owned company like ours to have access to the powerful technologies that Benson Hill offers would have been unthinkable only a few years ago,” said Charles Brown, CEO, Brownseed Genetics. “These advanced capabilities in predictive breeding and gene editing would have been available only to very large players in the seed industry, I’m pleased that Benson Hill is working with partners like us, across the food chain, regardless of size.”

Benson Hill’s CropOS™ enables researchers to predict, select and secure desirable traits quickly to bring crop and ingredient improvements to market faster.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Feed, Seed

Precision Ag Bytes 7/31

Carrie Muehling

  • There is still time to enter the 55th installment of the National Corn Yield Contest but entries must be in by Wednesday, July 31, 2019. You can find both entry forms and harvest rules on the Corn Yield Contest website.
  • Case IH is introducing the new Flex Hoe™ 900 air drill, which is agronomically designed to help producers efficiently seed small grains, no matter the ground conditions.
  • Daniel Royer has joined the AgTech Insight consulting team.
  • UAV-IQ announced that it is offering aerial biocontrol, a new integrated pest management (IPM) service that uses drones to release beneficial biological control agents bred by Koppert Biological Systems.
  • Seven innovative startups have been selected to participate in the AgLaunch Bootcamp hosted this week in partnership with Arkansas State University, and Arkansas Department of Agriculture at the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro.
  • Syngenta announced it has received import approval for the Agrisure Duracade® trait (event 5307) from the European Commission.
  • ADAMA US announced a new service offering for its customers. ADAMA Eagle Eye™ powered by Agremo offers an advanced analysis of aerial data and imagery that helps growers protect yields more efficiently through user-friendly maps, statistics and other practical tools.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

InfoAg Featured Exhibitor – Farm Market iD

Cindy Zimmerman

In agriculture, like any business, the most up-to-date information provides the best competitive edge.

That’s why Farm Market iD is applying their decades of data science to provide current in-season crop data, as well as reliable predictions for next year. “Basically what we are doing is using in-season, weekly imagery, and classifying what we see in the ground as the crop emerges,” said company CEO Steve Rao during an interview at the InfoAg Conference last week in St. Louis.

Rao says that information is especially important this year with all the prevented plant acres. Clients can use this data in strategy, marketing and sales to make high-level strategic decisions, as well as on-the-ground tactical decisions.

Learn more in this interview:

Farm Market iD CEO Steve Rao, In-season Crop Analytics

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, data, Info Ag, Precision Agriculture

Animal Ag Bites 7/29

Carrie Muehling

  • The Manure Challenge, organized by Yield Lab Institute with guidance from the World Wildlife Fund, Newtrient, and the Dairy Farmers of America, brings together the expertise of many eminent public, for profit, and non-for-profit leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds to support interest and investment in the manure management sector. The following organizations have joined the effort as sponsors: Cargill, The Maschhoffs, and WeWork FoodLabs.
  • The National Pork Board named Jerry Flint as vice president of engagement and outreach effective August 1, 2019.
  • Fuel Up to Play 60, a program created by the dairy checkoff and National Football League to improve health and wellness in schools across the country, celebrated its 10-year anniversary at its annual student ambassador summit, July 16-19 in Cleveland. Mark Leitner, executive vice president of Dairy Management Inc., which manages the national dairy checkoff, has led Fuel Up to Play 60 since its inception. He said expectations that were set during the program’s early days have been exceeded.
  • Mycotoxins can have a devastating effect on poultry, livestock and swine production. During wet years, like the one we are having this year, the possibility of mycotoxins from mold and fungi growth in grain products and storage bins is even greater. The solution to protecting animals from the threat of mycotoxins is using all-natural FloBond™ from Brookside Agra.
  • Cargill is launching BeefUp Sustainability, an initiative committed to achieving a 30% greenhouse gas intensity reduction across its North American beef supply chain by 2030.
  • Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco-based waste and energy development company, announced that it has purchased an anaerobic digester northwest of Madison, Wisconsin that will convert 90,000 gallons per day of dairy waste from three local farms into biogas and other useful products.
  • Ralco announced that Dr. Kevin Touchette has joined the company in the role of Senior Swine Nutritionist.
  • For almost a year, the Pork Checkoff has taken a leading role in collaborating with multiple government and industry partners to protect the United States from African swine fever (ASF). Primary partners in this effort include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Pork Producers Council, the North American Meat Institute, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Swine Health Information Center. When it comes to working on feed biosecurity issues specifically, the American Feed Industry Association has also been essential to the effort. By combining their resources, these organizations and others have been able to achieve a comprehensive response to ASF that has helped to harden the defenses of the domestic swine industry against this costly foreign animal disease and others like it.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

