Communications Key Focus at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 14, 2015

Communications was a key focus at the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo last week, from within the industry to key stakeholders to lawmakers to the general public.

American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) First Vice Chair Mark Herrmann of Monsanto says communications will continue to be a priority for the organization moving into 2016. “Some of the key focus is how do we have policy and regulations for all seed companies to operate,” said Herrmann. “If we can share the key points of view and make sure decisions are made with a good view of the impact it will have.”

Herrmann says ASTA’s First the Seed initiative is helping to spread the word about the importance of the seed industry. “The program focuses on education in schools with some really fun projects to help children understand how seed plays a key role,” he said.

Within the industry, ASTA has communications initiatives such as the Guide to Seed Treatment Stewardship and outreach to the next generation of seed industry professionals with the Future Seed Executives (FuSE).

Herrmann notes that ASTA has some 700 members, including nearly 90% of the industry, and he is grateful for the active participation of those members who help make the organization so successful. “To run the association, you really need members who are willing to commit both work and financial support,” he said. “I’d like to thank every member, large or small.”

Listen to my interview with Mark here: Interview with ASTA First Vice Chair Mark Herrmann

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New Officer Team for American Soybean Association

John Davis December 14, 2015

Soybean growers have some new leadership. This news release from the American Soybean Association (ASA) says the group at its annual winter meeting in St. Louis installed Richard Wilkins, a farmer from Greenwood, Delaware, as president of the ASA, along with outgoing president Wade Cowan from Brownfield, Texas, moving to the position of chairman of the ASA board, and Ron Moore of Roseville, Illinois, elected to serve as vice president.

“I’m honored to serve as president of this wonderful team of farmers, and I’m excited to move forward with what is a very full agenda for the year,” said Wilkins.

“Richard is a smart leader who has a great purchase on how our industry can engage with our partners in other walks of agriculture to make sure we’re all successful,” said ASA CEO Steve Censky.

With his election as vice president, Moore is now in line to be the association’s president in 2016.

“These are an extremely important next few years for our industry,” said Moore. “The soybean industry and agriculture as a whole will need continuity and strength in its leadership, and I’m excited to continue that here at ASA.”

Also elected to form ASA’s nine-member governing committee were Secretary John Heisdorffer from Keota, Iowa; and At-Large Governing Board Members Bret Davis of Delaware, Ohio, Kevin Hoyer of West Salem, Wisc., Kevin Scott of Valley Springs, S.D., and Sam Butler of New Hope, Ala.. Current Treasurer Davie Stephens of Wingo, Ky., was elected to serve a second term in the same position.

Outgoing ASA chairman Ray Gaesser of Corning, Iowa, remains on the ASA board for the remainder of his term as director. Those board members retiring include former president Steve Wellman of Nebraska, former treasurer Bob Henry of Kansas, and directors Dennis Bogaards of Iowa, John Rivers of South Carolina and Walter Godwin of Georgia.

New members include Charles Atkinson of Kansas, Cliff Barron of South Carolina, Ken Boswell of Nebraska, and Dean Coleman of Iowa. The meeting also represents the first ASA meeting for directors Pam Snelson of Oklahoma, and Steve Yoder, Jr., of Florida.

Ag Groups, ASA, Soybean

Ag Secretary Comments on Climate Accord

Cindy Zimmerman December 14, 2015

As the announcement came over the weekend that negotiators from nearly 200 countries had approved a landmark climate accord, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack commented on what the deal means for our nation’s farmers and ranchers.

“The historic COP21 deal supports a better-nourished, stable, secure future for the United States and every nation,” Vilsack said in a statement. “The benchmarks outlined in the deal build on the ambitious climate smart strategy being implemented by U.S. farmers, ranchers and foresters in partnership with USDA and the Obama Administration. Our efforts to boost productivity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and share best practices with counterparts around the world will help to address climate change and improve global resilience while continuing to meet global demand for food, fiber and fuel.”

