Good morning.
Stories of agbioscience innovation amaze us, constantly. And a recent video caught our eye for helping save a breakfast bowl staple: the banana.
In Uganda, a team of farmers and scientists are developing a super breed to fight off pests and disease, and ultimately save the fruit from dying out. It would be a huge win for the country that has the highest per capita consumption of bananas in the world and is a huge source of food and income.
Now that would be a bunch of good news.
Stories:
- Kula-Aid for Soil
- The H-2A Wage Debate
- FOMO on FMMO Changes
|
Investors are drinking the Kula-aid.
Kula Bio, a startup company focusing on developing biofertilizers to compete with synthetic options, has raised $50M in a fundraising round.
How it works: The company produces Kula-N, a sustainable nitrogen fertilizer that touts maintained yields for farmers and improved soil quality. The patent-protected technology (which stems from peer-reviewed research) works by storing energy in a naturally occurring microbe that puts nitrogen from the air into the soil. What makes this product extra coola is that Kula-N energizes the microbe to store even larger amounts of nutrients in the soil.
What’s your flavor: Kula-N is shown to cost less than synthetic fertilizer while yielding more, helping eliminate nitrogen runoff and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The company says the fertilizer is "crop agnostic," non-GMO, and has been tested in several environments and soil types.
Must be the money: They’ll use the funding to make more of the fertilizer product while researching other innovations. Farmers should see availability of Kula-N toward the end of 2022.
|
→ Port ‘pop-up’ solution. The USDA will help construct a 25-acre ‘pop-up’ site at the Port of Oakland to ease shipping congestion and help ag companies fill containers with commodities more easily.
→ A crop insurance breather. The USDA extended farmers’ sign-up process for the Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) program due to COVID-19.
→ Vultures be gone. South Carolina legislators are asking the Department of Fish and Wildlife to allow ranchers to protect their calves from the legally protected, predatory birds.
→ The British pig backlog. A mass exodus of butchers in the country has left the pork industry teetering with nearly 170,000 pigs stalled that are ready for processing.
→ Cocoa outlook cratering. A second straight week of no rain has squeezed the Ivory Coast’s crop, leaving the world’s top cocoa producer with potentially dismal yields.
→ What’s brewing in Brazil: Forecasts for the South American soybean crop continue to be trimmed as hot, dry weather prevails.
|
Brent Stirton / Getty Images
|
There’s been a boom in H-2A workers the last 5 years—and there’s about to be a boom in their wages, too.
Many H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural workers will be receiving a significant pay raise in 2022, according to the recently published 2022 Adverse Effects Wage Rates (AEWR) from the Department of Labor.
Some background: The H-2A program is a method for ag employers to legally hire foreign laborers. The AEWR sets the minimum rate employers must pay H-2A workers, with state or collectively bargained wages superseding this minimum if they are higher. Essentially, whichever law has the highest pay rates, H-2A workers are entitled to that.
Since 2017, the national AEWR has gone up a whopping 28% with individual states rising even higher. Some notable cases are a 39% increase in California, and 42% increases in Utah, Colorado, and Nevada.
By the numbers: In 2021 there were over 317,000 certified positions to be filled by H-2A workers, up more than 3 times from the 100,000 certified in 2013. This represents a year-over-year increase of 15.3% from 2021 to 2022.
Not everyone's excited: The wage increases have come with opposition—increased labor costs can mean tighter margins. In November 2020, the Trump administration placed a wage freeze on H-2A workers, locking pay at 2019 levels, but the freeze was overturned this past December.
Econ 101: According to the National Council of Agricultural Employers President and CEO, Michael Marsh, farmers can’t just pass on higher expenses to consumers. He feels politicians and the public don’t understand that large wage increases for ag workers are met by only small increases in consumer prices: yields that don’t necessarily find their way back into farmers’ pockets.
|
Grains: Large swings in prices yesterday with soybeans swinging higher as the South American crop was forecasted lower.
Livestock: All prices fairly steady with many feedlots wanting to sell off cattle as feed prices rise.
*As of Market Close [1/31/22]
|
SPONSORED BY FOODBYTES! BY RABOBANK
|
FoodBytes! believes that startups are the clients of Rabobank’s future. And they’re not just talking the talk, they’re walking the walk.
FoodBytes! is on the hunt for startups pioneering novel solutions in Agtech and Foodtech that have validated business models and have demonstrated commercial traction. Add in a robust, diverse team and a cross-industry collaborative mindset, and you might just be the perfect fit for this special opportunity.
Each quarter, a curated group of 15 startups will join the FoodBytes! Network. And when you become a part of the family, you’re welcomed by:
- The vast global Rabobank network
- 40+ corporate and investor members
- A community of mission-driven alumni entrepreneurs
Don’t wait. Applications are open now through February 28. Apply today.
|
Magnetic's Must-See Stuff |
Want to snag a free Magnetic T-shirt? All it takes is knocking out this 2-minute reader survey so we can make Magnetic the best "all things ag" newsletter around.
Up your metal mending game. Check out this welding short course via Successful Farming for tips, tricks, and shortcuts.
*Sponsored Post. Looking to advertise your event, announcement, or product here? Learn more.
|
Which crop already mentioned in today’s newsletter is featured in the global production output map above?
Answer at the bottom of the email.
**Win a Magnetic koozie when you submit a trivia question and it gets used in a future newsletter! Submit questions here.
|
The dairy industry is mooving toward changing the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system that has divided milk into four classes since the 1930s.
For nearly 100 years, FMMO has rewarded Class I fluid milk producers with the highest prices. Americans "got ‘less’ milk" these days and are consuming more Class II, III, and IV milk in their cottage cheese, ice cream, hard cheeses, yogurts, etc.
Meanwhile, producers of class II, III, and IV milk aren’t happy, earning under their Class I milk counterparts.
Not amused: At the annual Dairy Forum last week, the International Dairy Food Association (IFDA), which includes cooperatives, large companies, small family businesses, and retailers, released "Modernizing U.S. Milk Pricing: An Exploration," a paper focusing on revising FMMO and pricing disparity among milk classes.
Dairy processors and dairy farmers must come to an agreement on modernization before the FMMO is opened for hearings, U.S. Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack said.
Soundbite: "The issue is not to abandon Class 1, the answer is to look at the overall program and make sure it is providing the necessary incentives to meet ongoing fluid demand and efficiently move product into the other classes," said Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO. Mulhern is confident IFDA and NMPF will reach a consensus.
|
Have friends or coworkers who'd love our newsletter too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get Magnetic gear when you hit certain referral counts.
Your link:
*Curious where you stand? You can always check your referral hub and see rewards here.
|
|
|
Written by Sheridan Wimmer, Aaron Dunajeski, Amelia VanLandegen, and Travis Martin
Edited by Ashley Scoby
Were you forwarded this email? Sign up here.
Best jobs in agriculture → Magnetic Ag Job Board
|
ADVERTISE
Not feeling Magnetic anymore?
Break our hearts and unsubscribe here.
Magnetic Ag
P.O. Box 7292
Greenwood, IN 46142-6423
United States
|
|
|
|
