Wednesday October 14 Ag News

Nebraska Agriculture in the Classroom Returns to School with Reimagined Learning

Nebraska Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC), a program of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, headed back to school this fall with reimagined learning. During these unprecedented times, the program’s free resources promote socially distanced, hands-on activities suitable for the classroom or at-home learning.

Teachers, parents, and students are invited to explore lessons and activities that thoughtfully engage PreK-12th grade students with their source of food, fiber, and fuel. Each lesson is aligned to Nebraska State Education Standards for science, social studies, math, or language arts.

“This new approach equips teachers and parents with free programs for use online and offline. AITC has a long history of creating resources tied to state education standards, and the new resources provide the same quality content with delivery updated to meet the needs of today,” said Megahn Schafer, executive director.

More than 154 virtual classroom visits have been scheduled since the beginning of the school year. AITC education specialists provide live, grade-specific lessons to students via Zoom with socially distanced, hands-on activities. Lesson topics range from learning the life cycle of an apple tree for kindergarteners to learning about the futures market and careers in agriculture for fifth graders.

“Just because schools can’t have visitors doesn’t mean the classrooms have to miss out on enhanced learning experiences,” said Courtney Shreve, director of outreach education. “We utilize technology to offer virtual classroom visits, virtual field trips to farms, and pre-recorded lessons with hands-on activities and games.”

This school year has been anything but easy for students and teachers. Sanitation procedures and virtual learning platforms have created new classroom challenges. In an effort to remove the stress of planning engaging virtual learning opportunities, AITC developed worksheets, interactive cards, posters, and supply kits to accompany virtual classroom visits. These activity supplies are provided and mailed at no cost to the school to provide students much-needed breaks from the computer screen.

“My students were very engaged in the activity sections of the presentation. They loved the Beef Jeopardy game, and they liked being able to view the interactive map of Nebraska,” said Jennifer Reed, teacher at Wildwood Elementary in Ralston. “My students are on Zoom from 8:00 – 2:00. This gave them a chance to experience something new while learning about Nebraska agriculture.”

Teacher engagement is another priority for AITC. Since colleges and universities have moved to more of an online learning approach, AITC offers workshops virtually to keep students connected and learning how to incorporate agriculture into their lessons.

This semester, AITC has led seven interactive, discussion-based workshops with current and future teachers. Virtual workshops have been presented at Doane University, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Wayne State College, York College, and the Nebraska Get Connected After-School conference, with more planned in the coming months.

“This year due to COVID-19, AITC staff was willing to shift to presenting virtually and was able to adapt the approach well, while still modeling how to apply quality teaching of agricultural concepts to students,” said Dr. Ben Vilkas, Wayne State College assistant professor. “I continue to look forward to our partnership, as it is really helpful to show teachers the value of adding agriculture to the curriculum.”

Connecting Chapters is another program reimagined with the safety of students and teachers in mind. With a new approach, 74 FFA chapters will participate in a hands-on, virtual training that will equip high school FFA members to connect with elementary students and peers to increase agricultural literacy in their communities.

“This training allowed us to learn the why and how to do agricultural literacy with our elementary students, even in a virtual environment. I really appreciated the opportunity students had to get to practice teaching a lesson before they do it in the classroom,” said Tony Jensen, Freeman FFA advisor. “This experience was valuable and will make our presentations more engaging and exciting because our students are confident in their abilities.”

In late September, AITC introduced its newest resource: Mapping Our Food. Mapping Our Food is a standard-aligned educational resource for first-grade classrooms that highlights 10 Nebraska-grown products and the farmers who raise them. Every elementary school in Nebraska received the resource free of charge. The kit includes letters from youth farmers, posters featuring food items, and a map with stickers to track the locations of Nebraska farmers and ranchers who grow the food. A teacher’s guide featuring connections to state standards, worksheets, and hands-on activities completes the kit.

“The United States has one of the world’s safest supply of food, and our food system relies on trusting the people involved along the way,” said Shreve. “Mapping Our Food encourages first-grade students to begin the conversation about where food comes from, which includes real people right here in Nebraska!”

While events have been cancelled, the work of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation has not. With new shopping patterns and supply chain interruptions, agriculture has been in the spotlight. Now more than ever, is a time to connect with people to highlight the many contributions and opportunities of our state’s number one industry – agriculture!



