AgWired

Winter is upon us and that creates a special need for weather information for farmers, especially in high value crops like fruits, vegetables and nursery. To learn how the Agricultural Weather Information Service (AWIS) creates extra weather information and forecasting I spoke to Karl Harker, Vice-President for Operations for AWIS. I asked him about any information he’d like to share ... Read More

During a press conference Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the continuing resolution (CR) to be considered this week in Congress will have funding in it for struggling farmers and ranchers. “We can’t do all of it right now but I think what you’ll see reflected in this final package is 10 billion, to start with,” said ... Read More

Golden Harvest and GHX are offering new corn hybrids specifically gred for those northern farmers who take pride in their ability to produce corn in a challenging environment every year. Each of the individual Hybrids Built for the North product is named for apex predators adapted for success there: · Hybrid G00A97-AA – The Hawk: Like a Hawk, G00A97-AA Brand ... Read More

This month, 150 sheep producers around the country will be selected to participate in the American Lamb Board (ALB) Climate Smart Sheep program starting in 2025. ALB Chairman Jeff Ebert of Kansas says producers enrolled in the program will be paid up to $7,000 to develop and implement Climate Smart Sheep management practices and measure and report emissions and life ... Read More

One of the keynote topics at the recent AgGateway annual meeting was how other industries might offer lessons for agriculture in navigating sustainability data standards. Andrew Selck, Partner with Kearney working in Agriculture and Food Practice, addressed this topic in his presentation, “Sustainability Data Standards: What Ag Can Learn from Other Sectors.” “In my role I have been a consumer ... Read More

The USDA Economic Research Service 2024 Farm Sector Income Forecast shows farm income is down again this year, but not as much as it was last year. While the report compares different measures of farm income, the bottom line is that, adjusted for inflation, net farm income is forecast to decrease by $9.5 billion (6.3 percent) from 2023 to 2024. ... Read More

Syngenta Seedcare technical lead Dr. Dale Ireland has been working on developing TYMIRIUM technology for over a decade and it is finally approaching the finish line. “We’re nearing registration for soybeans and once it’s registered, it will be called Victrato®. And that’s for soybeans for nematodes, sudden death syndrome, red crown rot and several other early season diseases that it ... Read More

AgGateway Regional Director Jose Alexandre Loyola represented the Latin America region at the AgGateway North America Annual Meeting last month in Austin, Texas. Loyola, who is from Brazil, has been regional director since 2017. “Most of the people that participate in AgGateway in Latin America, especially in Brazil, they see a lot of value in the group that we form, ... Read More

Navigating climate change: impacts on water stress and agricultural production in Nebraska Nebraska, located in the U.S. “Corn Belt,” is well known for its agricultural and livestock production, generating around $31.1 billion in agricultural cash receipts in 2023. But how will climate change impact long-term agricultural production, and how can we adapt to changes to ensure water security and food ... Read More

Environmental reporting was a big topic of discussion at the recent AgGateway annual meeting in Austin. The opening keynote session featured a panel discussion moderated by Executive Vice President Jeremy Wilson featuring three retail representatives working on the challenges and opportunities in data gathering for environmental reporting in sustainability and carbon programs. He was joined by Brian Henze from Growmark, ... Read More

After a fake news rumor late Friday naming a former U.S. Senator from Georgia, President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Texas native Brooke Rollins, president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute, to become the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. “As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are ... Read More

The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the $100 billion request for disaster funding from the Biden Administration. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) kicked off the discussion by outlining some of the devastating losses experienced in Georgia by agricultural producers as a results of Hurricane Helene. “Hurricane-force winds and torrential rains destroyed fall crops still in the field, knocked ... Read More

During his weekly call with farm reporters Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) gave his opinion on the last minute Farm Bill introduced Monday by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow. “The timing of this bill is disappointing and unrealistic,” said Grassley. “It’s a sad commentary that Senate Democrats kept farmers waiting two years before even releasing a bill text, while ... Read More

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this episode I’m going to share some interviews from the NAFB Trade Talk about reactions from the recent presidential election. I’m going to include Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta Sr. Manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations; Brian Jennings, ACE CEO; Geoff Cooper, RFA CEO and Ethan Lane, NCBA, VP of Government Affairs. Adding to ... Read More

On Monday, with only weeks before the end of this session of Congress, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) at last released the text of her nearly 1400 page farm bill the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. According to Sen. Stabenow, the bill includes funding from the IRA. “This bill will roll the historic investment we made in ... Read More

The 2024 election turned out well for the nation’s cattle producers, according to National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “Whether it be a president that we’ve worked with before, whether it be the defeat of radical animal rights action around the country, a tremendous election cycle, and I think now eyes turn to what can ... Read More

AgGateway wrapped up another successful annual meeting last week in Austin, Texas. “We’ve had increase in attendance, increase in registrations, increase in in sponsorship. It’s been just a solid year for the conference,” said AgGateway CEO Brent Kemp. “The conversations, the energy, the discussions and debates that we fostered here have all been super. We say bring your people and ... Read More

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Colorado oil executive Chris Wright for Energy Secretary over the weekend, continuing an almost daily announcement of cabinet nominees since the election. “It is amazing to me how quickly Trump has named 10 or 11 people out of the top 25,” said veteran farm policy expert Mary Kay Thatcher with Syngenta during an interview at the ... Read More

New research published in Scientific Reports describes a breakthrough in nitrogen fertilizer technology seen as the first new mode of nitrogen action in crops to be discovered in a century. Conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University and Pivot Bio, the study shows that gene-edited microbes can fix nitrogen from the air and feed it to cereal plants’ roots, ... Read More

During a post-election newsmakers panel at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting Wednesday, representatives from National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association all agreed that Congress should work to pass a farm bill during the lame duck session. “If we say that the Farm Bill is toast and it doesn’t stand a chance, ... Read More