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What do an organic tomato greenhouse business, a worm-growing farm, and a cucumber-to-pickle enterprise have in common?
Well, they’re all part of the wild story of agriculture’s most interesting con man.
Check out this crazy read on how an associate of Dog the Bounty Hunter finally caught one notorious fake farmer.
Stories:
- War and Peace Wheat?
- Walmart's Plentiful Investment
- WOTUS Heads to SCOTUS
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Things are a little tense in Eastern Europe. (The understatement of the year.)
With Russia amassing troops along the Ukrainian border and western nations vowing to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty, everyone is on pins and needles.
Including the ag industry.
Wheat goes wild: Wheat prices have experienced a recent bump, and analysts attribute it to the situation in Ukraine. It’s an important international wheat producer/exporter, so the region’s uncertainty is creating a bullish market.
Great exportations: Grain exports are at the center of the Ukrainian economy. Poised to become the world’s #3 wheat exporter and #4 corn exporter in the coming year, Ukraine exports over 75% of its corn and wheat crop.
To put it in context, the U.S. exports about 20% of its crop.
What’s more? Combined, Russia and Ukraine contribute about 30% of the world’s total wheat exports. A major conflict will almost assuredly disrupt international trading… and drive up wheat prices.
But that’s not all.
Feeding the world: In recent years, over 40% of Ukraine’s wheat and corn exports were sent to Africa and the Middle East. For nations that rely on imports to feed their populations, a trading disruption could have dire consequences.
Where this goes: As Russia blames the tension on western hysteria, NATO and western nations are looking at Russia’s 100,000 troops and saying, "Uh, no… you are the problem."
As the world watches what will unfold, one thing is certain: Conflict escalation in Ukraine will certainly lead to severe pains—in international grain trading and potentially in the stomachs of millions who rely on Ukrainian wheat.
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→ Avocadnoooo. California, which produces 90% of the U.S. avocado supply, suffered major yield setbacks, plus smaller-sized output in 2021, the state’s driest year in almost a century.
→ ADM’s biofuel booster. The global grain trader notched a record fourth-quarter profit, at $782M in earnings, thanks in part to strong biofuel demand.
→ Don’t sleep on sheep. Despite pandemic backlogs holding up U.S. exports of wool, lamb demand is reaching new levels, according to the American Sheep Industry Association.
→ Pressing pause on pork law. A judge confirmed that California’s Proposition 12 enforcement on whole-pork sales should be halted until the state has finalized the regulations.
→ Canada’s cattle feed crunch. Transportation bottlenecks combined with last year’s damaged summer crops have left cattle feeders scrambling to avoid a full-blown shortage for the animals’ winter diets.
→ India’s drone obsession. To encourage technology uptake, the nation’s Ministry of Agriculture will subsidize—by up to 100%—the purchase of ag drones for research and education groups.
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Walmart's Plentiful Investment
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Everything’s bigger in… California? At least when it comes to funding rounds for indoor, vertical farming.
Retail giant Walmart was among the latest investors pouring millions into Plenty Unlimited—which just became the most-funded vertical farming operation ever. The startup has raised nearly $1B to date, and currently has locations in San Francisco and Compton, Calif., plus a research center in Laramie, Wyo.
Plenty Unlimited won $400M in an investor round that will see Walmart and One Madison Group, a New York company, get seats at Plenty’s board table.
More money, more greens: With Walmart’s commercial partnership, Plenty will provide plenty of leafy greens to stores in California. Those greens are being grown in vertical setups that use fewer resources like water, and in areas where traditional farming isn’t an option (like big cities).
Soundbite: "This partnership not only accelerates agricultural innovation, but reinforces our commitment to sustainability, by delivering a new category of fresh that is good for people and the planet," said Charles Redfield, Chief Merchandising Officer for Walmart.
Best in the West: The CEO of Plenty, Arama Kukutai, expects the company to also have strawberries and tomatoes next year.
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Grains: Potential smaller soybean output from South America gave prices a nod.
Livestock: Proteins all closed lower as markets try to figure out China export opportunities.
*As of Market Close [1/27/22]
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Since sheep are high on the export radar these days, we were curious…
Which state below is the largest sheep producer?
- California
- Colorado
- Texas
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.
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Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
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"Waters of the United States" might finally get a clear definition, as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to take on a WOTUS case—and decide what water regulations farmers and other landowners will abide by.
What’s on the docket? SCOTUS will review the 9th Circuit Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA to see if the lower court used the proper tests to decide if wetlands were "waters of the U.S." according to the Obama-era Clean Water Act.
The backstory: In 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency stopped Michael and Chantell Sackett from building on their Idaho land. The reason? The presence of "wetlands." Without a Clean Water Act permit, they couldn’t build their home on the lot, even though the land lacked a surface water connection to any stream, creek, lake, or other water body. They faced up to a $75,000-a-day fine if they moved forward.
An attorney with Sackett representative Pacific Legal Foundation, Charles Yates, says the Supreme Court might not take the case until October, but it could still make it onto the spring calendar.
A ripple through the ag industry: The Supreme Court will, ideally, decide on one "test" for determining what qualifies as federally protected "wetlands" (are they "waters of the U.S." only if there’s a surface connection to a body of water? Or does subsurface water flow count?).
The answer to that question can affect farmers and ranchers significantly: if their land falls under federal jurisdiction, the government could regulate things like ditches and pasture low spots. Plowing, planting, or any building on the land can be affected, and non-compliance would mean hefty fines.
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Written by Kevin Cross, Sheridan Wimmer, Rachel Robinson, and Travis Martin
Edited by Ashley Scoby
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