Seasonality in Fed Cattle Transactions and the Role of Negotiated Cash
Elliott Dennis, Livestock Extension Economist, University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Alternative Marketing Arrangements (AMA) have once again taken center stage in the cattle market over the last several weeks. It is common knowledge that the use of AMAs varies by geographical region with Southern Plains feedlots using a larger share relative to Northern Plains feedlots. A long-standing issue is whether each geographical region is contributing a perceived appropriate amount of negotiated cash trade to aid in price discovery. This issue has intensified as the national level of negotiated cattle continues to decline. Lower cash prices and increased volatility due to COVID-19 government quarantine measures and the Holcomb Fire have appeared to intensify this issue among market participants.

In response to historically low cash prices, some industry organizations petitioned the government for further transparency and regulation in the feedlot-packer interface. The first proposed government legislation was the “50-14” rule led by Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) which sought to mandate large-scale packers to procure a minimum of 50% of all cattle purchased via negotiated cash for harvest in 14 days. There was strong industry response against mandating a level of negotiated cash trade, especially at 50%. The second, and most recent, was a bill introduced by Senator Deb Fisher (R-NE) that would authorize USDA to set establish regional mandatory minimum thresholds of negotiated cash trades by geographical region with industry comment. It would also authorize USDA to set up a contract library like the one currently available in the hog market. Both bills aim to increase the amount of regional cash negotiated trade which in turn would increase negotiated cash prices received by producers.

However, the supply of fed cattle and demand for wholesale beef determines the price of fed cattle. To increase negotiated fed cattle prices, both proposed bills would either need to reduce the supply of fed cattle or increase the demand for wholesale beef. These rules would increase negotiated cash transactions helping in price discovery in each week but are unlikely to affect the underlying fed cattle market supply and demand condition to increase the local cash price. If these laws had been in place prior to either the Holcomb Fire or COVID-19 it is unlikely they would have changed packing plants’ ability to process cattle (supply from feedlots) or food services’ demand for beef. Currently national cattle on feed numbers suggest that the backlog, resulting from government quarantines and COVID-19 cases in packing plants, has almost been completely worked through.

There have been two primary ways the industry has reacted to these bills. First, the industry tried to increase the amount of negotiated cattle in the market using the proposed “Bid-the-Grid” program. This led to an unprecedented amount of negotiated grid cattle being sold, most notably in Kansas. For example, historically the share of weekly cattle being sold via negotiated grid, either live or dressed, is 5%. In one week, negotiated grid spiked to 20%, a level not seen in 10+ years. Since then, it has returned to historical levels. The second reaction has been to develop and advocate for a voluntary framework. This framework would work to have each geographical region increase the share of negotiated cattle if certain levels or “triggers” were reached. This is the industry’s preferred method prior to government legislation. The ability for voluntary market participation is likely already in the market. Producers choose to engage in AMAs largely because there are market incentives to do so. To get feeders to move away from AMAs towards negotiated cash the market incentives to do so must be as least as large as those currently offered under AMAs. For example, during the Holcomb fire Nebraska producers, who historically sell a large amount of negotiated cattle, switched over to more formula/grid sales. One explanation for this is that producers did not believe their cattle quality was being valued in the market. One way to try and (re)capture this additional perceived value was to sell cattle on formula/grid. After the Holcomb Fire cattle sold via formula/grid returned to historical levels

One issue potentially confounding understanding the role of negotiated trade is that often cattle sold by transaction (i.e. negotiated cash, forward contract, formula, and negotiated grid) report a combined live and dressed trade. More cattle are sold via negotiated cash on a live basis. From 2016-2020 approximately 60% of all cattle sold on a live basis were negotiated cash (Figure 2). Compare this to the 10% sold dressed via negotiated cash. The share of dressed cattle in the overall monthly cattle trade between 2010 and 2019 is about 70%. Thus, if the trend continues towards selling more cattle dressed then the relative share of negotiated cash will likely continue to decline.

