Good morning.
Organic, permaculture, biodynamic, sustainable: these days, there's no shortage of buzzwords in the ag world.
So, in its latest Consumer Food Insights Report, Purdue put respondents to the test with a new question: how do you define "regenerative?"
(Now, no cheating: think of your own answer before clicking.)
More Purdue survey results on the click, and more news on the scroll…
Stories:
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Going Green v. Going Green: The Atrazine Debate |
fotokostic from Getty Images
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The EPA has put atrazine on the chopping block (well… at least on the trimming table).
And many folks aren’t happy.
Refresher: Back in 2020, the EPA determined that an "aquatic level of concern" for the herbicide was 15 parts per billion (ppb).
But in June, the EPA changed its tune—proposing a mere 3.4 ppb threshold.
Atrazine is a common herbicide used widely in the production of corn, grain sorghum, sugar cane, and other crops.
And even though it’s been used for over 50 years, herbicide tolerance among weed species is very rare. Score.
So… what’s the issue? The EPA states that the 2020 decision "was not adequately supported by science."
If enacted, farmers in watersheds with atrazine levels above the max level would be required to implement one or more of a "picklist" of mitigation practices, including limiting preemergence application, implementing contour farming, etc.
And to say there’s been some concern is… ahem… a bit of an understatement.
In a public comment period that ended earlier this month, over 16K farmers and organizations under the direction of the Triazine Network coalition submitted requests urging the EPA not to change the rule.
Along with expected decreases in yields and significant cost increases for farmers, the coalition members also cited environmental concerns—stating that atrazine limitations would result in the abandonment of conservation-friendly no-till practices.
Where this goes: The proposal will now be reviewed by a Scientific Advisory Panel, and you can bet that farmers and the ag industry will continue the noble crusade.
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→ Crappy crab season. In Alaska, snow crab season is canceled because of low stocks; the Fish and Game Department there says only 23% of the population remains and efforts will shift to conservation.
→ Powerhouse partnership. In a new deal, Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks have joined forces to accelerate R&D of ag biological products.
→ Greener pastures. U.S. dairy farmers are milking nearly 1M fewer cows than in 2007—but producing the same amount of milk and becoming more sustainable, thanks to technological developments.
→ Timely payments. More than 13K distressed farm loan borrowers have received almost $800M in USDA assistance—part of the overall $3.1B in assistance reserved for farm loan borrowers in the Inflation Reduction Act.
→ Pigging out on pork. It’s National Pork Month, and pork sales are trending upward, thanks in part to higher prices for other proteins.
→ Freezing out pests. An NC State study shows that soil temperature could be used to monitor and predict corn earworm’s spread—hopefully giving farmers a new tool to control the common pest.
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No Dairy Industry FOMO on FMMO |
The 1930s have been calling—and they want their dairy challenges back.
More than 180 representatives from the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Milk Producers Federation, dairy cooperatives, processors, state dairy associations, and dairy farmers from across the country met for the first industry-wide Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Forum.
Backstory: The FMMO started in the Depression era when dairy farmers asked Congress to offset the imbalance of power: few buyers, but a lot of dairy farmers. The purpose is to ensure there’s enough fluid milk for drinkin’ and that dairy farmers have reliable markets.
Get with the times: This marks the first time the dairy industry has said, "We’re all in this together," without being separated into factions with differing goals. Farmers and industry reps discussed FMMO modernization, including Class price formulas, de-pooling, and more.
The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Milk Producers Federation issued a joint statement on the need for FMMO improvements following the meeting, and other organizations poured on their support.
Soundbite: "We have a lot of producers, and we have fewer buyers. There is an imbalance of market power. That imbalance existed in the 1930s," said Dana Coale, a USDA Agricultural Marketing Service deputy administrator over the dairy program.
How this mooooves forward: The statement from AFBF and NMPF says they anticipate "a hearing conducted by USDA in 2023 that could address FMMO price formulas."
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This time of year, the great debate always begins again: is candy corn delicious… or terrible? Odds are, you believe one or the other. But the hot-button candy (invented in the 1880s) had a unique nickname near the turn of the century. Any guesses on what candy corn used to be called?
- Candy corn kernels
- Chicken feed
- Sweet corn
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Turn on Long Hot Summer Day by Turnpike Troubadours and keep on reading…
But first, railroads: While there’s been a bright light in shipping agricultural products by rail in the fourth quarter, a new tide is shifting because of labor.
We all remember the potential railroad strike that was narrowly avoided, which would have cost $2B per day in lost economic activity. Well, now workers aren’t too enthused to hop back on the train… so to speak.
Get a half a day off with pay: When COVID hit, thousands of railroad employees were furloughed. When COVID restrictions lifted and things got a little better, workers weren’t pumped to go back to work, with issues mostly tied to wages and paid time off for medical appointments. Hence potential strikes.
Old tow boat pickin’ up barges: Now there are issues with shipping exports of soybeans and corn because the Mississippi River is the lowest it’s been in more than three decades. A stretch of the river was closed to dredge sediment from the bottom, and they found a 19th century shipwreck.
But shippers are feeling like they’re walking the plank because low rainfall and low river levels means barges have loading limitations to avoid hitting rock bottom.
Shippers looked into using shuttle trains, but they were bid up to $2K per car over tariff. With prices like those, sellers aren’t in a hurry to buy freight if they don’t have to.
Large barge: Barge prices are setting records. According to the USDA, the barge rate for export grain at St. Louis was 1,250% of tariff and up 58% from a year earlier (as of Sept. 27) and a whopping 95% above the five-year average.
The cost of shipping commodities like corn, soybeans, and other grains reached $105.85 on Oct. 11. Compare that to $28.45 on Oct. 5, 2021—ouch.
The low river also impacts the rate of exporting products; soybeans and corn are trailing their normal autumn pace.
The trucking track: Trucking rates have been falling because of declining demand and increased availability. Drivers are resisting longer hauls, they are focused on fall row crop commodities, and farmers drive trucks themselves.
At the beginning of October, contracted rates for truck freight averaged $2.71 per mile. Spot rates, or short-term, transactional pricing that reflects the real-time balance of supply and demand in the market, were at $2.64 per mile.
Lots to unpack… both in keeping up with the news of shipping exported grain, and with unpacking barges.
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Chicken feed. George Renninger, an employee of Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia, molded his buttercream (composed largely of, you guessed it: corn syrup) candy into corn kernel shapes.
Renninger would throw the proto-candy toward the family’s chickens and would know when he had the perfect shape "when the chickens finally started coming after the corn." That, combined with the common belief at the time that corn was primarily livestock feed, led to the candy being known as "chicken feed."
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Written & Edited by Kevin Cross, Rachel Robinson, Sheridan Wimmer, Amelia VanLandegen, Ashley Scoby, and Travis Martin
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