🌽 Corn Ethanol On the Fritz + $12M for ClimateAi, Protein PACT Players, and more...

Good morning.

Cue the fanfare medley. The Tokyo Olympics kick off today, and our Magnetic crew is here for it. Yes, even the table tennis and synchronized swimming.

We’ll also be rooting extra hard for farm-raised athletes like Elle Purrier St. Pierre. The Vermont dairy farmer will run in the 1,500-meter competition after breaking a 32-year-old Olympic trial record to head to Tokyo.

We envision a Got Milk? campaign in her future...

Today's headlines:

Corn Ethanol On the Fritz
ClimateAi Bags $12M Series A
Animal Ag Makes a PACT

Corn growers be like, “What just happened here?”

A few short weeks after a bullish outlook on the future of ethanol, new legislation now has the corn industry feeling a little sheepish.

Refresher: Amid court setbacks less than a month ago that nixed year-round E15 sales and allowed more small refineries to apply ethanol blending exemptions, bipartisan legislators in key farm states introduced bills that would encourage higher ethanol blends. Things were looking up.

But this week, another group of senators has introduced legislation that seeks to fully eliminate the national ethanol blending mandate. We’re not in Kansas the Corn Belt anymore.

Citing a host of grievances, including the risk to good-paying oil refinery jobs, the bipartisan group did not mince words.

Senator soundbites:

“The federal government forcing Americans to buy billions of gallons of corn ethanol is terrible policy on many levels.” -- Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA)
“The federal corn ethanol mandate no longer makes sense when better, lower-carbon alternatives exist.” -- Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Playin’ politics: The day the bill was introduced, the White House announced the administration would delay the annual review process that determines biofuel blending requirements for petro products.

Mum was the official word, but insiders noted the delay was due to President Biden’s political catch-22 that has him stuck between two key blue-collar constituencies: farmers and refinery workers.

Where this goes: Long-term decisions are a ways off, but NCGA President John Linder quickly responded, echoing what is likely on the minds of most corn growers: “This bill is ill-conceived and would have a devastating impact on air quality, the diversity of our energy supply, fuel prices, and rural economies.”

Quick Hits

→ Will it make the grade? The Agricultural Marketing Service division of USDA launched an interactive grading dashboard to capture current and historical quality grade and volume information for beef and other proteins.

→ Timber gets a lift. The USDA is rolling out $200M in relief to timber harvesters and haulers who experienced losses related to COVID-19.

→ More farm tech news: Rabobank and TELUS Agriculture have teamed up to acquire farm management software startup Conservis.

→ Veggie crops eaten up by price drops. Asparagus, yellow squash, and zucchini lead the pack of vegetables that are seeing prices fall by as much as 17%.

→ Brazil’s bitter cold week. Temperatures plunged below zero in key growing regions of Brazil this week, knocking a blow to the country’s sugar cane, coffee, and orange crops.

→ Israel’s produce bonanza coming. Fresh produce costs in the Middle Eastern country are currently as much as 80% higher than Western averages. But with Israel cutting customs duties and welcoming competition, expect some major price drops.

→ Because why wouldn’t you… Smithfield hosted a nationwide hiring blitz on Wednesday - National Hot Dog Day - to fill 2,500 hourly positions at 47 locations across the country.

Iron Man might just have become Climate Man.

Robert Downey, Jr.'s venture fund was one of several to take part in a $12M Series A round for forecast-focused startup ClimateAi. The new tech tool aims to help make agriculture more profitable and food systems more resilient through artificial intelligence climate forecasting.

Learning about clouds on the cloud: So meta. Farmers know weather is a main hurdle to jump each year. Talks about climate change are like the temperatures predicted: on the uptick.

The World Meteorological Organization predicts a 90% likelihood we’ll see the hottest year on record between 2021 and 2025. Looking forward to it…?

Climate Avengers: ClimateAi hopes to help the agricultural supply chain predict the weather to help minimize its climate risk exposure. Their science aims to forecast extreme weather events more than two weeks before they occur, thanks to machine learning and loads of data points.

This is the same technology that powers successful rocket launches. You’re welcome, Jeff Bezos.

Specifically, this could help the food supply chain by:

Identifying new locations for climate-smart expansions for specific crops and ingredients
Managing inventory better to avoid shortages
Forecasting pressures from pests and diseases

SoundbAite: “ClimateAi is a platform that provides long-term insights into weather and climate impacts, providing businesses the information they need today to take the actions needed now to adapt to the climate disruptions of tomorrow.” – Jon Schulhof, co-founder of FootPrint Coalition Ventures.

Taking it global: ClimateAi has ambitious goals to be deployed across half a billion acres of farmland around the world in the next three years.

Keeping your eyes on all the available farm ground in your area can be difficult...ish.

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Don't miss out on the opportunity to expand your operation. Register today at CashRent to receive notifications when new farmland is available in your area.

Twelve American meat, poultry, dairy, and animal feed and ingredient companies solemnly swear they are up to no good good for the animal protein industry.

The companies formed the first joint initiative of its kind, the Protein PACT for the People, Animals, and Climate of Tomorrow. The goal? To “accelerate momentum and verify progress toward global sustainable development goals across all animal protein sectors.”

Submitted as a sustainability game changer, the Protein PACT will make center-of-the-plate sustainability a side dish at the UN Food Systems Summit event in Rome on Tuesday, July 27.

Oh, and this: The North American Meat Institute released its draft sustainability framework too. Public comments are open to help set transparent baselines and measure sustainability progress. The framework has an ambitious 100 metrics determined through collaboration with experts, supply chain partners, and members.

Funding for the Protein PACT came from U.S. farmers and ranchers, and the pork, dairy, and soybean checkoffs also financially supported the effort. The twelve organizations include groups like Animal Agriculture Alliance, Elanco, National Corn Growers Association, Pork Checkoff, and the U.S. Meat Export Federation, among others.