So what has been happening to the share of cattle transactions (i.e. negotiated cash, forward contract, formula, and negotiated grid) sold on a live basis during COVID-19? In short, there has been little change in negotiated cash as a share of all cattle transactions, on average nationally since January 1, 2020. Although there appears to be some regional differences with Northern Plains states experiencing slightly more volatility in the share of negotiated trade compared to Southern Plains states. Like most price series, cattle transactions are seasonal. Figure 4 displays the seasonality of negotiated cash (live + dressed) as a share of all cattle transactions nationally for 2015-2019, 2019, and 2020. There has been no change to the seasonality patterns of negotiated cash trade in 2020 compared to the five-year average. The decline in Q3:2019 and Q4:2019 came in large part from the Texas-Oklahoma-New Mexico region not reporting sales because confidentiality requirements were not met. The drop in negotiated cash trade began to fall prior to the Holcomb Fire incident in August 2019. Thus, it is unlikely that the Holcomb Fire caused the lack of reporting but could have prolonged it. Figure 5 shows the seasonality of negotiated cash as a percentage of all live cattle transactions. Year-to-date in 2020, more cattle have been sold live via negotiated cash compared to the five-year average. Even during the government quarantine and packing plant closures (March-August), on average, the percentage of cattle sold live via negotiated cash was above the five-year average. Figures 4 and 5 show some graphical evidence that the Holcomb Fire and COVID-19 market disruptions are unlikely to have affected the national percentage of cattle sold (live, dressed, or live+dressed) via negotiated cash.

Both proposed bills put forth by the U.S. Senate have stated that need for more price discovery due to the Holcomb Fire and COVID-19 market disruptions. Figures 1-5 graphically show that the national level of negotiated cash was likely not significantly impacted by either market disruptions. The current concern surrounding AMA’s (i.e. formula/grid pricing) has more to do with lower cash prices received by producers due to market reactions to major market disruptions than the role of AMA’s role in thinly traded markets. While both bills would bring increased negotiated cash price discovery and transparency in the feedlot-packer market interface, neither are likely to increase the cash price received by producers since they do not fundamentally change the supply of fed cattle nor the demand for wholesale beef. Further, it is unlikely that if these bills were implemented prior to either the Holcomb Fire or COVID-19 it would have prevented the backlog in cattle nor affected the demand for wholesale beef. If implemented, these policies would create additional transparency but potentially creating increased costs and reducing profitability for the entire beef complex. Consistent with the economic theory of derived demand, the additional costs of these policies are likely to predominately carried by the cow-calf industry.



FALL HEAVY GRAZING FOR SPRING PASTURE RENOVATION
Brad Schick, NE Extension Educator

There aren’t often many advantages to heavy grazing, particularly in years of drought, but on pastures such as bromegrass that need some help to increase animal performance, heavy fall grazing before interseeding legumes might be the first management step.

Cool-season pastures such as smooth bromegrass often lose yield due to becoming sod-bound. Interseeding legumes in the early spring or through winter frost seeding can help this and provide some additional benefits. Adding legumes into cool-season pastures or hay meadows can increase forage quality and animal performance. Nutrient cycling occurs faster on pastures with legume forage, with cow pies breaking down faster and nutrients are more available to pasture plants. The legumes have more protein, so animal digestion is faster and intake increased. Finally, legumes may decrease the need for supplemental nitrogen fertilizer.

Grazing heavy in the fall will slow growth next year, reducing competition for legume seedlings. As a bonus, this is a great way to get a little extra forage off during the fall. Some grazing in the spring after seeding, and prior to significant legume growth, can also be done to further reduce grass competition.  Heavy grazing should be only a one-time practice in the fall before spring planting a legume. There is no advantage to grazing heavy every fall.

Legume interseeded pastures do take a little more management. Preserving legume stands can limit weed control options and make it a little harder to control if the other broadleaf weeds get out of hand.

To review: if spring interseeding legumes into cool-season grass, heavy fall grazing can reduce competition and allow spring-planted legumes a fighting chance.



WEBINAR TO FOCUS ON REINVENTING DIPLOMACY, U.S. FOREIGN SERVICE

Marc Grossman, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, under secretary of state for political affairs and special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will speak at a noon webinar Oct. 28. The webinar is presented by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance and the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.

