Digging Deeper...

A new barge terminal is open for business on the Missouri River. It came on stream (no pun intended) in June, giving corn and soybean producers in western Iowa an effective, efficient, and economical venue from which to ship millions of bushels of row crops to markets downstream and overseas – and to offload tons of vital equipment, fertilizer and other inputs western Iowa farmers need for profitable growing.  It may herald good times to come on the Missouri River. By: Dennis McLaughlin, McLaughlin Writers LLC

(Sources: Tom Waters, chairman, Missouri Levee and Drainage District  Association and chairman, Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission; Chris Chinn, director Missouri Department of Agriculture; Ben Nuelle, Agri-Pulse Communications, June 16, 2021; Mike Steenhoek, executive director, Soy Transportation Coalition; Dan Dix, general manager, Port of Blencoe, Iowa; Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture)

Missouri River Gets Much Needed Infrastructure Funding

Located half-way between Council Bluffs and Sioux City, on the Iowa side of  the Missouri River, the Port of Blencoe will serve as a gateway to world markets. The port is the farthest stop north on the Missouri River and will shift high-volume freight from road to waterway. With its newly constructed, recently christened barge terminal, the port provides a marketing option for Midwest corn and soybean producers. “The facility's ability to ship millions of bushels of row crops downstream toward the Mississippi River could also increase the prices grain buyers will pay for their grain,” noted Ben Nuelle, in an Agri-Pulse Communications report (June 16, 2021).

The Port of Blencoe, operated by Iowa-based NEW Cooperative, Inc., and three-years in development, will provide western Iowa farmers with direct access to international markets. It’s a doorway to global trade, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig told Agri-Pulse. “I call it an on-ramp to the superhighway to the Gulf of Mexico.” The port will service six barges and a single towboat about 17 times a year.

It has been 16 years since barges have navigated into the region. State and local officials as well as business leaders in the area hope the new port will help increase end-market grain prices. "This part of Iowa, typically, has some of the lowest prices for grain,” said Dan Dix general manager of the Port of Blencoe. However, he noted, producers are so far-removed from end-users that over-the-road and rail- transportation costs cut into their profits.   

Commenting on freight rates, and congested rail and highways, Tom Waters, chairman of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association (MLDDA) said, “Rivers remain the one mode of transport underutilized in the transportation system; it’s environmental and economic benefits continue to make it a viable choice for transportation well into the future.”

More to the Story

The recent commencement of barge operations at Port Blencoe may not have elicited more than a ho-hum from communities and businesses down river, but it is emblematic of positive efforts from federal, state and local government to implement river infrastructure projects that will improve flood control systems and enhance commercial navigability. With infrastructure high on the list of priorities in the White House and in Congress, it is a good time for floodplain communities, river-dependent commerce and transportation operations to put forth proposals and applications for financial allocations from governmental agencies and departments. “Infrastructure is a big deal right now,” says Waters, referring to the multi-trillion dollar projects being discussed by the White House and Congress.

While the iron is hot, it’s a good time to strike.  And that’s what seems to be happening. The Missouri River flooding of 2019 has forced lawmakers, business leaders, engineers and communities to demand more attention be directed toward upgrading the nation’s inland waterways infrastructure. In particular its dams and levees. On January 19, 2021, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) delivered to Congress its Fiscal Year 2021 Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program. It was a presentation detailing where USACE would spend its allotments from the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Public Law 116-260 that became law on December 27, 2020.

Of the $7.3 billion funding that the Act provides for USACE’s Army Civil Works projects, $2.2 billion will be spent on the nation’s rivers: Navigation - $1.3 billion; Flood Risk Management - $0.5 billion; Other Authorized Project Purposes - $0.4 billion.  

In its own words, here is how USACE described its spending plans to lawmakers:

“The Army Civil Works program includes funds for the planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of water resources projects, with a focus on the highest performing work within the three main Civil Works mission areas: commercial navigation, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration.  It also funds programs that contribute to the protection of the nation’s waters and wetlands; the generation of low-cost renewable hydropower; the restoration of certain sites contaminated as a result of the nation’s early atomic weapons development program; and emergency preparedness and training to respond to natural disasters.”

Close To Home                                                       

Late last December, the United States Congress passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020, and it was signed into law in early January 2021. According to a release from the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, “WRDA 2020 included essential provisions to invest in U.S. ports, harbors and inland waterways; build more resilient communities; and ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carries out projects in an economically and environmentally responsible manner.”

The efforts of Missouri’s U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley and U.S. Congressional Representatives Emanuel Cleaver and Sam Graves were key in making sure lawmakers understood how critical the Missouri River is to overall national agricultural, inland navigational and regional flood control interests.  Biennial WRDA legislation – which the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has developed and passed on a bipartisan basis since 2014 – is critical to all 50 states, territories, and Tribal communities.

Tom Waters said, “MLDDA worked with Congressman Sam Graves and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Senator Roy Blunt to get language in the WRDA 2020 regarding the Missouri River.” WRDA 2020 also has several exciting things in it, he pointed out, involving the Missouri River. “The Lower Missouri River Study in WRDA 2020 begins a process of developing a system plan for the River and opens the door to begin feasibility studies for a few critical locations along the River where flood control infrastructure improvements can be made. 

In addition to Missouri’s Washington Congressional Delegation, Waters noted his groups have been working closely with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the State Legislature to begin implementing some of the ideas developed by Governor Parson’s Missouri River Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group. He also pointed out that MLDDA and MHTC have acquired funding for requisite feasibility studies. “We’ve raised our share of the costs, and are ready to go,” he said, adding, “We’re just waiting for federal allocations to arrive.”  

The 2019 flood event once again demonstrated how important flood control infrastructure is for Missouri, Waters reported.  “For years, the Levee Association has been telling the story about the need for improvements in our flood control system. In recent years, the River itself has been telling the story. Flood after flood over the past several years has drawn attention to the Missouri River, and I am hopeful we will begin to see improvements made to benefit all those impacted by Missouri River flooding.”

WRDA 2020: What’s in it for Mighty Mo?

The legislation provides more than $7.7 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers (which is $145 million above the Fiscal Year “enacted” level. The funding will support vital flood control and navigation projects across Missouri and the nation. How much of that will actually be carved out for the Missouri River remains to be seen after feasibility studies have been completed.

Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP): Bill includes language that advances the NESP, which authorizes the modernization of seven locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River.

Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Program: The legislation provides $9.4 million for operation and maintenance work activities, including critical structure maintenance for navigation.

Lower Missouri River: The bill includes language that urges the Corps to work with state and federal agencies and stakeholders to identify authorities and opportunities for the development of a more comprehensive, system-wide plan for flood control in the Lower Missouri River Basin. Senator Blunt has also introduced legislation (cosponsored by all the Senators from lower Missouri River basin states) that would overhaul the Corps’ process for managing projects along the lower Missouri River system.

Inland Waterways Trust Fund: The bill makes full use of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund revenues. The bill also ensures the resources inland navigation operators put into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund are used for construction and modernization of our nation’s locks and dams.

Mississippi River and Tributaries Project: The legislation includes $380 million for the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, providing vital funding for the Corps to fulfill its flood control and navigation missions.

Delta Regional Authority (DRA): The bill provides $30 million for the DRA with a focus on infrastructure development in rural areas, including $15 million for flood control, public infrastructure, and transportation improvements. The DRA provides infrastructure, health care, and economic development assistance to 29 counties in Southeast Missouri.

Small Ports: The legislation includes $65 million for the dredging of small ports, including those in Missouri located on the Mississippi River.

Kansas City National Security Campus: The bill provides more than $4 billion for the Infrastructure and Operations account at the National Nuclear Security Administration. This funding is essential to the operation of the Kansas City National Security Campus, and will help ensure the safety, security, reliability, and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.  

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MDA Director Chinn Touts Missouri River

In a recent press release, Chris Chinn, director, Missouri Department of Agriculture, counted the Missouri River among the “unsung heroes” of the state’s agricultural industry. “As Missouri farmers and ranchers, we are blessed with this advantage, in addition to our rail and trucking options to get our products to market,” she said. “The three transportation options working together create a competitive environment that brings down the cost of grain transportation overall.” 

Director Chinn also pointed to the large amount of fertilizer that is carried upriver to Missouri farmers during planting season. On their return trip, she said, the barges are loaded down with grain for export to customers around the world.  But it takes a lot of work to maintain these systems appropriately. 

“We’ve seen leaders, such as Governor Mike Parson, step up to prioritize navigation and flood control along our river systems that have paid off for agriculture.”  Barge traffic has been increasing over the years because of these collective efforts, Chinn said. “Since the 1990s, we’ve seen a renaissance on both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in terms of management,” she added. 

According to Missouri’s Grain Inspection Services – with service sites in St. Joseph, Marshall and New Madrid – barge traffic has grown dramatically.  For example, since 2008, New Madrid’s service point saw nearly 12,500 barges inspected; Marshall’s service point (which includes Missouri and Mississippi River locations) saw more than 8,500 barges come through for inspection.

“But the most impressive numbers are found in the increases in five-year averages,” Chinn explained. “Marshall’s five-year average increased from 373 barges annually from 2008 to 2012, to 953 annually from 2016 to 2020.”  An impressive 255% bump in activity.  Farther south, she noted, “New Madrid’s five-year average went from 759 annually from 2008 to 2012, to well over 1,000 annually from 2016 to 2020. That’s a 31% increase at one of the most critical river shipping ports in our state.”

Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - July 2021

Developments 

USDA has indicated it will allocate $500 million to expand meat processing capacity. Farm groups say the funding will probably be allocated through grants and loans.  Glynn Tonsor, ag economist at Kansas State University, noted a general rule of thumb when considering the cost of building a new facility, at least for beef cattle, is about $100,000 per head of processing capacity. “The economic size of the meat and livestock industry and the cost involved with industry infrastructure expansion is way larger than most people recognize,” Dr. Tonsor told Agri-Pulse Communications. “So, $500 million doesn't go nearly as far as it sounds.” Read the full article in Agri-Pulse newsletter July 28, 2021.

Kansas City’s City Market is in the running for the American Farmland Trust (Farmers Market Coalition) contest for the 2021 Farmers Market Celebration. Running from June 21 to September 19, 2021, the 13th annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration showcases the essential markets across the nation making a difference for farmers, ranchers, and communities. Vote here.

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), there were 101 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of July 1, 2021, down 1% from July 2020.  Of the 101 million head inventory, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 40.9 million, down 2% from last year. To obtain an accurate measurement of the current state of the U.S. cattle industry, NASS surveyed nearly 16,000 operators across the nation during the first half of July. NASS asked these producers to report their cattle inventories as of July 1, 2021, and calf crop for the entire year of 2021 by internet, mail, or telephone. This Cattle report and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications.  

Missouri’s soybean farmers are investing in the future with the launch of the new Policy Leaders Fellowship Program. In partnership with Iowa soybean growers, the new program offers leadership training, networking opportunities, and hands-on work with policy, government, and legislative processes. “Investing in the next generation of agricultural and policy leaders is key to serving Missouri’s soybean farmers. Our impact grows as we work together, and this is a great step forward for ensuring soybeans are front and center in Missouri and the Midwest, well into the future,” said Ronnie Russell, Missouri Soybean Association president. The program is designed for young professionals involved in production agriculture. One applicant will be selected from each crop reporting district in Iowa and Missouri. The strongest candidates will have an interest in agricultural policy education and be active members of their state soybean associations. Applications may be submitted online at mosoy.org/fellow through August 15.

In a new study published in Plos Genetics, Jared Decker, Ph.D., associate professor and Wurdack Chair in Animal Genetics at the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, and his team found evidence that cattle are losing their natural ability to adapt to new environments when moved from one location to another. After examining genetic material stretching back to the 1960s, they identified specific DNA variations associated with adaptations that could one day be used to create DNA tests for cattle — tests that could tell farmers whether their cattle are suited for one environment or another. “When I joined MU in 2013, I moved cattle from a family farm in New Mexico to my farm here in Missouri,” said Dr. Decker, “New Mexico is hot and dry, and Missouri is also hot but has much more humidity. The cattle certainly didn’t do as well as they did in New Mexico, and that spurred me to think about how we could give farmers more information about what their animals need to thrive.”  He sees this study as an important step toward a genetic test for cattle that can detect genetic variants associated with environmental adaptations. Read more at www.PlosGenetics.com, current edition.

