Industry Ag News 6/21
Pathogens Identified as Cause of Citrus Fruit Drop
Research conducted in the European Union by KeyPlex at the University of Torino in Italy have determined causes of fruit drop on citrus, and the results will help to guide the citrus industry into the future.
While fruit drop was thought to be caused by physiological conditions and other pathogens such as huang long bing (HLB), the research has clearly identified Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and further fungal pathogens as playing a major role.
Since fruit drop causes significant crop loss in oranges, lemons, grapefruit, limes, and other types of citrus, it is a major concern for the industry. Dr. Vladimiro Guarnaccia, associate professor of Plant pathology at the University of Torino and a lead researcher on this project, will present the methods and results of his team’s two years of work at the third and final KeyPlex Citrus Symposium on July 25, 2024, at Seven Sebring Raceway Hotel in Sebring, Florida. Most importantly, he will present solutions to aid citrus growers, such as agronomic practices and control methods based on his observations and preliminary tested conclusions.
“We started hypothesizing that Glomerella cingulata — the sexual phase of C. gloeosporioides — was the main cause of early fruit drop in citrus, not HLB, as has been long presumed,” says Gerald O’Connor, CEO of KeyPlex. “We scoured the world looking for information on this and came across Dr. Guarnaccia, who was already working on it at the University of Torino. We are excited to present the results of this groundbreaking research — the result of many years of work — that will help the citrus industry.”
Contact O’Connor at GOC@KeyPlex.com for a personal invitation.
Precision Ag News 6/19
RFA and NFU File Separate Lawsuit Over EV Mandate
The Renewable Fuels Association and National Farmers Union have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging recently finalized light- and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards.
This action is separate from the lawsuit filed last week by National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, and American Petroleum Institute to “ensure that ethanol producers and farmers have a strong and independent voice in the proceedings.”
RFA and NFU claim in the lawsuit that “EPA clearly lacked the authority to adopt the regulation, which essentially mandates the production of battery electric vehicles while, at the same time, ignoring other technologies—like low-carbon ethanol and flex fuel vehicles—that reduce emissions from light- and medium-duty transportation.”
“EPA grossly exceeded its statutory authority by finalizing regulations that effectively mandate the production of EVs, while blatantly excluding the ability of flex fuel vehicles and low-carbon, high-octane renewable fuels like ethanol to achieve significant vehicle emissions reductions,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “By relying on the false premise that battery electric vehicles have ‘zero emissions’ and no impact on the climate, the regulation essentially forces automakers to swiftly ramp up the production of EVs and phase out liquid-fueled vehicles that could actually deliver the same—or better—emissions reductions. America’s ethanol producers and farmers would be severely injured if EPA’s regulation were allowed to stand.”
Animal Ag News 6/18
Bid on Beef Auction Platform Launched
L-R: Wes Tiemann, Amanda Radke, Chris Earl, and Kody Fleeman
On June 1, CK6 Consulting and Texas Beefhouse launched Bid on Beef, the vision of Chris Earl, owner of Reverse Rocking R Ranch and CK6 Consulting in New Mexico. Working with beef cattle producers across the nation, CK6 Consulting has conducted $150 million in sales through price discovery in auctions, and now the team is taking that same concept directly to the consumer.
“The vertically integrated beef supply food chain is not working for every cattleman and woman in America,” said Earl. “We believe getting closer to the consumer retail dollar, through the free market, will directly impact ranchers’ bottomline and help create pathways of profitability back to the families we serve. Bid on Beef will carefully vet sellers on our platform, and our focus will be delivering consistently high-quality Angus and Wagyu beef to our customers. From pasture to plate, the beef will be born, raised, fed, harvested, packaged, and delivered by American cattle ranchers,”
“Since we launched our platform on June 1, the excitement from producers and consumers alike has been tremendous,” adds Amanda Radke, Bid on Beef partner and rancher from Mitchell, S.D. “We are delighted to invite consumers to be part of the excitement of the auction tradition, and we are committed to bringing to the forefront the very best beef experience for participants on our platform. Consumer choice is a great thing, and we believe Bid on Beef will become a trusted source for American ranchers and consumers.”
ASTA Honors Industry Pioneers
The American Seed Trade Association honored industry pioneers during the 2024 ASTA Leadership Summit this week in Nashville, Tennessee. Awardees were recognized in the following categories: Heritage, Distinguished Service, Lifetime Honorary Member, and Excellence in Science.
The Heritage Award serves to preserve and build seed industry history by honoring and recognizing individuals who have significantly impacted the American seed industry and ASTA. Dr. Harold Loden and John Gerard are this year’s Heritage Award awardees.
Dr. Loden (1918-2001) served as President of ASTA in 1968 and was named an Honorary Life Member in 1971, then served ASTA as Executive Vice President from 1973-1983.
Gerard, with Seyler Seed of Plymouth, Indiana, started VR Seeds, one of the first independent soybean companies in the U.S., and later sold to AgriGenetics. He then started JGL, Inc., an elite soybean and licensing company, Seed Genetics, Inc, a corn licensing company, and JoMar Seeds, a wheat licensing company.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the association and the seed industry. This year’s honoree is Dr. Stephanie Bloem, who has served as Executive Director of the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) since July 2015.
ASTA’s Lifetime Honorary Member Award is one of the highest awards bestowed by the association and is in recognition of untiring service to ASTA, as well as the seed industry. This year’s awardees are Norm Poppe of Applewood Seed Company and Dr. Jim Radtke of Cibus.
Poppe is the CEO of Applewood Seed Company, a leader in supplying high quality conservation, pollinator, and wildflower varieties, supporting conservation efforts across the country. Radtke is the Senior Vice President of Product Development at Cibus and served as ASTA’s Innovation Policy Committee Chair.
Dr. Ric Dunkle received the 2024 Excellence in Science from the Seed Science Foundation which recognizes the outstanding achievement by a public or private researcher whose accomplishments have had an impact in the areas of Breeding Systems, Seed Quality, Seed Production and Technology, Seed Health and Pathology, Digital Agriculture, or Seed Applied Technology.
Dunkle spent 35 years with state and federal government, including serving as the Deputy Administrator of APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine, where he oversaw USDA’s plant regulatory and trade programs related to phytosanitary issues. He served as ASTA’s Senior Director of Seed Health and Trade from 2008 until his retirement in 2023.
Congrats to all!
ZimmCast 732 – New Executive Director of NAFB
I’m getting a break from the agriblogging highway after last week’s AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting in Altoona, IA. Cindy and I have worked on our calendar through the end of the year and there are quite a few more places to be around the USA.
In this episode I have a conversation with Gardner Hatch, the new Executive Director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). We have known Gardner for a long time and he is a card carrying member of the ZimmComm Golden Mic Club and was the recipient of one of the first Golden Mic Awards at the Agri-Marketing Conference.
Gardner talks about why he chose to make this career move and the NAFB 10 year strategic plan and priorities.
Listen to the episode here:
ZimmCast 732 - Conversation with new Executive Director of NAFB (12:51)
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.
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AgGateway Publishes ADAPT Standard 1.0
Members of AgGateway at the Mid-Year Meeting in Iowa last week were excited about the recent publication of the ADAPT Standard 1.0, a data model designed for the business-to-business transfer of agricultural production data.
ADAPT stands for Ag Data Application Programming Toolkit and ADAPT Standard 1.0 is the successor to the AgGateway ADAPT Framework released in 2015 that served as a software plugin toolkit to read proprietary files. Unlike the earlier toolkit, the ADAPT Standard is data only and has no software dependencies.
Stuart Rhea, Endless Wonder Consulting, has been working on the standard with AgGateway. “We simplified that model and made it language agnostic,” said Rhea. “It’s a very exciting development because it will take the already global footprint of the ADAPT framework and make it available to even more people.”
AgGateway Chief Technology Officer Jim Wilson says the new standard sets them up for continued development. “We have an incredible set of tools, processes, production methods, ways to get developers the resources they need to get the job done in ways that make them most productive.”
Learn more about what the publication of ADAPT Standard 1.0 means and what the future could hold in these interviews from last week’s AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting.
Stuart Rhea, Endless Wonder Consulting 10:48 Jim Wilson, AgGateway 5:13