The webinar, “Reinventing U.S. Diplomacy: A Foreign Service for the 21st Century,” will address ways to build stronger connections between American citizens and U.S. foreign policy decision makers. Drawing upon his 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Grossman will discuss how this can be accomplished through a Harvard University initiative he is involved with called the American Diplomacy Project. He will also share his perspective on why citizen input to reform the Foreign Service is so important.

The conversation is timely, as many Nebraskans expressed a desire to bridge the gap between their everyday reality and the way in which U.S. foreign policy objectives are defined in a recent report on Nebraskans’ perceptions of U.S. foreign policy. The report was developed by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in partnership with the Yeutter Institute and the Bureau of Business Research at Nebraska, along with the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.

The webinar is free and open to the public. Students, faculty and anyone interested in U.S. foreign policy are encouraged to attend. Registration is required and can be completed at https://go.unl.edu/upnm. The webinar will be conducted via Zoom, and audience members will have the opportunity to submit questions.

The event is part of the Thomas C. Sorensen Policy Seminar Series with support from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Thomas C. Sorensen Endowment.



Iowa Cattlemen’s Association PAC Endorses Ernst

The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Political Action Committee (PAC) is pleased to endorse Joni Ernst in her re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Iowa’s beef business needs strong agricultural leadership. Sen. Ernst’s established voice and engagement on the behalf of Iowans through the U.S. Senate Ag Committee is what we need now and in the future. “As a major beef producing state, it is vital that we have strong advocates for agriculture in Washington, D.C.,” states Kurt Dallmeyer, Chair of the ICA PAC. “Sen. Ernst has affirmed her commitment to beef producers by working across the aisle on important issues that impact our day-to-day operations.”

Sen. Ernst has established a track record of leading important efforts that align with our policy priorities. She has demonstrated support for the beef cattle industry in numerous ways, to include:
    Repealing the harmful and expansive Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule;
    Cosponsoring the bipartisan Grassley-Tester 50/14 bill to increase meatpackers’ participation in the cash market;
    Prioritizing trade and advocating for the passage of the U.S. - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA);
    Participating as a member of the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Committee; and
    Rallying emergency support for farmers and ranchers impacted by disaster (flooding, COVID-19, drought).

The ICA PAC helps support political leaders who advance policy priorities of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. The ICA PAC is funded through voluntary donations designated for the PAC.



Sorghum Can Provide Benefits to Crop Rotation in Iowa

Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and Conservation Learning Group, is hosting a free virtual field day focused on the benefits to the soil, water and the atmosphere when sorghum is added to the corn and soybean rotation on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.

Join for a live conversation with Andy VanLoocke, associate professor of agronomy at Iowa State University; Iowa State post-doctoral research associates Kate Glanville and Rojda (Guler) Aslan-Sungur; and Iowa State graduate student Josh Bendorf.

At the Iowa State Sustainable Advanced Bioeconomy Research Farm located west of Ames, VanLoocke’s team is exploring the impacts of adding bioenergy crops like sorghum to the traditional rotation of corn and soybean grown on most acres in Iowa. Taking a systems approach, the team is closely analyzing the carbon/nitrogen budget or mass budget of sorghum and the impacts on the soil, water and atmosphere.

“This field day and larger research project will take a closer look at how crop rotation, climate and weather effect the corn, soybeans and sorghum differently throughout the year. The goal is to calculate the mass budget and impact of incorporating energy biomass crops like sorghum in the rotation,” said Vanloocke.

To participate in the live virtual field day at 1 p.m. on Oct. 20, click this URL: https://iastate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpduihpj8iE9ZHcjpsenc2DWQILG41wg0D or visit www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/events and click “Join Live Virtual Field Day.”

Or, join from a dial-in phone line by dialing: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923; Meeting ID: 914 1198 4892.

The field day will be recorded and archived on the ILF website so that it can be watched at any time.

Participants may be eligible for a Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit. Information about how to apply to receive the unit (if approved) will be provided at the end of the live field day.



Midwest Dairy Partners with Subway® Restaurants to Provide Nutritious Meals to Kids in Need

As part of a national dairy checkoff campaign, Midwest Dairy is partnering with local Subway® sandwich shops throughout the Midwest to raise money for the Fuel Up to Play 60 in-school nutrition program, and to raise awareness about Midwest dairy farmers’ support for youth wellness initiatives.

