Tuesday January 22 Ag News

USDA to Reopen FSA Offices for Additional Services During Government Shutdown

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that all Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices nationwide will soon reopen to provide additional administrative services to farmers and ranchers during the lapse in federal funding.  Certain FSA offices have been providing limited services for existing loans and tax documents since January 17, and will continue to do so through January 23.  Beginning January 24, however, all FSA offices will open and offer a longer list of transactions they will accommodate.   

Additionally, Secretary Perdue announced that the deadline to apply for the Market Facilitation Program, which aids farmers harmed by unjustified retaliatory tariffs, has been extended to February 14.  The original deadline had been January 15.  Other program deadlines may be modified and will be announced as they are addressed.

“At President Trump’s direction, we have been working to alleviate the effects of the lapse in federal funding as best we can, and we are happy to announce the reopening of FSA offices for certain services,” Perdue said.  “The FSA provides vital support for farmers and ranchers and they count on those services being available.  We want to offer as much assistance as possible until the partial government shutdown is resolved.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily recalled all of the more than 9,700 FSA employees to keep offices open from 8 am to 4:30 pm weekdays beginning January 24.  President Trump has already signed legislation that guarantees employees will receive all backpay missed during the lapse in funding.

For the first two full weeks under this operating plan (January 28 through February 1 and February 4 through February 8), FSA offices will be open Mondays through Fridays.  In subsequent weeks, offices will be open three days a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, if needed to provide the additional administrative services.

Agricultural producers who have business with the agency can contact their FSA service center to make an appointment.

FSA can provide these administrative services, which are critical for farmers and ranchers, because failure to perform these services would harm funded programs.  FSA staff will work on the following transactions:
-    Market Facilitation Program.
-    Marketing Assistance Loans.
-    Release of collateral warehouse receipts.
-    Direct and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loans, and Emergency Loans.
-    Service existing Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
-    Sugar Price Support Loans.
-    Dairy Margin Protection Program.
-    Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.
-    Livestock Forage Disaster.
-    Emergency Assistance Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program.
-    Livestock Indemnity Program.
-    Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
-    Tree Assistance Program.
-    Remaining Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program payments for applications already processed.

Transactions that will not be available include, but are not limited to:
-    New Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
-    New Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loans.
-    Farm Storage Facility Loan Program.
-    New or in-process Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program applications.
-    Emergency Conservation Program.
-    Emergency Forest Rehabilitation Program.
-    Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
-    Grassroots Source Water Protection Program.

With the Office of Management and Budget, USDA reviewed all of its funding accounts that are not impacted by the lapse in appropriation. We further refined this list to include programs where the suspension of the activity associated with these accounts would significantly damage or prevent the execution of the terms of the underling statutory provision. As a result of this review, USDA was able to except more employees. Those accounts that are not impacted by the lapse in appropriation include mandatory, multiyear and no year discretionary funding including FY 2018 Farm Bill activities.

Updates to available services and offices will be made during the lapse in federal funding on the FSA shutdown webpage (https://www.fsa.usda.gov/help/shutdowninfo).  Programs managed by FSA that were re-authorized by the 2018 farm bill will be available at a later date yet to be determined.



Nebraska’s Presence Guided National Issues at the American Farm Bureau Convention

Delegates at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 100th annual meeting approved a number of resolutions that will provide the organization with authority from its grassroots members to push Congress toward the goal line on issues like trade policy, cell-based food products, and livestock antibiotic use, Nebraska Farm Bureau (NEFB) President Steve Nelson said Jan. 22.

“Securing victories on those issues is critical to our competitiveness as individual farmers and ranchers and considering resolutions on these topics originated from NEFB. Nebraska once again is looking to push for agricultural success both locally and abroad,” Nelson said.

AFBF delegates laid out a set of principles highlighting NEFB’s very clear support for the U.S. re-entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with the current 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. They also added language supporting a multinational approach, including World Trade Organization (WTO), to pressure China to address unfair trade and business practices.

“CPTPP was projected to be a boon for Nebraska agriculture, increasing agriculture cash receipts by more than $378 million per year when fully implemented, with much of that gain attributed to increased trade with Japan,” Jordan Dux, NEFB director of national affairs said Jan. 22.

