🚢 Soybeans' Shipping Wish + Vilsack Talks 'Smack', Animal Ag Ballot Chatter, and more...

Good morning.

July 4th is past, and we are headed into the dog days of summer. And because we just can’t leave any pun unturned, we’re making today a *Giveaway Day*... for your pups.

Our Magnetic team is obsessed with our four-legged friends (or fur children, as some call ‘em), and we are guessing our readers might be in the same boat. See how you can win a Magnetic Mutt dog bandana on the scroll.

Today's stories:

Dredging the Muddy Mississippi
Petition 13 Coming to a Ballot Near...Oregon
Vilsack Talks Smack on China

Five feet.

Five feet stand between the American soybean industry and an additional $461M in annual revenue. The path to the cash is the Mississippi River Ship Channel Dredging Project which will increase the depth of the last 250 miles of the river to 50 feet versus its prior depth of 45.

Does five feet really make a financial difference? Yes: 500,000 bushels of difference. Most large ocean-faring vessels can carry 2.4M bushels of soybeans out of the ports of the Mississippi River. And each foot of depth will add an additional 100,000 bushels, to expand that capacity to 2.9M bushels.

And the last ~250 miles of the Mississippi are vital as 60% of all U.S. soybean exports travel this portion of the river. Not to mention that four of the nation’s 15 largest ports are located here.

Fun fact: These ships normally take more than a day to load. Most of them are destined for China, and it takes 30 days on the open seas to make it to their destination.

Return on investment: The depth increase will ultimately save 13 cents per bushel in freight, and loads will increase by 21%. From a different angle, it will return $7.20 for every $1 spent on construction and maintenance.

Soundbite: “This project is a big, big deal for the export strength of U.S. agriculture in the future, and it’s also very significant for farmers in the near-term,” Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), said.

What lies ahead: The total estimated cost of the Mississippi River Ship Channel Dredging Project is $270M, and it should be complete by the end of 2022.

Quick Hits

→ Hazardous grasshoppers. The USDA released hazard maps and an extermination plan for a grasshopper plague overtaking rangelands in the drought-stricken West (>15 hoppers per square yard).

→ Tyson’s timely investment. With up to 20% of the meat firm’s processing workforce not showing up daily, the company invested in Soft Robotics’ $10M Series B funding extension for AI-powered robotics automation.

→ Mexico is uber parched, too. 70% of the nation is under water stress, and key farming regions are concerned as the traditional upcoming rainy season has little precipitation forecasted.

→ Farmland for sale… in Ukraine. A 20-year ban on farmland transactions was lifted last week, allowing new investment in the Euro nation’s cash-hungry ag industry.

→ Chocolate-fueled climate play. The Hershey Company is supporting the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay with a $300K commitment to get 119 Land O’ Lakes member dairies to install ag conservation practices in the region.

→ Corn-based ethanol sales rule stalled. A federal appeals court struck down a Trump-era rule that lifted summertime restrictions on the sale of E15 ethanol fuel.

→ Mink farming on the outs? A proposed bill in D.C. could ban the production of mink fur to stop potential mutations of the coronavirus associated with the spread of the disease through the small mammals.

We don’t want to be that newsletter. You know the one. They start writing about midterm elections 15 months before they happen.

But there’s one noteworthy, precedent-setting vote looming in the Pacific Northwest, and both sides are gearing up for a major battle.

Making waves: The potential ballot measure getting attention is the “Abuse, Neglect and Assault Exemption Modification and Improvement Act," also known as Petition 13. It could pop a critical question to Oregon voters in November 2022.

The initiative would eliminate exemptions for agricultural, hunting, and fishing practices that currently exist in Oregon’s animal abuse laws. Specific to agriculture, the current exemptions allow for practices like dehorning, castration, and artificial insemination, among others.

If passed in its current form, Petition 13 would remove such exemptions, leaving those practices in violation of criminal law. AKA - basic production practices could potentially put farmers behind bars...or more likely, out of business.

Petitioners have until July 8 to submit 112,020 signatures in support of the initiative for it to officially earn a spot on the ballot next year. If that happens, you can expect it to become a focus of the 2022 election cycle.

While we are here: A similar proposed measure -- known as the PAUSE Act -- was on course to appear on Colorado’s next ballot. However, the state’s Supreme Court just sent the measure back to the State Title Board, ruling the measure was too broad.

You’re all in luck thanks to one pawesome reader, Natalie, who wants to help spread the Magnetic love. Natalie crafted the fun pup accessory you see above, and now we want to get them out to our readers!

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U.S. ag exports are reaching new highs and simultaneously getting the side-eye as Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack contemplates the contentious relationship with China.

In totality, ag exports are projected to be up 21% to $164B in 2021, soaring above the USDA’s initial February forecast. Dairy, poultry, and livestock products lead the way in expected increases.

Some growth can also be credited to China and its record-breaking expected $35B in purchases. Nearly a fifth of U.S. ag exports are headed to China, and over-reliance on a singular country is on Secretary Vilsack’s mind.

A soundbite: “Obviously, we’re much better off without a trade war than we were in a trade war with China in terms of agriculture. But that’s a complicated relationship, and anything can disrupt it at any point in time. Which is why I think it is going to be important, at the appropriate time, for the administration to take a look at where there are new partnerships, new arrangements, new connections,” Vilsack said.

Easier said than done: Without Europe seeing eye-to-eye with the U.S. on sensitive production practices (read: GMO, growth stimulants, etc.), new trade arrangements are unlikely. Other opportunities may exist in Southeast Asia and Africa, as well as with the Trans-Pacific Partnership successor.

Where this goes: Vilsack notes he’s confident about the future of the relationship with China so long as it’s centered on trade. But the relationship is too complex to say if today’s trend will hold firm.