Good Morning.
All those potholes or rocky dirty roads in your town have now been studied and categorized by the USDA's Economic Research Service. Sort of.
The ERS built out a Road Ruggedness Scale, which is not something used to evaluate country music song lyrics (yet)—but is looking at the benefits and downsides of "rugged terrain" in rural communities. This is especially important for anyone in ag trying to transport products up and down back roads, of course, especially when bad weather is involved.
You can check out your region's road ruggedness here.
Stories:
Oops! For the record:
In our story earlier this week about base acreage, we misstated the American Soybean Association's position on the matter, saying that ASA "agreed an update may be warranted, but not without a higher reference price." However, according to the organization, they are suggesting the farm bill "provide producers an option for a voluntary base update to reflect a more recent, defined period of time while allowing new acres to be protected by ARC and PLC."
As an additional clarification, the base update would be for the purposes of Title I's ARC and PLC, not crop insurance acres as the original article stated.
Thank you to the ASA for pointing out the discrepancy, and we apologize for being off base on such a critical topic's nuances.
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Ruffled Feathers at Tyson |
Things at Tyson aren’t im-peck-able.
Birds of a feather apparently can’t stick together: Tyson Foods Inc. announced it will shut down four poultry plants—one in Arkansas, one in Indiana, and two in Missouri. They’re expected to end operations within the first two quarters of fiscal 2024.
Early bird, no worm: Last year, Tyson incorrectly predicted the future demand of chicken. Shares for Tyson closed around 4% on Monday and fell 10% earlier. Net income for the quarter ending July 1 was 15 cents per share; that’s down 92% from a year before.
That quarter also saw Tyson recording a loss of $417M. Last year, the company MADE $750M in the same quarter. Feathers officially ruffled. Closing the four plants is an effort for Tyson to reduce costs.
Toil and trouble: As for the employees of the plants that are closing, Tyson encourages them to apply for positions at other sites and would help with relocation benefits where applicable.
The plot chickens: Tyson had announced earlier this year it would close two other facilities in Arkansas and Virginia. And it also moved all its corporate employees to one location in Springdale, Arkansas. Before? Corporate locations in Chicago; Downers Grove, Illinois; and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. Not as many chickens crossing roads these days.
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→ Acres of gold. Cropland value in the U.S. continues to rise, with overall average value going up more than 8% this year to $5,460/acre.
→ E-i-e-i-GMO. More than half of all harvested acres in the U.S. include crop varieties with at least one genetically modified trait.
→ Diesel prices firing up. Oil production has been cut in some regions, which has caused diesel prices to increase, once again climbing over the $4/gallon mark.
→ AGs say: "Get on with it." Two attorneys general from the Midwest are suing the EPA for dragging its feet on authorizing year-round E15 sales.
→ Index increase. The Food Price Index was on the rise again for the second time since April, spurred in part by the end of the Black Sea grain initiative and the ensuing supply worries.
→ New facility, who dis? There’s a new ag export facility in Milwaukee, and it’s expected to increase export volume by 400K metric tons/year and bring in $63M.
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Botany houseplants lately? There’s a new one on the market: Neo P1 by Neoplants. You can preorder it now for $179 a plant.
This is not an ad for houseplants, but you might want to buy one after reading.
Neoplants, a Parisian startup, has created genetically modified houseplants to combat indoor air pollution. Neo P1, was developed from golden pothos, aka devil’s ivy, aka the plant you see in just about every office and every plant lover’s home.
Same look, new purpose: P1 can detox the VOCs. It was engineered to pull volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air.
You’ve heard of formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene—chemicals we know we’re living with on the daily, but prefer not to think about. These are VOCs.
P1 converts absorbed VOCs into sugar and carbon dioxide to help it grow.
Pot it like it’s hot. P1 begins in agar, is transplanted to biochar-rich soil in a pot with max airflow, and then sold with bacteria (Power Drops) to add to the soil monthly to help the plant metabolize absorbed VOCs.
Plant-astic data: In a recent study of regular plants vs GMO plants, Neoplants’ P1 was 30 times more effective at reducing certain pollutants than plants analyzed in a famous NASA Clean Air Study, the company says. One P1 can remove all the VOCs emitted in a 16x9 room.
When can I get one? "We’re going to open another batch of 100-200 plants for pre-order at the end of this year, and if everything works well, we’ll open up broader sales in summer to fall 2024 when we can provide people with a significant number of plants." — Dr. Patrick Torbey, Neoplants Co-Founder
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Apparently everyone wants to get their hands on some blue corduroy. National FFA membership is at an all-time high, boasting more than 945K members!
Do you remember what all of the following symbols from the FFA emblem stand for?
- Cross-section ear of corn
- Rising sun
- Plow
- Owl
- Eagle
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Agrivoltaics: all the buzz that most people have never heard of.
Agri-what? Agrivoltaics, or solar grazing, is using land for both agricultural and solar energy production, and it’s an idea that’s gaining steam. Big solar projects need many of the same things a grazing pasture does: fencing, grass to keep erosion at bay, and something to keep the grass from overgrowing.
With agrivoltaics, farmers get access to grazing lands, and solar companies get lawn care. It can be a win-win, and with the Department of Energy estimating a need for over 10M acres for solar production by 2050 to meet green energy goals, the need for production agriculture and energy to coexist is only growing.
An uneasy partnership: Solar energy development and production agriculture haven’t always seen eye-to-eye though.
Agrivoltaics proponents are hopeful that finding ways to adapt solar panels to allow production agriculture just might change some attitudes. There are currently 77 solar array projects that include grazing or cropland harvesting.
Congressional help: Early this summer, the bipartisan Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act was introduced in Congress. The bill would authorize $75M to expand the industry, giving the USDA $15M annually for 5 years to develop best practices.
Soundbite: "Expanding agrisolar is all about maximizing our resources to grow both food and renewable energy on the same piece of land, while at the same time diversifying revenue sources for farmers." — Steve Thompson, Executive Director of the National Center for Appropriate Technology
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1. Unity 2. Progress 3. Roots in the labor of the soil 4. Wisdom
5. Freedom
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Written & Edited by Sheridan Wimmer, Amelia VanLandegen, Jen Hill and Ashley Scoby
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