Thursday July 30 Ag News

Nebraska Beef Council Board Meeting

The Nebraska Beef Council Board of Directors will meet at the NBC office in Kearney located at 1319 Central Ave. on Tuesday,  August 11th, 2020 beginning at 8:00 a.m.CDT. and Wednesday, August 12th, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. CDT. The NBC Board of Directors will listen to presentation from outside contractors for the fiscal year 2020-2021 on Tuesday. Funding decisions will be conducted on Wednesday. For more information, please contact Pam Esslinger at pam@nebeef.org. 



NEBRASKA EXTENSION TO HOST CALF HEALTH MANAGEMENT ON ARRIVAL WEBINAR SERIES

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension will host the 2020 Calf Health Management on Arrival Webinar Series. The webinars will take place weekly beginning on Aug. 18.

The Calf Health Management on Arrival Webinar Series is designed to highlight management strategies relative to biocontainment, stress mitigation, nutrition, and treatment options that will set calves up for success. Each session will feature a presentation from an industry expert and a segment featuring a veterinarian or producer perspective.

Each webinar will begin at 12:30 p.m. Central time. Dates are Aug. 18, Aug. 25, Sept. 1 and Sept. 8.  Topics and speakers are as follows:

August 18, Biocontainment
  - Systems approach to maintaining health in high-risk calves, Dr. John Groves, DVM, Livestock Veterinary Service, Eldon, Mo.
  - Penning order and morbidity outcomes, veterinarian/producer perspective

August 25, Stress mitigation
  - Arrival health programs for high-risk calves, Dr. Dan Thomson, animal science department head, Iowa State University
  - Handling procedures that reduce arrival stress and promote health, veterinarian/producer perspective

September 1, Nutrition
  - Role of nutrition in health maintenance of calves, Dr. Clint Krehbiel, animal science department head, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  - Feeding programs on arrival, veterinarian/producer perspective

September 8, Treatment options
  - Limitations of remote drug delivery devices (dart guns) for cattle health management, Dr. Brian Vander Ley, DVM, Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center, Clay Center, Neb.
  - Beef quality assurance, veterinarian/producer perspective

“Management of nutrition and health for calves on arrival is one of the most important decisions for ensuring positive outcomes for beef production,” said Clint Krehbiel, UNL animal science department head. “Participants will learn from scientists who are passionate about their success and the health and well-being of beef cattle.”

Those who are interested in registering for one or more webinar sessions may do so online at go.unl.edu/calfhealth. There is no cost to participate in this webinar series. 



Ecosystem Services Market Consortium Announces Inaugural Producer Circle Members

The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) is pleased to announce 28 farmers and ranchers from across the United States have been selected as the inaugural cohort of Producer Circle members. The Producer Circle is vitally important to provide farmer and rancher input while pilot testing ESMC’s innovative protocols and the technical assistance, verification, and certification requirements over the next two years in preparation for full market launch in 2022.

The newly appointed Producer Circle members are: Andrew Moore from Georgia, Brandon Hunnicutt from Nebraska, Charles Atkinson from Kansas, Cornelius Key from Georgia, Darren Hoyme from North Dakota, Dave Rylander from Illinois, Debbie Lyons-Blythe from Kansas, Ed Kuykendall from California, Gary Van Horn from Kansas, Jared Gregg from Illinois, Jay Tanner from Utah, Jeff Rice from Kentucky, Joseph Fitzsimons from Texas, Kevin Kester from California, Kip Kummerle from Ohio, Kristin Duncanson from Minnesota, Kyle Brase from Illinois, Lee Scheufler from Kansas, Lukas Fricke from Nebraska, Maggie Hanna from Colorado, Mark Isbell from Arkansas, Neal Wilkins from Texas, Patrick O’Toole from Wyoming, Robin Boies from Nevada, Tim Boring from Michigan, and Trent Hendricks from Missouri.