The Tackle Hunger program was created in partnership with the NFL as a larger initiative to bring more funding for GENYOUth’s Emergency School Meal Delivery Fund, which provides grants for schools to purchase supplies for meal distribution and delivery in an effort to get food to students during COVID-19. As a result of this partnership, participating Subway restaurants nationwide will be supporting this initiative with two promotions, including:
    Tackle Hunger*—Running October 1 through November 30, at participating restaurants, customers can donate to Fuel Up to Play 60 grants for local schools to continue delivering school meals during the pandemic. The stores will feature signage at checkout about the promotion, and funds raised will be distributed throughout the Midwest and nationwide.
    60-Cent, 6-inch Subs on Sundays with Fuel Up to Play 60*—Every Sunday, any child who uses the Fuel Up to Play 60 “Healthy Habits Tracker” can get a 6-inch sub for only 60 cents, with purchase of a meal. This offer runs October 1 through December 31 at participating restaurants, and all subs can include cheese and be paired with milk.

“All of the work being done on both a national and regional level with Fuel Up to Play 60 program, and with GENYOUth’s Emergency School Delivery Fund, demonstrates dairy farmers’ ongoing commitment to ensuring kids continue to receive the nutritious meals they need during the pandemic,” said Allen Merrill, chairman, Midwest Dairy. “We’re grateful for the work Subway restaurant owners and their teams are doing across our 10-state region to bring awareness to the work Midwest Dairy farmers are doing to support youth and their local communities.”

To find out more about all of the ways in which Midwest dairy farmers are working to support youth in their local communities, visit www.midwestdairy.com/community.



Enrollment Begins for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Programs for 2021

Agricultural producers can now make elections and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year. The signup period opened Tuesday, Oct. 13.  These key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety-net programs help producers weather fluctuations in either revenue or price for certain crops, and more than $5 billion in payments are in the process of going out to producers who signed up for the 2019 crop year.

“Although commodity prices are starting to show a glimmer of improvement, recent depressed prices and drops in revenue compounded by the effects of the pandemic have seriously impacted the bottom line for most agricultural operations,” said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “Through safety-net programs like ARC and PLC, we can help producers mitigate these financial stressors and keep the ag industry moving forward. Make time over the next few months to evaluate your program elections and enroll for the 2021 crop year.”

Enrollment for the 2021 crop year closes March 15, 2021.

ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guaranteed level. PLC provides income support payments on historical base acres when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its reference price.

Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

2021 Elections and Enrollment
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in crop-by-crop ARC-County or PLC, or ARC-Individual for the entire farm, for the 2021 crop year. Although election changes for 2021 are optional, enrollment (signed contract) is required for each year of the program. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2021, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.

If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2021, the election defaults to the current election for crops on the farm from the prior crop year.

For crop years 2022 and 2023, producers will have an opportunity to make new elections during those signups. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.

2019 Crop Year ARC and PLC Payments
FSA began processing payments last week for 2019 ARC-County (ARC-CO) and PLC on covered commodities that met payment triggers on farms enrolled for the 2019 crop year. In addition to the $5 billion now in process, FSA anticipates it will issue additional payments by the end of November for 2019 commodities covered under ARC-Individual (ARC-IC) and additional commodities that trigger PLC and ARC-CO payments for which rates have not yet been published.

Producers who had 2019 covered commodities enrolled in ARC-CO can visit the ARC and PLC webpage for payment rates applicable to their county and each covered commodity. For farms and covered commodities enrolled in 2019 PLC, the following crops met payment triggers: barley, canola, chickpeas (small and large), corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, peanuts, seed cotton and wheat.

Oats and soybeans did not meet 2019 PLC payment triggers.

2019 PLC payment rates for the following covered commodities have not been determined: crambe, flaxseed, long and medium grain rice, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, sesame seed, sunflower seed and temperate Japonica rice. Payment rates for these commodities will be announced at a later date.



NCBA Commends USDA For Increased Research On Brucella Species In Large Animal Outdoor Containment

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association's (NCBA) Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Kathy Simmons today issued the following statement in response to the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) announcing draft policy to allow animal health researchers to conduct brucellosis studies on cattle and other large animals that cannot be easily housed indoors.
 