The long-term objective of the Paris agreement, which is scheduled to be implemented in 2020, is to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement is based on voluntary pledges and does not need to be ratified by Congress.

International, USDA

Supreme Court Urged to Review EPA Clean Water Overreach

John Davis December 14, 2015

A group including members of Congress, state government members, businesses, and ag interests, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review what they see as an overreach by the federal government. This news release from Farm Bureau says the issue is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to micromanage state land-use and development decisions under the guise of the Chesapeake Bay water quality “blueprint.”

Filers included 92 members of Congress, 22 states, forestry groups represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, and a broad cross-section of the U.S. economy represented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Business.

“The fact that so many voices are being raised in support of Supreme Court review shows the broad and severe threat that EPA’s action here poses nationwide,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “EPA has asserted powers that do not appear in any law written by Congress, and it has done so in the context of an iconic national treasure, hoping that will inoculate its power grab in the courts. We have faith that the nation’s highest court will see this for what it is and hold EPA accountable to stay within its statutory authority.”

Despite aggressive new commitments and water quality achievements by the six states in the Bay watershed in the mid-2000s, the EPA asserted federal control over the Chesapeake Bay recovery in its 2010 “blueprint.” The new federal plan effectively gives EPA the ability to function as a super-zoning authority over local and state governments—dictating where homes can be built, where land can be farmed, and where commercial development can occur.

The plan will impose tens of billions of dollars in direct costs—with unknown economic impacts on local communities and economies. It also denies state and local governments and businesses the flexibility to adapt to new circumstances, instead locking in limits that can quickly become outdated but can only be revised by EPA. The lower courts upheld EPA’s blueprint on the theory that it furthers the water quality goals of the Clean Water Act—despite the absence of words in the statute authorizing such federal action. A significant issue presented for the Supreme Court is the degree to which courts should defer to broad agency interpretations of their statutory power.

“The broad support for the Farm Bureau petition shows that deep concerns about the Bay blueprint go far beyond agriculture and far beyond the Bay region,” said AFBF General Counsel Ellen Steen. “Members of Congress, states and business groups recognize that this illegal framework will be imposed throughout the country unless the Court intervenes. Given the enormous social and economic consequences, not to mention the grave questions about federalism and deference to agency overreaching, this is a case that cries out for Supreme Court review.”

AFBF, EPA, Water

#ASTACSS Features Wheat Improvement Panel

Taylor Truckey December 14, 2015

During the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo this week, attendees were invited to a panel titled, “Value Chain Engagement in Wheat Improvement” that brought together representatives from across the wheat value chain to discuss needed innovation in the wheat industry.

Justin Gilpin, CEO of the Kansas Wheat Commission, focused on the benefit of public/private partnerships as well as work the KWC is doing to further R&D for wheat. “Roughly 25% [of the budget available for KWC] goes into wheat research, market promotion, and education. Today, more private investments back into wheat have driven a lot of competition into wheat research. The innovation this has generated has built momentum; recently Kansas farmers invested into a new $11m research facility that enables more wheat genetics research to improve private/public sector partnerships. Discussions over the next 6-12 months are going to be about how we apply these new technologies; not only working on yield and stress technologies for the wheat crop, but also identifying the consumer traits & benefits that will create demand.”
Interview with Justin Gilpin, Kansas Wheat

Len Heflich, VP of Food Safety, Quality, and Crisis Management for Grupo Bimbo, represented wheat buyers on the panel. Grupo Bimbo is the world’s largest bakery production company with a presence in 22 countries. For a wheat buyer, consistent, quality supply is perhaps the largest concern. “The ability to buy crop average every year and then blend it is very critical to us. Having said that, there are some years where the crop average for winter wheat is not so good, or spring wheat isn’t so good. Our aim in the past has been to buy spring wheat for absorption and winter wheat for stability. It worked for a long time; you could blend those two flours at the right ratios to end with stability and absorption we needed.

