Good morning.
What do they say about a farmer’s work never being done?
Illinois soybean producer Jeff O’Connor definitely put that philosophy into action last week. President Joe Biden was coming to visit his farm around midday—so Jeff woke up at 4 a.m. to seed 15-20 acres before his arrival.
The president was making his way around the Chicago area to address inflation and increased food prices, and O’Connor’s sixth-generation farm in Kankakee County was on the agenda. But first, planting.
So here’s to all the farmers that keep our food supply going—even if it means waking up at the crack of dawn to get seeds in the ground before the presidential motorcade arrives.
Stories:
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Soybeans: Crushin' It
- Dairy Drones Have Methane Mission
- Cattle Crunch on the Horizon?
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The soybean crush saga continues, with Cargill’s new plans for a processing facility in the Bootheel of Missouri. The new facility will be one of 14 soybean processing plants in development across the U.S.
This isn’t the company’s first soybean crush capacity play. They’re expanding two Midwestern locations and increasing efficiency at five others. They also purchased a Chinese soybean processor in 2020.
Puris, Ingredion, and ADM have also recently hopped on the soy processing bandwagon.
A soundbite: "[Soybean crush is] the biggest change that this industry has been through probably ever in a short period of time," said Jim Sutter, executive director of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. "It's driven by increased demand for renewable diesel."
Green initiatives from federal and state governments are pushing greenhouse gas emission reductions, and biodiesel fits that bill.
Not soy fast: The soybean crush demand does raise questions about the availability of soybean acres for biofuel feedstocks, the need for whole soybeans for big export markets (i.e. China), and the impact to existing biofuel refineries.
By the numbers:
- Cargill’s new facility is expected to process 62M bushels of soybeans from 2026 on
- U.S. soybean crush is expected to increase by more than 500M bushels in coming years
- Production capacity for renewable diesel has increased 86% over the last year
Tangent: Soybean prices have been on the run like Jesse James. Industry analysts are attributing a 7.4% increase since May 9 to tight ending stocks in the U.S., late planting nerves, and increased export demand.
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→ AgTech booster. After posting record half-year profits, GrainCorp launched its own $30M venture capital fund to invest in AgTech startups, especially those that help with analytics/optimization, supply chains, biotech, and sustainability.
→ More caffeine, please. Although still not quite to pre-pandemic numbers—and with the possibility of decline in Russia and China—global demand for coffee has increased through the first quarter of 2022.
→ Wilting wheat. Thanks to record temperatures and drought, wheat and barley crops are suffering for a second straight week in France, the European Union’s biggest grain producer.
→ Nothing earns like a Deere. Driven by increased tractor, combine, and sprayer sales, Deere & Co. boosted its annual profit forecast to between $7-$7.4B.
→ Pollination probz. White-nose syndrome, a highly contagious fungal disease, is costing U.S. agriculture up to $495M yearly by killing off millions of bats, which help with pollination, fertilization, and pest control on farms.
→ Big questions for the "Big 4." U.S. Senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 (which hasn’t been used since the Great Depression) to investigate potential antitrust violations by the nation’s four main meat-packers.
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Dairy Drones Have Methane Mission
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Getty Signature Images / Magnetic Ag
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It's coming. Measuring methane from cow burps and you-know-what will be possible within the next 5 to 10 years.
Backstory: Methane traps 80% more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. In other words, it’s about a fourth of the climate change equation. In California, 50% of the methane is from dairy farms. While the state has proposed ways to regulate methane from dairies, the biggest hang-up has been a lack of measurement.
But they’re working on it… UC Riverside researchers Javier Gonzalez-Rocha, Akula Venkatram, and Francesca Hopkins are developing drones that will quantify methane emissions over a specific dairy facility.
"By combining wind velocity and air core measurement capabilities, drones can help detect, localize, and estimate methane emissions at fine spatial scales otherwise difficult to resolve using standard wind and air composition measurement techniques," according to an article from UC Riverside.
The drones are currently being tested at UCR’s agricultural operations site and at select California dairy farms. Gonzalez-Rocha uses them to measure the methane concentrations at varying distances downwind from emissions sources.
Where this goes: Continued study and experimentation with a multi-inlet air core system to gather samples at multiple heights. If all goes well, the drones will be available within 5 to 10 years.
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Grains: Harsh wheat conditions in both the U.S. and Europe took prices higher and corn road coattails on the movement.
Livestock: Green across the proteins with no ding from the higher grain price movement.
*As of market close [5/23/22]
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Magnetic's Must-See Stuff |
Feedback needed. The EPA is switching up its pesticide labels to be compliant with the Endangered Species Act—and is asking for ag stakeholders’ opinions.
Nominations are open… for the 2023 Top Producer Summit awards. Nominate your favorite producer who has exhibited cutting-edge operations, who is a 35-and-under future leader of the industry, or who is a female trailblazer in ag. The deadline is Sept. 30 for all award categories!
The Magnetic Ag Job Board is the place to be. See all open roles, submit your resume to our portal, or post your company's open jobs today!
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We noted today in Quick Hits about the importance of bats to agriculture, specifically pollination.
Now, can you guess which ag friendly state below has the highest population of bats?
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Cattle Crunch on the Horizon? |
There’s a potential supply crunch on the horizon (what else is new?). The looming issue this time? Cattle.
Cattle on feed has reached astronomical levels, according to the most recent USDA report. Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. totaled 12M head on May 1, 2022—that’s the highest May 1 inventory since the series began in 1996. Inventory was up 2% from this time last year.
Filling up feedlots: More cattle are being pulled forward to feedlots, marking the fifth consecutive month of increasing year-over-year feedlot inventory. Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.81M head, 1% below 2021. Record large beef cow slaughter percentage this month also indicates further contraction.
Driven by drought: Intense drought conditions in many parts of the country could be a driver in the high level of placements. The states with the biggest jumps in placements compared to a year ago were California (19% increase), Washington (+13%), Oklahoma (+8%) and Minnesota (+8%).
Soundbite: "In terms of just where prices go, given what we’ve been seeing on the beef cow slaughter side, we’re not holding back efforts to cull the herd either. Drought, poor economics, stronger returns—I should say to crop producers—all those things are factors in what’s tightening the beef cow inventory situation." – Scott Brown, University of Missouri
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Written & Edited by Amelia VanLandegen, Aaron Dunajeski, Ashley Scoby, and Travis Martin
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