“On behalf of the (ESMC) Board of Directors, we are excited to welcome the inaugural Producer Circle members to the ESMC team,” stated Gary Price. “These advisors will be instrumental to the success of the ESMC program now and in the future.” Price is a rancher from Blooming Grove, Texas, and Co-chair of the inaugural ESMC Producer Circle, together with Tim Palmer, a farmer from Truro, Iowa. “Bringing farmers and ranchers to the table is a key next step,” continued Price. “We have made progress in the past few years, but now the true test is piloting the protocols on operations and further refining them to work across the country. We look forward to the input and feedback from Producer Circle members as the ESMC program continues to grow and evolve through the development process.”

Price and Palmer have been involved in ESMC since 2017, and currently serve on ESMC’s Board of Directors. Their dedicated support and guidance of ESMC since its inception will help to provide continuity of leadership on the Producer Circle and enable strong farmer and rancher voices to guide current and future ESMC developments.

ESMC received support from the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) to launch the Producer Circle, ensuring that the voices of farmers and ranchers across the country are heard during the ESMC program buildout. ESMC’s first operating principle is to be producer-centric, meaning a market-based approach must work first and foremost for farmers and ranchers to achieve desired ecosystem service impacts. The Producer Circle will serve as an in-house focus group and advisory committee on the all aspects of program delivery, including development of outreach materials, pilot, and protocol development and program operations. 



Nebraska Cattlemen Influences National Policy

A small delegation of Nebraska Cattlemen made a big influence on national policy decisions in Denver this week during the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) Summer Business Meeting. The week began with policy developed and submitted by Nebraska Cattlemen's members in the Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee. This policy directs NCBA to work with stakeholders to develop and disseminate materials needed to assist cattlemen to prepare for foreign animal disease challenges in the United States. Nebraska Cattlemen also backed policy to support US CattleTrace programs. US CattleTrace is an industry-driven entity which is a 501c3 that is developing disease traceability.  NC policy has long supported traceability for disease control purposes and insisted that the data should be held by a non-government entity that is producer-driven.
 
NC members were among those leading conversations during more than six hours of debate to identify a policy that would address industry-wide concerns regarding diminishing levels of price discovery in negotiated fed cattle markets.  Nebraska Cattlemen was among more than 20 NCBA state affiliates that developed and presented policy to address the need to increase negotiated trade volumes to regionally specific robust price discovery levels. After intense debate, a compromise was developed to have NCBA pursue legislative or regulatory solutions to price discovery issues if current voluntary efforts to improve negotiated fed cattle trade volumes are not successful in achieving regionally robust price discovery levels. Triggers to identify when legislative or regulatory efforts are needed, and will be developed by the NCBA Live Cattle Marketing working group by October 1st, 2020. The policy passed by the Live Cattle Marketing Committee and approved by a vote of the NCBA Board of Directors can be viewed here. 
 
"This compromise creates a process to allow the industry to try to achieve robust price discovery levels on a voluntary basis, but provides a framework to seek legislative or regulatory solutions to achieve this goal if voluntary efforts fail." Ken Herz - President, Nebraska Cattlemen
 
NC policy on accessible broadband for rural areas was adopted in NCBA's Ag and Food Policy Committee.  The divide between rural and urban access to broadband was highlighted by the COVID 19 crisis with more distance learning, tele-med services and no-contact government interaction.  It is important that investment be made in the rural broadband infrastructure.
 
Originally submitted by NC, stepped-up basis interim tax policy brought forth and adopted earlier this year at the NCBA convention was adopted as official policy by members in the Tax and Credit Committee. NCBA supports stepped-up basis for assets in any future tax relief legislation.
 
NC past president Mike Drinnin was elected to serve on the NCBA nominating committee. The
NCBA nominating committee is responsible for interviewing and selecting leadership candidates to be considered by the NCBA Board of Directors.