The Kansas Board of Regents – the governing board of the state’s six universities and the statewide coordinating board for the state’s 32 public higher education institutions (six state universities, one municipal university, nineteen community colleges, and six technical colleges) – has appointed 25 members to the committee that will assist and advise the Board in the search for the next president of Kansas State University (KSU). The search committee includes representation from university students, faculty, staff, alumni and the Manhattan community. The Board named Carl Ice as chair of the search committee. Ice is a K-State alumnus and retired CEO of BNSF Railway. Search committee members include Terry Holdren, CEO, Kansas Farm Bureau and a member of the Council’s Board of Directors, as well as Kevin Lockett, Partner at Fulcrum Global Capital, a venture capital fund focused on investments in the Agriculture and Animal health sectors.

U.S. Premium Beef has been selected as the recipient of 2021 Don L. Good Impact Award. The award, presented by the Livestock and Meat Industry Council Inc. is named in honor of Good, who is a former head of the Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry (ASI), and recognizes positive impact on the livestock and meat industry or agriculture. USPB will be recognized during the K-State ASI Family & Friends Reunion on Oct. 15 at the Stanley Stout Center in Manhattan. The event is planned to be hosted in-person, following COVID procedures at the time. More information, along with registration, is available at www.asi.ksu.edu/familyandfriends.  

A federal judge in South Carolina has granted the federal government’s request to remand the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule to the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. That will allow those agencies to write a new definition of what streams and wetlands fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. But the one-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks granted the government’s motion to leave the Trump rule in place while the revisions are in development, reported Agri-Pulse Communications.  Environmental groups had asked him to vacate the rule.

In early July, Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Grain Regulatory Services Program (GRSP) suspended the Missouri grain dealer license for Pipeline Foods, LLC. Effective immediately, Pipeline Foods, LLC is not licensed to operate as a grain dealer in the state of Missouri. The Department’s Grain Regulatory Services Program licenses and regulates grain warehouses and grain dealers in Missouri, offering a means of protection to Missouri’s grain producers in case of warehouse or grain dealer insolvency. Any person or business purchasing grain from producers must have a valid grain dealer license. For more information contact GRSP manager Eric Berwanger (573) 751-4112.

USDA’s Kansas City-based National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced an investment of $14 million in research to protect agricultural animals from disease. “Animal health is critically important to farmers and ranchers,” said NIFA director Dr. Carrie Castille. “This research will help better understand, diagnose, control and prevent diseases in agricultural animals and aquaculture.” Funded projects will focus on developing new and improved vaccines, diagnostics and antimicrobial alternatives; breeding disease resistant animals; and understanding better ways to manage animals to minimize disease outbreaks.

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer marks a second month of sharp declines, down 21 basis points to a reading of 137 in June. Producers were less optimistic about both current conditions on their farming operations as well as their expectations for the future. The Index of Current Conditions dropped 29 points to a reading of 149 and the Index of Future Expectations fell 17 points to a reading of 132. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers' responses to a telephone survey. This month's survey was conducted from June 21-25, 2021. "Farmers expect their input costs to rise much more rapidly in the year ahead than they have over the last decade, contributing to their concerns about their farm finances and financial future," said James Mintert, the barometer's principal investigator and director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture.

Speaking on the Senate floor last week, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran warned that the impact a potential tax provision in the House spending legislation would have a dire impact on multi-generational farms and ranches. Farmers and ranchers should not have to shoulder a trillion-dollar spending spree to expand social programs, he said.  “Our tax code should work for American families, not against them, and especially for family farms and ranches that often lack the cash flows to make ends meet. I will always fight to protect family farms and ranches in Kansas and our country.”  

Kansas Livestock Association volunteer leaders and staff spent three days in Washington, D.C., last week. While in the nation’s capital, the KLA contingent met with each member of the Kansas congressional delegation, staff from both the Senate and House Ag Committees and staff of other key members of Congress.  During the various meetings, several issues of concern were discussed, including cattle marketing, proposed changes to the tax code that would negatively impact family farms and ranches and how the lack of labor is affecting the livestock industry. The KLA group explained the reasons cattle feeders use different methods to market fed cattle and outlined how member-developed policy defends each producer’s ability to market their cattle how they see fit. They also highlighted how labor shortages are impacting processors, cattle feeders and dairy farmers. Additionally, KLA leaders explained the importance of a guest worker program that fits the year-round labor needs of feedyards and dairies and the need for government policies that encourage domestic workers to re-enter the labor force.

People

Christine Tew is leaving the Missouri Soybean Association to join Valent where she will be working in marketing communications focusing on corn, rice and soybeans. For the past seven years, she has served as the director of communications for MSA. Before that, she was at the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

The American Soybean Association has elected new officers to the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health. New to the Committee are Doug Darling of Michigan and Denny Mertz of Missouri. Serving as chairman is Gerry Hayden of Kentucky, vice chair is Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare of Illinois, treasurer is Bob Haselwood of Kansas, and secretary is Morey Hill of Iowa. Source: Agri-Pulse, July 28, 2021

Senator Roy Blunt has named Rachelle Schroeder as the new Republican staff director of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. She succeeds Fitzhugh Elder IV who has been named Republican staff director of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Schroeder has served as deputy Republican staff director of the Rules Committee since April 2018. She previously served as a clerk for the legislative branch appropriations subcommittee in the Senate.

Four National Junior Hereford Association members were elected to the National Junior Hereford Association board of directors at the 2021 VitaFerm® Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE), Hereford Spectacular, July 3-9, in Kansas City, Missouri. Wesley Denton, Blue Rapids, Kan.; Lauren Jones, Darlington, Wis.; Hannah Pearson, Oconto, Neb.; and Tar Tut, Faribault, Minn., were all welcomed into their maroon jackets as new NJHA directors during the JNHE awards ceremony on July 8. 

Stockholders of FCS Financial elected four directors to the board. Elected by the cooperative’s member-owners were Andy Kapp of Clarksdale, Missouri, and incumbents Glen Cope of Aurora, Missouri, Dan Devlin of Edina, Mo., and Beth Schnitker of Middletown, Missouri. Kapp, Cope and Devlin will serve four-year terms. Schnitker will serve a 1-year term as part of the Board’s transition from 3-year to 4-year terms. FCS Financial provides credit and financial services to agricultural producers, agricultural-related businesses and rural residents. The board consists of 12 elected and 3 appointed members and has 12 areas of representation.

Events

Missouri State Fair 2021 gets underway August 12-22 in Sedalia. The fair has showcased the Show-Me State since 1901 and is Missouri's largest agricultural expo that includes livestock shows and competitions, agriculture exhibits, rodeo events, concerts, a carnival midway, kids entertainment, and much more. Visit the Fair’s website for news, information and schedule of events: www.mostatefair.com .

As the Beef Checkoff celebrates its 35th anniversary, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, is shining a light on successful promotion and research programs that drive the demand for beef. Many consumers recognize the “Beef:  It’s What’s Dinner” campaign. Seventy-eight percent of consumers (according to Consumer Beef Tracker; Jan-Dec 2020) agree that beef is great tasting and a great source of protein.  Although consumers may be familiar with well-known cuts like Ribeye, Sirloin and Brisket, many may not realize how years of product development research have identified new and innovative favorites such as the Flat Iron Steak and Petite Tender, adding value to the chuck and middle meats. The Product Quality Research program includes the study of beef quality, muscle traits and characterization, carcass traits, muscle tenderness and yield, flavor and palatability, and new technologies. The overall goal of this Checkoff-funded research is to improve beef quality, consistency, value and demand.

The Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture is coming back to Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri, this fall for its 49th celebration of agriculture.  Missouri Department of Agriculture has set the conference dates for November 18-19, 2021. Missouri farmers, ranchers, agribusiness leaders and aspiring agriculturalists are invited to enjoy the packed program that will include a commodity outlook, Missouri Agriculture Awards luncheon and nationally recognized speaker line-up. 

The Kansas Department of Agriculture will host the state’s agriculture community in person for its sixth annual Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth on Thursday, August 26, in Manhattan. The 2021 Ag Growth Summit will be a blend of in-person events and online meetings. The Summit’s main event will be held at the Manhattan Conference Center with in-person attendance highly encouraged. For several weeks prior to the Summit, starting July 1, a series of virtual sector breakout sessions will lead up to the Summit main event. More information about the 2021 Kansas Governor’s Summit is available from Brittney Grother at Brittney.Grother@ks.gov or 785-564-6797.

Farm Journal initiatives Scoop and Trust In Food have been named exclusive media partners of the 2021 InfoAg Conference presented by The Fertilizer Institute. The event is set for August 3-4, 2021, at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel. For more than 25 years, InfoAg has been the premier conference on the practical application of precision agriculture. Now under management by The Fertilizer Institute the conference will expand to include a broader reach of tools, technologies, products and practices that crop advisers can use to advance agriculture. The conference will build on its strong history of educating crop advisors and agricultural retailers with the integration of a broader perspective of solutions to support the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. Farm Journal maintains offices in Lenexa, Kansas.

Kansas corn farmers are invited to Kansas Corn’s “Born for the Field” Summer Listening Tour. Growers can connect with Kansas Corn at five listening tour dinners to be held in Goodland, Garden City, Marysville, Lawrence and Fredonia, or at two field days held in Moundridge and Gypsum. This is the sixth year of the popular listening tour dinners. Kansas Corn hosts this annual listening tour to meet with corn farmers to talk about the many issues surrounding the corn and ag industries. Kansas Corn staff will update growers on topics such as market development efforts in the areas of ethanol, livestock and exports, as well as education and research efforts and state and regional issues. A key focus at each stop is to get feedback from growers, which is valued by the association and commission boards in their planning. The “Born for the Field” baseball theme connects with the National Corn Growers Association’s partnership with Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox in Dyersville, Iowa to be broadcast nationally on Aug. 12. Kansas Corn is participating in NCGA’s “Born for the Field” promotions throughout the summer. More information: www.kscorn.com or by calling the Kansas Corn office, 785-410-5009. 

From its Lenexa, Kansas office Farm Journal announced that country music star Easton Corbin will headline the live 2021 #FarmONTM Benefit Concert during Farm Journal Days™. Proceeds from this second annual benefit concert will go to the National FFA Foundation. Highlights from the concert will air in prime time on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, from 7 to 8 p.m. CDT, on RFD-TV and stream on other online and social networks. Corbin is a three-time American Country Music Award winner and has three Billboard Top Country Albums.

Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - June 2021

Developments

A survey of ag producer sentiment in May reveals the lowest overall reading since September 2020 and declines in several areas, but farmers and ranchers expect farmland values to rise over the next five years. The Ag Economy Barometer, produced by Purdue University and the CME Group, showed a sharp decline of 20 points, to a reading of 158, according to the survey, conducted in May. That number was 156 in September. Overall, there has been a stark decline in the outlook for U.S. agriculture, with only 27% of respondents expecting good times in the next five years. This is the lowest reading in the history of the survey. Purdue's James Mintert pointed to "the potential for changing tax rules and rising input costs" as "primary drivers" for the month's results. 

Missouri soybean farmers are funding nearly $2.5 million in soybean research, development and education projects this year. Projects selected for funding address challenges directly affecting Missouri’s soybean farmers, soybean markets and future opportunities. “Research is a cornerstone of our pursuit of innovative solutions to the challenges we face as farmers,” said Kyle Durham, a farmer and chairman of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council board of directors. The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council funded 31 projects, ranging in value from $16,375 to $460,000. Projects selected for funding include Missouri’s northern and southern soybean breeding programs, as well as work on soy-based golf balls, disease resistance and herbicide tolerance, and soil health. Biodiesel-focused education projects with the Rockwood Summit School District and Three Rivers College were also selected for funding.

Cargill has joined U.S. CattleTrace as an official packer member. Cargill is the second beef processor to invest in the effort formed by multiple state cattlemen’s organizations to develop a national infrastructure for animal disease traceability in the U.S. cattle industry. “Reducing the impact of disease is critical for the U.S. beef herd which is why we’re excited to join the U.S. CattleTrace program and champion its efforts to improve global competitiveness and food safety across the value chain,” said Jarrod Gillig, business operations and supply chain lead for Cargill’s North American protein business. U.S. CattleTrace will assist animal health officials by responding to events of foreign animal disease within the U.S. cattle herd to limit any impact to daily operations and help maintain access to important beef export markets.