As far as putting pressure on China to speak to unfair practices, the delegates laid out three specific items that must be addressed. “We need to hold China accountable when and if they fail to meet WTO import quotas and obligations; if intellectual property theft takes place; and if there are forced technology transfers before doing business with Chinese companies,” Dux said.

On other issues, AFBF delegates adopted Nebraska’s resolution addressing livestock and poultry health, adding language to support, not require that veterinarians physically examine each animal before writing a prescription. Nebraska also proposed language related to Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) announced plans to require veterinary prescriptions for all medically important injectable antibiotics.

“Our Nebraska delegates reiterated existing language to oppose any attempt to reclassify over-the-counter, non-prescription injectable antibiotics to prescription-only status. Nebraska’s resolution was passed stating if injectable antibiotics are reclassified FDA should not: require prescriptions on a per animal basis, require additional record keeping for producers outside of regular production records, or hinder use of telemedicine or digital prescriptions,” Nelson said.

AFBF delegates also approved significant language dealing with the controversial subject of lab-produced protein products. Language Nebraska submitted last year opposing the use of meat industry terms when labeling the new products remained the basis for how the organization views this new technology. Policy from Nebraska this year offered support for the new industry adhering to some level of antibiotic regulations, similar to livestock producers.

The AFBF delegates also supported Nebraska’s request to add language supporting continued research on virus survival in imported livestock feed ingredients.

“Given the growing concern about the spread of devastating livestock diseases, including African Swine Fever, our delegates supported a standard hold time being established for livestock amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and soybean meal produced in nonbiosecure or unknown conditions to prevent contamination,” Dux said.

“Overall, we were extremely pleased to see 100 percent of our Nebraska resolutions make it through the process to help guide our now 100 year old national organization,” Nelson said.



Nebraska Legislature relies on flawed data to allocate broadband funding

Under current reporting methods, faulty data from internet service providers may leave thousands of rural Nebraska households without access to broadband internet, according to the Center for Rural Affairs.

Twice per year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collects broadband access data through Form 477 from internet service providers. A fact sheet released today highlights how reliance upon this data has led to an overestimation of broadband access in rural Nebraska.

“Connectivity is the defining aspect of our 21st century economy, and many rural Nebraskans are being left out because of inaccurate service information,” said Johnathan Hladik, policy director and author of the fact sheet. “State and local governments are distributing resources based on inaccurate data. Under this approach, thousands of households already lacking broadband access will continue to be left behind.”

Internet service providers report access by Census block. There are 11,078,297 Census blocks across the nation, 3,200 of which span areas larger than Washington, D.C.

“Collecting service information on a Census block scale is a problem for rural residents,” Hladik said. “If one household in an expansive Census block has access to broadband, the whole block is reported as served. This doesn’t help your children complete their school assignments or help you start and grow your small business.”

In addition, Form 477 allows internet service providers to report an entire Census block as served if the provider claims they could do so without “an extraordinary commitment of resources”—a phrase with no official definition, according to Hladik.

“Neighboring states have taken action to update data and bring broadband access to rural areas,” he said. “With LB 549, the Nebraska Legislature can invest in the state’s rural economies by improving broadband service mapping and ensuring access to all residents.”

To view the fact sheet, “Mapping prosperity: A flawed method of evaluating Nebraska’s broadband access,” visit cfra.org/publications/MappingProsperityFactSheet. Share your broadband story using #ConnectNebraska.



Healthy Farms Conference Planned for Grand Island

Plan now to attend the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society’s Healthy Farms Conference, Feb. 8-9 at the Ramada Midtown Hotel in Grand Island. On-line registration is available at www.sustainablenebraska.org.

The Healthy Farms Conference has been hosted by the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society for over 40 years. The conference facilitates farmer-to-farmer training with sessions aimed at equipping farmers, aspiring farmers, foodies, and advocates with the skills and knowledge about sustainable agriculture.

Denise O'Brien, co-founder of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, is a keynote speaker planned for the event. This Iowa-based organization's mission is to "...engage women in building an ecological and just food and agricultural system through individual and community power."