Strong Turnout of Cattle Producers Sets Important Policies for the Future

A capacity crowd of cattle producers worked for more than six hours today to identify a policy that would help resolve concerns about live cattle marketing issues and lead the industry to more robust price discovery. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Live Cattle Marketing Committee considered several proposals, each aimed at encouraging greater volumes of cash cattle trade. After intense debate, the committee and the NCBA Board of Directors unanimously passed a policy that supports voluntary efforts to improve cash fed cattle trade during the next 90 days with the potential for mandates in the future if robust regional cash trade numbers are not reached by the industry.

“The policy decisions we made this week truly show the grassroots policy process at work. We had tremendous turnout for this year’s summer meeting, clearly demonstrating that cattle producers needed the opportunity to meet in person to hammer out solutions to these important issues,” said NCBA President Marty Smith. “Despite the issues going on in the world today, we had more than 600 people turn out, the vast majority in person, to find solutions for issues facing our industry.”

Smith noted that the work of the Live Cattle Marketing committee caps months of working group efforts to find industry- and market-driven solutions to increase price discovery without government mandates.

“The policy we passed today is the result of every state cattlemen’s association coming together to work through their differences and finding solutions that meet the needs of their members, all of whom agree that our industry needs more robust price discovery. This policy provides all players in the industry the opportunity to achieve that goal without seeking government mandates,” said Smith. “Everyone who took the time to participate in this process over the past several months and throughout this week’s meetings is to be commended.” 

The policy passed by the Live Cattle Marketing Committee and approved by a vote of the NCBA Board of Directors can be viewed here.

The Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting also included a full slate of both policy and checkoff committee meetings. This week’s checkoff meetings help set the plan of work for fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, as well as providing an opportunity for cattlemen and cattlewomen to review current contractor campaigns, including a very successful launch of the popular United We Steak campaign.

“The past several months have been challenging for everyone, but they’ve been particularly difficult for America’s cattle farmers and ranchers,” said Smith. “This week’s meetings provided a crucial opportunity for us to come together—safely and with plenty of social distancing—to resolve the issues of the past several months. However, it has also provided an opportunity for a reset and chance to refocus on the priorities that haven’t gone away as we battled through this crisis. We’re thankful we had the opportunity to do just that during this week’s meetings.”



U.S. Agriculture Praises Senate Letter Urging Administration to Make Greater Strides to Protect Common Food and Wine Terms

A diverse range of farm and agricultural industries is praising a bipartisan Senate letter sent today to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue urging stronger international safeguards to protect U.S. exporters using common food and wine terms. Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) led this effort that resulted in support from a total of 61 Senators.

The letter requests that the U.S. government enhance their common food name protections as a core policy objective in all trade-related discussions. This is a direct challenge to the European Union (EU)’s misuse of protections meant for valid geographical indications (GIs) to instead block American exports of common or generic food and wine terms, such as parmesan, feta, bologna or chateau. These unjustified trade barriers harm American farmers, limit choices for consumers and have put manufacturing jobs across an essential sector at risk.

Signers of the letter included several senators holding leadership positions on committees with jurisdiction over this issue, notably the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. In addition, the letter also includes the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.

Farm and agricultural industries commending the letter include:
    Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN)
    U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC)
    American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF)
    North America Meat Institute (NAMI)
    National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA)
    National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)
    Wine Institute (WI)

“The United States has been fighting the EU’s unfair GI trade policies with one hand tied behind its back while the EU has been battling with its full force. This unbalanced approach has helped the EU in its efforts to block U.S. exports of products using common food and wine terms, causing serious harm to America’s farmers, ranchers, food manufacturers and exporters. We applaud Senators Thune, Stabenow Tillis and Baldwin for leading this effort to meet the EU’s efforts to block American exports with an equal force to promote fair trade and ensure the free flow of products using all tools available to the U.S. government,” said Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director of CCFN.

“We encourage USTR and USDA to immediately establish the explicit protection of common food names as a primary policy objective in all trade discussions. The overwhelming bipartisan support demonstrated by the U.S. Senate for this goal underscores the importance of breaking down these GI-related barriers and achieving greater export safeguards for U.S. cheeses and other common name products. By putting protections for common food and wine terms first, we will ensure that American-made products do not come in last,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC.

