USDA Reports Record High Soybean Acreage, Corn Acres Down

Chuck Zimmerman

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is estimating a record high 89.5 million acres of soybeans planted in the U.S. for 2017. That’s up seven percent from last year. Corn acres are looking to be down about three percent.

All cotton acreage for 2017 is estimated at 12.1 million acres, 20 percent above last year, while all wheat planted area for 2017 is estimated at 45.7 million acres, down 9 percent from last year.

Brian Hoops of Midwest Market Solutions gave his commentary on the report during the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) crop call with reporters. Listen in to the call here: MGEX Crop Report Conference Call

You can find more information, including the quarterly stocks report from NASS online.

Audio, Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA

USDA & NCBA Celebrate U.S. Beef to China

Jamie Johansen

U.S. Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue (center) is joined by Craig Uden (left), president of the NCBA, and Luan Richeng (right), of state-owned Chinese importer COFCO.

U.S. Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue joined National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Craig Uden for a ceremonial “Cutting of the Prime Rib.” The Nebraska prime rib formally marked the return of U.S. beef to the Chinese market after a 13-year hiatus as part of the U.S.-China 100-Day Action Plan announced by the Trump Administration. The first shipment of U.S. beef arrived in China on June 19, 2017.

“Beef is a big deal in China and I’m convinced that when the Chinese people get a taste of U.S. beef, they’re going to want more of it. These products coming into China are safe, wholesome, and very delicious. This is also a good harbinger of the kind of relationship that can be developed. We hope there are other things we can cooperate on and we’re going to use U.S. beef as the forerunner,” said Perdue.

“Regaining access to the world’s largest market is a huge step in the right direction,” Uden said. “But we still have a lot of work to do, like negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with Japan that puts us on even ground with our competitors, and ensuring that the renegotiation of NAFTA doesn’t mess up the great deal we’ve had with our consumers in Canada and Mexico for years.”

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Beef, Exports, NCBA, Trade, USDA

Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report

Jamie Johansen

The Pork Checkoff hosted the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report on Thursday, June 29, 2017. This quarterly teleconference featured three agricultural economists and their reactions to the report.

Panelists included:
Dr. Lee Schulz, Extension Livestock Economist, Iowa State University
Dr. Scott Brown, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia
Joe Kerns, President, Kerns & Associates, Ames, IA

Reports seemed to follow in line with pre-report estimates. Dr. Brown said the stability when it came to sow numbers was maybe a sign of a plateau, yet still growing relative to a year ago.

Listen to the complete audio report here: USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Audio, Livestock, Pork, Swine, USDA

Biodiesel Industry Considering Options Against Argentina

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. biodiesel industry is considering legal options as imports of subsidized biodiesel have continued to increase since the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition filed an antidumping petition in March alleging that dumped biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia have injured U.S. producers.

“What we’re seeing is a vast amount of imports continue to flood into our ports,” said NBB vice president of federal affairs Anne Steckel on behalf of the coalition. “We’ve received information of potentially 75 million gallons of biodiesel flooding our ports soon, a significant increase from the import levels we saw in January, February and March.”

Steckel says they are considering their legal options, which includes filing a “critical circumstances” request that allows the government to impose duties retroactively on imports reaching U.S. shores up to 90 days prior to the Department of Commerce’s preliminary determinations, which will not be until later this year. “We’re taking the appropriate legal steps to ensure that we have accurate duties put on those imports.”

Learn more about the situation and last week’s biodiesel industry congressional visits to discuss issues such as moving to a producer’s tax credit in this interview: Interview with Anne Steckel, NBB

Biodiesel, International, Soybean

Precision Bytes 6/30

Kelly Marshall

  • Jeff Morris is stepping into the role of vice president and chief marketing officer for AgJunction Inc., a leader in automated steering and machine control technology for precision agriculture. Morris will now be responsible for leading all marketing initiatives, developing go-to-market strategies and driving the product road map for AgJunction.
  • Isagro USA, Inc. has signed an agreement to market Vestaron Corporation’s Spear®-T biological insecticide, an environmentally conscious choice for use on greenhouse pests.
  • Live LoRaWAN internet connectivity will be provided at the InfoAg 2017 Conference coming up on July 25-27 in St. Louis, Missouri. Senet, the first and fastest growing provider of secure, public, low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) and Managed Network Services for Internet of Things (IoT), is providing the service and will be speaking at the event as well.
AgWired Precision, Zimfo Bytes

The Growing Enogen Footprint

Jamie Johansen

Enogen hosted about 1,200 farmer-customers at the American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen. As Enogen continues to grow, the NASCAR race held at Iowa Speedway was the perfect place to spotlight the farmers who supply the Enogen corn which will produce about 2 billion gallons of ethanol this year.

