🥊 Salmonella Showdown + Fiber Fertilizer, Maple Syrup Stockpile Unlocked, and more...

Food safety advocates are gearing up for the next big food fight. And instead of tuna surprise, the main course on today’s tray is salmonella.

Salmonella stats: Although the presence of salmonella in poultry products has been largely reduced as of late, 23% of the 1.35M annual U.S. salmonella infections are still traced back to poultry.

And to spark improvement in those numbers, food safety gurus have called in the big guns.

Mr. Marler Goes to Washington (again): Bill Marler, a Seattle-based lawyer, sent a petition to the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) asking them to declare 31 strains of salmonella as food adulterants—essentially banning them in meat and poultry.

Marler’s message to the FSIS is clear: respond within 180 days, or he’ll “proceed with judicial remedies.”

Quick recap: Marler’s tactics after a 1990s Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak are largely seen as the impetus for the USDA banning deadly strains of E. coli in meat.

Working on it: Meanwhile, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the USDA is already “taking action to help prevent salmonella contamination throughout the poultry supply chain and production system to protect public health.”

Vilsack’s plan? Enlist a variety of innovations (with stakeholder feedback) to try reducing nationwide salmonella illness by 25%.

While we’re here: Dr. Jose Esteban, President Biden’s pick for USDA undersecretary for food safety, is awaiting Senate confirmation. If confirmed, this veterinarian and current FSIS chief scientist will likely start his new gig with a heapin’ helpin’ of salmonella squabble.

Quick Hits

→ Shake it off. A 5-week strike didn’t hurt John Deere’s recent earnings announcement as the equipment leader posted a record annual net income of nearly $6B.

→ Chlorpyrifos chaos. Republican Ag Committee leaders are calling for the EPA to ‘review the facts’ and maintain science-backed decisions by rescinding its ban on the commonly used pesticide.

→ SPAC’d it. Another U.S. indoor farming company has gone public after Local Bounti completed its $1.1B special purpose acquisition merger to land on the New York Stock Exchange.

→ Brazil’s speedy soy sowing. The world’s largest soybean producer has planted 90.6% of its acres for the oilseed crop, well ahead of recent years.

→ Moove that milk. Canada will invest an additional $1.2M into cloud-based software company Milk Moovement to help connect all players in the raw milk supply chain.

→ Farmer James Bond. A North Dakota farmer is being held on attempted assassination charges in Ukraine for allegedly hiring a hitman to take out the country’s Agriculture Minister. Formerly a business associate of the farmer’s, the Minister reportedly swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his operation.

In this new All Things Ag section, we’ll drop some digits, share a soundbite, and reveal a resource to learn more.

Digits: 50M pounds

The amount of maple syrup that Canada will release from its ‘emergency stockpile’ to keep the country’s liquid gold flowing throughout the world.

Soundbite: "This year’s production was lower overall, and it really was a combination of Mother Nature being uncooperative for a good season, and the good news about maple syrup’s health benefits.” – Kevin McCormick, maple syrup producer, Nova Scotia

Watch: Maple Syrup | How It’s Made

Amie Osborn never could have predicted her path when she stepped into her first agriculture class in high school.

The California native fell in love with the industry and before she knew it, she had transplanted to Indiana to further her education.

When she isn’t working her day job as VP, Commercial & Ag Lender at First Farmers Bank & Trust, she can be found running BOGO or “Buy One, Give One,” a non-profit which uses profits from the sale of locally produced broilers to provide protein for those in need in Kokomo, Indiana.

We caught up with Amie to learn more about BOGO, her work with PPP loans, and what motivates her.

Read the full Q&A here.

It’s grow time for Pivot Bio.

Just as the fertilizer frenzy is hitting global markets and supply chains, Pivot Bio is doubling down on their planet-friendly microbe alternatives.

And in order to ‘win acres,’ they need the support of a Commercial Agronomy team.

Pull out those resumes.

With over 30 open roles, the Commercial Agronomy team will work directly with customers, prospects, and stakeholders, and help manage field trials.

So if agronomy is your jam, then look no further.

Explore all the Commercial Agronomist and Commercial Agronomy Lead positions open today.

Magnetic Must-See Stuff & Trivia

New name, who dis? Douglas Plant Health is now DPH Biologicals. And just in time, as their proven biofertilizer is scaling up to help farmers through looming supply chain shortages. Read more here.*

Survive Thrive through supply chain challenges. Don't despair. AgVend's got you covered in their upcoming webinar on December 9th, where they'll discuss how customer portals can give you deeper insights into inventory, alternative products, and more. Register today.*

Trivia Time: Border patrol in Texas got a doozy of a surprise when a car coming back into the U.S. was stopped… and found to be filled to the brim with roosters and chickens. Can you guess how many live birds were packed into the car?**

*Sponsored
**Answer at bottom of today's email

Sustainable fertilizer options are picking up steam—and a whole lot of investment dollars. Lucent BioSciences secured $4.2M from investors for its patent-pending, upcycled fertilizer, which uses cellulose fiber as the delivery agent.

Fiber for fertilizer? Lucent uses the leftover cellulose fibers from food processing companies to create high-value fertilizer and seed treatment. And it’s in talks with several large fertilizer companies to use its patented tech to create custom fertilizer solutions.

Micronutrient fertilizers for maximum results. Many commercial micronutrient fertilizers can be costly, cause soil and groundwater pollution, and lose effectiveness in alkaline soils. Lucent’s proprietary technology hopes to flip those problems by using carbon-neutral and non-polluting fertilizers to regenerate the land.

Soundbite: "We are motivated by developing solutions to mitigate climate impact on global food security,” said CEO Michael Riedijk. "We're now working on increasing manufacturing in collaboration with partners and getting the product in the hands of farmers to grow better crops sustainably.”

What’s next? Lucent will expand manufacturing and development of their sustainable fertilizers and seed treatments, plus, bolster commercialization and get ready for their upcoming Series A investment round in 2022.