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September 28, 2021
Magnetic
TOGETHER WITH:
AgButler
Good morning.

Move over, cheeseheads.

Many of our dairy readers are flocking to Madison, Wisconsin this week for the World Dairy Expo.

Here’s to safe travels, lots of learning, and plenty of cheese curds!

Today's stories:
  • Code Red for U.S. Tomato Growers
  • Intelinair Takes Flight
  • Pork's Not Backing Down

P.S. Don’t miss today’s Movers & Shakers feature on agribusiness guru Shane Thomas of Upstream Ag Insights.

SPECIALTY CROP

How U.S. Tomato Growers Feel About Now:
Tomatoes
GIPHY
U.S. farmers are going (toma)toe to (toma)toe with imports from Mexico, and it's not looking great.

The facts: Imports of tomatoes from Mexico are expected to double in the coming years, based on historical trends. If this happens, a new University of Florida study says American tomato growers could lose $252M annually -- a 27% loss in current revenue.

Mexico dominates the U.S. tomato market, with three times more market share than the domestic industry. The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas pushed back on the study, saying the conclusions are "misleading and unrealistic."

In the last two decades, domestic tomato growers' market share has been escapingβ€”much like how slippery, delicious tomato guts slide off the cutting board. Every. single. time.Β Β 

Zoom out: U.S. farmers grew 1.3B pounds of fresh tomatoes last year, which is less than a third of the harvest from 2000, thanks to competition from Mexico and other complications like rising wage rates.

Florida will be hit especially hard because it shares the same harvest season with Mexico.

Soundbite: β€œBut all may not be lost, if the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry could revolutionize the production technology. Mechanization or automation will be a game-changer and is the future for this labor-intensive industry,” said Zhengfei Guan, a UF/IFAS Associate Professor and leader of the study.

Quick Hits

β†’ Neighborly tiffs. Germany continues to call on Poland to aid in establishing a wild boar-free zone along their shared border to counter the spread of African swine fever.

β†’ Another day, another cyberattack. Minnesota agribusiness Crystal Valley Cooperative confirmed its systems were forced offline after a ransomware attack, the second of its kind in a week after the NEW Cooperative incident.

β†’ It's go time. The USDA pegged the U.S. corn harvest at 18% complete while soybeans were 16% complete, both slightly ahead of the five-year average.

β†’ Tyson gets some relief. A federal judge in Texas dismissed a suit from current and former Tyson employees who claimed to have contracted COVID-19 at work due to inadequate safety precautions.

β†’ Scorched bananas. About 15% of total banana output is at risk on the Spanish island of La Palma after the eruption of the island’s Cumbre Vieja volcano.

β†’ More robotic fundraisin’. Israel-based Blue White Robotics snagged $37M of Series B funding to scale its β€˜robotics-as-a-service’ offering where one person can manage a fleet of autonomous tractors.

β†’ Microbes for the citrus win. University of Florida researchers have a hunch that microbes living within citrus trees could hold the answer to halting devastating diseases like citrus canker.

AGTECH

Intel for the Carbon Bandwagon?
Intelinair
Intelinair
Intelinair is feelin’ fair after closing on a sweet $20M in Series B funding.

Intel for ag: Former Dow AgroSciences CEO and current board member Tim Hassinger deems the startup a data analytics company focused on agriculture. The company’s AGMRI platform runs drone, satellite, or fixed wing aircraft picturesβ€”at 10 cm resolutionβ€”through 52 different patterns to ID an agronomic issue. The farmer then receives an alert, hoping to catch a small issue before it becomes a big problem.

The startup is no small potatoes, either. Nearly 5M revenue-producing acres are currently covered by Intelinair. That’s expected to jump to 8M over the next year as the company sharpens positioning, messaging, and sales processes.

A soundbite: "Not only does Intelinair provide vital agronomical insights to growers, a $15B opportunity, but it also identifies actionable opportunities and provides tools to facilitate the decarbonization of the planet and drive sustainability and efficiency of food supplies, a global imperative,” said Bill Wisialowsi, managing member of Regulator Group, LLC.

Where this goes: Short-term growth plans include hiring a handful of additional leaders by the end of the year. Then, the company sees two scalable pillars to the business: carbon measurement and aggregated data intelligence for non-farmers (read: traders, governments).

The company is cautiously optimistic that they could be the carbon intel behind marketplaces and other opportunities as the industry solidifies.

Commodity Corner
Commodity Corner
Grains: The focus is all on harvest and crop ratings. Soybeans are getting extra attention as concerns rise about China closing soybean crushing plants.

Livestock: The bearish Cattle on Feed report spilled over into the markets on Monday while the bullish Hogs and Pigs report took prices higher.

*As of Market Close [9/27/21]
Magnetic's Must-See Stuff (& Trivia)
We need your help, readers. We’re looking for folks to feature in our Movers & Shakers series. If you know someone who’s leading, innovating, or communicating at the forefront of agriculture, nominate them today.

Our job board be poppin’. The Magnetic Ag Job Board saw 10+ new roles posted over the weekend. Check β€˜em out here.

Tomato trivia: The above story got us thinking... which country has the largest tomato output in the world? Is it China, India, or the U.S.? Answer on the scroll.

SPONSORED BY AGBUTLER

It's Harvest Time...
But not just for you row crop fanatics out there.

October 1 marks the kickoff of the annual harvest process and AgButler is excited to partner with Hammons Black Walnuts during this critical time of the growing season.

For many people across the United States, the Black Walnut harvest every October is a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

And get this: the only way we all get to enjoy Black Walnuts at our dinner tables is because of the hard-working hands of the harvesters who literally pick the crop by hand each year.

But regardless of whether it’s Black Walnut harvest or any other type of harvest, AgButler is here to help with all your ag labor needs. Download the app today.
MOVERS & SHAKERS SERIES

Shane Thomas of Upstream Ag Insights
Shane Thomas
With a professional journey that led him from being a senior agronomist to marketing director to global digital ag leader, Shane Thomas has the spectrum of boots-on-the-ground experience to C-suite engagement, and everything in between.

So it's no surprise to what he's up to today: creating compelling content at the intersection of human behavior and agribusiness.


Read our entire Q&A with Shane here.

PORK

Pork's Predicament
It’s been a bumpy ride for the pork industry recently. And while the attitude has been a bit doom and gloom, things are starting to look up.

Processing lines slowed down on June 30, after a ruling based upon the USDA New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) which struck down faster harvest facility inspection speeds. The ruling affected six plants and eliminated 2.5% of pork plant capacity nationwide.

Then there was PRRS (Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome): not just any instance of the illness, but the worst strain of the virus yet. Vaccines have been ineffective, and biosecurity protocols aren’t working for the PRRS 1-4-4 Lineage 1C.

Soundbite: β€œThere were some weird twists going on with this strain of PRRS virus. We were having summer infections in regions of very low density. And really, what concerned us was people were giving up. There was a defeatist attitude permeating the industry,” said Scott Dee, DVM, director of research for Pipestone Research.

What it all means: Across the board, hog and pig numbers have decreased compared to 2020, any way you slice it. Total inventory was 75.4M head on September 1, down 4% from a year ago. Breeding numbers are down 2% from a year ago.

But the outlook is improving with slightly more pigs anticipated to be farrowed between December 2021 and February 2022.

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Answer

China
Written by: Kelsey Faivre, Savanna Barksdale, Travis Martin
Editor: Ashley Scoby



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