POET finalized discussions with Flint Hills Resources to acquire the entirety of Flint Hills' biofuels and ingredients businesses. The acquisition includes six bioprocessing facilities located in Iowa and Nebraska and two terminals in Texas and Georgia. POET, headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., will now operate 33 bioprocessing facilities across eight states with a combined annual capacity of 3 billion gallons. “This acquisition will increase POET’s ability to bring even more high-quality, plant-based biofuels and bio products to the world—allowing us to have an even bigger impact on fighting climate change and cleaning our air,” said POET CEO Jeff Broin in a statement. Flint Hills, a refining, biofuels and petrochemical company, is based in Wichita, Kansas, and prior to the acquisition, was the fifth largest ethanol producer in the United States. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc.

Missouri’s population grew by about 11,000 people from 2019 to 2020. This 0.2% increase is half the national rate of 0.4%, though it is typical of the modest growth experienced by many other Midwestern states.  But certain areas – Springfield and suburbs around St. Louis and Kansas City – have seen growth, says Mark White, University of Missouri associate extension professor and policy research professor at MU’s Truman School of Public Affairs. The Kansas City region, home to almost a fifth of the state’s population, added 85,000 new residents over the last decade. Platte and Clay counties were among the state’s fastest-growing counties. The PDF report is available here.        

The National Corn Growers Association has released a report that documents past sustainability improvements by U.S. corn farmers and sets goals to reach by 2030. “Corn farmers have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability for decades through their adoption of practices to defend against soil erosion, improve water quality and water use, and management of resources through modern farming advancements,” NCGA president John Linder said in a statement. The report is meant to solidify “U.S. corn farmers’ commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability” through demonstrating past efforts and pledging future progress, the organization noted in a www.Agri-Pulse.com June 9 release. NCGA also set environmental national efficiency targets for 2030. The report is available here.  

It’s not too early for pancake, waffle and French toast lovers to stock up on a winter breakfast staple. Maple syrup production across the country is off, just under 17% in 2021. In Vermont, the nation’s top maple producer, production is off so far over 21%, according to recent USDA statistics. Poor sugaring weather (including a run of 70-degree days during prime sugaring season) has caused one of the shortest maple seasons in over a decade for producers in Vermont. “Folks were anywhere from 50 to 75% of a normal crop across the board this season,” said Allison Hope, the executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association. 

USDA is soliciting public comment regarding new regulations for the movement of animals modified or produced by genetic engineering. Under the regulatory framework being contemplated, USDA would promulgate regulations using the authorities granted to USDA through the Animal Health Protection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). Pursuant to these authorities, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would conduct a safety assessment of organisms developed using genetic engineering that may increase an animal’s susceptibility to pests or diseases of livestock, including zoonotic diseases, or ability to transmit the same. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) would conduct a pre-slaughter food safety assessment to ensure that the slaughter and processing of animals developed using genetic engineering would not result in a product that is unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food.   

A newly constructed barge terminal on the Missouri River in western Iowa should provide a new marketing option for Midwest corn and soybean producers. The facility's ability to ship millions of bushels of row crops downstream toward the Mississippi River could also increase the prices grain buyers will pay for their grain,  offering more market opportunities for producers. The Port of Blencoe, operated by NEW Cooperative Inc. officially opened earlier this month in Blencoe, Iowa, between Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux City, Iowa. The port will be served roughly seventeen times a year by about six barges and a single towboat. Access to river barges means farmers will get paid higher prices for their crops by shrinking the local basis, the difference between the local cash market and the futures price. Source; Agri-Pulse Communciations, June 23, 2021.

USDA’s Kansas City-based National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced an investment of over $19 million in 1890 Land-grant Institutions scholarships for undergraduate students to stimulate interest in food and agricultural careers. “As we work to increase the talent pipeline for the agricultural innovation workforce and the next generation of agricultural scientists, we need the brightest minds from across all areas and cultures in our society to be represented,” said NIFA director Dr. Carrie Castille.

Kansas’s largest electric company, Evergy, expects to make its first big investments in solar energy over the next three years, promising zero net carbon emissions in 2045. Evergy outlined its long-term plan in recent weeks for regulators in Kansas, where the company has about 1 million customers, and in Missouri where it has an additional 600,000. The plan has spurred a debate about climate change, electric rates and promoting social justice through energy policy. It's the first time a Kansas utility has filed such a plan with state regulators, and Evergy promises to update it every three years.

Hill's Pet Nutrition will invest more than $250 million to build a new factory in Leavenworth County, Kansas to help meet the growing demand for its veterinarian-recommended pet nutrition products. The state-of-the-art facility will be built on 80 acres in Tonganoxie Business Park in Tonganoxie, Kansas and will help Hill's Pet Nutrition meet the increasing demand for science-led pet nutrition. The new factory will feature the latest manufacturing technology and is expected to employ at least 80 people by 2025. The Tonganoxie plant will join four other Hill's manufacturing sites in the United States, including facilities in Emporia and Topeka, Kansas. Topeka is also home to Hill's global headquarters and its Pet Nutrition Center. 

Global food prices rose in May at their fastest monthly rate in more than a decade, even as world cereal production is on course to reach a new record high, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported in early June. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.1 points in May, 4.8 percent higher than in April and 39.7 percent higher than in May 2020. A surge in the international prices of vegetable oils, sugar and cereals led the increase in the index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities. Full report available at www.fao.org.  

People

Bill Northey, a Trump administration USDA undersecretary and former Iowa Ag Secretary, has joined the board of directors for Landus, a farmer-owned cooperative based in Ames. Northey joins the 12-member board as an outside director and will be asked to act as an advisor and coach on business and industry issues. 

Missouri’s leading voice for soybean farmers has a new addition to its leadership team as Casey Wasser is promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Effective July 1, he will serve as COO for the Missouri Soybean Association, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council and Foundation for Soy Innovation. Wasser has served as the director of policy for the Missouri Soybean Association and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council since late 2016. In that role, he has guided the association through legislative work directly affecting Missouri farmers, including assessments of agricultural land values, proposed increases to on-farm regulation and taxation of disaster payments. Wasser also led the effort to secure repayment of the Missouri Qualified Biodiesel Producer Incentive Fund. 

The Livestock Marketing Association, Overland Park, Kansas, honored Ellington Peek, Cottonwood, California, with its LMA Icon Award at the 2021 LMA Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. LMA president Larry Schnell noted “Ellington played a significant role in paving the way for futuristic methods of buying and selling livestock, and he remains an unshakable advocate for the auction method of selling livestock.” The award is presented to individuals who have advanced the mission and ideals of LMA and its members.

