Good morning.
What do you get when you combine two seemingly opposite hobbies, like scuba diving and gardening?
Well... a possible agricultural revolution.
Off the coast of Italy, a father and son duo started Nemo's Garden, an underwater cultivation system of terrestrial plants—believed to be the first such operation in the world.
The family had previously founded an underwater gear company, but then thought to themselves, What if we planted some basil in an underwater balloon? The idea only blossomed from there. Read more about the possibility of underwater crop cultivation here.
Stories:
- Debt Ceiling Download
- Chilly Start to the Planting Season
- Climate-Smart Gets Its Start
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Elisank29 from Getty Images
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The Limit, Save, and Grow Act was a hot topic on the Hill last week. Despite commodity group clashes and SNAP benefit battles, the House of Representatives voted to approve the act.
The Limit, Save, and Grow Act of 2023 looks to lower spending over 10 years while raising the debt ceiling for one.
Split over SNAP: One change in the act is a revision to the existing work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD), which would lead to fewer people getting assistance.
The proposed changes would adjust the age ranges required to work or pursue training or education for at least 20 hours a week. But not everyone is on board with the changes—or the decision to work on the SNAP requirements through a debt limit bill rather than through the farm bill.
Tangent: At the ag subcommittee meeting this week, insurance talk dominated the conversation. Commodity trade group leaders asked for farm bill protection of increased risk management programs and foreign market access to support farmers in the current… sketchy economy.
Groups agreed that supply chain disruptions and heightened costs have made margins tight and cut the effectiveness of commodity and crop insurance programs. Exactly what changes are needed to fix that was the rub, leaving commodity groups giving conflicting opinions on the necessary changes.
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→ It’s gonna be May, and… the Corn Belt is set to experience cool, wet weather for the first part of the month—although it won’t be enough moisture to end the region’s drought.
→ Talkin’ trade. Chinese President Xi Jingping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation to discuss how the two countries could continue trading amidst the ongoing war with Russia.
→ Ditching duplications. Two new bills could help streamline Technical Service Provider and Certified Crop Adviser trainings and accreditations, after years of duplicative processes.
→ Berry good yields. Despite a delayed harvest because of frosts in January and February, strawberry yields in Texas are looking to be above average.
→ Smoother yields? Ten years of peanut genome research should lead to additional revenue for the peanut industry, plus breeding tools for better yields, disease and drought resistance, and more.
→ Ethanol expansion? The U.S. is already exporting about 80M gallons of ethanol to South Korea, but the Chairman of the U.S. Grains Council thinks that could increase.
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Chilly Start to the Planting Season |
That old adage "It’s better late than never" is especially true for farmers still looking to get a crop in the field after various delays.
Mother Nature still has not been the most cooperative in the Dakotas and Minnesota. While some North Dakota farmers can finally get some seeds in the ground for crops that can withstand frosty temps, most in the area are behind schedule.
Persistent cold snaps: Meanwhile, crops are taking it on the chin in the Eastern Corn Belt. Below-normal temperatures brought adverse conditions for already-planted crops that could have caused damage.
Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie said soybean seeds planted between April 3 and April 10 had it the worst, as temperatures dropped below 28°F in Illinois (otherwise known as a killing freeze).
Soundbite: "Corn can often survive a 'simple' frost event, wherein the exposed leaf tissue is damaged by the frost, but the growing point is not exposed to truly lethal temperatures." – Bob Nielsen, Purdue University Extension emeritus agronomist
Timing is everything: Ferrie said seed corn is the most vulnerable the first 48 hours after planting. And they are more vulnerable to a killing freeze in soil and soil water temperatures below 50°F.
Where this goes: Thankfully, not all the news is bitter, as one agronomist points out that early-planted seeds in Wisconsin should survive the blustery conditions before emerging. And with a quarter of the corn crop planted, much of the growing season is left to go.
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Orange production in the U.S. is __% of what it was in 2000. Top orange producing states are California, Florida, and Texas—and this year, California is on pace to pass Florida as the leading state.
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Climate-Smart Gets Its Start |
Climate-Smart got its start last week, nearly 16 months after Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made the initial announcement.
The deetz: $3.1B, triple the amount originally budgeted, is being spent on 141 pilot projects. Incentives will be given to producers in these projects to "adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands."
Round 1 includes $2.8B for 70 projects, with 29 of them involving 45 major commodities already active. Round 2 provides an additional $325M for 71 smaller projects.
Soundbite: "The game’s changing. Farming is no longer about what food is produced; it’s also about how food is produced," Vilsack said.
We’re all in this together… A learning network of representatives from each state will collect, measure, and validate data and document their lessons learned. Once everything is up and running, more than 60K farms and 25M acres will sequester 60M tonnes of carbon in the soil and trees.
Do your homework: One of the biggest grants—$80M—is going to Virigina Tech, who will pay farmers in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Virginia $100/acre for three years if they apply climate-smart practices to crop and livestock production. The project has the capacity to enroll 4,500 farmers and 500K acres.
Interested in extra credit? Learn how you can participate by visiting the Projects Dashboard for information on partner projects. Sign-ups open soon!
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17%. You can catch the breakdown by state here.
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Written & Edited by Kelsey Faivre, Dawson Schmitt, Amelia VanLandegen, and Ashley Scoby
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