Joey Jones, founder of the Grassfed Network, will be the other keynote speaker at the Healthy Farms conference. Jones has been involved in the grass-fed beef market for over 17 years. He created GrassfedNetwork.com - an online resource with ongoing monthly trainings for livestock producers, in which they learn how to improve the way they raise animals on grass.

Brent Lubbert, Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society president said, "We are grateful to welcome these individuals to speak at our Healthy Farms conference. They each provide years of expertise in sustainable agriculture and in educating fellow farmers and ranchers."

This year's conference theme is "Revitalize." The conference’s breakout sessions are divided into three tracks: Soil and Ecosystem Revitalization, Community Revitalization, and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Forum.

Lubbert said, "We are honored to be partnering with SARE at this year's conference. The Farmers Forum is an annual event giving farmers, ranchers, and others the chance to share information about sustainable agriculture practices. We're very fortunate to have this be a part of our conference."

In addition to sessions, the conference has exhibits about local food, holistic health, sustainability, natural resources, and marketing. A locally-sourced dinner will also be served on Friday night featuring food grown by many of the conference attendees and supporters.

A full conference agenda and on-line registration is available on the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society’s web site: http://www.sustainablenebraska.org/.



K2 Insurance Services Acquires Leading Specialty Farm and Agriculture General Agency

K2 Insurance Services, LLC (K2) has announced the completion of the acquisition of the assets and operations of Mid-America Risk Managers, Inc. (MARM).  MARM, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is a farm and agricultural focused specialty general agency that distributes specialty insurance products through independent agents and brokers. MARM is one of the largest program managers of coverage for Center Pivot Irrigation Sprinklers in the United States. MARM underwrites insurance products on behalf of members of Great American Insurance Group, The Travelers Indemnity Company and Century Insurance Group.

For over 20 years, MARM has been a family-owned business providing property and casualty insurance products for the agricultural community.  MARM leverages its product expertise and broad geographic spread to produce superior underwriting results in a historically volatile line of business.  MARM will continue to distribute its Center Pivot and Farm Owners Package products, as well as other complementary product offerings from K2 partner companies, to its network of over 400 sub-producers.  In addition, MARM will focus on partnering with carriers who seek to mitigate their exposure to the volatility these risks present.  Paul Friskopp, Founder and President of MARM, will continue as President of MARM going forward.  Kerry Besnia, formerly of Great American Insurance Group, has joined MARM to help facilitate future growth of this program. This acquisition complements other K2 target acquisitions in the agricultural industry.



Unraveling 58-year-old Corn Gene Mystery May Impact Breeding

In discovering a mutant gene that "turns on" another gene responsible for the red pigments sometimes seen in corn, researchers solved an almost six-decades-old mystery with a finding that may have implications for plant breeding in the future.

The culmination of more than 20 years of work, the effort started when, in 1997, Surinder Chopra, professor of maize genetics at Penn State, received seeds from a mutant line of corn. At the time, Chopra was a postdoctoral scholar at Iowa State University, and he brought the research with him when he joined the Penn State faculty in 2000.

The mystery involved a spontaneous gene mutation that causes red pigments to show up in various corn plant tissues, such as kernels, cobs, tassels, silk and even stalks, for a few generations and then disappear in subsequent progeny. It might seem like a minor concern to the uninitiated, but because corn genetics have long been studied as a model system, the question has significant implications for plant biology.

"In corn, genes involved in pigment biosynthesis have been used in genetic studies for more than a century -- pigmentation in corn is a relatively simple trait, which makes it ideal for use as a marker for genetic research," Chopra said. "The mutant corn plants were identified in 1960 by Dr. Charles Burnham (University of Minnesota), and that seed was given to one of his students, Derek Styles. We received the seed from Styles in 1997, and we were entrusted to continue the research."

Chopra led efforts to introgress the genes from the mutant corn, dubbed Ufo1 -- Unstable factor for orange1 -- into various inbred corn lines to be studied. Since he came to Penn State, Chopra's research group in the College of Agricultural Sciences has grown and backcrossed lines of corn plants at both the Penn State Agronomy Farm and in greenhouses on campus. In the last three years, the researchers, who recently published their findings in The Plant Cell, have grown more than 4,000 of the backcrossed plants to map where the cause of Ufo1 is located in the genome.