“This announcement is welcome news for cattle producers that face uncertainty from wildlife, infected with brucellosis threatening the well-being of their animals and operations. Thank you to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Undersecretary Greg Ibach, and their teams, for developing this framework to advance our ability to control and eradicate brucellosis through improved opportunities to study disease transmission between cattle and wildlife. This expanded research is a good first step and NCBA will continue to work with the Trump administration to further protect producers from threats due to brucellosis.”

USDA’s Cooperative State Federal Brucellosis Eradication Program has made significant progress in eliminating the disease from most of the United States. Brucellosis results in production losses of less than $1 million today, down from a high of $400 million in the 1950's. Yet, continued advances are still needed — endemic Brucella abortus is expanding its range in the Greater Yellowstone area and Brucella suis is being found in feral swine populations throughout various areas of the United States.



MAP Price Close to Overtaking 2019's Price in Steady Six-Week Rise

For the fifth week in a row, five of the eight major fertilizers were lower in price while the remaining three nutrients were higher, according to prices tracked by DTN for the first week of October 2020.

A difference this week was one fertilizer was up a significant amount, which DTN designates as 5% or more. MAP was 5% more expensive compared to last month with an average price of $466/ton, a $21/ton increase.

Two other fertilizers were higher in price compared to the prior month, although the moves higher were fairly muted. DAP had an average price of $441/ton, up $7/ton, while urea was $361/ton, up $1/ton.

The remaining five fertilizers were slightly lower in price from last month. Potash had an average price of $335/ton, down $10/ton; 10-34-0 $457/ton, down $2/ton; anhydrous $424/ton, down $10/ton; UAN28 $209/ton, down $7/ton; and UAN32 $250/ton, down $3/ton.

On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.39/lb.N, anhydrous $0.26/lb.N, UAN28 $0.38/lb.N and UAN32 $0.39/lb.N.

Retail fertilizer prices continue to be considerably lower in price from a year ago. Both anhydrous and UAN28 are 17% lower, UAN32 is 14% less expensive, potash is 13% lower, urea is 11% less expensive, DAP is 7% lower, 10-34-0 is 3% less expensive and MAP is 1% lower from last year at this time.



American Soybean Association Seeks Candidates for Soy Scholarship

The American Soybean Association (ASA) wants to award a scholarship to an outstanding high school senior interested in pursuing agriculture.

The Soy Scholarship is a $5,000 one-time award presented to a high school senior who plans to pursue agriculture as an area of study at any accredited college or university in the 2021-22 academic year. The scholarship is managed by ASA and made possible through a grant the by BASF Corporation. High school seniors may apply online Oct. 14-Dec. 6, 2020.

“ASA is honored by the outstanding partnership that we share with BASF,” ASA President Bill Gordon said. “Investing in talented students pursuing careers in agriculture provides them with tools to help them achieve their goals and ensures the future of our industry.”

ASA and BASF have recognized students for their hard work and interest in agriculture through the Soy Scholarship since 2008.

“BASF is always looking for talented and enthusiastic students to apply their learning to contribute to the success of our customers. We are excited to continue our long-term partnership with ASA to award scholarships to deserving students who show a desire and passion for agriculture,” said Scott Kay, Vice President of U.S. Crop, BASF Agricultural Solutions.

The scholarship is awarded in $2,500 increments (one per semester) for the 2021-22 school year. The student must maintain successful academic progress and be in good standing with the college or university to receive the full amount of the scholarship.

Final selection will be made at the beginning of January by a committee of soybean grower-leaders. The student will be notified by mid-January, with an official announcement to follow and a presentation scheduled in the spring. Click here for more details... https://soygrowers.com/about/awards/soy-scholarship/.  



HELM Agro US Launches New Reviton Herbicide

HELM Agro US, Inc., a global manufacturer of high-quality crop protection and fertilizer products today announced that Reviton™ herbicide has received federal registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Reviton is a PPO-inhibitor herbicide with a novel active ingredient called Tergeo™. It is a non-selective herbicide for the preplant burndown and desiccation segments in field corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat.

