Good morning.
In case you haven't herd the news...
It's National Bison Month. And just like the Chick-fil-A cows, the folks in the industry are holding up signs telling you to eat more bison.
According to the NBA (no, not that NBA—the National Bison Association), bison meat is the leanest protein widely available in today's marketplace. Bison went from nearly extinct in the late 19th century, to more than 400K head across North America, thanks to collaboration among farmers, ranchers, and Native American tribes.
Don't call it a comeback. Actually, you should—and then go grill up a bison burger to celebrate.
The News:
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Poultry Takes Center Stage |
Better clip those wings.
‘Cause poultry is poised to take flight.
Demand is up and supply is tight. And you know what that means… price increases.
Burgers for bok bok: Rapid inflation (cue broken record) is fueling a jump in food prices, and that’s got folks passing on beef and eating more chicken.
But it’s not just inflation.
Soundbite: According to Nan-Dirk Mulder, Senior Analyst of Animal Protein at Rabobank, "Weaker economic growth and reduced consumer confidence—in part related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—will lead to more consumers trading down to chicken."
And that’s good news for the poultry industry. But with feed and fuel prices skyrocketing and flock numbers down thanks to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), consumers across the globe will see price increases.
Refresher: HPAI resulted in the culling of 53M birds across Europe and 38M in the U.S.
Tyson brings the cash: With increased demand expected not only in the short term but in the long term (like, reaaallllly loooong term) as well, Tyson is banking on bigger buckets o’ chicken.
This week, the poultry giant announced it’s getting in on the growing Middle Eastern poultry market by acquiring a major stake in Saudi Arabia’s Tanmiah Food Co.
The price tag? $70M.
With the booming world population and the fact that poultry doesn’t come with the regional religious/cultural restrictions of beef and pork, chicken is expected to account for a full 40% of worldwide meat consumption by 2030.
That’s a lot of nuggets.
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→ Derecho’s (South) Dakota damage. Another derecho system brought 3-5 inches of rainfall, high winds, some mild damage, and even green skies to parts of South Dakota and Iowa.
→ Bill Gates’s (North) Dakota purchase. The North Dakota attorney general okayed a $13.5M farmland purchase by Red River Trust (affiliated with Bill Gates), after concerns the sale violated laws about corporations operating farmland in the state.
→ Fire prevention in a haystack. A research project in Australia plans to use satellites to keep an eye out for spontaneous ignition of haystacks, and send alerts to farmers when their haystacks are at higher risk of fire.
→ More ASF problems. Germany’s most important pig rearing region, Lower Saxony, saw another outbreak of African swine fever, which will push the timeline even further for China to lift its import ban of German pork.
→ Regulations coming? After demands from environmental groups and a lawsuit filed last December, the EPA will decide by Sept. 30 how much oversight it will require for pesticide-treated seeds.
→ Piggy pork prices. If the agreement is approved by the court, Smithfield Foods will pay a $42M settlement to restaurants in 9 states for claims that the company shared confidential info with other meat producers in order to inflate pork prices.
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Funding for ‘naners, coffee, and rice is steamin’ up.
Tropic Biosciences, a gene-editing startup out of the UK, just raised a lush amount of green to help fund its mission to improve and sustain tropical agriculture.
Green for genes: The $35M that Tropic banked will apply to gene-editing techniques to "promote cultivation efficiencies, enhance consumer health, and improve sustainable environmental practices," mainly focusing on bananas, coffee, and rice.
The technology, called GEiGS (Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing) and pronounced "jigs," not "gigs" (GIFs, anyone?), combines gene editing and RNAi (interference) to target disease resistance and improve quality traits. GEiGS allows direct targeting of viral, fungal, and pest genes, which moves things along faster than traditional gene editing technology—and makes things easier with regulatory requirements.
That stuff is bananas: B-a-n-a-n-a-s. Tropic Biosciences is using this technology to develop varieties of bananas that are more resistant to diseases peeling apart the banana industry: Black Sigatoka disease and Panama disease.
As for coffee and rice, they’re major components of the global commodity demand—coffee being the world’s most-consumed beverage and rice accounting for 25% of the global calories consumed.
Keeping it equatorial: While tropical regions produce a high number of commodities, they are also affected by poverty and climate change.
Tropic’s website says by 2030, tropical nations’ populations will:
- Increase by more than 500M people
- Inhabit eight of the world’s 10 largest cities
- Account for more than 50% of the global population
Soundbite: "Our vision and mission has always been on harnessing some of the most cutting-edge genetic technologies and innovation, but harnessing them for the crops and regions that need them the most," says co-founder and CEO, Gilad Gershon.
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When AgTech startups in Nebraska are looking to grow, there’s really only one place to go…
The Combine provides operational support in a variety of ways:
- Bi-weekly meetings for mentorship
- Modules based on a proven model of support for startups
- Connections to entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors
- Network of agriculture producers for product discovery and testing
Plus, with a physical incubation space to grow into and utilize, you can be at the literal center of Nebraska’s AgTech ecosystem.
But don’t just take our word for it. Take it from Jack, the Founder of Corral Technologies:
"The Combine's really helped set up meetings with mentors, industry experts, and people who have gone through this process before. For a first-time founder, it has been extremely helpful to have someone who knows the system and knows what you need to do to be successful."
Learn more about opportunities today with The Combine.
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Grower sentiment is still headed south, according to Purdue’s pulse on farmer feelings.
The Ag Economy Barometer dropped two points from May, and the Index of Future Expectations is at its lowest reading since October 2016.
Growers don’t have a "that’s a problem for future me" outlook. Commodity price volatility and escalating production costs are on their minds today, even as they are slightly more optimistic about 2022 than they have been in previous surveys.
Money misery: June’s farmer sentiment story says producers continue to see their financial position declining. 51% of respondents expect their farms to be worse off a year from now, compared to today—the most negative response in the survey’s seven-year history.
By the numbers indices:
- Farm Financial Performance Index—a measure of 2022 expectations—rose two points from May
- Farm Capital Investment Index sat at its record low for the second month in a row due to tight machinery inventories
- Both Short-Term and Long-Term Farmland Value Expectation Indices declined in June, but are still generally at strong levels
Crop mix mixup: 19% of growers said they planned to change their cropping plans due to increasing input costs, and nearly half of those with changing plans said they intend to plant more soybeans.
The survey also revealed growers’ increasing inclination to plant wheat, thanks to strong wheat prices.
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There's only a week left to nominate your motley mutts to be the Farm Dog of the Year, as awarded by American Farm Bureau.
The 2022 winner was Fit, a __________ from Florida.
Can you fill in the blank and guess Fit's breed from the below options?
- Australian Shepherd
- Border Collie
- Golden Retriever
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Why are you keeping us a secret? Make sure to share Magnetic with friends, family, and coworkers to snag Magnetic goodies when you hit certain referral counts.
Your link:
*Curious where you stand? You can always check your referral hub and see rewards here.
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Written & Edited by Kevin Cross, Sheridan Wimmer, Kelsey Faivre, Ashley Scoby, and Travis Martin
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P.O. Box 7292
Greenwood, IN 46142-6423
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