Using tissues from those hybrid plants, and employing RNA-sequencing techniques and gene-cloning tools along with next-generation sequencing, genetic mapping, and data-analysis capabilities not available to plant geneticists until relatively recently, researchers unmasked the culprit in the on-again, off-again, red-pigment-in corn mystery. They found Ufo1, which is only present in corn, sorghum, rice and foxtail millet.

But the Ufo1 mutant gene does not actually cause the red pigments to appear in corn -- that is caused by a gene called the pericarp color1, or p1. Researchers found that the Ufo1 gene is actually controlled by a transposon -- "jumping gene" -- that sits close to the Ufo1 gene. Transposons are sequences of DNA that move from one location in the genome to another, and can influence the expression of nearby essential genes.

When this transposon is switched on, the Ufo1 gene is also turned on, which triggers the p1 gene to signal the plant to produce the red pigments. But when the transposon is off, the Ufo1 gene goes silent and so does the p1-controlled pigment pathway. That is the main reason the Ufo1 gene went unidentified for so long and the mystery persisted, according to Chopra.

"We were able to narrow it down to a single gene out of several thousand genes that are aberrantly expressed in the Ufo1 mutant versus the wild-type plant," he said. "It is an incremental discovery, and yet it is a leap in basic science because it is likely to be valuable to plant breeders."

It is still not entirely clear how Ufo1 interacts with the p1 gene. The discovery's future significance likely will be less associated with red pigments than what the Ufo1 mutant gene controls in corn plants. Chopra believes it may be a "master regulator" that, when overexpressed, signals the plant that it is under stress, even in the absence of stress. Interestingly, Chopra pointed out, in Ufo1 plants, sugars over-accumulate in leaves, and the content of maysin, a natural insecticide made by corn plants, sharply increases in the silk.

"Learning about what controls the regulation of the normal or the non-mutant Ufo1gene will bring us much closer to a realistic breeding process in which we can tinker with gene expression to get higher maysin content or increased sugar content, which would be important in crop protection from pests and biofuel production, respectively," Chopra said.

"And, because it has a pronounced effect on the workings of the cellular machinery, we can now understand further the basic molecular pathway that normally happens during a stress to a plant," he said. "Understanding plant stress resulting from extremes of heat, cold and water is important because of climate change."

The major co-authors of The Plant Cell paper are Penn State graduate students Kameron Wittmeyer and Jin Cui. Other significant contributors to this research from the Chopra research group include Debamalya Chatterjee, Qixian Tan, Weiya Xue, Po-Hao Wang and Iffa Gaffoor in the Department of Plant Science and plant biology program; Tzuu-fen Lee and Blake Meyers, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis; and Yinping Jiao and Doreen Ware, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

The National Science Foundation supported this research.



Ghost Cattle on Feed
David P. Anderson, Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

This Friday should have been the publication of USDA's January Cattle on Feed report. (Maybe read the title in the voice of Johnny Cash singing Ghost Riders in the Sky). The report will not be released due to the government shutdown. Like other market analysts I am doing my pre-report estimates this month. The importance of doing pre-report estimates is not necessarily in the comparison to the actual report, but in using them to develop production and price projections. With that in mind, the following are my estimates for the "ghost" report.

I have December feedlot marketings at 99.6 percent of a year ago. That is slightly larger than the sum of daily slaughter, which was 99.3 percent of a year ago. Slaughter estimates are using estimated daily slaughter because daily actual slaughter data is not available. December 2018 had the same number of work days as 2017 meaning that daily average slaugher should be only slightly less than the year before, so no evidence of backed up cattle.

I have estimated December placements to be 102 percent of the year before. December saw an increase in cattle imports from Mexico and larger calf and feeder sales. Placements in December are typically much lower than in November, as much as 500,000 fewer in some years. As usual, there will likely be a relatively large range of placements in the pre-report estimates.

The combination marketings and placements results in an estimate of cattle on feed at 102.3 percent of a year ago. That represents a relatively large number of cattle on feed, as have the last several reports. It also continues to represent a narrowing of the growth in on-feed numbers compared to months earlier in the year.

Hopefully, the shutdown will end allowing for publication of the February Cattle on Feed report. While we may do pre-report estimates it will get increasingly difficult without the January report as a base. Estimating near term ready supplies of cattle will get trickier also, as winter storms effect market ready cattle, animal performance, placements, and population center demands.