In more than 700 North American product development trials and regulatory studies, Reviton has demonstrated extremely promising performance ratings in burndown control for more than 50 broadleaf and grass weeds, including ALS, triazine and glyphosate-resistant species.

Additional characteristics of the new herbicide include an ultra-low use rate, tank mix compatibility, crop rotational flexibility and expanded use as a desiccant for cotton. The new product is also fast-acting with herbicidal effects occurring within 24 hours after application.

Classified as a Group 14 herbicide, Reviton will be formulated as a suspension concentrate containing 2.83 pounds of active ingredient per gallon.

“I am proud of our teams research and development efforts, and their commitment to excellence in bringing Reviton to market,” said Dave Schumacher, President of HELM Agro US. “With EPA approval granted ahead of the 2021 season, growers have a new product to add to their weed control toolbox which will allow them to be more successful when combatting troublesome weeds and resistance issues.”

Tergeo is a new molecule discovered by Farm Hannong, a Korean agrochemical company, and developed and registered by ISK Biosciences Corporation, a subsidiary of Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd., for use in the United States. Earlier this year, HELM Agro US and ISK Biosciences Corporation agreed to collaborate regarding the distribution of Reviton herbicide for the U.S. crop protection market.

“At a time when few new herbicides are being brought to market, Reviton is truly breakthrough technology," says Schumacher. “At HELM, we have a passion for discovering new technology that will help shape the future of agriculture while creating greater value and profitability for our customers.”



Port of Brownsville Receives $14.5 Million Grant to Further Expand Agricultural Export Opportunities

The Port of Brownsville is reclaiming its status as a major exporter of agricultural products after receiving a $14.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve efficiency and safety of its grain storage and loading facilities.

The grant, deriving from the DOT Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, supports the development, expansion and upgrade of the port's three-million-bushel grain elevator operated by WestPlains, LLC.

The project consists of fixed landside, rail, road improvements, as well as related planning and other development activities. Once completed, the improvements will create a new cost-efficient option for all grain producers from the Rio Grande Valley and other parts of Texas and the U.S. to export goods around the world via the Port of Brownsville.

"This grant demonstrates the federal government's confidence in the Port of Brownsville and its commitment to support all industries across the Rio Grande Valley," said Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed. "We are thankful for all the support received from Senator John Cornyn, Congressman Filemon Vela, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, our Texas state delegation, the Cameron County leadership and other local public officials and businesses. Their efforts were instrumental in accomplishing our goal to provide local farmers a direct access to worldwide markets."

Beyond its growing agricultural operations, the Port of Brownsville ships more steel into Mexico than any other U.S. port. The port also is a major conduit for windmill components for installation throughout the Southwest.

"I am pleased that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Port of Brownsville over $14 million to support a project which will provide an efficient and safe export outlet for South Texas farmers," said Congressman Filemon Vela. "The Port of Brownsville is a major exporter of steel, aluminum and wind energy products in South Texas, and I look forward to seeing how the port will benefit from this grant to restore its business in agriculture."

WestPlains and the port entered into an agreement in 2016 to modernize and enhance the operational efficiency of the specialized dock, with the port investing $5 million in the project. The privately-held company has already made significant investments in Phase 1 of its improvement strategy at the facility and plans to demonstrate further confidence with significantly larger investments in Phase 2 to maximize capacities of WestPlains' Brownsville home. The company currently handles more than 300,000 metric tons of grains, including yellow corn, dried distillers grain, sorghum, milo and sugar.

Through this investment and with the port's structural improvements to the adjacent specialized bulk cargo dock – and after a 13-year pause in grain exports at the port – the facility began sorghum exports to China in August. WestPlains received the Chairman's Award in 2018 in recognition of the port investments and contributions to the economic growth of the region.

"WestPlains is very excited and grateful for receiving the port infrastructure grant from MARAD," said Amit Bhandari, Chairman & CEO of WestPlains. "We have a lot of demand from our customers to export sorghum, wheat, animal feed ingredients, and other commodities. Even during COVID-19 times, making the best our current facility's limitations, we've already sold five ships full of U.S. grains for export. When we complete the buildout of the new loading infrastructure, we'll be growing this business many-fold, which will result in more jobs in Brownsville and a more competitive export channel for Texas farmers."