Good morning.
Who needs Netflix?
(Okay, we might have raised our hands too).
But Jeff and Jill Aiello didn’t—all they needed was Facebook to create an Emmy Award-winning TV series about our country’s dependence on ag producers.
It all started as a "My Job Depends on Ag" Facebook page that Jeff and Jill stumbled upon. But they’ve turned the stories from that page into a now-three-seasons-running docuseries on PBS called "American Grown: My Job Depends on Ag." The show focuses on California ag culture—and storytelling comes directly from the farmers involved, instead of a third-party narrator.
Now that’s a bingeworthy concept.
News:
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Fewer Amber Waves of Grain this Fourth? |
U.S. wheat is on the world stage these days…
Things have been challenging for U.S. wheat farmers this year. Variable weather conditions, crazy input prices, inflation, and the war in Ukraine haven’t made life easy on any of them.
No happy medium: Western Nebraska is facing its third year of abnormally dry to drought conditions. Meanwhile, farmers in the Dakotas (and western Canada) have had a very wet and chilly spring, meaning a shorter growing season and yield decreases.
Texas panhandle farmers saw less than half an inch of moisture during their growing season. Parts of Oklahoma are equally as dry, while others received more than 11 inches of rain during the month of May alone.
Spring planting levels are at their lowest since 1986, FBN Chief Economist Kevin McNew said. An estimated 28% of winter wheat seeded in fall 2021 "will be abandoned," according to a USDA farmer survey.
While it’s not the best year, it’s not the worst either. In Oklahoma, early season dryness had an impact on much of the crop. One farmer said his crop is 40% below the strong yields he and others in his region experienced in 2021, but overall everyone is thankful to be harvesting—and to still be surpassing the region’s poor harvests from 2011 and 2018.
Soundbite: "I have nothing to complain about. It really hurts to not have a crop whenever you have a good price. We just hope for a better year for everybody next year," southern Oklahoma farmer Jimmy Kinder said.
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→ Chilled cherry crop. The Northwest U.S. is expecting its lowest cherry output since 2011, thanks to cold temperatures and a freak 6-inch snowfall in April during the blooming phase.
→ Parvo in pigs? Research from the Swine Health Information Center found that the canine disease parvovirus 2 is not highly pathogenic in hog herds, after CPV2 was discovered in the lung tissue of a U.S. pig from October 2020.
→ Billions for farmers. The Emergency Relief Program has shelled out more than $4B to agricultural producers, with more on the way, according to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.
→ Another supply chain snag. Ongoing strikes in Ecuador are hitting agriculture exports hard, with roadblocks in some regions preventing $32M worth of bananas, $34.7M of floriculture, $6.1M of broccoli, and more from being transported.
→ Input incoming. Despite initial fear of fertilizer supply disruptions in Brazil because of sanctions against producers Russia and Belarus, the nation has imported its highest June volume in 5 years to ensure farmers can plant soy and corn crops.
→ More fruit funding? Agriculture Capital is pursuing $500M for a third fund, which it hopes to focus on citrus investments, including oranges, grapefruit, and limes.
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Pickle at the Port - Labor Contract Expiration |
Shipping getting sticky: Trouble is a-brewin’ from Long Beach to Seattle. But it’s not an earthquake or a tsunami—it’s labor negotiations at the ports.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) represents over 22K workers. Their current labor contracts, which have been under negotiation for months, faced expiration on July 1.
Steeee-rike? The passing of the July 1 deadline also means the expiration of the "no-strike clause," opening the possibility of a work stoppage at the ports, though industry groups say otherwise.
"While there will be no contract extension, cargo will keep moving, and normal operations will continue at the ports until an agreement can be reached," the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) employer group and the ILWU said in a joint statement.
Eastbound and down: From Southern California to Washington state, interruptions in imports and exports along the West Coast could have a devastating effect on agriculture. Shipments have already been heavily diverted to eastern and southern ports—such as Houston, Savannah, and New York and New Jersey—causing massive delays and sending costs skyward.
According to the Long Beach Post, the spot rate for a 40-foot container a few years ago was less than $2K. Last year, it surpassed $20K and has recently been hovering around $14K.
Where this goes: Active negotiations continue with participation from the Department of Labor and the White House.
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If You Build It, They Will Come |
The Combine wasn’t messing around when it started its Insights Network, a cohort of Nebraska-based producers who want to be on the forefront of AgTech.
By linking up the Insights Network with The Combine’s early-stage companies, collaboration produces industry-altering outcomes.
As part of the incubator program, startups are paired with producers across Nebraska, helping bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and farmers.
As a farmer member of the Insights Network, you receive benefits like:
- Access to up-and-coming technology in agriculture
- Pilot program opportunities
- Network with motivated entrepreneurs and other innovative producers
Curious to learn more? Explore all that The Combine’s Insights Network has to offer today.
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Magnetic's Must-See Stuff |
Content = revenue… if you’re doing it right. And if you’re not, you’re literally leaving money on the table (and probably wasting time creating content that goes nowhere.) If your marketing team could use help on all things content—strategy, creation, distribution—let us know and see how we can help.
Are you a leather lover? Well, why not mix your passions of cowhide and entrepreneurship? Check out the Leather Medic franchisee post on the Magnetic Ag Job Board today!
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On the heels of July 4th, let's keep today's trivia patriotic.
Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, how many have historians listed as farmers?
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Potato King Purchases AgTech Tool |
One Canadian potato power player is breaking into AgTech.
McCain Foods has purchased Resson, a "vision intelligence technology" firm that develops algorithms to forecast yields through remote sensing. The company enables farmers to make better informed decisions, leading to improved productivity from every acre of a farm.
Not your average acquisition. A food processor purchasing a crop-focused tech company isn’t necessarily the norm, but the move has been a long time coming. The companies have already been working together for the past nine years, developing algorithms that work towards increasing production efficiencies.
McCain’s M.O.: A farm-level focus isn’t new for McCain. They experiment with lots of technologies at their Farms of the Future site in Florenceville, New Brunswick. The company also pledged that 100% of its potato acreage (~149K global hectares) will be grown using regenerative agriculture practices by 2030.
Soundbite: "The acquisition is pivotal to McCain Foods’ innovation agenda and our ambition to use digital technology to transform agriculture," said Jillian Moffatt, the group’s chief technology officer. "The technology provides productivity enhancement to farmers and food processors by leveraging actionable insights from their field data to make predictive decisions that improve long-term yields and profitability
More to come: The Resson team will fold into the greater McCain team, creating a new business unit to continue developing new technologies for detecting pests, disease, and other crop metrics.
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Written & Edited by Amelia VanLandegen, Aaron Dunajeski, Ashley Scoby, and Travis Martin
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Magnetic Ag
P.O. Box 7292
Greenwood, IN 46142-6423
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