🚜 Rocks Be Gone + China Is Slackin on Ag, Smokey Grapes, and more...

Good morning.

It's June 1, and with the unofficial start of summer under our belts, we're ready for any trips or travel we can squeeze into the next three months before Labor Day.

And we want to hear from you, our readers. Tell us this via 'reply': any big, cool travel plans this summer? On Friday, we'll share a handful of responses from the reader crew.

P.S. Congrats to Ashley S. and Carlye F., who won the beef jerky and stix packages from Oak Barn Beef. You two will be snack-ready for any summer road trips in your near future.

Those long, dusty days clearing rocks from fields may become a thing of the past.

The rundown: TerraClear, creator of an innovative field rock-picking system, recently announced a $25 million Series A funding round.

Better than back-breaking: Attach the Rock Picker to a skid steer or compact track loader, drive through the field, and let the Rock Picker do the rest. No more repetitive and monotonous heavy lifting, saving time and labor needed to clear fields.

Pick-up line: “There are more than 400 million arable acres worldwide that have been waiting for a cost-effective and productive solution to this problem,” noted TerraClear founder and CEO Brent Frei.

By the numbers:

400: The average number of rocks picked per hour.
300 pounds: The largest rocks the picker can lift. Whoa.

After releasing the Rock Picker earlier this year, TerraClear quickly sold out. But due to this latest round of funding, machines are being built and orders are being taken.

And that’s good news for those medium-to-large farms that spend $5,000-$150,000 annually fixing equipment busted by rocks.

Oh, and this: It’s not just the Rock Picker. TerraClear uses drones and artificial intelligence to create a “rock map” of a field. This allows the landowner to plug in the coordinates and drive straight to the issue.

Future state: Using computer vision and automatic hydraulic controls, the AutoPick technology currently under development will rock your world. Rocks will be identified and picked up all via pure automation.

→ Tough on Roundup. Last week a federal judge rejected Bayer’s $2 billion settlement for future and outstanding cases against the Roundup brand, leading the company to question its future usage in the lawn and garden segment.

→ Welcome to the automation age. AGI and Bushel announced a partnership to automate and streamline key post-harvest grain selling and buying activities that typically are executed manually.

→ Cyber cattle criminals. JBS Australia was nailed with a cyber attack on its information systems over the weekend, halting all processing operations in the country.

→ Fuel for flavored milk. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to allow schools to permanently offer low-fat flavored milk to students where 80% of 9 to 13 year-olds are not meeting the recommended intake of dairy products.

→ Can’t shake steel prices. French farm equipment makers are noting an expectation to increase sale prices with surging global steel costs that make up 30-40% of total production costs.

→ Veggie oils see dollar signs. A global jump in raw material costs has the country of Egypt raising the price of its domestic vegetable oils by 23.5%.

While U.S. farm exports are anticipated to break the glass ceiling this year, China isn’t holding up its end of the bargain.

This year the U.S. will see farm exports hit $164 billion, shattering the previous record of $152.3 billion set in 2014.

Why the boom? A global pandemic recovery mission plus China’s growing economy. Both of which are boosting export numbers and commodity prices.

China, the number one agricultural importer, spent $133.1 billion on ag imports in 2019. And their growing economy will increase by 189 million middle-class households in the next decade.

It all sounds like a #winning situation, but China is still slacking when it comes to its trade commitments.

Back in January 2020, pre-COVID-global-pandemic, they signed the Phase One Agreement with the U.S. to purchase a minimum of $200 billion more in U.S. goods from 2020 to 2021 in comparison to 2017 imports.

Progress meter: Purchases were only 73% of the year-to-date target as of April and 60% of the total two-year agreement. Ag-specific imports were hovering at 79% at the end of 2020.

In better news, upwards of 4,000 plants can now ship products to China versus the 1,500 that could before the trade deal. China now accepts The U.S. Food and Safety Inspection Service certifications for meat and poultry plants.

Bottom line: China will need to ramp up its trade spending ASAP to uphold its end of the Phase One Agreement.

MAGNETIC'S MUST-SEE STUFF

On air with New Mexico Milkmaid. Our pal Tara Vander Dussen - aka @NewMexicoMilkmaid - got national attention recently on The Weather Channel when she spoke to the dairy industry’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Safety first. The film ‘SILO’ was released last month to highlight farm safety and spread awareness of grain bin dangers. A portion of all proceeds raised will go to the Progressive Foundation’s Farm Safety Days.

Dial-in your research stats. The Farm Stat app allows farmers and agronomists to optimize any on-farm research trials and easily run statistical analyses with collected data.

While the Magnetic team has roots across the U.S., we call Indianapolis home base. So you can imagine we had our eyes glued to the Yard of Bricks and Sunday's Indianapolis 500 Race.

If you're new to 'Speedway speak,' one cool ag fact is that the race winner is handed a jug of fresh, cool milk to chug while they cheer their victory.

Trivia: Of the 33 drivers in the Indy 500 lineup, what was the breakdown of milk preference [whole milk vs. two percent vs. skim] when asked what they would like if they were to win?

It’s not everyday folks in agriculture are offered a money-making opportunity while also helping out their fellow farmers.

But that’s what makes FBN®’s Community Builder Program different.

The Community Builder Program gives skilled salespeople and ag industry professionals the opportunity to grow their own business while providing value, convenience, and savings to family farmers.

With over 350 new Community Builders added in the US, Canada, and Australia since just 2020, enterprising farmers everywhere see the opportunity in change. Become a Community Builder, and you’ll be in good company.

Just take it from Jake in Wisconsin,

“I became a Community Builder because of the power FBN gives to growers. The control and knowledge gained with FBN has been needed for years, and it will only empower our agricultural community.”

Transform the way farmers do business with online ordering, direct-to-farm delivery, and network-sourced insights. Apply today.

A recent legal squabble in wine country is giving ‘smoke tainted’ grapes a lot of attention.

Langtry Farms LLC is suing the owners of Torick Farms LLC, a grape-growing company, for delivering grapes that were allegedly free of ‘smoke taint’ despite being harvested in the thick of last fall’s wildfires.

But not so fast... The vintner claims the grapes were damaged and ultimately ruined nearly two dozen oak tanks and barrels.

Why this matters: Wildfires are becoming the norm for California’s North Coast wine industry. This year’s fire season is already expected to begin early with the region’s super dry status.

Last year alone, wildfires caused a $3.7 billion loss in the wholesale value of wine in the U.S., where 95% of wine grapes grown are in California, Oregon, and Washington.

But there is hope. With nearly two decades of battling smoke taint, Australia is working on a magic bullet that could cork the dreaded problem.

How it works: A woven carbon-activated hood is placed over grape clusters. The hoods allow ventilation but trap any smoke particles. Early trials showed the grapes had 97% protection from smoke taint. Talk about a next-level aerator.

What lies ahead: Between Australia’s game-changing research and a potential $8 million USDA grant to research smoke taint further, wine connoisseurs and grape growers should see some light at the end of the smoke-filled tunnel.