Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - December 2021
/Developments
Tyson Foods, Springdale, Arkansas, announced it will be distributing $50 million in year-end bonuses to frontline and hourly workers. Each of the company's U.S. team members would receive one-time bonuses ranging from $300 to $700 based on tenure. According to the release, distribution of the bonuses started this month. The company also said that it is offering more flexible work schedules at some facilities and will be offering paid sick leave as of January 1, 2022 as a way to "better support its frontline workforce." The company also invested $500 million in wage increases and ‘thank you bonuses’ over the past year.
Kansas City Southern has announced that the 21st anniversary KCS Holiday Express program in partnership with The Salvation Army has raised over $280,000 to benefit The Salvation Army in 21 communities on its U.S. rail network. Those communities include Kansas City and Slater, Missouri; East St. Louis, Illinois; Pittsburg, Kansas; Ashdown and Mena, Arkansas; Poteau and Stilwell, Oklahoma; Houston, Laredo, Port Arthur, Victoria and Wylie, Texas; Baton Rouge, DeQuincy, Gonzalez and Shreveport, Louisiana; and Corinth, Jackson, Meridian and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Over 21 years, the charitable component of the KCS Holiday Express project has raised well over $2.6 million, which was donated to The Salvation Army at each scheduled train stop to help provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need in the local community.
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is establishing a new “Center of Excellence” in an effort to reduce the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer by 12%, the equivalent of removing 10 million cars from the road. Employing cross-disciplinary teams of scientists, the center “aims to improve the sustainability of agriculture by developing technologies to track the flow of nitrogen and carbon across plant roots, discovering novel beneficial microbes, and understanding the genetic mechanisms that influence these interactions.”
The Kansas Corn Growers Association responded to EPA’s announced ethanol volumes. After months of delays, EPA released the proposed biofuel blending volumes for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in its Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) proposal. The statutory level for conventional ethanol is 15 billion gallons per year. Today’s proposal was a mixed bag in which EPA set the 2022 volume level at 15 billion gallons for 2022 but set the 2021 RVO at 13.32 billion gallons. Then, in an unprecedented move, EPA revised the finalized 2020 RVO level of 15 billion gallons, reducing it to 12.5 billion gallons. The RVO sets the yearly level for renewable fuels required by the RFS, the mechanism that provides market access to renewable fuels. Over the three years, EPA reduced demand for over 4 billion gallons of ethanol. “Cuts in the ethanol RVO mean cuts in corn demand. EPA’s volume levels for conventional ethanol over those three years destroy demand for over 1.5 billion bushels of corn,” KCGA CEO Greg Krissek said. “We do appreciate EPA meeting the statutory level for ethanol in 2022. But we see a cut in 2021 volumes, and we are alarmed that they would reopen the 2020 RVO, a rule that was already finalized.”
Zoetis has been named to Newsweek Magazine's America’s Most Responsible Companies 2022 list, which recognizes top-performing companies that are making a difference through their environmental, social and corporate governance actions. The company debuted at No.71 (out of 500 companies) in its first year on the Newsweek list.Zoetis is the only standalone animal health company and ranked in the top 14% of all companies listed and the top 25% among Health Care & Life Sciences companies on the list. In partnership with Statista Inc., Newsweek identified the top 500 most responsible companies from a pool of over 2,000 organizations across 14 industries, based on publicly available information as well as an independent study of 11,000 U.S. residents.