“Wheat is a very complex crop. GM (genetically modified) is a powerful techonology and has driven a 40% yield improvement in corn. Can we ignore that and say the world doesn’t need a 40% improvement in wheat? I think we would be irresponsible to do that. But it’s more than yield; it’s insurance against, weather, diseases, pests, and drought. That’s good for everyone.”
Interviews with Len Heflich, Grupo Bimbo

Glen Weaver, Research Fellow with Ardent Mills, discussed the factors that drive wheat production as well as where the value is spread across the wheat industry. “People generally just respond to crisis and if you heard the comments today, we’re about as close to crisis on overall flour quality for high speed operation. We’ve looked at this as an opportunity to make investments to look at traits that would counter that quality perspective, and then figure out how we can put that into the mixer (whether in a refined flour or whole grain product) to bolster the overall strength and give the bakers what they’re looking for.”
Interview with Glen Weaver, Ardent Mills

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Combating Emerging PRRS Strains

Jamie Johansen December 11, 2015

Researchers are constantly learning more about the the evolution of PRRS. During the recent Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) PRRS session at the North American PRRS Symposium, Dr. Mike Murtaugh, University of Minnesota, shared characterizations of new emerging strains of the PRRS virus.

“We found from looking at a large amount of data from farms and systems sequencing viruses and outbreaks they’ve had that this virus [PRRS 174 virus] is kind of a new discovery. It does not change very fast. That has been seen before, but people did not know it.”

Dr. Murtaugh said this virus is more severe. It has two features other strains do not have. Once it gets into a system, it’s hard to get rid of. Maybe it’s more adaptive. He said the second is that many pigs with 174 were immune animals. It’s not uncommon for immune animals to get PRRS, but the severity of the virus is profound.

“As long as you have PRRS, it will go where pigs go. The virus all by itself can only travel short distances. When it’s infected in a pig and you move a pig is how the virus really moves long distances. If you have pigs that do not have PRRS then you will not have the virus moving around.”

Efforts combatting PRRS have reduced the number of outbreaks in the U.S. swine herd and Dr. Murtaugh said he is confident in the tools out there in fighting the virus in the future. Listen to my complete interview with Dr. Murtaugh here: Interview with Dr. Mike Murtaugh, University of Minnesota

View and download photos from the event here: 2015 BIVI PRRS Seminar Photo Album

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

2016 National Ag Day Poster Contest Winner Selected

Kelly Marshall December 11, 2015

Congratulations to Emily Eibs from the University of Wisconsin-Stout for her first place National Ag Day poster. Her work was chosen from among many young artists who participated in the competition. The contest is held by the Agriculture Council of America and Meredith Agrimedia. This year’s theme was Agriculture: Stewards of a Healthy Planet.

In addition, her artwork and a profile of Eibs will be prominently featured in Successful Farming magazine and Ag Day correspondence. She will receive a $1,000 scholarship from Meredith Agrimedia. Media releases will also be sent to all Ag Day sponsors and supporters. The original artwork will be on display in a public location.

National Ag Day is organized by the Agriculture Council of America and will take place March 15, 2016 in Washington, DC. ACA is a nonprofit organization composed of leaders in the agricultural, food and fiber community, dedicating its efforts to increasing the public’s awareness of agriculture’s role in modern society.

The National Ag Day program encourages Americans to understand how their food and fiber are produced. They hope to educate about the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant, affordable products and how that builds a strong economy. National Ag Day also hopes to encourage career opportunities within the industry.

Ag Day, Ag Groups

Dupont and Dow to Combine in Merger

Chuck Zimmerman December 11, 2015

Here’s your big news of the week. Dow Chemical and Dupont plan to combine in a merger of equals with the new company to be named DowDupont. This has led to some concerns in the industry. More on that below.

Pictured are Edward D. Breen, chairman and chief executive officer of DuPont and Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer.

