Share
Preview
Plus: Magnetic Jobs & Trivia
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
Get this email from a friend? Sign Up
Header
December 3, 2021
Magnetic
POWERED BY:
Corn Saves America
Good morning.

You won’t find any ‘Top 10 Deals’ or ‘Wish List Items’ in Magnetic as we gear up for the holiday season. But we will recommend one extra special gift accessory for all those presents under the tree…

Yes, bacon-scented wrapping paper is a thing. Why not add a little extra sizzle to your Christmas morning?

Today's Stories:

  • High (Priced) Steaks
  • Biological Barcodes Make Bank
  • Sugar Shakedown

PS - We’re now taking trivia idea submissions from readers! If we feature your question, we’ll send you a Magnetic koozie. Submit questions here.

BEEF

2022 Not Looking Too Beefy
Beef Prices
GIPHY
Looks like 2022 will be pretty high steaks. According to Rabobank’s Q4 report on the U.S. beef market, demand is set to increase, production will likely decrease, and your beef prices will probably remain high next year.

Taking stock of the situation: Issues from 2021, including shipping problems and the availability and price of feed, may still affect the industry next year, even though drought and grazing conditions have improved.

Rabobank’s report indicates cow slaughter increased by 6% due to drought conditions in 2021. That trend is expected to continue into 2022 and maybe even 2023.

The real kicker is beef production will be down 2.5% in 2022, which will likely lead us to increase beef imports to meet demand.

The apple of our ribeye? Exports. Angus Gidley-Baird (couldn’t have a better name for the industry, amirite?!), senior analyst of Animal Protein at Rabobank, says U.S. beef exports are expected to increase from 2% to 4% in 2022. Markets in Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Canada remain strong, but the growth really lies with China.

“China has become the third-largest export destination for the U.S., and export volumes continue to rise,” Gidley-Baird says.

Moooving forward: With U.S. cow slaughter numbers up, beef production down, and limited exports from Australia and New Zealand—who are also struggling with impacts from drought—the global beef market isn’t expected to normalize until at least 2023, maybe later.

Quick Hits

It’s a wrap. Equipment behemoth CNH Industrial completed its $2.1B acquisition of precision ag company Raven Industries, and new products are slated to be launched in 2022.

Dicamba’s days against waterhemp waning… University of Illinois weed scientists confirmed the first dicamba-resistant population of waterhemp near Champaign.  

Spill, Tyson. The Federal Trade Commission is demanding info from Tyson Foods, plus eight other suppliers and retailers, to gauge supply chain disruptions’ impact on anticompetitive practices and rising prices.

Stubborn swine fever. Germany found new cases of African swine fever in wild boars, while Vietnam has now culled 3x as many infected pigs as in 2020.

The Aussie wine glut. A bumper grape crop is not being celebrated in the Land Down Under, thanks to Chinese tariffs killing wine demand and tensions rising about plummeting grape prices.

Kenya’s chemical battle. A proposed bill could ban up to 200 chemicals, several of which are critical to coffee, maize, and wheat production, and could spur up to 90% yield losses.

Magnetic's Featured Gigs
The Magnetic Ag Job Board could be the gift that keeps giving... in the form of a career pivot!


Not looking? Go post a job for your company instead and get it in front of our 9,000 readers.
AGTECH

Biological Barcodes Make Bank
Aanika Biosciences
Aanika Biosciences
U.S.-based startup Aanika Biosciences has added $12M to the piggy bank as they boost their food traceability platform.

What it is: The company, founded in 2018, has been putting their stamp on food traceability using a microbial skin tag for food itself—initially targeting leafy greens.

The tags are custom-encoded, shipment-specific microbes sprayed on or added to liquids early in the supply chain. They tag along for the ride into the customer’s hands.

Biological barcodes: The tags take traceability beyond barcodes, fast-tracking discovery of outbreak sources and making it easier to quickly pull only impacted goods from the shelves. They identify product origin, can include certifications, and expose adulteration.

And there’s also a place in the future for adding anti-fungal functions to the microbe mix to fight food spoilage.

The newly minted Series A money they’ve earned will be put to good use expanding their testing facility. They want their microbe tags to carry the message in a variety of conditions in the ag supply chain.

Where this goes: More testing, with opportunities to expand into other products and secondary functions. Microbe-tagged coffee and cacao, anyone?

Commodity Corner
Commodity Corner
Grains: Strong ethanol margins helped corn while soybeans got boosted by a rally in soybean oil.

Livestock: China buying pork and beef this week gave prices support.

*As of Market Close [12/2/21]
Just for Fun
Guess That Crop is back!

Take a look at the production map below and guess which super southern crop is being featured.

*Answer at the bottom of today’s email.

Crop Map
SPONSORED BY AEI PRESENTS

Captain America Has Got Nothin' on Corn
Corn Saves America
AEI.ag Presents is baaack.

Returning from the successful and award-winning first season ‘Escaping 1980’, AEI.ag Presents is currently releasing episodes of season two, ‘Corn Saves America.’

The hosts - Sarah Mock, Brent Gloy, and David Widmar – explore the future of carbon markets through the lens of corn ethanol.

And rather than picking a side of either debate, the team – joined by a host of additional experts – reviews the rise of biofuel for lessons that are applicable to the current enthusiasm about carbon offsets.

Start listening to ‘Corn Saves America’ today here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

SPECIALTY CROPS

Sugar Shakedown
Less than sweet? The U.S. Justice Department says so: It sued Tuesday to block a big sugar merger, which they say would be detrimental to sugar prices, quality, and the supply chain.

The backstory: United States Sugar wants to buy Imperial Sugar in a deal valued at $315M. They are competitors, and the purchase would granulate the market down to two significant sugar producers: accounting for almost 75% of sugar sales in the southeast U.S.

U.S. Sugar said in a statement they intend to litigate the matter, and “this transaction will improve supply chain logistics and will not result in higher prices or any harm to customers and consumers.”

The Justice Department and U.S. Sugar are in their own corners. Now the court will decide if the sugar merger passes go and collects, or dissolves.

Also, this: The global sugar market is already looking a little sticky. The world’s top exporters, Brazil and India, are set to produce more ethanol from sugarcane given the global energy high. And sugar prices hit a four-year high in October.

Refer & Rewards

Each time someone subscribes to Magnetic using your custom referral link, you're one step closer to an exclusive Magnetic mug (10 referrals) and t-shirt (20 referrals).

Your link:

*Curious where you stand? You can always check your referral hub and see rewards here.
Answer

Sugarcane
Written by: Sheridan Wimmer, Kelsey Faivre, Rachel Robinson, Travis Martin
Editor: Ashley Scoby


Not feeling Magnetic anymore?
Break our hearts and
unsubscribe here.

Magnetic Ag, P.O. Box 7292, Greenwood, IN 46142-6423, United States

Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign