⛽️ Biofuel Blending Brawl + Smithfield's Rough Month, Grape's Robot Vibes, and more....

Several U.S. oil refiners have racked up a whopping $1.6 billion deficit in biofuel credits. And much to the chagrin of ethanol advocates, rumor has it that President Biden may let them off the hook.

Refresher: The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires oil refiners to blend biofuels into their products. If they don’t, they can purchase compliance credits, known as “Renewable Identification Numbers” or “RINs” from those refiners who do.

COVID-19 strikes again: Due to lower fuel demand, higher RIN prices, and other economic woes stemming from the pandemic, refiners have fallen behind in compliance credits and are pressuring Biden and the EPA for relief.

Oh, and this: Sources also state that the EPA is considering holding steady or even lowering the RFS blending requirements for the upcoming year.

And that has a mixed bag of corn-state and climate-conscious lawmakers sounding alarm bells… including members of the president’s own party.

Twitter feed: “The Biden Administration & EPA should not be in the business of undermining the #RFS and destroying demand for Iowa's farmers & producers,” tweeted U.S. Representative Cindy Axne (D-Iowa).

With new RFS announcements expected in the coming weeks, all eyes are on President Biden and the EPA to see just how serious they are about reducing fossil fuel dependency.

While we’re here: The world’s top two ethanol exporters, Brazil and the U.S., are expected to actually tamp down ethanol production in the coming months. Soaring prices of American grain and Brazilian sugarcane are raising production costs of ethanol… which is no bueno for the already surging fuel prices in both countries.

Quick Hits

→ Sanderson Farms for sale? The third-largest U.S. chicken producer is reportedly exploring options for a sale at a market value of around $3.5 billion.

→ Corteva CEO to set sail. Jim Collins will retire from the pure-play ag company at year’s end after 37 years there and at its predecessor, Dupont. A replacement has yet to be named.

→ Good for [meat] business. The USDA is investing $55.2 million to expand capacity at small and mid-sized meat and poultry plants and help cover costs related to state inspections and cross-state shipping requirements.

→ Big potato pockets. As of June 1, potatoes in storage were up 13% over 2020, while Idaho 60-count carton prices have jumped 25%+.

→ ‘Back off,’ says Supreme Court. The court of last resort nixed a California regulation allowing union organizers to visit farmworkers on farmland, noting it violated producers’ private property rights.

→ Boutique crop design firm. Israel-based seed breeding tech company Euinom raised $20 million in funding to expand its artificial intelligence operations and continue high-profile work in sesame seeds and pea proteins.

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork processor and the U.S.’s largest hog producer, has been feeling ‘when it rains, it pours’ vibes.

First up: Food and Water Watch (FWW), a consumer advocacy group, claims Smithfield “exploited consumer panic” that the nation was in danger of running out of meat.

Anyone recall posts like Tyson’s food-supply-chain-is-breaking ad?

The group says there was plenty of meat in cold storage, and pork was still being shipped overseas. It filed suit in Superior Court in Washington D.C.

FWW also didn’t have nice things to say about workers’ health and safety conditions during the pandemic.

Secondly... sticks and stones can break my bones, but words blocking shipments of pork to Mexico will never might also hurt me.

As of June 16, Mexico has halted exports of pork products from Smithfield’s Tar Heel, N.C., plant because of quality concerns of hog skins.

The real kick in the pork rib was it just had to happen at the largest pork processing plant in the world. Smithfield said the issue is with a third-party company and is rerouting pork products from other facilities to Mexico.

One disaster was avoided though: Smithfield workers in Sioux Falls, S.D. finally reached an agreement with the plant there on June 17. Their contract expired in May, and they were on the verge of a labor strike had a compromise not been met.

If you're working with farmers and agribusinesses in 2021, you’re ‘doing digital’... or you’re probably not doing much business.

Portals, apps, websites, and more must be tuned into the customer journey, creating seamless experiences that drive revenue for your customer.

And that’s where Anthem Ag comes in.

Their experience in custom application development can help you to meet your requirements and specific business objectives, like:

Account applications
Futures statements and positions
Market data including cash and futures prices
Ag data systems integration
Internal systems integration

Not listed here? Not a problem. Custom functionality is their calling card.

Build your dream digital experience for farm and ag customers with Anthem Ag.

Some grape news for producers battling labor shortages in wine country: robots.

UC Davis’ new guidelines for robotic pruning, canopy management, and harvesting of wine grapes point towards a “touchless” future for viticulture. Machines can tackle pruning, leaf removal, shoot thinning, and trunk suckering, saving nearly $1 per vine in labor costs on their experimental farm.

By the numbers:

90% of U.S. crushed wine grapes are mechanically harvested
Mechanical pruning can save 60-80% of labor costs per acre
2x the color - read: quality - was found in one study of merlot grapes

And grape growers are here for the robot revolution. They’ve long expressed concerns about labor as vineyards grow larger and workers become scarce.

Soundbite: “Our estimate is we have two-thirds less people working in wine grapes now,” said Prof. Kaan Kurtural, of UC Davis.

The pressure is on for technology like robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation to fill that labor gap. And researchers say that’s within reach - plus changes could lead to skilled, high-wage jobs for folks operating the advanced machines.

Will wine connoisseurs notice a difference? If it’s man against machine, recent advancements make it hard to tell a difference between hand-harvested and mechanically harvested grapes. However, some grapes, like Pinot Noir, require special handling and aren’t suited for mechanization.

But on the whole, mechanization makes sure there’s no wine left behind.