Events

NAMA returns to Kansas City for its 2021 Agri-Marketing Conference, July 20-22. Registration is now open. On the agenda are discussions about how companies are moving forward in a post-COVID-19 world and how customer behaviors are shifting. Registration information is available here.

The Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture is coming back to Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri, this fall for its 49th celebration of agriculture.  Missouri Department of Agriculture has set the conference dates for November 18-19, 2021. Missouri farmers, ranchers, agribusiness leaders and aspiring agriculturalists are invited to enjoy the packed program that will include a commodity outlook, Missouri Agriculture Awards luncheon and nationally-recognized speaker line-up. More information available at www.agriculture.mo.gov.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture will host the state’s agriculture community in person for its sixth annual Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth on Thursday, August 26, in Manhattan. The 2021 Ag Growth Summit will be a blend of in-person events and online meetings. The Summit main event will be held at the Manhattan Conference Center with in-person attendance highly encouraged. For several weeks prior to the Summit, starting July 1, a series of virtual sector breakout sessions will lead up to the Summit main event. More information about the 2021 Kansas Governor’s Summit is available from Brittney Grother at Brittney.Grother@ks.gov or 785-564-6797. 

Farm Journal initiatives Scoop and Trust In Food have been named exclusive media partners of the 2021 InfoAg Conference presented by The Fertilizer Institute. The event is set for August 3-4, 2021, at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel. For more than 25 years, InfoAg has been the premier conference on the practical application of precision agriculture. Now under management by The Fertilizer Institute the conference will expand to include a broader reach of tools, technologies, products and practices that crop advisers can use to advance agriculture. The conference will build on its strong history of educating crop advisors and agricultural retailers with the integration of a broader perspective of solutions to support the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. Farm Journal maintains offices in Lenexa, Kansas.

Dan Glickman, former vice president of the Aspen Institute, a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a board member of the World Food Program USA, will give an online talk and answer questions about his new memoir Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm and at the Movies. The event takes place July 20 via Zoom. Glickman served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Kansas’ 4th District and as USDA secretary from 1995 to 2001. He was chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., from 2004 to 2010. The event will also be livestreamed on the Newton (kansas) Public Library Facebook page. Click here to register.

GROWING HOPE

How one leading nonprofit uses agriculture to change lives

Convoy of Hope was founded more than 25 years ago with the goal of bringing help and hope to those who are impoverished, hungry, and hurting. To date, the faith-based not-for-profit has served more than 167 million people in more than 120 countries through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreach, and disaster response.

Convoy of Hope’s global network strengthens their ability to respond quickly to disasters, extreme poverty, and hunger. Convoy currently partners with communities in an integrated way that includes empowering women, feeding kids, and helping farmer’s yield larger crops.

Farmers and agronomists know that the pride and empowerment of bringing in a harvest is life-changing. That’s why Convoy of Hope’s agriculture specialists teach production methods that encourage long-term sustainable practices. In order to break the cycle of poverty so many families find themselves in, Convoy uses the power of agriculture as part of our multifaceted approach to building thriving, resilient communities. 

FANOR’S STORY

Fanor is one example of this in action. Growing up poor in Nicaragua, his childhood wasn’t carefree. He spent every spare moment cooking and selling food with his mother so they could earn an income. In Fanor’s community, the vast majority of people work in a quarry or lumber yard to earn enough to pay for their daily food.

“There was no time for playing with other children, because I had to help support my family,” he said. “I never wanted to be an adult. My dreams were to not grow up … I didn’t want to have a birthday. I always wanted to be a child because I saw the problems that my mother had, and the way we lived, and I didn’t want that to happen to me.”

Now married with a daughter, Fanor recalls how he used to provide for his family by selling milkshakes and tacos on the street. But everything changed when he and his wife, Yanira, met Convoy of Hope’s Agriculture director in Nicaragua.

“He showed us how to grow melons, corn, and squash, but in a new way,” said Fanor. “It is called ‘high tunneling’ and it can withstand the storms we get here. It also uses drip irrigation so that the crops will survive the dry season.”

In November 2020, a hurricane swept through the country and brought 12 days of rain and flooding with it. Fanor’s family was left in a state of uncertainty, not knowing what survived the devastation. But as they learned, their crops were still producing as a result of the high-tunnel method they’d implemented; their hopes soared.

“Our produce is healthy and fresh,” Fanor said. “Convoy of Hope provided us with the seeds and the materials for the tunnels. And they are advising us. They come constantly to monitor our crop and give us technical advice. Now I no longer need to sell tacos. We get daily harvests, which allow us to actually save money to buy our own land.”

Garson, one of Convoy of Hope’s in-country agricultural specialists, says that Fanor’s project has taken a leap from purely producing for food security to producing for agribusiness. “It is creating income for his family, and they are no longer living day to day. Now he is a well-known producer in the area.”

IN FOR THE LONG HAUL

Agriculture is a vital part of Convoy of Hope’s integrated plan to transform communities. By pairing agriculture training with feeding children and equipping small business owners, Convoy seeks to make lasting change in vulnerable communities around the world.

Educating people about agricultural best-practices is a key factor in families lifting themselves out of poverty. That’s why Convoy of hope is committed to working alongside communities to increase food security and create sustainable sources of nutrition.

Digging Deeper...

Was it coincidental? Or was it clever mockery that hackers pulled off a ‘ransomware’ attack on the U.S. division of JBS, the world’s largest meat company, on Memorial Day weekend – traditionally America’s opener for the summer grilling season? That might be fun to discuss someday. But this crime perpetrated against the meat industry comes on the heels of the trauma inflicted on it last year by COVID-19. And the U.S. is fed up with the mischief.  

Dennis McLaughlin, McLaughlin Writers LLC. (Sources: Susan Landau, Tufts University’s School of Engineering and Fletcher School; Bloomberg News June 1,2021; Forbes June 1, 2021; Cattle Buyers Weekly, June 7, 2021; Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2021; June 11, 2021; U.S. Department of Justice, June 7, 2021; CNN Business, June 1, 2021.) 

Hackers Put Food and Fuel in their Crosshairs

The Memorial Day ransomware attack on JBS had an instantaneous incendiary effect on the U.S. food industry. In a matter of hours it lit up hog farms in Iowa, small-town processing plants around the heartland and New York restaurants. “The hack set off a domino effect that drove up wholesale meat prices, backed up animals in barns,” reported Bloomberg News, “and forced food distributors to hurriedly search for new supplies. And that all took place in a Memorial Day-shortened work week.”

