North America-based RaboResearch Team Expanding
Rabo AgriFinance, a subsidiary of Rabobank, a leading global food and agribusiness bank, announces the expansion and strengthening of the RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness (F&A) team in North America by welcoming Chase Beisly, Eric Gibson, Charlotte Talbott, and Matt Lewis to the growing team.
Rabobank’s RaboResearch F&A group is a global team of more than 80 analysts who monitor and evaluate global market events that affect food and agriculture worldwide. The new members join more than 20 analysts based in North America who are internationally respected experts in sectors ranging from dairy to produce, farm inputs to consumer foods and beverages. The F&A team discerns key insights into agricultural markets; conducts in-depth analysis of the factors that drive sector success or failure; and examines megatrends that ultimately influence clients’ business strategies.
Chase Beisly joins the RaboResearch team as an Animal Protein Analyst to leverage his practical livestock and farming background with direct research and project management experience. Beisly comes to Rabobank from Seaboard Foods, the largest U.S.-owned pork producer, where he served as a Business Logistics Analyst. His expertise working with both primary producers and industry leaders in the animal protein value chain combined with his agricultural data analysis experience will complement the world-class animal protein team. Beisly holds a Master of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Missouri.
Eric Gibson joins the team as a Farm Inputs & Crop Production Sustainability Analystwith experience to effectively to build robust relationships with U.S. crop producers and coordinating industry sustainability efforts. He brings a hands-on farming and livestock background combined with 10 years of industry experience in market research and data analysis and agricultural marketing. Gibson comes to Rabobank after serving as a Fusion Leader & Intelligence Analyst at Aimpoint Research. He also spent six years with the U.S. Soybean Export Council in both Industry Relations Manager and Stakeholder Relations positions, where he helped coordinate USSEC’s sustainability program.
Charlotte Talbott joins the team as the Animal Agriculture Sustainability Analyst and brings a strong background in applied agricultural research and a passion for livestock sustainability. She has experience working closely with research institutions, industry partners, and producers to make practical contributions to the food and agriculture industry’s understanding of challenges and opportunities regarding sustainability. Prior to joining Rabobank, Talbott served as Associate Director of Beef Sustainability Research at National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA), where she managed sustainability research projects under NCBA’s Beef Checkoff program to advance the environmental, social, and economic pillars of sustainability in the beef industry.
Matt Lewis joins the team as a Consumer Food & Beverage Sustainability Analyst with a career squarely focused on the intersection of finance and environmental sustainability. He has collaborated with global corporate clients and investors to help further their journey around sustainability and other ESG-related goals. Previously he served as a Senior ESG Consultant at Aeterra, LLC, where he coordinated and conducted both buy and sell side ESG-related reviews for merger & acquisition transactions in various industries, including food & beverage. Lewis held related roles at Adams Street Partners and ABN AMRO, where he focused on investment strategy and risk management related to ESG.
Animal Ag News 1/16
Breeding for Fusarium Wilt Race 4 Resistance
Cotton production across the United States is under serious threat from a soil-inhabiting fungus called Fusarium oxysporum vasinfectum race 4 (FOV4), which causes Fusarium wilt. After years of fighting the fungus in California, the battle field is now in Texas and cotton breeder Dr. Jim Olvey discussed the topic at the recent Beltwide Cotton Conferences.
“It’s been a great collaborative effort between private industry, public sector and Cotton Incorporated in a unique problem-solving approach,” said Olvey. “It was an ongoing problem and I think we’re really close to solving it.”
Olvey says they have developed advanced upland lines that are resistant to FOV4. “This year we’re going to spend a lot of time working with different seed companies with different varieties and find out how many commercial varieties growers grow have resistance. I suspect it’s very few.”
Learn more in this interview with Dr. Jim Olvey, O&A Enterprises cotton breeder.
Interview with Jim Olvey, cotton breeder 4:19
Industry Ag News 1/12
Previewing the VISION Conference
Unlocking the value of innovation is the theme of the 2024 VISION Conference coming up January 23-24 in Glendale, Arizona, preceded by the co-located Women in Ag Tech (WiAT) meeting January 21-22.
Powered by Meister Media Worldwide’s Global AgTech Initiative, the VISION Conference is the premier event where forward-thinking executives of the ag tech community come together to chart the strategic roadmap for the adoption of the latest innovative technologies and systems, with a focus on the drivers that will transform the agribusiness industry within the next 3-5 years.
“There’s a lot of different conferences out there that are all very good, but because of Meister Media’s agricultural background, where a lot of them are bringing technology to agriculture, we’re really bringing agriculture to technology,” said Meister President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Monahan.
Heather Tunstall, corporate content director, says they are excited about what’s new this year, including the co-located Women in Ag Tech meeting. “Women in Ag Tech is focused on community and support,” said Tunstall. “What we’re really looking to do is look at the career paths of many of the successful women in the industry, as well as those just starting out.”