“We see this race as a great opportunity to support the efforts of E15. E10 is already blended in 89% of the fuel consumers purchase. The E15 market is just developing and can really help corn farmers. As Enogen, I can’t think of a better place for us to step up and demonstrate how we can help farmers,” said Ron Wulfkuhle, head of Enogen at Syngenta.

Ron said the Enogen footprint is growing in local communities providing new income and incentives. Other examples of those helping to expand that footprint include partnerships with Growth Energy and Kum & Go to continue sharing the message of the clean-burning, high-octane fuel E15 gives customers.

Listen to my complete interview with Ron here: Interview with Ron Wulfkuhle, Enogen at Syngenta

View and download photos from the race here: American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen Syngenta Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, NASCAR, Syngenta

Animal Ag Bites 6/29

Jamie Johansen

ag_wired_animal-ag-bites

  • Alltech will host a webinar Friday, June 30, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. ET featuring Dr. Corale Dorn, a vet from South Dakota, on calf care and development, calf diseases and how to identify different types, & a new look at preventative care and how dairy producers can incorporate it in their operation.
  • Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) is offering Future Service Scholarships to support future cattle veterinarians graduating from the Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine. The final amount of the scholarship is determined by BI vet and producer customers submitting box tops from Pyramid® 5 and Pyramid® 5 + Presponse® SQ product boxes.
  • Nutriad launched its NutriTrace minerals, a line of organic minerals, developed by using state-of-the-art technology, which offers the industry new ideas on mineral nutrition.
  • Nutreco has completed the acquisition of Hi-Pro Feeds. As part of the integration, Nutreco’s combined animal nutrition businesses in North America, consisting of Shur-Gain, Landmark and Hi-Pro Feeds, will now trade under the name Trouw Nutrition.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Agribusiness News Briefs

Cindy Zimmerman

Syngenta has announced its new ambition and priorities following the completion of the transaction with ChemChina. The company aims to profitably grow market share through organic growth and collaborations, and is considering targeted acquisitions with a focus on seeds. The goal is to strengthen Syngenta’s leadership position in crop protection and to become an ambitious number three in seeds.

Agricultural retailers and manufacturers recently offered powerful testimonials on how moving from paper-based tracking systems into electronic connectivity – through standardized transactions, barcoding and other systems – has dramatically improved their efficiency, accuracy and customer service; and they called on others to embrace eConnectivity to better streamline the supply chain.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, was announced as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Hon. Sonny Perdue gave keynote remarks and applauded the selection.

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Syngenta, World Food Prize

Ag Groups Provide NAFTA Input

Cindy Zimmerman

A number of agricultural organizations provided their input to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week regarding the upcoming negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“NAFTA has been overwhelmingly beneficial for the vast majority of farmers and ranchers across the U.S. for decades,” said Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft in comments on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “A modernized NAFTA should at best eliminate, at worst reduce, barriers to trade that keep our farmers and ranchers from having a level playing field with our neighbors.” U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have quadrupled, from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.1 billion in 2016. Although the benefits from NAFTA are clear and many, there are reasons to reform and update the agreement, Shawcroft said.

“Free trade has benefited American farmers, and NAFTA has been extremely valuable to our industry,” National Corn Growers Association First Vice President Kevin Skunes of North Dakota testified. “Twenty-three years of investment has led to a sizeable increase in trade. Since 1994, U.S. corn exports to NAFTA partners have increased more than seven-fold. Today, we export a record volume of more than 14 million metric tons of corn to Mexico and Canada, valued at $2.68 billion.” Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. corn as well as a significant market for distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Canada is a top-10 export market for corn and DDGS, and the number one export market for U.S. ethanol.

Others who testified included: Chandler Goule, CEO, National Association of Wheat Growers;;Ben Connor, Director of Policy, U.S. Wheat Associates; Randy Gordon, President, National Grain and Feed Association; and Chip Councell, U.S. Grains Council.

Listen or download here: NAFTA hearing testimony panel 4

AFBF, Audio, Corn, NAWG, NCGA

The BEEFabulous App

Chuck Zimmerman

Need beef recipes? The California Beef Council has you covered.

Does this sound familiar? You’re in the grocery store and you see a special on Chuck Roast, but you’re not sure what to do with a Chuck Roast–Slow-cook? Braise? (What’s “braise,” anyway?) Or you need meal options that are fast, satisfying and nutritious. Or you know that if you’re tired of making the kids the same old thing for lunch, they must be positively bored out of their minds.

“We’ve all been there in one form or another,” laughs Annette Kassis, Director of Consumer & Brand Marketing for the California Beef Council. “So we thought we’d do our bit to help.”

And the BEEFabulous mobile app was born.

Find it in iTunes or Google Play.

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Apps, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Food