Farm Journal Media has acquired Precision Reach, the leading programmatic digital services company serving the agricultural market. Precision Reach (formerly known as Big Reach Network) is a data-driven programmatic advertising network that reaches farmers, ranchers and a suite of proprietary niche influencer audiences on digital devices across thousands of websites, mobile apps and streaming devices. The acquisition combines Farm Journal’s unmatched audience intelligence with Precision Reach’s industry-leading expertise and long-time trusted reputation to offer clients the best programmatic services available in agriculture. “Precision Reach is the pre-eminent player in the ag programmatic space and provides Farm Journal with another best-in-class tool in our growing Enterprise Solutions toolkit,” said Andy Weber, CEO of Farm Journal.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran announced a $1,594,970 USDA investment in eight Kansas small and midsized meatpackers through the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant (MPIRG) program. The MPIRG program was created by Sen. Moran’s legislation: Requiring Assistance to Meat Processors for Upgrading Plants (Ramp-Up).The MPIRG’s Planning for a Federal Grant of Inspection project supports small and midsized meat processing facilities working to meet the standards of the Federal Meat Inspection Act or Poultry Products Inspection Act and the MPIRG’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment Compliance project is assisting facilities working to meet the standards to operate under a state’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment program.
The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell in November, as producers expressed concerns about growing production costs and fluctuating commodity prices. The barometer, a monthly survey that tracks producer sentiment, decreased 5 points in November to a reading of 116. According to the release, rising costs for fertilizer, farm machinery, seed and fuel are increasingly a concern for farmers. James Mintert, the barometer's principal investigator and director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture, said November was the "lowest reading of 2021 for all three measures of producer sentiment."
Landowners who purchased Missouri property in 2021 paid more for land than buyers who purchased land in 2020, according to the latest Missouri Farmland Values Opinion Survey report from University of Missouri Extension. Agricultural economist Ray Massey, who led the survey, projects the upswing in land values will continue. He says higher land values will result in higher cash rental rates. Higher land values may also lead to an increase in the tax base, allowing communities to collect more revenue. Conducted in September 2021, the land values survey collected responses from 88 Missouri lenders, farmers, rural appraisers and others familiar with Missouri land values. Values for cropland, pasture, timberland and hunting/recreational land all increased from 2020 to 2021. More information available at www.muext.us/LandValues.
U.S. agriculture could be headed into a severe land crunch and a new food vs. fuel battle because of the growing demand for soybean-based biofuels. That's the assessment of economist Dan Basse, president of Chicago-based Ag Resource Co. In a presentation to the American Seed Trade Association's annual meeting, Basse said that soybean oil production would have to double by 2024 to meet the demand from the renewable diesel production capacity that's planned or coming online. That in turn would require farmers to increase soybean acreage by an astounding 40 million acres, a number that would be impossible to meet. Farmers harvested an estimated 86 million acres this year. "If I need 40 million acres, I need to displace lots of other crops," Basse said in an interview with Agri-Pulse. At most, 2 to 3 million acres could feasibly come from corn given the market's need for 15 billion bushels of that crop each year, he added. Source: Agri Pulse, December 8, 2021.
The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) joins the Trust In Beef program as a founding partner and technical advisor. Trust In Beef is a new effort to empower beef producers to accelerate the adoption of sustainability initiatives and provide consumers with real-life proof of the continuously improving environmental performance of American beef. The program is led by Farm Journal‘s social purpose division.
This past Fall 100 Lathrop GPM attorneys were named to The Best Lawyers in America© list, seven of whom were selected “Lawyer of the Year” in their practice area. Additionally 13 attorneys in the firm were chosen for the inaugural “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” in 2002. Among the Lathrop attorneys being so honored was AgBizKC Council member Bill Ford, who was recognized for his work in environmental law. Past chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City Robert Thomson, a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner was also named to the list.
In July of 2021, African swine fever was detected in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, marking the first time in nearly 40 years it had made an appearance in the Western Hemisphere. This was an indication to researchers like Megan Niederwerder, assistant professor at Kansas State University, that it was time to increase the sense of urgency for discovering methods of outbreak prevention before the virus has a chance to reach North America. “While our primary goal is to prevent African swine fever introduction into the U.S., we have to be prepared for a swift and effective response should the virus ever enter our country,” Niederwerder says. She recently received a grant from the National Pork Board to lead a $513,000 research project focusing on African swine fever survival once the virus has arrived on a farm. Her research focuses on common contamination points, such as pen contamination, manure secretions, and ways the virus can be eliminated from those contamination points. Source: Successful Farming, December 3, 2021.
