Gene Editing is Disruptive Innovation for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

A disruptive innovation is one that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. That definition fits the innovation of gene editing for agriculture and why Bayer included it in a series of Innovation Talks at the recent Future of Farming Dialogue.

Dr. Tom Adams is CEO of Pairwise, a company focused on using gene editing and leveraging natural diversity in agricultural crops to address global food challenges. “We have a relationship with Bayer to study row crops, but we’re also very interested in bringing the technology to consumer crops, making healthy food more available, convenient and sustainable,” said Adams during an interview after his presentation.

“It’s a technology that really does allow very specific changes to be made in crops in a way that you can’t do with breeding,” he added. “I think it can create a change in how (plant) breeding is done.”

Learn more about the disruptive potential of gene editing in Dr. Adams’ brief presentation and interview.
Tom Adams, Pairwise CEO, presentation
Interview with Tom Adams, Pairwise CEO

Bayer Future of Farming Dialogue 2018 Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Plant Breeding, Precision Agriculture

President Says USMCA is Victory for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

Out with NAFTA and in with USMCA, the initials for the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

“This new deal is an especially great victory for our farmers,” said President Donald Trump as he announced the agreement this morning. “The deal includes a substantial increase in our farmers’ opportunities to export American wheat, poultry, eggs and dairy – including milk, butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream.”

Under the agreement, Canada will eliminate its “Class 7” program that allows low-priced dairy ingredients to undersell American dairy products.

Audio – President Trump announces USMCA benefits for agriculture

Agricultural organizations are praising the agreement, particularly the dairy industry groups. American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president Zippy Duvall says the USMCA includes “new provisions to provide science-based trading standards, timely review of products produced through biotechnology and gene editing and new provisions on geographic indications.” Even the National Farmers Union, which tends to be critical of most trade deals, called the agreement encouraging. “While this agreement is certainly no cure-all, it is hopefully a start to repairing our trade relationships around the world, to restoring our reputation as a reliable trading partner, and to resolving longstanding issues with discrimination against U.S. wheat,” said NFU president Roger Johnson.

Canadian officials agreed to sign the agreement late Sunday before the midnight deadline. It now goes to Congress for review.

AFBF, AgWired Animal, Audio, Dairy, International, Trade

MFA Incorporated and Adapt-N Expand Partnership

Cindy Zimmerman

MFA Incorporated has announced an expanded partnership between its Precision Advantage, Crop-Trak and Nutri-Track service platforms and the Adapt-N nitrogen recommendations and monitoring system, operated by Agronomic Technology Corp and owned by Yara International.

Thad Becker, MFA Incorporated Precision Agronomy Manager, says MFA growers will benefit from the ability to leverage field data already available within the MFA system to generate unbiased and scientifically validated in-season, variable-rate nitrogen recommendations.

“We strive to serve our members with programs that improve their farms,” said Becker. “We accomplish this by providing nutrient recommendations tailored to each farmer’s unique growing conditions through MFA’s Nutri-Track system along with critical in-season field observations by Crop-Trak consultants and our overall commitment to environmental stewardship. Everything we do has sound agronomy behind it.”

Adapt-N combines advanced crop modeling with soil-type information, field management data and weather to establish real-time nitrogen recommendations to achieve maximum yield for each field.

“The increase in MFA’s use of Adapt-N over the past several years, and the company’s commitment to expanding availability of the technology across its territory is further evidence of MFA’s commitment to driving profitable sustainability for its growers,” said Steve Sibulkin, who leads the Adapt-N solution team at Yara. “This is completely aligned with our aspiration to bring timely recommendations to farmers that help them maximize yield while minimizing environmental impact.”

Learn more about Adapt-N

Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture

Animal Ag Bites 10/1

Carrie Muehling

  • The Animal Agriculture Alliance is extending the deadline for students to sign up for its College Aggies Online scholarship competition due to popular demand. Undergraduate students, graduate students and collegiate clubs can sign up through October 10 at https://collegeaggies.animalagalliance.org.
  • Fuel Up to Play 60 and Chelan Fresh are increasing student access to more nutritious food choices, including dairy, in schools. Chelan Fresh, one of Washington state’s largest suppliers of apples and pears and the nation’s largest provider of fresh cherries, will provide portable breakfast/salad bar carts to 15 Fuel Up to Play 60 schools in 11 states. Fuel Up to Play 60 is the nation’s leading in-school wellness program created by America’s dairy farmers through their dairy checkoff and the National Football League, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  • The Public Lands Council held its Annual Meeting and 50th Anniversary Celebration in Park City, Utah, where it set policy priorities for the upcoming year, elected new officers, and celebrated the organization’s historic milestone. Bob Skinner, a fifth-generation cow-calf producer from Oregon, was elected as the new PLC President during the annual meeting.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Corn and Ethanol Partner to Educate Anglers

Cindy Zimmerman

For the second year, the Renewable Fuels Association has been co-title sponsor, with Bass Pro Shops, of the Crappie Masters Tournament Trail, with the 2018 National Championship held this week in Clinton, Missouri on Truman Lake. The corn growers were actually for first to get on board to sponsor the series of fishing tournaments held in several states.