“Protection for the use of common food names will greatly assist in the export of high-quality American agricultural products around the world. We applaud the U.S. government for their efforts to remove trade barriers that block our exports,” said Zippy Duvall, President of AFBF.

“The European Union has for too long unjustifiably and erroneously attempted to restrict trade in common food name products, including meat exports from the U.S. The policy advocated in the bipartisan letter sent today to USDA and USTR will advance critical safeguards for common food name products in international trade and will enable America’s meat and poultry packers and processors, agricultural producers and food manufacturers to compete on a level playing field with their counterparts in the EU. We thank Sens. Thune, Stabenow, Tillis and Baldwin for their leadership, and we stand ready to work with the Administration to defend against anti-competitive and protectionist policies pursued by trading partners that serve only to impede U.S. meat and poultry exports,” said Julie Anna Potts, CEO of NAMI.

“As tireless advocates for U.S. food and agriculture exports, NASDA members understand the importance of protecting the use of common food names. Securing clear assurances from trading partners that preserve the value of U.S. market access must be an integral part of U.S. trade policy. NASDA looks forward to supporting our federal partners as they continue to seek trade deals that increase sales of U.S. products around the globe,” said Dr. Barb Glenn, CEO of NASDA.

“Europe has demonstrated it will not yield in its efforts to erect trade barriers and limit fair competition from high-quality American-made food and wine products, including U.S. cheeses. A comprehensive long-term U.S. trade strategy is required to protect American farmers and food producers. The letter sent today by Senators Thune, Stabenow, Tillis and Baldwin is a critical step forward for advancing freer trade,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. 

“We have watched time and again as the EU has gone well beyond protecting legitimate GIs to erect trade barriers that benefit their own producers at our expense. The recent EU-China agreement on GIs is a perfect example of how the EU abuses GIs for their own gain. We are grateful to these Senators for saying enough is enough, the U.S. must do more to ensure a level playing field for common food names, grape varietal names and traditional terms,” said Bobby Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute.



USDA Announces Award for New Milk Incentive Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the award of nearly $1 million for an innovative pilot program designed to encourage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to purchase and consume milk as part of a healthy, balanced diet. This pilot project builds on the success of previous incentive programs, which have shown positive impacts on the healthfulness of a persons’ diet. Through a cooperative agreement with the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, SNAP participants shopping at select grocery stores in Texas will receive incentives for purchasing qualifying milk. 

“Making nutritious foods more accessible is a USDA priority, and we are always looking for ways to leverage innovative strategies to help achieve that goal,” said Pam Miller, Administrator of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). “Today’s grant award will test the use of incentives in encouraging SNAP households to purchase and consume more milk – a win-win for both participants’ diets and America’s dairy farmers.”

The Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive (HFMI) pilot was established by the 2018 Farm Bill to encourage consumption of milk, which is part of a well-rounded, nutritious diet as described in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The program is expected to be fully operational by May 2021, and incentives will be tested for one year. The pilot is part of Food and Nutrition Service’s commitment to employing innovative techniques to help make nutritious foods more accessible for low-income Americans.



ADM Reports Second Quarter Earnings of $0.84 per Share, $0.85 per Share on an Adjusted Basis
• Net earnings of $469 million
• Strong first half; execution of strategic plan continued delivering results
• Safely served customers, protected employees while supporting global food supply chain with minimal disruptions despite challenging environment

ADM (NYSE: ADM) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

“This was another strong quarter for ADM. I am proud of our team’s excellent work, as their execution of our strategy continued to deliver results,” said Chairman and CEO Juan Luciano. “Through good and challenging times alike, we have kept a strong and steady focus on transforming and improving our company. Thanks to that work, and thanks to the ADM colleagues who have gone above and beyond to support our customers and the global food supply chain, we are delivering on our purpose by providing high quality nutrition around the world.

