Good morning.
If we’ve learned anything from Magnetic March Madness, it’s that youth ag organizations show up to play, and they play hard.
National FFA and Agriculture Future of America (AFA) both marched into the Final Four with convincing victories, setting up big matchups with heavyweights John Deere and Elanco, respectively.
The title game awaits the winners. Per usual, see all the voting details on the scroll.
Stories:
- New Need for CRP
- Magnetic March Madness: The Final 4 is Here.
- Breedr Bags Cash
- A Hot (Potato) Debate
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Farm Groups to CRP Acres:
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Who’s down with CRP (acres)?
Land under the Conservation Reserve Program could potentially ease grain supply tensions caused by the war in Ukraine—if producers are allowed to farm it, that is.
CRP Plea: Through a letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, industry groups and the American Farm Bureau Federation are calling for the USDA to cut CRP acres loose on an early-out or emergency basis.
Acres are enrolled for 10 years, during which they can’t be tilled or grazed. The letter urges the USDA to allow more than 4M current CRP acres to pivot into production, and to stop enrollment of any new "prime farmland" acreage into the program.
Breadbasket to fill: The pressure on CRP acres comes from missing Ukrainian corn, wheat, and sunflower oil. The war has put roughly 17.3M production acres at risk while Ukrainian farmers struggle in conflict zones to find fuel and fertilizer. Russian forces are also blocking exporters from shipping grain from the country.
Tangent: The EU proposed a 500M euro distribution to farmers most heavily impacted by high energy and fertilizer prices. They would also allow farmers to grow crops on the 6% of EU agriculture land left fallow for biodiversity. The goal is to head off food price hikes and shortages tied to the war.
Where this goes: The USDA has said it has no plans to ease up on CRP rules, and Vilsack said on March 10th it was too early to make a call. The clock is ticking, though—it’s already game time for planting in some areas of the U.S.
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→ Got milk? After a 6% decrease in dairy farms in 2021, the U.S. now has fewer than 30,000 remaining nationwide.
→ Chinese profits not quite going hog wild. Thanks to COVID-related low demand, plus increased feed costs, Chinese hog farmers are struggling to maintain profits—a situation analysts say could last until next year.
→ Raising the steaks. Three different requirements now have to be met for Japan to raise tariffs on imported American beef after a new trade agreement between the two countries.
→ Wartime worry. World leaders are brainstorming ways to mitigate food shortages related to the ongoing war in Ukraine, including increasing production and/or lifting trade restrictions in other countries.
→ Landing the big fish. Aquaconnect reeled in $8M in funding, which the company will use to expand its network of partner stores, where fish and shrimp farmers in India can buy high-quality inputs.
→ Fertilizing new business. JBS, which leads the world in protein-based food production, is entering the input market thanks to a new factory in Brazil that will turn waste into fertilizer.
→ HPAI still flying. Iowa canceled all live bird exhibitions for a minimum of 30 days because of the continued statewide spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
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Our Final 4 are ready to rumble.
The semi-final games are open *now* until Thursday at noon EST!
Here's how this works:
- Simply head to the link below and hit 'Click Here to Vote!' once in the portal.
- You will have to vote for a winner in both Final 4 matchups.
- Share today's newsletter with coworkers and customers to get more votes!
We'll announce all the winners + kick open the Championship game on Friday.
Go Vote Here!
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Financing Farm FinTech - Breedr Gets Funded |
Financing farm financing.
It's not as confusing as it sounds. British agtech startup Breedr recently secured a £12M ($15.8M USD) Series A round of funding for its livestock management software—specifically to help develop and scale the app's farm financing capabilities in the UK, with plans to expand to the U.S. and Australia.
Data, data, data: Breedr is first and foremost an electronic recordkeeping system for tracking weight, health, medication, genetics, and fertility in livestock.
Farmers can either manually input the data into their smartphones or utilize a suite of wearables/tags to record the information. This data then helps farmers proactively manage their operations.
Keep the money rolling: Access to finance is a major difficulty for many livestock producers, especially in the UK. Breedr wants to help farmers "release cash from their livestock in order to invest in expanding their business" through its Breedr Cashflow product.
For animals being monitored through the app, Breedr plans to offer advances to the farmer as the animals grow and gain weight, therefore increasing in value.
Craigslist for cattle: Breedr has also built its own online livestock marketplace. Here's what Ian Whel, founder and CEO of Breedr, has to say about it: "There is a growing demand from farmers who don’t like the stress that markets put on animals or the extra transport that is required. On average, our transaction costs are £35 per head lower on an animal, and this can be a farmer’s profit margin.
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Grains: Corn felt pressure from China's COVID concerns while beans fell due to lower export prices for both the U.S. and South America.
Livestock: Higher than expected cattle on feed numbers created a bearish effect on beef.
*As of market close [3/28/22]
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Magnetic's Must-See Stuff |
Rat birth control… in a milkshake? That’s what ContraPest has created—a rat contraceptive in liquid form so tasty to rats that they feel like they’re drinking a sweet treat. With a female rat potentially producing 15,000 descendents within her year-long lifespan, rat birth control could mean a drastic reduction in the pests across both urban and agricultural environments.
75 years later… Back in 2018, Successful Farming caught up with one of its 1943 cover models: Darlene Graf, who helped run her family’s farm during World War II after the original hired man left for a wartime job. It’s a great look into the wartime struggles for American farms, and the important role women played in keeping things running.
On the job hunt? Head over to the Magnetic Ag Job Board and see all the featured gigs waiting to be filled.
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The Final 4 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship are representing 3 states: North Carolina (Duke & North Carolina), Kansas (Kansas), and Pennsylvania (Villanova).
Of those three, which takes home the trophy as the largest ag-producing state in terms of cash receipts?
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
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Potato warts might be crossing the border…
The USDA reportedly ended its trade spat last Thursday after Canada had previously halted exports of Prince Edward Island potatoes to the U.S. for consumption and planting in November 2021.
Prince Edward Island potatoes have been plagued with a nasty-looking wart fungus that is (yep, you guessed it) highly contagious.
How contagious? It’s been found on Prince Edward Island for eight of the past 10 years and in 33 potato fields since 2000. Let’s just say it’s serious.
So serious that after the recent finds in October 2021, Canadian authorities restricted seed potato movement from Prince Edward Island to other provinces immediately.
And now they’re headed to the U.S. … "under certain conditions that will pose little risk of introducing the disease into the United States" according to the USDA.
But if the disease hits American soil, the impact would be felt instantly. Not only would there be domestic costs to growers and the industry, but the U.S. would lose access to all international fresh potato markets to the tune of more than $225M in annual exports (not to mention the billions in indirect damages).
With Canadian potatoes from untested fields on their way, U.S. potato growers are nervous.
What’s next? The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will process remaining samples associated with fresh detections and expand surveillance of nonregulated fields in Prince Edward Island along with its national surveillance program.
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Written & Edited by Kelsey Faivre, Aaron Dunajeski, Amelia VanLandegen, Ashley Scoby and Travis Martin
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Magnetic Ag
P.O. Box 7292
Greenwood, IN 46142-6423
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