Beef Demand Up But Cattle Prices Down
Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA

A recent news release posted on a website bearing the Beef Checkoff Logo and titled, “Beef Demand . . . It’s Been A Very Good Year” states that “2018 retail beef demand is 15% higher than in January 2012.”

This is touted by the beef industry as great news for the cattle industry. If that is true, then cattle prices should have increased over the same period. After all, according to the beef industry, increasing beef demand means good prices for retail beef, which will, like water, trickle down to reward every sector of the beef supply chain, including the live cattle producer.

But that did not happen. Instead, fed cattle price fell nearly 5 percent during the same period that beef demand increased 15 percent. This is an inverse relationship – exactly opposite of what a competitive market would dictate. This indicates something is terribly wrong with the structure of the cattle industry’s markets. The 2012 average 5-area fed cattle price of $122.96 per cwt should have increased in 2018 rather than decrease to a $117 per cwt price (through November). 

While beef demand is not a measure of actual beef consumption, it does measure consumers’ willingness to purchase the available supply of beef at various prices. So, as retail beef prices increase while beef supplies increase, the beef demand measure also increases.

The fact that retail beef prices have increased is widely known. Retail beef prices increased dramatically, during that period by about a dollar per pound. All fresh retail beef prices increased from about $4.69 per pound in 2012 to about $5.69 per pound in 2018 (through November).

What is less known is that while domestic beef production declined by more than 2.2 billion pounds from 2012 through 2015, fueling the historic cattle price rally of 2013 through 2014, the beef industry tried to stop that rally by dramatically increasing imports of beef and cattle in 2014 and 2015. And stop it they did. When these near record imports were added to domestic production, the decline in domestic beef production was substantially offset by the dramatic increase in imports, which by the beginning of 2015 had effectively eliminated the competitive forces that were driving cattle prices upward.

Expectedly, cattle prices collapsed under the weight of near-record imports and in the ensuing years (2016-2018), a combination of increased domestic production and continued high import levels caused total beef supplies to eventually exceed 2012 levels. So, yes, beef supplies did increase while consumers continued paying higher prices for beef, causing beef demand to increase by an impressive 15 percent.

Cattle prices, however, continue to suffer from the ongoing pressure of undifferentiated imports, which are direct substitutes for domestic supplies. These imports effectively increase the total beef supply in the U.S.; but even so, retail beef prices remain strong.

In fact, the spread between the price cattle producers receive for their cattle and what consumers are willing to pay for beef is now the widest in history. In 2012, that spread was $2.39 per pound.  In 2018, it was $5.91 per pound (through November).

This informs us that someone along the beef supply chain is now receiving a substantial share of the revenues from beef sales that used to flow to cattle producers. In other words, there is now a dam somewhere across the cattle or beef supply chains that is preventing revenues from trickling down to cattle producers, as would be the case in a competitive market.  

The important point for cattle producers reading this piece is that the someone who has captured more than their competitive share from the value of beef - Is Not You!

For several years now the beef packers have been capturing unprecedented margins. This is because cattle prices remained unresponsive to increasing beef demand. In fact, retail beef prices have remained at or near the same levels they were four years ago, when fed cattle prices were around $160 per cwt and lighter feeder cattle prices were well over $200 per cwt.
 
Why cattle producers and their conventional trade associations would remain complacent, indeed silent, while this inexplicable circumstance exists is mindboggling.

But, then, perhaps the entire beef industry, along with the beef industry’s favorite media outlets, have thoroughly conditioned America’s cattle producers to follow their lead by exclusively focusing on increasing beef demand.

It is time for some serious, critical thinking about the structure of the cattle market by cattle producers . . . before it is too late.

Bill Bullard is the CEO of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest non-profit trade association exclusively representing the U.S. cattle industry.



Only 1-in-5 Consumers Think Plant-Based Imitators Should be Called Milk

With only six days to go before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) comment period on fake milks ends, new consumer research shows Americans widely disapprove of dairy terms being appropriated by fake-milk producers, as well as confusion on the nutritional content of milk versus plant-based imitators, offering further evidence that FDA must enforce long-existing standards of identity on dairy imposters.

The national survey conducted by IPSOS, a global market research and consulting firm, found:
-    Only 20 percent of all consumers said plant-based beverages should be labeled milk, as U.S. dietary guidelines do not recommend imitators as a substitute for dairy milk; even when limited to buyers of plant-based drinks, support for mislabeling rose to only 41 percent.
-    About 50 percent of consumers mistakenly perceive that the main ingredient of a plant-based beverage is the plant itself; such drinks are mostly flavored water.
-    More than one-third of consumers erroneously believe plant-based beverages have the same or more protein than dairy milk. Milk has up to eight times more protein than its imitators.

“This new data is more proof that the plant-based food and beverage industry is exploiting consumer confusion to boost their bottom line, and consumers don’t like it,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). “Plant-based beverage brands that sell nutritionally inferior products under the health halo of milk mislead consumers. FDA must enforce its existing regulations.”

The new data builds on previous surveys, including one from August showing that 53 percent of all consumers said they believed that plant-based food manufacturers labeled their products “milk” because their nutritional value is similar, even though products widely vary in content. An October poll found one-quarter of consumers either thought almond drinks contained cow’s milk or weren’t sure. Meanwhile, a January survey found consumers, by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, calling for FDA to end the mislabeling of fake milks.

The online IPSOS poll – commissioned by Dairy Management Inc. – was conducted Oct. 30-31, 2018, and surveyed 2,006 adults nationwide.



CWT Assists with 3 million Pounds of Dairy Product Export Sales

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 15 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 2.932 million pounds (2,020 metric tons) of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese, and 83,776 pounds (38 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, Central America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The product will be delivered during the period from January through July 2019.

CWT-assisted member cooperative export sales for the first two weeks of 2019 total 7.385 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 537,928 pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 1.124 million pounds of whole milk powder to 13 countries in six regions. These sales are the equivalent of 88.5 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and all dairy cooperatives by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price. It does this by helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S dairy products. As a result, the program has significantly expanded the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.



The National Biodiesel Conference & Expo Lifts Off in San Diego

The biodiesel industry comes together this week to engage, innovate, and grow during the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo. The national event of the year lifted off Tuesday in San Diego with inspirational remarks from industry leadership.

Acknowledging 2019 as the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing, Donnell Rehagen, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, applauded the remarkable resolve of NASA scientists who were on a mission to ensure America reached the surface first.

Rehagen drew comparisons between the tenacity of the space program and U.S. biodiesel producers’ own efforts to get the first commercially available advanced biofuel industry off the ground. He pointed to Coachella-based Imperial Western Products and manager Curtis Wright as one of the many pioneers of the industry, explaining they had to overcome many obstacles in launching their new biodiesel product line at the turn of the century.

“There were times they wanted to give up,” Rehagen said. “There were days when it seemed like nothing at the plant worked correctly.” Today, the plant produces 10.5 million gallons of biodiesel annually and provides a significant amount of the diversified company’s profits, he said.

Early biodiesel explorers faced their own challenges in creating an entirely new fuel, from sustainable resources, to power heavy-duty vehicles, cars, boats and heat American homes, he said.

“Just like with the race to the moon, I am sure there were times throughout the research and development phase, where it would have been perfectly understandable for the leaders to say, ‘this can’t be done,’ ‘this is not happening as fast as we want,’ ‘this is costing us too much,’” Rehagen said.  “The patience our founders demonstrated in sticking to the mission is what I am grateful for every day.”

The biodiesel industry, like the explorers of America’s space program, benefited from clear direction from our political leaders that is necessary in fostering new endeavors.

Federal policies such as the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires minimum volumes of biodiesel and other renewable fuels be blended into the national fuel supply, and California’s own Low Carbon Fuel Standard have proven to be effective stimulators of U.S. markets. Today, the industry produces nearly three billion gallons annually and supports more than 60,000 jobs across the country. The LCFS is expected to make California alone a billion-gallon market for biodiesel in the coming years.

However, Rehagen said that there is more Congress and the White House can do to encourage investment and growth in the still young biodiesel industry. Adding to years of an on-again-off-again federal biodiesel tax incentive, in 2018 Congress retroactively extended the tax incentive only for 2017, yet let it expire for 2018 and beyond.