People
Kansas City-based AgriThority, an agricultural product development company specializing in accelerating new technologies to commercialization around the world, has expanded its Europe, Middle East and Africa team with the addition of Franz Brandl, Ph.D., as Senior Research & Development Manager. Based in Germany, Dr. Brandl brings decades of experience from the intersection of crop protection and breeding genetics for innovative seed care technologies and their application. Most recently, he served as the global product manager for Syngenta Seedcare Fungicides in Switzerland.
Todd Hays, Monroe City, was re-elected to a two-year term as vice president of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation (MOFB) during the organization’s 107th Annual Meeting on December 7 at the Lake of the Ozarks. Hays was first elected vice president in 2010. Prior to that he served on the organization’s board of directors in the 2nd district seat, representing northeast Missouri. Before his election to the board, Hays was appointed MOFB Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) chairman in 2003, serving in an advisory capacity on the board for one year.
National Pork Producers Council named Bryan Humphreys the organization's new CEO, effective Dec. 21. Humphreys currently serves as the senior vice president of the National Pork Board and was also a former employee of the National Pork Producers Council.
Kansas Livestock Association’s KLA Cattle Feeders Council elected individuals to serve on the group’s executive committee during the KLA Convention in Wichita. Jason Timmerman with NA Timmerman of Colby was elected chairman, while Keith Bryant with Cobalt Cattle of Garden City was selected to serve as vice chairman. Additional members elected to the CFC Executive Committee were Brandon Depenbusch, Innovative Livestock Services, Great Bend; Shane Tiffany, Tiffany Cattle Company, Herington; Daniel Berg, Gray County Feed Yard, Cimarron; and Tod Kalous, Pratt Feeders. Jeff George with Finney County Feedyard in Garden City also is serving on the seven-member committee as past chairman. The KLA Cattle Feeders Council Executive Committee is the volunteer leadership group representing the business interests of cattle feeders belonging to the association.
Jacob Hall, Marshall, and Jessica Janorschke, St. Joseph, were selected 2022 Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) Ambassadors during the organization’s 107th annual meeting December 5 at the Lake of the Ozarks. The MOFB Ambassador Program selects a male and female student 17-to-22 years of age to represent agriculture and Missouri Farm Bureau for one year. Each Ambassador receives a $2,500 educational scholarship. Throughout 2022, the Ambassadors will make select appearances representing Farm Bureau during a legislative trip to Washington, D.C., in March, the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, and other events promoting agriculture.
Events
The Western Farm Show returns to the American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri, as a live event for 2022. Scheduled Friday through Sunday, Feb. 25-27, the event will feature the latest agricultural equipment and many other attractions for farmers, ranchers and family members. Produced by the Western Equipment Dealers Association, the Western Farm Show is the Midwest’s top indoor farm show with hundreds of exhibits, acres of things to see and do, the latest in farm and ranch technology, and more. More information is available at www.westernfarmshow.com.
University of Missouri Extension will hold a feedlot school January 13-14, 2022, at North Central Missouri College in Trenton. MU Extension beef nutritionist Eric Bailey says MU Extension specialists will tell the “ins and outs of feeding cattle in Missouri.” There is renewed interest in feedlots due to new packing plants being built in and around Missouri, he says. Although Missouri ranks third nationally in beef inventory, it has not supported feedlots in the past, Bailey says. This means revenue generated by Missouri’s large cattle industry goes out of state. Missouri cattlemen raise 1.7 million calves annually but feed out only 187,500 of them. “We want to keep a greater portion of these cattle at home and feed them on the farm instead of shipping them out,” Bailey says. “This will add revenue to farms and economic impact for Missouri.” For more information, contact Shawn Deering, deerings@missouri.edu or 660-726-5610; Jim Humphrey, humphreyjr@missouri.edu or 816-324-3146; or Eric Bailey, baileyeric@missouri.edu or 573-884-7873.