Good morning.
If you've been on the internet at all over the past couple years, you probably know the face of farmer David Brandt.
A picture of him on his Ohio farm became a wildly popular meme after someone added a quote from David onto the picture: "It ain't much, but it's honest work." (We've certainly used that meme a time or two here at Magnetic.)
Sadly, David passed away this week. He leaves behind a legacy of not only a viral internet trend—but also of sustainable ag practices and soil health.
It's honest work, and we appreciate your service, David.
Stories:
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Wheat Goes Wild: Yield Tanks and Markets Yo-Yo |
Things are pretty wacky in wheat world—to say there’s "a lot going on" is a bit of an understatement.
Bad times in the breadbasket: The Wheat Quality Council just wrapped up its 2023 Hard Winter Wheat Tour across Kansas, and what they found, although somewhat expected, was very concerning.
The Tour predicted an average of 30 bushels per acre (bpa) across the Sunflower State.
But keep in mind: that’s only for harvested acres.
At this point, tour participants are expecting a 26.75% abandonment rate, which is certainly higher than normal.
On top of that, they are predicting a total harvest of only 178M bushels—the worst Kansas wheat crop in 60 years.
So what’s the cause of all of this mayhem?
Major freeze damage was noted during the Wheat Tour, but the primary foe was, of course, drought (cue that broken record).
At least that’s the only thing wheat farmers have to worry about right now… not.
Wheat ‘n’ Wild: Farmers and marketers are experiencing a bit of vertigo as they ride out the recent back-and-forth wheat market.
Lower production expectations (see above) had markets looking rather bearish, but when marketers finally woke up and realized that Europe had been sending over milling wheat for the past three months, the bull reared its ugly head.
And although it’s (in the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres) certainly "good news for the world," the announcement of another two-month extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative tanked U.S. wheat markets as well.
There are certainly some rally opportunities ahead, but for now, it’s "wait and see."
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→ Building biosafety. There was a ribbon-cutting this week for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which will be used by scientists to study critical animal diseases.
→ More right to repair docs. More farmers will have the right to repair their own equipment, after the American Farm Bureau Federation signed two memoranda of understanding with AGCO and Kubota.
→ Land pricing plateau? After a streak of historically high-value land sales, farmland value is predicted to stagnate heading into the next year.
→ Atypical finding. In South Carolina, there was a confirmed atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in a beef cow; the U.S. is still considered at negligible risk status for the disease.
→ We have a deal! After a year of negotiation, the 7 states depending on the Colorado River for water resources have reached an agreement that dictates water cuts over the next 3 years from Arizona, California, and Nevada.
→ Weed wranglin’. Because of widespread warm weather, weeds (especially ragweed) are emerging early across the Midwest, and experts are warning farmers to take control of the situation as soon as possible.
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Cattle Inventory Continues to Drop |
eyecrave from Getty Images Signature
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The latest USDA Cattle on Feed Report indicated yet another drop in U.S. cattle inventory.
By the numbers:
- As of May 1, there were 11.61M head on feedlots, down 3.4% from last May.
- April feedlot placements totaled 1.75M head, about 4% lower than 2022.
- April fed cattle marketing dropped 10% from the previous year.
Dang drought: Overall drought conditions across much of the nation have improved since last fall. However, according to the USDA, over 40% of the country is still in some level of drought.
Many of the largest cow producing areas have been hit the hardest. In 2022, 93% of beef cattle were in states where most of the range was rated "very poor" to "fair," leading to high culling rates.
Adding to the trouble, there’s a nationwide hay storage: stocks are currently 13% below the previous year, a decade low.
Market impacts: With the entire U.S. beef herd at a 60-year low, prices are expected to stay higher as slaughter numbers tighten. Recent sales have fed steers bringing $166.50/cwt, a 15% increase from last year. Feeder steers are forecasted to go as high as 24% up from 2022.
The USDA predicts 2024 beef production will be down a whopping 8%, strengthening arguments for a continued high market.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection just intercepted two giant African snails at the Louisville Port of Entry. While intended for human consumption, these snails are a risk not only to human health, but buildings and ecosystems.
What do the snails like to eat? Select all that apply.
- Ash
- At least 500 different types of plants
- Coffee grounds
- Eggshells
- Plaster
- Stucco
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Susannah Townsend from baseimage
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Fill ‘er up: Approximately 30-40% of the U.S. food supply ends up in landfills. That’s 133B pounds, or $161B worth of food waste.
And if food waste were its own country, it’d be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter. Initiatives from the EPA and USDA to reduce waste in half by 2030 would intentionally use more wasted food—such as converting it to animal feed.
Chain reactions: Food waste occurs at all stages of the supply chain. But as it moves closer to the consumer, the likelihood of it being converted to animal feed decreases.
For instance, the manufacturing or processing sector converts 80% of its food waste to animal feed. Only 5% ends up in a landfill. Conversely, in the restaurant industry, 97% goes to a landfill. Holy mole!
Trying to get feta: Studies are testing how to upcycle food that doesn’t get consumed. But there are some caveats, like the ban on feeding mammalian protein products back to ruminant animals to prevent diseases. But some projects are working to minimize the impacts of food waste:
- Tacoma: A garbage can transforms waste into chicken feed by turning domestic kitchen scraps into a dehydrated powder.
- Las Vegas: A desert (not dessert) company makes sure it’s sustainable by feeding hogs food waste instead of growing crops. The machine they use separates packaging from the wasted food, then pasteurizes the material. Once the bacteria are cooked out, it goes on feed trucks, then fed to pigs. They process 30 tons of food scraps daily.
- Connecticut: Bright Feeds uses sensors and algorithms to convert food waste into animal feed. Their sensors measure nutrients, while algorithms help blend the food waste into a consistent feed.
- New Jersey: Each day, Do Good Foods upcycles 160 tons of food waste from grocery surpluses into chicken feed. In its first year, Do Good Chicken diverted more than 27M pounds of surplus food from landfills.
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Plaster, stucco, and at least 500 different types of plants. Giant African snails put buildings at risk—but also humans, as they can carry a parasitic nematode that can cause meningitis.
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Written & Edited by Kevin Cross, Jen Hill, Sheridan Wimmer, Amelia VanLandegen, and Ashley Scoby
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