During the sponsor, youth and media tournaments on Thursday morning, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White and Missouri Corn Director of Market Development Bradley Schad got on the water to see who gets the bragging rights this year. The winner was White, but he gives Schad all the credit for seeing the potential this family fishing event provides for ethanol education. Listen to an interview with both here –
Interview with Robert White, RFA, and Bradley Schad, MO Corn

2018 RFA Crappie Masters Championship Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Zimfo Bytes 9/28

Carrie Muehling

  • The Feeding America Board of Directors announced, effective October 1, 2018, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot will become the organization’s new CEO.
  • Calyxt, Inc. and Cellectis S.A. announced the appointment of James A. Blome, former President and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP (North America), as Chief Executive Officer of Calyxt, effective October 1, 2018.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation and a broad coalition of business groups on Wednesday asked a federal district court in Georgia to expand its prior order delaying implementation of the flawed 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule in 11 states. The coalition asked that the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia extend its previous injunction to block the WOTUS rule in the remaining 22 states that are currently subject to the controversial and unlawful rule.
  • Deere & Company has completed its acquisition of PLA. In July, Deere said it signed a definitive agreement to purchase the manufacturer of sprayers, planters, and specialty products for agriculture.
  • Qingli Liu, Ph.D., principal scientist, Syngenta, has been recognized as the 2018 Future Giant of the Seed Industry.
AFBF, Syngenta, Zimfo Bytes

Secretary Purdue Rings Bell for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday afternoon, along with agriculture industry representatives both on and off the podium.

“The farmers, ranchers, foresters and agricultural producers across America contribute a great deal to the American economy,” Secretary Perdue said. “I’m pleased to be here today, at the center of our economic activity, with all these people that I’ve met across the country to celebrate the bounty of the American harvest.”

On the podium, Secretary Perdue was joined by members of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, National FFA students and representatives from New York, and four farmers he met while traveling across the nation.

Off the podium, Secretary Perdue also welcomed farmers, producers and leaders he met on his travels.

Ag Groups, USDA

New AAEA President Shares Goals

Carrie Muehling

Christy Couch Lee of CeeLee Communications has begun her service as president of AAEA, The Agricultural Communicators Network.

“It’s definitely an honor. There are large shoes to fill, for sure. I am just going to work my hardest for the membership to preserve what has been done and hopefully help to help the association grow,” said Lee, who lives in East Central Illinois.

She said membership restructuring is a continuing project for the membership committee, with the goal of helping the association continue to meet the constantly evolving needs of members while preserving the history and legacy of the association. AAEA members have received an email survey to complete to help the association to know where they will fit within the new structure. Along with membership changes, finances are also a priority for Lee.

“My main goal for the year is to get our association back into a stronger financial standing. We’re looking at ways that we can cut back on expenses and we’re going to look at ways we can generate some new revenue, hopefully,” she said.

Lee welcomed feedback and encouraged people to get involved in the association as there are lots of opportunities to participate and serve.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Christy here: Interview with Christy Couch Lee, CeeLee Communications

ACN, Audio

Precision Ag Bytes 9/26

Carrie Muehling

  • AgLaunch Initiative announced the Innova $100,000 Row Crop Challenge powered by AgLaunch as part of their expanded partnership with Farm Journal Media to be held at the 2018 Farm Journal AgTech Expo, December 3-5, in Indianapolis.
  • Researchers at UW–Madison, Iowa State University and the Rodale Institute are embarking on a new project to assess current technologies that could be used in no-till organic systems and determine which practices will help farmers protect soil health in their fields. The project is funded through a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that totals $2.2 million, including matching funds.
  • U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue praised the Department of Justice’s decision to request a rehearing of a pesticide case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. DOJ has asked for a panel rehearing and a rehearing en banc in a case in which the court directed the Environmental Protection Agency to ban chlorpyrifos, a common and useful pesticide, within 60 days.
  • Semtech Corporation announced that Sensoterra, offering low-cost, wireless solutions for real time soil moisture measurement for commercial farms, leveraged Semtech’s LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology) and Senet’s LoRaWAN-based network into its smart agriculture systems to reduce up to 30% of water usage in commercial farms including potato and almond orchards.
  • Nutrien Ltd. announced that Jochen Tilk will be stepping down as Executive Chair and as a director of the Company, effective September 30, 2018 to pursue other opportunities.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN Debuts Truterra Insights Engine

Carrie Muehling

Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN plans to introduce its interactive on-farm digital platform called the Truterra™ Insights Engine later this year. The platform’s goal is to help farmers with stewardship goals and to help food companies measure sustainability progress.

“Truterra holds tremendous potential to harness stewardship to drive value by providing data-driven insights from farm-to-fork,” said Matt Carstens, senior vice president of Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN. “Using the Truterra Insights Engine, farmers and food companies will have the ability to establish and report clear metrics, create customized stewardship strategies that meet farmers where they are in their sustainability journey, and use a common language for on-farm stewardship that holds meaning and value. It’s a major step forward in supporting food system sustainability that starts on the farm.”

The Truterra Insights Engine aims to provide tangible conservation options and benefits customized to every business by leveraging agronomic expertise and technical capabilities from a variety of contributors to enhance the value of stewardship across the supply chain.

Such collaborations include USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and integration of the sustainability metrics of Field to Market’s Fieldprint® Platform. The Insights Engine even ties into major private-sector commitments such as Walmart’s Project Gigaton.

For farmers and agricultural retailers, the Truterra Insights Engine will utilize soil, weather, economic, and farm management data to create customized reports showcasing the potential impacts of various stewardship practices – providing field-by-field insights, tracking against both economic performance and conservation practices. Together, the economic and environmental results will facilitate the long-term productivity and success of our farmers and food system.

A key differentiator for this platform from other data tools is its design to be of value for farmers first and foremost. It was created by a farmer-owned cooperative, to be used by farmers, agricultural retailers, and agricultural experts to improve on-farm economic and natural resource stewardship. The benefits of the platform span the food value chain, but it was built to start with the farmer and deliver value back to the farm. The Truterra Insights Engine will measure and track stewardship progress over time. In addition to helping farmers make the right choices for their business, these expanded metrics will help food companies achieve their sustainability goals – leading the industry toward a more sustainable food system.

To learn more about Truterra and see the Truterra Insights Engine in action, visit www.TruterraInsights.com.

AgWired Precision, Sustainability