Get this email from a friend? Sign up.

MAY 12, 2023

TOGETHER WITH:

Good morning.

Do you remember what you were up to when you were 14? 

Probably nothing nearly as cool as 14-year-old Holstein, Nor-Bert Colby Connie. The dairy cow in Indiana just broke the record for most lifetime milk production—at a whopping 486,300 pounds. 

That's the equivalent of 56,547 gallons of milk, or enough cheese for 129,680 12-inch pizzas. We'd love to graze on that. 

And introverts, take heart from this story: you, too, can achieve greatness. According to her owners, Connie is low-maintenance, and "prefers to be alone and doing her own thing." A solo queen!

Stories:

• Pesky Pest Planting Problems
• Farm Bill on The Hill: Safety Net Talks Heat Up
• Nitrogen Sensors Prevent Waste

AGRONOMY

GIPHY

Swarming to the planting party: bugs.

Soilmates: When cool weather slows soil temperatures from warming, below-ground insects can become major crop pests.

Since insecticide protection included in a seed treatment is only active for 21 days, and it takes a corn plant that long to emerge in cooler temperatures, it makes the plant susceptible to pest and disease pressure. Wireworm, white grub, and seed corn maggots can all make an appearance: you know, things you’d see on Fear Factor.

Experts suggest some farmers should wait to plant until it warms up a bit to allow the plant to emerge and defend itself once the activation time is up.  

The lesser of two weevils: It’s difficult to scout for some bugs, like white grubs and seed corn maggots because they are in the soil. Others, like wireworms, can come to the soil surface early in the season. When they do their damage, farmers will need to assess replanting decisions.

But pests like corn borer, armyworm, or corn earworm will impact a farmer all season because they induce stalk rot or infection.

A real mothpit: Not only do farmers need to worry about below-ground insects, but moths are going to crops like… moths to a flame. They can’t feed on corn crops yet, but the number of black cutworm moths caught in pheromone traps indicates a problem awaits for farmers. Crying in mothballs.

Left, left, left, right, left: True armyworms work like an army, marching across fields—and they have orders to invade corn and wheat. Predicting them is difficult because they switch up migration patterns, but there are signs they could be yet another big problem. Some Midwest pheromone traps have seen well over 200 of them, indicating high pressure.

Farmers should also scout for these moths:

• Corn borer
• Corn earworm
• Fall armyworm
• Western bean cutworm

Global worming: BASF says Corn Belt farmers could see more corn rootworm this season. While these guys don’t like wet soils, they love early planting. These worms cost U.S. growers $1B in yield loss annually.

The only solution: seed treatments and insecticides, but some are showing signs of resistance. You give them an inch… they take a mile.

→ Prop 12 decision in. After pork producers challenged California’s Proposition 12, which would ban pork sales from facilities that housed pigs in pens below a certain size, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law.

→ Dried grains market not so dry. The U.S. Grains Council was recently in Seoul, as South Korea has taken the spot for third-largest market for U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS).  

→ Get off our lawn. A new rule proposal from the U.S. Treasury Department would prevent foreign countries from buying land within 100 miles of several military bases. 

→ Corn (markets) on the move. China has started canceling corn purchases from the U.S. amidst growing trade tensions, and South Africa just sent its first cargo of corn (2.1M bushels) to the Asian nation. 

→ Co-operation needed. As the dairy industry moves towards modernization of milk pricing, co-ops have led the way.  

→ Land gold. In Brazil, record-high corn and soybean prices have come with another consequence: a spike in farmland values. 

AG POLICY

revive from Getty Images Signature

Capitol Hill was hoppin’ last week as multiple witnesses appeared in Senate committee hearings to promote the importance of something kinda big:

The Farm Bill.

In their testimonies, industry advocates focused on two major topics: crop insurance and the farm safety net.

Insurance: Citing its unmatched value in risk management, advocates noted that crop insurance is sometimes what keeps farms in business.

Witnesses also noted the important risk mitigation that insurance offers to ag lenders (and thus, farmers’ access to loans)—and subsequently, the effects on the wider rural economy, including equipment dealers, input suppliers, and farm service providers.

Raising the bar net: Those testifying also largely promoted the importance of upping reference prices for the Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage programs. Invoking skyrocketing input costs, advocates explained that current funding levels don’t provide much "safety" in their net. 