JBS recognized the breach of all JBS’s meatpacking facilities early Sunday morning, May 30, said an official at the United Food and Commercial Workers union that represents JBS employees. The cyberattack closed all of the company's U.S. beef plants located in states including Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Quick to react, Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA Holdings Inc., said the company alerted U.S. authorities and detailed three actions it took immediately: Determine which operations could be run offline; Restart systems using backup data; Enlisting experts to handle negotiations with the attackers. By that afternoon, JBS concluded that encrypted backups of its data were intact.

JBS operations in Australia were also targeted in the same attack. But the Australian meat industry seemed to take the transgression with a bit more sanguinity than Americans. The Australian Meat Industry Council, a major trade group, said in a statement that "there is no indication whatsoever that this cyberattack will cause a major impact on Australian domestic red meat and pork products supply."

Still reeling from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware incursion, we Yanks were not so confident. The meat sector of the U.S. economy, having been shocked last spring by COVID-19 plant shutdowns, was on guard. No one was in the mood to deal with meat shortages in stores, hog herd euthanasia or milk dumping on dairy farms and livestock ranches.

The Usual Suspects

A Russian criminal group is probably responsible for a disruptive new cyberattack on the world’s largest meat processing company, the White House claimed early this month. The Russian government has consistently denied any involvement in recent hacking campaigns, telling Forbes Magazine in a December statement these attacks run counter to “the principals of the Russian foreign policy, national interests” and its understanding of interstate relations. Recently, the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., called allegations that Russia was behind the JBS hack “groundless.”

Even though recent cyberattacks have been blamed on Russian criminal gangs rather than government actors, some cybersecurity experts and government officials believe Russian authorities quietly tolerate private hackers. Dr. Susan Landau, a cybersecurity professor at Tufts University’s School of Engineering and Fletcher School, thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin likely allows criminal hacker gangs to operate in his country (and maybe even quietly collaborates with them sometimes) because it "fits with his foreign policy objectives, and it doesn't cost him anything.”

Cyberattacks on corporate targets can assert Russia’s power globally and create insecurity in the United States, explains Dr. Landau. Most recent hacks have been small enough to avoid drawing severe retaliation from the United States. By outsourcing this activity to criminals, the Russian government gains what she describes as “implausible deniability.”

Nothing New

While countries have conducted cyber-espionage on each other for years, Dr. Landau says, Russia’s interest in sophisticated offensive attacks date back to 2015, when hackers linked to Russia shut down parts of Ukraine’s power grid. No matter how cyberattacks are carried out, she maintains hackers cannot launch them without implicit Chinese or Russian government permission.

Russia has been accused of leading or otherwise endorsing hacking campaigns. Russia was tied to a cyberattack of the Democratic National Committee’s email server in 2016, part of a wider apparent effort to sway the results of the 2016 presidential election. And Russian intelligence officers were accused last year of orchestrating a massive 2017 cyberattack that caused billions of dollars in damage to businesses worldwide. While countries have conducted cyber-espionage on each other for years, Dr. Landau says Russia’s interest in sophisticated offensive attacks seemed to have begun in 2015, when hackers linked to Russia managed to shut down parts of Ukraine’s power grid.

Russia didn’t appear to target election systems last year, according to a U.S. intelligence report in March. But it was accused of trying to spread unfavorable, misleading information about presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Cyberattacks have caused friction between the American and Russian governments. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on several Russian tech companies in April after the SolarWinds hack, and the Department of Justice charged Russian intelligence officers last year with a string of severe international cyberattacks.

As It Turns Out….

Despite consumer fears of catastrophic meat shortages – still fresh in their minds after COVID-19’s damage to the meat industry a year ago – a déjà vu event did not occur with this latest bold ransomware assault on JBS. "Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat," said JBS’ Nogueira, within hours of the hack. The company also indicated it might have its operations back to normal by that Wednesday [June 1] after the Sunday cyberattack.

JBS employees, FBI officials and cybersecurity specialists at JBS’s U.S. headquarters in Greeley, Colorado, worked tirelessly throughout the Memorial Day holiday itself to get systems back online. They prioritized efforts on JBS’s shipping platform, allowing the company to resume moving meat to customers.

The attack on JBS has spurred renewed calls for diversifying the nation’s meat processing capacity. By the end of the Memorial Weekend, USDA had reached out to meat processors across the country, encouraging them to accommodate additional capacity and help keep the supply chain moving. USDA said it was also talking to food, agriculture and retail organizations to “underscore the importance of maintaining close communication and working together to ensure a stable, plentiful food supply."

USDA and JBS’ reaction to the situation may have been made easier from lessons the meat industry learned last spring that prompted such serious legislation as the Strengthening Local Processing Act. It was introduced to both the House Ag and Senate Ag Committees this past February. Preceding this action, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March 2020 paved the way for states to access federal funds to create grant programs to aid local small meat producing and processing businesses to upgrade their facilities.

States like Kansas and Missouri made significant moves in 2020 to smooth the way for small plants to develop capacity and proficiency to take up the slack in meat processing and packing. Kansas introduced its Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) Taskforce to rebuild the Kansas economy.

Small food animal producers and processors received grants to maintain their operations and upgrade facilities. By the end of last year SPARK approved more than $130 million in relief funding for economic development.

The Missouri Meat and Poultry Processing Grant Program was created to support Missouri meat and poultry processing facilities to address COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions. Missouri’s General Assembly appropriated $20 million in federal funds from the CARES ACT to help support these facilities. Missouri Department of Agriculture said grants were intended to incentivize small facilities to increase livestock or poultry slaughter and processing.

U.S. Sharpening Its Knives

After JBS notified the Biden administration of the cyberattack on Sunday, May 30, the White House offered the meat processor assistance, according to the president’s deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The offer appears to be more than a gesture, indicating the U.S. has had enough of all this cyber-mischief created by hackers. For the record: There actually have been more than 40 publicly-reported ransomware attacks against food companies since May 2020, says Allan Liska, senior security architect at cybersecurity analytics firm Recorded Future based in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee has also asked the Biden administration for input as it works to draft and consider cybersecurity legislation by August. The committee is seeking a coordinated administration response from the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the intelligence community before then.