CannaFarm Con for Growing Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

Cannabis farming is a growing industry in this country and people want to know more about it, and that is why CannaFarm Con is being held August 1-2 in San Diego.

Cannabis can be either hemp or marijuana with industrial hemp and production for CBD being the fastest growing segments of the industry. Celeste Miranda set about organizing an event for farmers after speaking last year at World Ag Expo and being overwhelmed by the interest.

Miranda talks about the event in this interview.

Interview with Celeste Miranda, CannaFarm Con organizer
AgWired Precision, Audio, Cannabis, hemp

2019 Ag Media Summit/IFAJ Congress Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

2019 Ag Media Summit/IFAJ CongressThis year the Ag Media Summit is combined with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Minneapolis, MN. This brings about 150 international ag journalists to the Ag Media Summit. The programs overlap with attendees being able to register for just one or the other events or the full meal deal.

During the IFAJ business meeting the Livestock Publications Council was approved to become an affiliate member of IFAJ. Until now only AAEA, The AgComm Network, was the official U.S. member guild. This means that members of AAEA and LPC will now be members of IFAJ!

A virtual ag newsroom is live now on AgNewsWire.com and is being made possible by FMC and will included activity photos as well as interviews.

2019 AMS/IFAJ Congress Photo Album

ACN, IFAJ, LPC, Media

ZimmCast 622 – Future of InfoAg Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

In this week’s program I speak with Quentin Rund, PAQ Interactive and Lara Moody, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI).

Quentin has been involved with organizing and running the InfoAg Conference since it started in 1995. He talks about this year’s conference which is doing very well on attendance in spite of the challenging planting season the midwest has had.

InfoAg 2019Lara talks about how TFI has acquired the InfoAg Conference and what the organization is doing to expand and grow it. During this conference she says they’ve been conducting some focus groups to learn what they would like to see happen. A lot of the work that TFI does, like their 4R Nutrient Stewardship program, fits right in with the technology represented at the InfoAg Conference.

You can learn more in the program. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: Future of InfoAg Conference

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, Info Ag, Soil, ZimmCast

Witnesses at Hemp Hearing Provide New Industry Update

Cindy Zimmerman

Two panels provided an update on “Hemp Production and the 2018 Farm Bill” during a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday.

The first panel consisted of representatives from USDA, EPA and FDA who gave reports on how their respective agencies are working on implementation. USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach, EPA Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dunn, and FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs Dr. Amy Abernethy each presented testimony on the progress and challenges in implementing the law. Ibach reported that USDA has been working diligently to establish the program and issue regulations in time for the 2020 crop year.

Listen to their opening comments here:
Senate Ag Committee hearing on Hemp Production panel 1

The second panel included Kentucky hemp farmer Brian Furnish, National Hemp Association executive director Erica Stark, and Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman Darrell G. Seki, Sr. who all talked about the opportunities presented by the production of hemp and the need for clear regulations moving forward.

I thank you for making this wonderful crop legal,” said Furnish. “But now what the hemp growers need and want is for this new and valuable crop to be just that, a crop, with the same opportunities to grow and fill the marketplace with new and valued products.”

Listen to their opening comments here:
Senate Ag Committee hearing on Hemp Production panel 2

AgWired Precision, Audio, Cannabis, hemp