But not everyone is on the same page.

The Little Guys: In their recap, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the hearings lacked witnesses from diverse settings, noting these producers often have little access to many Farm Bill programs.

Budget Hawk(eye): Citing USDA farm definitions and the major Farm Bill beneficiaries, Senator Chuck Grassley (IA) said, "Farm safety is there to help mitigate losses, not just improve producers’ bottom lines," in an opinion that focused on the National Debt.

And he’s right (kind of). The Farm Bill is expected to cost $1.5T over the next 10 years. But 80% of those dollars go toward one thing utilized by 42M Americans and 1 in 4 kiddos across the country: SNAP.

SPONSORED BY GRAIN MARKET INSIDER

There’s no crystal ball for the grain market. But we believe this is pretty close.

Welcome to Grain Market Insider, a new service from Stewart-Peterson. It’s where corn, soy, and wheat farmers get daily commentary, market recommendations, weather, and more to make the best market decisions for their farms. Plus, understand the "why" behind those choices. So you feel confident in the direction you’re headed.

You want to maximize your profits — and we think that now you finally have the straightforward tools to do exactly that. Insights will come straight to your phone, with 3x/day texts and emails.

So easy, you can make marketing decisions right from the field.

Grain Market Insider is priced at a low $39.99/month. Because we believe every farmer deserves the insight and confidence to maximize their livelihood.

But that price is only after a free 60-day trial — exclusively available to Magnetic Ag subscribers. Sign up here.

Disclaimer: Grain Market Insider is a service of Stewart-Peterson Inc., a publishing company. Futures and options trading involve significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for everyone. Therefore, carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.

ICYMI: There’s a new dairy campaign and it isn’t "got milk?" The latest ad highlights "wood milk" and calls out plant-based milk alternatives. Which actor or actress is featured in the ad?

1. Aubrey Plaza
2. Amy Poehler
3. Chris Pratt
4. Nick Offerman

Answer at the bottom of the email.

AGTECH

EnGeniousAg, photo by Christopher Gannon

Ask any farmer what input costs are giving them the most heartburn and you’ll hear a resounding, "fertilizer!"

With the sky-high price of nitrogen, plus constant battle against runoff, wasted nitrogen is a hard-to-stomach problem. Enter EnGeniousAg’s nitrogen sensors, which are designed to reduce nitrogen waste.

How it works: EnGeniousAg sensors utilize microelectronic mechanical systems similar to those used in wearable human health monitors. Employed directly in the field, they allow farmers to instantly measure nitrogen levels in crops.

Immediate results mean producers can make timely decisions about fertilizer applications rather than waiting for lab tests.

Soundbite: "EnGeniousAg sensors avoid the complex issues of trying to estimate optimal fertilizer application rates from soil nitrate tests. Variation in soil chemistry, crop genetics, and other factors all complicate the job of figuring out how much of the nitrate that crop plants can access and use. Our sensors measure nitrate levels in the plants themselves." — EnGeniousAg Co-Founder James Schnable

By the numbers:

• It’s estimated that farmers lose more than 2B pounds of fertilizer to runoff each year. That’s the equivalent of more than $1B in waste and lost yield.
• As much as 30% of corn acres don’t actually benefit from the application of nitrogen.
• Correctly identifying those acres could save farmers a whopping $6B annually.

What’s next: EnGeniousAg just landed a $1M grant from the National Science Foundation to administer large-scale field tests as they commercialize the sensors.

Have friends or coworkers who'd love our newsletter too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get Magnetic gear when you hit certain referral counts.

Your link: 

*Curious where you stand? You can always check your referral hub and see rewards here.

A. Aubrey Plaza. The ad is funded through MilkPEP and hopes to get people to question what they’re buying and how nutritious those selections actually are.

Written & Edited by Sheridan Wimmer, Kevin Cross, Jen Hill, Amelia VanLandegen, and Ashley Scoby

Were you forwarded this email? Sign up here.

Best jobs in agriculture → Magnetic Ag Job Board

ADVERTISE

Not feeling Magnetic anymore?

Break our hearts and unsubscribe here.

Magnetic Ag
11500 N Ambassador Drive, Suite 306
Kansas City, MO 64153
United States