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

Senate Ag Committee Leaders Voice Hemp Support

Cindy Zimmerman

The Senate Committee on Agriculture got an update on “Hemp Production and the 2018 Farm Bill” Thursday with clear support from the leadership.

Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) said while there are cautions regarding this new crop, ‘I am extremely supportive of new opportunities for farmers. It is not often that an almost entirely new crop with this level of interest and market potential comes along.”

Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) related the long history of hemp growing in this country and said “this new old crop is creating exciting opportunities for farmers and the greater supply chain.”

Hemp products are already popular in the U.S. marketplace. Nationally it is estimated that U.S. hemp retail sales are at more than $700 million annually, and this market is expected to grow at a 10% to 20% rate.

The senator most responsible for getting hemp legislation in the Farm Bill is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and he attended the hearing to make his own comments and introduce hemp farmer Brian Furnish of Cynthiana, Kentucky as a witness. McConnell says hemp is a really big deal in his state of Kentucky. “In just six months of legalization, we’re now growing it in 101 of 120 counties,” said McConnell.

Listen to opening remarks from all three senators here:
Senate Ag Committee hearing on Hemp Production opening remarks

Audio, Cannabis, hemp

Zimfo Bytes 7/26

Carrie Muehling

  • The Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association (MIHA), a non-profit trade association based in Shakopee, MN, has been formed to ensure that opportunities for Cannabidiol (CBD) and other products derived from industrial hemp continue to grow and be readily available for consumers.
  • AgTech Nexus USA, NewLeaf Symbiotics and Joyn Bio announced a long-term partnership valued at up to $75M to bring innovation and sustainability to modern agriculture with a new class of microbes that benefit crop health and protection.
  • 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.
  • Sipcam Agro USA announced that it has named John Gertz to lead its North American business as Chief Executive Officer, reporting to the board of directors and the Company’s Global Chief Executive Officer, Giovanni Affaba.
  • American Agri-Women proudly presented the 2019 Champion of Agriculture Award to Congresswoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois and Congressman David Rouzer of North Carolina during its annual Fly-In in Washington, D.C. in June.
  • The National Pork Board named Jerry Flint as vice president of engagement and outreach effective August 1, 2019.
  • As part of its longstanding partnership with the National Press Foundation, Bayer announced its sponsorship of two educational programs focused on agriculture and cardiovascular disease. Each training will take place over a course of three to four days and provide journalists the educational tools and resources needed for these critical topics.
  • The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has awarded nearly $9,000 in mini-grants to 10 communities across the nation through the White-Reinhardt Fund for Education program. The grants are used to create new agricultural literacy projects or expand existing efforts; the Foundation strives to help learners of all ages understand agriculture and the important role it plays in their daily lives.
  • Costco’s Craig Wilson is the new president of The Center for Food Integrity Board of Directors.
  • To more effectively meet the growing needs of family farmers and ranchers, National Farmers Union Foundation has refocused its general farm education programs around the Farm and Ranch Business Health Assessment and a new Farm Business Toolbox.
  • National Crop Insurance Services has launched a new website at CropInsurance101.org that aims to be an easily-accessible resource where visitors can learn more about the history of crop insurance, download fact sheets, or find a glossary of common terms.
Zimfo Bytes

USDA Officials Provide Details of Support Package for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and other agency officials today announced further details of the $16 billion package “aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals.”

In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. The Market Facilitation Program (MFP), Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP), and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.

Secretary Perdue was joined by Under Secretary Bill Northey; Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps; and USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson to explain the details of the package, which will help producers of a wide variety of commodities impacted by trade disruptions.

USDA provides new trade aid details

Agricultural organizations reacted positively to the announcement. “While we are grateful for the continuing support for American agriculture from President Trump and Secretary Perdue, America’s farmers ultimately want trade more than aid. It is critically important to restore agricultural markets and mutually beneficial relationships with our trading partners around the world,” said American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall.

Under the plan, eligible U.S. pork producers will receive $11 per head based on inventory between April 1-May 15, 2019 and USDA will make pork purchases of $208 million to support its programs for the food insecure. National Pork Producers Council President David Herring says they “are grateful to the Trump administration for providing partial relief as hog farmers have incurred significant losses due to trade disputes that have lingered for more than a year.”

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Lynn Chrisp says farmers definitely need aid at this time. “It’s no secret that farmers are facing difficult decisions amid wet spring weather, trade disputes and tariffs, and demand destruction in the ethanol market. While NCGA’s focus remains markets, we welcome USDA’s quick rollout of MFP 2.0 and the Department’s creative efforts to reorient MFP to better reflect market impacts and support American farmers. We look forward to learning more about how MFP will work for corn farmers.”

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, NCGA, NPPC, USDA