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Plus: Pollinators Beeware & Ag Stocks Roundup
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JANUARY 15, 2021
Magnetic Ag News
Good morning.

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Using your custom link, spread the good [ag] news with your family, friends, and coworkers who love all things agriculture, and start racking up referrals for a Magnetic mug or t-shirt. All details on the scroll.

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MARKETS

Say What, WASDE?
Say, What?
@TheOffice | GIPHY
Corn and soybean data stole the show at Tuesday’s WASDE report reveal.

The commodity cousins duked it out for the top headline as 2020 corn yield projections tanked and soybean stocks were tight.

The rundown: A 3.8-bushel yield drop for corn was the first bomb to drop in the USDA’s report. The department noted that August’s derecho plus a pretty crispy summer knocked yields in the Corn Belt much more than expected. A projection dip this steep between the December and January reports hasn’t been seen in 30+ years.

On the soybean side, 35 million bushels evaporated from ending stocks, making farm economists mull over the word ‘shortage.’ But ultimately, the crop has experienced tighter supply squeezes, even in 2013-2014.

And yes, the markets noticed…

Within minutes of the USDA’s report, soybeans skyrocketed 60 cents and corn shot up to its daily limit.

What else we learned:
  • Growth in milk per cow and more dairy cows led to higher ‘20-’21 milk estimates.
  • Production estimates for beef ticked down on lower cattle slaughter.
  • Heavier pigs couldn’t offset the slowed slaughter rate as estimated supply dropped.
  • A 500K-bale decline in Texas took cotton production lower.
COMMODITY CORNER
Commodity Prices
*as of market close 1/14/21
  • Bullish follow-through from Tuesday's WASDE found its way into grains yesterday.
  • Dry weather in the Northern Plains is a supporting factor for bullish wheat.
  • Pork demand concerns continue to weigh down the hog market.
QUICK HITS
→ Need for speed lawsuits. John Deere filed patent infringement lawsuits against Kinze and Ag Leader, claiming the competitors’ newest equipment is a copycat of their speedy ExactEmerge planter row units.

→ Florida’s blueberry blues. A 75% spike in blueberry imports over the past five years had U.S. blueberry reps advocating to the ITC to change programs before Florida farms fall out of business.

→ Pilgrim’s Pride & Tyson bite the bullet. Both poultry behemoths settled portions of their involvement in an industry-wide price-fixing lawsuit with Pilgrim’s public settlement equaling $75 million.

→ ADM eyes alt-air-protein. The global commodity player led a $32 million Series A for Air Protein; a startup focused on blending carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen with other elements to produce a meat alternative.

→ Wild hogs be gone. The USDA will invest $11.65 million to help control feral swine populations that threaten livestock or natural resources across twelve states.

INSECTS

Bees on the Brink
Bees | Pollination
Sarah_Poroong | Getty Images
A federal court in San Francisco rejected the EPA’s bid to allow farmers to continue using sulfoxaflor, a systemic insecticide used for pests like tarnished plant bugs and aphids, which are becoming resistant to alternatives.

The backstory: The Center for Food Safety and Center for Biological Diversity sued EPA for reapproving the insecticide in 2019 without checking the Endangered Species Act box with a review.

EPA said touché. They pinky promised to conduct the risk assessment while the product was on the market.

Fool me once...fool me twice… In 2013, EPA’s registration of sulfoxaflor was canceled by the same court because they didn’t turn in their homework on the insecticide’s impact on bees.

What about ‘em anyway? The short and sweet is the bee industry contributes to national food security.

  • Commercial production of more than 90 crops relies on bee pollination.
  • Honey bees’ work as crop pollinators is estimated to be 10-20 times the total value of honey and beeswax.
  • Bee pollination accounts for about $15 billion in added crop value.

But climate change could smoke them out.

Penn State researchers found that different weather patterns, namely temperature and precipitation, affected wild bee populations more than land-use. To the dismay of wild bees everywhere, these unfavorable weather conditions are only expected to increase.

Help is on the way. Cue UC Davis’s efforts to create a bee rescue squad.

With a three-year, $900,000 grant, a team from the university will lead a cross-disciplinary and multi-campus team to research different factors impacting pollinator health and create new solutions helping beekeepers better manage the health and survival of colonies.

JUST FOR FUN

Speaking of bees, those persistent pollinators are on-the-go. Check it out:
Bee Map
PUBLIC MARKETS

Ag Stock Blitz
Stock Market
adrian825 | Getty Images Pro
2020 was a doozy for public markets, and agriculture wasn’t spared the rollercoaster ride.

But just as the boomerang of the Dow Jones and S&P 500 was a pleasant surprise, analysts are pretty chipper when it comes to agribusiness stocks in 2021. And those crop prices sure don’t hurt expectations. Here are some analysts' hot takes around the industry:


Cal-Maine Foods -- Quarantine baking didn’t hurt the largest U.S. producer of shell eggs in 2020. ‘Midwest large’ eggs tripled in price from March to May last year, and Cal-Maine notched a 4.6% tick up in year-over-year sales.

Deere & Company -- John Deere’s virtual reality experience at the Consumer Electronics Show is a sign of the times. But analysts also hope it’s a sign of the future - where Deere & Co will double down on tech and sell more software and data subscriptions. That ‘recurring revenue’ theme is music to any investor’s ears.

Nutrien -- Motley Fool called Nutrien the ‘Boring, Safe Stock’ of 2021...and that’s a huge compliment. The fertilizer and farming input giant is getting lots of eyeballs with its tech investments and service offerings that investors hope will create consistent, steady growth.

FRIDAY'S FEATURED GIGS


Area Growth Managers | Performance Livestock Analytics
→ PLA is looking for a handful of Growth Managers across multiple U.S. beef and cattle territories. If working with feedlot producers, vets, and nutritionists is up your alley, you will want to learn more here.

Director of Product, Data as a Service (DaaS) | The Climate Corporation
→ Do you see the future of data in agriculture? Create the vision and product roadmap that turns data into actionable insights for farmer customers. Apply today.

Agriculture Systems Technology Leader  | MaxYield Cooperative
→ Are you an agtech implementer and teacher? Lead a company-wide effort to upgrade systems, identify opportunities, and facilitate learning across an innovative 25-location cooperative. Learn more here.
REFER & REWARD
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Written by: Travis Martin & Savanna Barksdale
 
 
 

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