Mary Kay Thatcher, Senior Manager of Federal Government and Industry Relations for Syngenta, provided her perspective on the “churn of the election” during the company’s media summit this week. She does expect the presidential outcome to drag on for a while, but during her presentation, Thatcher used the assumption of a Biden presidency for her outlook. Here is the full …
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast – Episode 3
Episode number three of the Daugherty Water for Food Podcast spotlights another woman making waves in the food and water space. Felicia Marcus has been making waves in California water management and regulation for more than three decades. She most recently served as Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, with responsibility for drinking water, water quality, and water …
Heliae® Agriculture Helps Producers Rethink Soil Productivity
Heliae® Agriculture will offer an in-depth 2-day soil health webinar on November 17th and 18th Healthy soil is within the reach of every farm and ranching operation. The principles that govern healthy, productive soils are simple: nourish, build and leverage the soil microbiome. These are the principles in which Heliae® Agriculture continues to invest time, money and research-building a product …
Agri-Pulse Hosts National Pork Board Webinar on Trade
Agri-Pulse president Sara Wyant moderated a discussion on Thursday with USDA Trade Undersecretary Ted McKinney, North Carolina hog farmer Jan Archer, and Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes on how exports add value for pork producers and support U.S. jobs. The event was sponsored by the National Pork Board. Watch the webinar here. Listen to the audio here: (1 hour)
EPA Finalizes Pesticide AEZ Rules
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited another farm this week to make an agricultural announcement. At Overman Farms in Goldsboro, N.C., Wheeler announced finalized improvements to requirements for the pesticide application exclusion zone (AEZ), the area surrounding pesticide application equipment during outdoor production pesticide applications. Listen to Wheeler’s announcement below and read more about the changes from EPA. (6:33)
Study Finds Gas Car Ban Would Hurt Agriculture
The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) has released a study on the impacts of increased electric vehicle penetration on U.S. biofuels, agriculture and the economy. Proposals to ban internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035 and 2050 served as the economic models for the study, along with a base case provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook. The study …
Benson Hill Raises $150 Million in Series D Funding Round to Accelerate the Pace of Food Innovation on a Global Scale
Financing was co-led by Wheatsheaf and GV with broad participation from strategic and environmental, social and governance (ESG) focused investors across the food and agriculture value chain. Benson Hill will use the funds to scale its commercial operations and its platform food innovation engine CropOS™ across multiple food and ingredients markets. ST. LOUIS, MO – October 29, 2020 – Benson …
EPA Announces Dicamba Registration Decision
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler at a Georgia cotton farm on Tuesday announced that EPA is approving new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting the environment, including non-target plants, animals, and other …
ZimmCast 658 – St. Louis Agribusiness Impact
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. This episode is about agriculture’s economic impact on a very urban region, specifically St. Louis. The St. Louis Agribusiness Club just announced the results of their Agricultural Economic Impact Study on the St. Louis Region. This study has been conducted every five years since the first one was conducted in 2004. To talk about …
Debate Mentions Farmers, Discusses Energy
President Donald Trump highlighted his support for U.S. farmers and ranchers during the presidential debate with Democrat challenger Joe Biden Thursday night. President Trump said he gave “28 billion dollars to our farmers,” when asked what he would do to make China pay for its lack of transparency about the coronavirus. “They devalued their currency and also paid up. And …
Big Challenges Require Agile Partners
Discovering how to feed, clothe, heal and fuel a growing population is no easy task, and no one entity can do it alone. The North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI) brings together leading minds from academia, government, industry and start-ups to collaborate on data-driven plant sciences and develop resilient agricultural systems. N.C. PSI and its partners are creating a …
Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services – Episode 7
The Field Notes podcast series from Koch Agronomic Services (Koch) breaks down the science and technology behind agronomy to help growers do more with less. The experts we’ve heard from on our previous episodes have covered topics ranging from how different crops use nitrogen to the 4R’s of Nutrient Stewardship and how growers and retailers work together to choose the …
Ethanol Report 10-16-20
October 1 began a new fiscal year for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and brought a new chairperson for the board. Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy Management, is the first female chair for the RFA and she is taking on the role during a challenging time with lots of optimism. In this edition of the Ethanol Report podcast, we …
St. Louis AgriBusiness Club Releases New 2020 Agricultural Economic Impact Study of the St. Louis Region
A new study finds that agribusiness contributes $43 billion in total sales and 166,633 jobs to the St. Louis region. The economic impact study, sponsored by the St. Louis AgriBusiness Club, was conducted by Alan Spell of the University of Missouri Extension. St. Louis continues to serve as the hub of American agriculture. Over 50% of U.S. agricultural production occurs …
Meet New RFA Chair Jeanne McCaherty
The new chairperson of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has only been CEO of Guardian Energy Management since 2016, but Jeanne McCaherty has become an industry leader in that very short time. In addition to serving on the board for RFA, she also serves on the Board of Directors for the Renewable Product Marketing Group and the Minnesota Biofuels Association. …