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August 18, 2023

Good Morning. 

We're (obviously) big fans of cows over here at Magnetic. But now even more so. 

After an on-campus shooting earlier this year, the Michigan State University Dairy deployed its team of cows (yes, cows) to comfort the students and anyone else impacted. About 800 people showed up to get their cow cuddles. 

As MSU dairy manager Jim Good said, cows are "gentle giants" and even just petting one can bring some zen—which the MSU community desperately needed. 

And we'll cheers (with milk?) to that. 

Stories:

• Battle of the Bacon: Prop 12 vs. EATS Act

• HarvestPlus Working to End Hidden Hunger

• Busy as Bees: BeeHero Expands into In-Field Tech

POLICY

GIPHY

Attorneys general are hamming it up together over legislation.

Drop the prop: A group of 16 attorneys general teamed up in a letter to Congress to support the EATS Act (Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act). This legislation, introduced in June by Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, is an effort to pull the ol’ switcheroo on the recently upheld decision by the Supreme Court on California’s Proposition 12.

Bring home the bacon: Prop 12 made agricultural headlines because it requires other states to comply with strict farming regulations to sell pork and egg products in California. Oftentimes laws like these increase cost of production for producers to adhere to the regulations, in turn increasing costs of food for consumers.

Rabobank estimates at least 15% of U.S. hog producers would face "considerable cost" to convert their operations—upwards of $1,600 to $2,500 per sow for a new barn in order to meet California’s pork housing regulations.

Feats with EATS: The EATS Act would prevent states from setting nationwide regulations on farmers and ranchers. The act supports state and local governments to regulate agriculture within their own borders.

Soundbite: "California needs to keep their hands off our bacon. No other state should be dictating how Iowans farm, let alone California’s bureaucrats. The EATS Act stops California’s overreach and gives state attorneys general the tools they need to fight for farmers and ranchers. We urge Congress to pass the EATS Act and stand up for livestock producers across the nation." — Attorney General Brenna Bird of Iowa

→ Flying high. The federal aviation administration has approved Pyka’s "Pelican" uncrewed crop spraying aircraft. 

→ Mad about mad cow. To protect its beef trade with the U.S., Brazil needs more timely reporting on cattle diseases, especially mad cow, according to a "stern" Tom Vilsack. 

→ Converging for vets. A new Veterinary Medicine Caucus is set to start in the U.S. Senate to address some of the challenges the industry is facing. 

→ CAFO drama. The EPA is setting up a federal advisory committee to further examine how to reduce pollutants from CAFOs, after rejecting a petition for stricter regulation of them. 

→ Desperate for rain. The entire state of Iowa is suffering from drought conditions after nearly a month without rainfall at a crucial time in the corn-growing season.  

→ Money incoming. More than $500M in financial assistance will head to about 3,500 farmers who have Farm Service Agency loans and are at financial risk. 

INDUSTRY

hadynyah by Getty Images Signature

HarvestPlus has been working hard and has some great news for Nigeria. Vitamin A Maize and Vitamin A Cassava were recently commercialized by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and HarvestPlus.

Background: HarvestPlus confronts hidden hunger through biofortification for rural and low-income communities. Its hope is that 1B people will be eating biofortified foods by 2030, helping bring an end to malnutrition.

The products should reach 34M Nigerians in 8 states. As you can imagine, this is welcome news for an area struggling with malnutrition.

Through biofortification, HarvestPlus used Nigerian staple crops and enriched them with Vitamin A, which is especially important for children.

Soundbite: "One of the things that we’re doing in GAIN is to ensure that the processed foods will get to the end users with high quality, and are safe and good to eat by everyone." — Dr. Abbas Yusuf, Deputy Country Director of GAIN Nigeria

Sharing the love: HarvestPlus is now collaborating with Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in India to amplify biofortification research there. The Foundation for Development of Rural Value Chains (FDRVC) and HarvestPlus have also recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on biofortified staple crops and foods made from them. 

Soundbite: ″This partnership marks a significant step towards combating malnutrition and promoting food security in India. By working together, we can accelerate the adoption of biofortified seeds and make a meaningful impact on the health and well-being of local communities.″ — Arun Baral, CEO of HarvestPlus and HarvestPlus Solutions

All eyes were on the Iowa State Fair this week—but it was more than presidential candidates catching headlines. 

Sasquatch, a boar pig from Winthrop Iowa, was crowned Champion Big Boar. Any guesses what this porky boy weighed? 

Answer at the bottom of the email.

AG TECH

D3Damon from Getty Images Signature

BeeHero, the Fresno-based precision pollination company, just launched a new program, and it’s taking pollinator data to a whole new level.

No, they’re not training bees in statistics and algorithms (although that would be pretty cool).

The company just introduced PIP—its Pollination Insight Platform.

Some background: BeeHero has been helping growers for a few years now with its SmartHive technology—a program that uses economical in-hive sensors (paired with machine learning algorithms) to give growers real-time data about bee health, crops being pollinated, and other factors.

But all this data is focused on activity in the hive. Once the bee leaves to do its business, it’s, well, a little hard to track.

Until now.

PIP, PIP Hooray: Growers leverage the new technology by placing sensors in the ground throughout their fields. BeeHero remotely activates the sensors, and the program monitors pollinator activity in the field.

We’re talking about the number of bees landing on each flower. And no… that’s not a typo.

Farmers can then use this data to determine if crops are getting enough (or too much) pollinator activity within a field, which can help them make hive location decisions.

The system sure beats standing out in the field with a clicker counter. And with at least 35% of the world’s crop production reliant on pollinators, the ability to track activity has real food security implications.

Looking ahead: For now, BeeHero is mainly working with seed producers. But as the platform gains steam, it expects to expand into apples, various berries, and even row crops in the near future. As noted by co-founder and COO, Itai Kanot, BeeHero has "a lot of interesting things coming in 2024."

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Sasquatch tipped the scales at 1,012 pounds!

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

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