DuPont (NYSE:DD) and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) today announced that their boards of directors unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will be named DowDuPont. The parties intend to subsequently pursue a separation of DowDuPont into three independent, publicly traded companies through tax-free spin-offs. This would occur as soon as feasible, which is expected to be 18-24 months following the closing of the merger, subject to regulatory and board approval.

The companies will include a leading global pure-play Agriculture company; a leading global pure-play Material Science company; and a leading technology and innovation-driven Specialty Products company. Each of the businesses will have clear focus, an appropriate capital structure, a distinct and compelling investment thesis, scale advantages, and focused investments in innovation to better deliver superior solutions and choices for customers.

The National Corn Growers Association issued this statement from Chip Bowling, Maryland farmer and NCGA President, regarding the agreement this morning.

“The National Corn Growers Association is committed to protecting the best interests of our members and our nation’s corn farmers. With respect to the proposed merger, we anticipate that we will have an opportunity to submit comments regarding the effect this merger may have on agricultural research, innovation, grain marketing, and the competitive pricing of farm inputs. We will do all we can to protect farmer interests and preserve an open and competitive marketplace.”

Post Update:

The American Soybean Association has also released a statement:

“As always, we welcome competition and innovation to the industry, while keeping the best interests of soybean growers at the forefront,” said ASA President Richard Wilkins, Greenwood, Del. “ASA looks forward to the opportunity to provide comments to the companies and U.S. regulatory authorities that must approve any merger, and will continue to study how this merger will affect soybean farmers.”

Merger Fact Sheet

Listen to Webcast

Agribusiness

Record Student Participation at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 11, 2015

The American Seed Trade Association has stepped up its efforts to “Seed the Future” with a new generation of seed industry professionals, which resulted in a record number of students participating in the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo this week.

“We designed the entire Thursday program this year to be a one day event for student track…and it just worked,” said ASTA Director of Meetings and Services Jennifer Crouse. “We offered a free lunch event for the first time inside the Seed Expo so it was a very interactive design.”

The poster presentations this year nearly doubled the previous record of 17 to total 30 students from universities all over the country. “We’ve seen a lot of students come away from the poster presentation experience and come again as attendees because they’re now professionals themselves,” said Crouse, who added that they are looking at ways to expand the poster program even more next year.

All students receive complimentary registration for ASTA meetings with a copy of their student ID. The ASTA Future Seed Executives (FuSE) also has the Campus Connections program, which allows juniors working towards a career in the seed industry to apply for travel expense grants to attend ASTA’s annual convention.

Listen to my interview with Jennifer here: Interview with Jennifer Crouse, ASTA

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Washington Post Columnist at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 11, 2015

Washington Post columnist and Cape Cod oyster farmer Tamar Haspel (@tamarhaspel) provided some good food for thought at the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo Thursday with a session that focused on science communications and influencing public opinion. In a lively discussion with attendees, Haspel stressed the need for the agriculture industry to be more effective when communicating about science by doing more listening and understanding.

“Science is complicated, especially when it comes to agriculture,” Haspel said in an interview with Gale Cunningham, farm director at WYXY radio in Champaign, Illinois. “The way we make decisions about science isn’t always fact-based. Human beings tend to be led by our emotions, our values, our cultural affiliations – and all of those things get in the way of our seeing science clearly.”

“The first step is understanding that everybody believes that their position is science based,” Haspel says. “People who hold views that are essentially the equivalent of flat earth believe that the evidence supports their opinion and people who disagree with them are looking at the wrong evidence.”

She offered the following tips to communicate more effectively about science:
1. Be convinced
2. Reconsider the word “bias”
3. Drop “anti-science” from your vocabulary
4. Vet your sources. Manage your media
5. Acknowledge both risks and benefits
6. Find the smartest person who disagrees with you, and listen
7. Understand and appeal to values
8. Reach across the aisle

Listen to Gale’s interview with Tamar here: WYXY interview with Tamar Haspel

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ASTA, Audio, Media

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