Rehagen said by engaging in serious dialogue with organizations like the National Renderers Association, National Association of Truck Stop Operators, Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, American Soybean Association and Petroleum Marketers of America, the biodiesel industry forged a powerful advocacy network that has been instrumental in increasing support on Capitol Hill for the biodiesel tax incentive.

“Just like NASA had to partner with the private sector in their research, development and testing,” Rehagen said, the biodiesel industry “has increased its intelligence and reach by increasing regular dialogue with our industry partners. Although we may not agree on 100 percent of everything, we know we are stronger together and can accomplish more by cooperating and listening to other ideas”

Conference organizers said this is the fifth time the conference has been hosted in the Golden State, noting the significance of the California renewable fuels market. While San Diego has been the site of the most California visits, the inaugural National Biodiesel Conference was launched in Palm Springs in 2004. Put on again with the generous support of industry sponsors, this year’s three-day conference is being held at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.



Bunge Warns of 2018 Profit Shortfall on Brazil Woes

Bunge Ltd. on Tuesday said its 2018 profits will fall short of expectations due to issues in Brazil that impacted its agribusiness and sugar and bioenergy segments.  The White Plains, N.Y., company said its 2018 total segment adjusted earnings before interest and taxes will fall below the $1.045 billion low end of its previous guidance.

Bunge said it expects an adjusted EBIT shortfall of $90 million to $100 million in its agribusiness segment due to a reduction in the value of its Brazilian soybean ownership, as factors related to China trade and demand caused Brazilian prices to converge with U.S. prices.

The company said its sugar and bioenergy segment will see a shortfall of $60 million to $70 million due to lower Brazilian ethanol prices and a weather-related reduction in yields.

Bunge said it reduced its net debt during the quarter by about $2 billion. The company said it ended 2018 with net debt of about $5 billion, down from about $7 billion at the end of the third quarter.



Soil Health Institute Selects Seven Scientists, Begins Sampling Phase of North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements

The Soil Health Institute (SHI), the nonprofit organization charged with safeguarding and enhancing soil health, has selected six project scientists and a statistician/database manager to oversee evaluation of soil health indicators at more than 120 long-term agricultural experiment sites across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The diverse team of scientists will help conduct and manage SHI’s initiative to identify and develop widely acceptable soil health measurements and standards, as well as launch a comprehensive evaluation program that relates soil health to quantified productivity, economic, and environmental outcomes.

“These scientists will work as a geographically-dispersed team to collect soil samples and evaluate the utility of soil health indicators. They will compare soil properties that have been changed by management, climate, production system, and other parameters across North America,” said Paul Tracy, Project Manager, Soil Science/Agronomy.

The scientists will be in charge of regional engagement and project coordination with long-term agricultural site leaders. They will evaluate soil health measurements and their relation to productivity, economic and environmental outcomes; developing critical analysis and review of measurements, soil health evaluation indices and programs at the regional (individual) and North American (team) level, partnering with site leaders and selected scientific laboratories.

G. Mac Bean, Ph.D., will serve as SHI’s project scientist for Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia. He also will lead the team for soil pedology and genesis.  Most recently, Bean focused on improving nitrogen fertilizer management as a graduate student at the University of Missouri.

Bean is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and the International Society of Precision Agriculture. He received his B.S. in Agricultural Science, Systems, and Technology from Brigham Young University-Idaho, his M.S. in Plant Science and his Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Missouri.

Shannon Cappellazzi, Ph.D., will serve as project scientist for the western United States.  She also will coordinate the soil health team’s pastures and rangeland research. Cappellazzi most recently served as Manager at the Oregon State University Central Analytical Laboratory. Earlier in her career, she was the Equestrian Manager for Wheelbarrow Creek Ranch and an agricultural commodities trader for Wilbur-Ellis Company.

Capellazzi is a member of the Soil Science Society of America and serves as a board member of the Oregon Society of Soil Scientists. She received her B.S. in Animal Science and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Soil Science from Oregon State University.