“We’re also living up to our ideals,” Luciano continued. “From our ambitious new sustainability goals, to the continued expansion of products and services to meet evolving consumer needs, to the critical efforts we are all making to protect our employees and support our communities during challenging times, our team is making a positive impact.

“As we advance our strategy, we are increasingly seeing growing benefits flow to our bottom line. Our team is exceeding the targets we’ve set for those factors under our control, and as we look at the second half of the year, we’ll continue to advance our key focus areas: optimizing business performance, accelerating Readiness – which has been critical to our resilience and agility this year – and harvesting the benefits of strategic growth investments, especially in our Nutrition segment. We are in a strong position, with great momentum, and we are confident in our ability to continue to deliver strong earnings and returns in 2020 and beyond.”



AGCO Reports Second Quarter Results

AGCO, Your Agriculture Company, a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment and solutions, reported its results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Net sales for the second quarter were approximately $2.0 billion, a decrease of approximately 17.2% compared to the second quarter of 2019. Reported net income was $0.93 per share for the second quarter of 2020 and adjusted net income, excluding a non-cash impairment charge and restructuring expenses, was $1.11 per share. These results compare to reported and adjusted net income of $1.82 per share for the second quarter of 2019. Excluding unfavorable currency translation impacts of approximately 3.9%, net sales in the second quarter of 2020 decreased approximately 13.2% compared to the second quarter of 2019.

Net sales for the first six months of 2020 were approximately $3.9 billion, a decrease of approximately 10.9% compared to the same period in 2019. Excluding unfavorable currency translation impacts of approximately 3.8%, net sales for the first six months of 2020 decreased approximately 7.2% compared to the same period in 2019. For the first six months of 2020, reported net income was $1.78 per share, and adjusted net income, excluding a non-cash impairment charge and restructuring expenses was $1.97 per share. These results compare to reported net income of $2.66 per share, and adjusted net income, excluding restructuring expenses, of $2.68 per share for the first six months of 2019.



Broad soybean trait portfolio puts weed control in growers' hands

Like the promise that every year brings another growing season, there's the reality that every season brings another set of challenges to weed control. That's why the 2021 NK® soybean portfolio from Syngenta features the industry's broadest choice of herbicide-tolerant traits.

NK varieties available for 2021 include all three of the most in-demand traits: Enlist E3® soybeans, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans and LibertyLink® GT27™ soybeans. As effective herbicide options become more limited, this expansive trait portfolio empowers growers to create the best weed management programs for their specific situations and maximize profit potential.

"There's enough in agriculture that's out of growers' hands. Soybean trait choice shouldn't be," said Eric Miller, NK soybeans product manager. "The broad selection of herbicide-tolerant traits found in NK soybeans gives growers control over their weed management programs."

A recent survey conducted by NK further demonstrates the need for soybean trait choice. When asked about the most important factors in soybean trait decisions, weed control effectiveness on resistant weeds and flexibility of herbicide and chemical options were consistently the top two factors cited by growers.

Each trait offers its own unique benefits:
    Featuring one of the newest traits on the market, Enlist E3 varieties offer tolerance to three modes of action: 2,4-D choline, glyphosate and glufosinate.
    Roundup Ready 2 Xtend varieties are known for their consistent performance and tolerance to dicamba and glyphosate.
    LibertyLink GT27 varieties provide strong yield and agronomics for growers looking to manage weeds with glufosinate and glyphosate.

Access to these traits is made possible by a state-of-the-art trait conversion capability that enables Syngenta to bring the latest, most desirable trait packages to market with the newest genetics. Combine these trait offerings with more than 50 years of breeding experience, and NK is able to offer growers varieties that protect soybean yield potential in even the toughest environments.

Innovation continues: As growers start to consider their corn and soybean seed selections for next season, Syngenta is releasing 21 new soybean varieties for 2021.

"Because every field is different, NK is committed to research and development that helps ensure success no matter the location," Miller said. "By minimizing risk with NK soybeans, growers can maximize their return on investment potential."