Tunstall encourages attendees to take a look at the Executive Primer, sponsored by Ever.Ag and available on the VISION Conference website now. “Our executive primer is a digital document we are putting out ahead of the conference that brings to ground some of the main themes we’ll be talking about,” she said. “It will also be available on-site at the event. We think it’s a very valuable piece as a take away and for further understanding.”
Learn more about the conference in this interview with Monahan and Tunstall, and by going to TheVISIONConference.com. Register at https://www.thevisionconference.com/register/ and save $200 with Promo Code: LASTCHANCE.
2024 VISION preview interview 12:41Precision Ag News 1/10
DPH Biologicals Poised for Growth With Ownership Transition
DPH Biologicals, a leading biological company formed in 2018, has announced a management-led buyout with a private investment group, while the company will continue to market under the DPH Biologicals brand and continue to provide the same high-quality products and service.
“With proven science, robust field data, strong industry relationships and a focus on biologicals, we are proud of DPH Bio’s robust and profitable growth the past several years. As the biologicals market grows, we believe farmers and producers around the world will increasingly demand biological products that work within existing management practices and offer multiple bottom-line benefits, beyond yield,” said Mick Messman, DPH Bio president and CEO.
The full management team brings decades of experience in agricultural sales, marketing, research, product development, supply chain management and business strategy, both domestically and internationally, and led the company’s rapid scale up and product portfolio expansion, building upon its flagship product – TerraTrove® SP-1®. The DPH Bio management team includes Mick Messman, Alex Cochran, Chris Feiden, Trey Soud, Brad Holzworth, Roberto Werneck and Cliff Watrin, and Mario Tenerelli as Latin America advisor.
“Our team has demonstrated business success in the ag industry and a commitment to deliver value to farmers. We saw the need for a company focused on developing and scaling biological technologies and began the transformation of DPH Bio in mid-2021. When ownership discussions started last year, the existing management team decided the time was right and we were ready and willing to fully invest in the company ourselves,” Messman said.
With teams based in Indianapolis, Ind. and Princeton, Ill., and territory managers located in key markets, Messman adds that DPH Bio will continue bringing its diverse and growing product line to customers around the world, including planned expansion into Brazil.
Visit www.dphbio.com for more information.
Truterra Announces 2024 Programs and Expanded Eligibility
Truterra is announcing programs for farmers to enroll in for 2024, with several new developments.
Among the program options for enrollment is Truterra’s leading carbon program, which in just two years paid farmers more than $9 million for more than 462,000 metric tons of carbon benefits created through farming practices such as planting cover crops or reducing how often fields are tilled. For the first time in 2024, Truterra is expanding eligibility of its carbon program to include qualified long-term adopters of conservation practices, specifically for qualified farmers who have adopted conservation practices like cover crops or reduced tillage before crop year 2021.
Bringing long-term adopters into the fold is a strategic step toward meeting the needs of companies seeking to reduce scope 3 emissions from within the food and ag value chain. According to McKinsey1 and Company, sales of consumer goods products made with sustainability goals are growing 36% faster than those made without them, which is why Truterra is sharpening its focus on how it can help play a role in the solution for companies to help decarbonize their supply chains and meet their emissions-based goals. These long-term adopters potentially have favorable greenhouse gas emissions and storage profiles which may benefit companies in the food and ag value chain – and the program this year will help to establish a baseline and understand the opportunity.
“The expansion of eligibility for qualified farmers is something we’re proud to offer and is another step forward in our mission to meet farmers wherever they are in their sustainability journey,” said Truterra President Jamie Leifker. “Truterra is committed to working with ag retailers to maximize their relationships with farmers, as they are often the most trusted advisor. We will continue to expand our ag retail network and together lead the way with innovative solutions to position farmers to increase their productivity and profitability while working to improve the long-term environmental sustainability of their operations.”
Enrollment for Truterra’s 2024 sustainability programs is open now. Interested farmers can visit truterraag.com/enroll to learn more and explore eligibility.
Beltwide Cotton Awards
Several awards were presented at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences last week. Here are two of them.
Each year the University Extension Cotton Specialists select a colleague to recognize as the Beltwide Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year. Camp Hand, University of Georgia assistant professor in Crop & Soil Sciences, received this annual award for his leadership, dedication and exceptional service in developing and conducting educational programs to meet the needs of cotton producers and the U.S. cotton industry.
Dr. David Fang, geneticist for USDA-ARS at the Cotton Fiber Bioscience Research Unit in New Orleans, is the 2023 Cotton Genetics Research Award recipient.
Dr. Fang has made tremendous contributions to the development of molecular markers which have been made publicly available and are utilized in practical cotton breeding and realized potential in a population derived from crosses made by USDA-ARS colleagues. Dr. Fang also has constructed numerous genomic maps of cotton and identified numerous markers for various agronomic traits.