Kelsey Hoegenauer, Ph.D., will serve as project scientist for the southern United States. Most recently, Hoegenauer was a graduate research assistant at the University of Arkansas conducting research on recycling nutrients using cover crops in row crop systems. She also has served as a graduate research assistant at Auburn University conducting research on the long- and short-term effects of cover cropping on physical and chemical soil properties in a peanut-cotton rotation. As a Lloyd Noble Scholar in Agriculture (The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation), she conducted research on blackberry management in rangelands.

Hoegenauer is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and Soil and Water Conservation Society. She received her B.S. in Agronomy from Texas A&M University, M.S. in Plant Science from Auburn University, and Ph.D. in Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences (Soil Fertility emphasis) from the University of Arkansas.

Daniel Liptzin, Ph.D., will serve as project scientist for the High Plains Region, providing team leadership on soil enzymes and carbon cycling. Liptzin recently served as a Senior Instructor at the University of Colorado, Denver, where he taught courses in biogeochemistry, environmental science, and climate. His research interests include exploring human effects on the nitrogen cycle, interactions among elemental cycles, redox-sensitive biogeochemistry, and ecosystem processes in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems.

Liptzin is a member of the American Geophysical Union and an investigator at the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research Site in Colorado. He received his B.S. from Yale University, MES from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Charlotte Norris, Ph.D., P.Ag., will serve as project scientist for Canada. Norris has collaborated on research determining best management practices for intensive vegetable production, assessing the effects of agricultural crops on soil health, and evaluating the effects of forest harvesting practices on soil health. This has included investigating indicators of soil health in reclaimed forest ecosystems.

Norris holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Victoria and received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Alberta. She is a registered Professional Agrologist.

Elizabeth (Liz) Rieke, Ph.D., will serve as project scientist for the northern Midwest and northeastern United States. She will also lead SHI’s assessment of microbial population dynamics using genomic tools as soil health indicators. Most recently, Rieke served as a postdoctoral research associate, Iowa State University Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.

Rieke is a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. She received her B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, her M.S. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from Iowa State University.

Michael Cope, Ph.D., will serve as the team’s statistician and database manager. Most recently, Cope served as a statistical and research analyst at Clemson University. His expertise includes analysis of large and assorted data. He is skilled in Python Programming, Soil Science, Geographic Information Systems, Ecological Modeling, and Cloud Computing.



Natural Soil Amendment, Water Conservation Agent H2OExcel Recommended as Spring Seed Treatment

Utilizing Brookside Agra’s natural water conservation agent and soil amendment H2OExcel™ as a seed treatment in spring can boost overall crop emergence, quality and growth rate, according to soil microbiologist Ben Elliott of Insight Bio Ag, LLC.

Elliott has worked in the chemical formulating and research fields for the past 10 years, providing consultation services both nationally and internationally. He specializes in intensive management for growers adopting new practices based on biological aspects of decision making, data management and systems integration.

“Using H2OExcel as a seed treatment, the point at which you can get the earliest activity of the chemistry, can help crops emerge more quickly and evenly,” said Elliott. “In early applications, at emergence, H2OExcel has been proven to support the early development of plants at a critical stage where photosynthesis has not yet fully started within the plants.”

According to Elliott, using H2OExcel as a seed treatment sets the stage for native microbes in the soil to begin coming out of dormancy earlier than normal. Even though the plants have yet to begin photosynthesis, using H2OExcel as a seed treatment can help build up the amount of total available nutrients within the root zone so a plant can load up quickly when those processes begin. The recommended use rate for all crops is 4 ounces of H2OExcel per 100 weight of seed.

H2OExcel is a proprietary blend of desert plant extracts and high-quality, humic acid-containing biologicals and other natural, non-plant derived nutrient enhancers. Research-proven H2OExcel enables soils to absorb water faster and deeper. Once it infiltrates the ground, it reduces soil and water tension, allowing soils to absorb and retain water and nutrients 3-5 times faster. It also relieves capillary pressure in the soil to allow soil respiration to occur. This puts more water at the root zone and increases nutrient uptake to the plants, all while utilizing less water and inputs.

H2OExcel is safe for use on all crops, turf and vegetation in all geographical areas and will not harm plants, animals or humans. When mixed with water, H2OExcel can be applied as a spray or soil-drench and can be safely blended with fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.