For his part, during the summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, President Biden previewed a tougher U.S. response to ransomware attacks in the future. In remarks after his meeting with Putin, he brandished some of America’s own cyber capabilities, and acknowledged alliances with Norway and Sweden, which have demonstrated proficiency in monitoring Russian communications. That the FBI has recovered a portion of the Colonial Pipeline is evidence the U.S. means business.

Last week Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., wrote, “The tide may be turning. Big-dollar ransomware has always been a risky racket for practitioners because it necessitates prolonged communication and negotiation with the victim. If the U.S. is making progress, it’s not because Mr. Putin is being helpful but because Mr. Biden’s threats perhaps aren’t all empty talk.”

Feds Follow the Money

While cyber-ransom warriors are getting bolder – confident their state and international underworld enablers have their backs – the FBI and the Department of Justice are getting better. On June 7, DOJ announced it had seized 63.7 bitcoins valued at approximately $2.3 million. According to DOJ officials, the funds represented about half the proceeds from Colonial Pipeline’s ransom payment to a group known as DarkSide. The seizure warrant was authorized by Laurel Beeler, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California.

Federal law enforcement traced DarkSide’s bitcoin transactions by reviewing transactions on bitcoin’s blockchain infrastructure, or public ledger. “During the review, law enforcement identified 63.7 bitcoins that were located in a digital wallet linked to one of the members of Darkside,” noted Michael Volkov on June 22. Volkov is a principal at Washington, D.C.-based Volkov Law Group, a law firm specializing in corporate compliance, internal investigations and white-collar defense. He added, “It is not clear how the FBI obtained the private key to the digital wallet.” FBI describes a ‘private key’ as equivalent to a password needed to access assets at a specific bitcoin address or file.

The FBI’s seizure was the first time that federal law enforcement recovered a ransomware payment since DOJ announced the creation of the Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force in April 2020, Volkov explained. The Task Force prioritizes the disruption, investigation, and prosecution of ransomware and digital extortion activity by tracking and dismantling the development and deployment of malware, identifying the cybercriminals responsible, and holding those individuals accountable for their crimes. The Task Force also strategically targets the ransomware criminal ecosystem as a whole and collaborates with domestic and foreign government agencies as well as private sector partners to combat this significant criminal threat.

In a recent session of well-deserved chest-thumping, FBI and DOJ officials touted their success.

“There is no place beyond the reach of the FBI to conceal illicit funds that will prevent us from imposing risk and consequences upon malicious cyber actors,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “We will continue to use all of our available resources and leverage our domestic and international partnerships to disrupt ransomware attacks and protect our private sector partners and the American public.”

Said DOJ Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco: “Following the money remains one of the most basic, yet powerful tools we have. Ransom payments are the fuel that propels the digital extortion engine, and [our seizure] demonstrates that the United States will use all available tools to make these attacks more costly and less profitable for criminal enterprises. We will continue to target the entire ransomware ecosystem to disrupt and deter these attacks.” She also pointed out that the success of this operation demonstrated the value of early notification to law enforcement. “We thank Colonial Pipeline for quickly notifying the FBI when it learned that it had been targeted by DarkSide.”

Livestock Traceability Brings Value to the Supply Chain

For the first time in 14 months, the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City convened its June meeting in-person, on-site, at one of the group’s favorite dining rooms, the Grand Street Café on the Plaza. And, for perhaps the first time, experts on livestock traceability were able to tout the inroads cattle disease traceability has made, especially in the last year.

The industry has an extraordinary opportunity to change the paradigm as it relates to disease traceability, said Callahan Grund, executive director, U.S. CattleTrace. A couple of months ago, Grund noted the coronavirus pandemic clearly illustrated the need for disease traceability systems to protect the global food supply and food animal producers’ livelihoods. He told Council members traceability was taking off like wildfire. “Traceability became a household word with COVID-19,” he said. “When I talked to producers, it used to be a challenge to explain what exactly a contact tracing system was,” Grund said. “Now it has become a part of our daily vocabulary.”

Matt Teagarden, CEO, Kansas Livestock Association – which has played a leading role in promoting traceability over the years – moderated the panel that included Chelsea Good, vice president of Government & Industry Affairs, Livestock Marketing Association. She stressed the need for ultra-high frequency technology to track cattle movement. Livestock marketing, Good explained, can best be described as local auctioning – where the volume of cattle coming into the auction hall is heavy and cows sell quickly. “In 15 seconds,” she said.

In his remarks, panel speaker Dr. Glen Dolezal, vice president for Protein at Cargill, suggested that as traceability becomes a routine aspect of cattle production it is still better that it be implemented voluntarily by producers rather than as a government directive.

The agriculture industry has constantly been labeled as a reactive industry, noted Grund. ”However, I do think over the course of the past few years we have taken major strides toward being proactive.” Besides traceability, he pointed to other examples of positive actions taken by the industry – like working to properly label cell-cultured meats. “But there is still work to be done.”

For the record: U.S. CattleTrace utilizes ear tags that contain radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies to collect the minimal data necessary, including an individual animal identification number, a GPS location, and date and time. This information is used to track animals in the event of a disease outbreak and allows tracking of the animal from location of birth and to each location they travel prior to reaching a processor for harvest. An electronic chip within the tag interacts with the radio frequency emitted by the reader. Though the tags are electronic, they are not battery operated, meaning they can last the lifetime of the animal.

Digging Deeper...

Construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, to replace the 1950s-era Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) on Long Island Sound, was nearing completion last spring when the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City featured it in its June 2020 Council Newsletter. At the time, the facility was on track to “achieve substantial completion of construction” – federal terminology for the point at which USDA has full access to the facility and is responsible for operating it. But COVID-19 had a different timetable. 

By Dennis McLaughlin, McLaughlin Writers LLC; Resources, commentary and insight for this article were provided Katie Pawlosky, NBAF Director of Communications   

REVISED NBAF TIMELINE

 At the outset of 2020, before anyone was fully aware of the emerging coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) and USDA were all aligned to achieve substantial completion of construction – a milestone signifying a new federal government facility is ready for occupation and initial operation – in December 2020. Until April 2020, construction had been on target to meet that deadline. “Then we were all handed a few figurative lemons in the form of a global pandemic,” wrote Katie Pawlosky, NBAF Director of Communications, in January 2021. 

The pandemic caused inevitable disruptions to labor, materials and equipment manufacturing and supply chain delivery throughout the year.  In December 2020, USDA and DHS S&T released a revised substantial completion of construction date. October 2021 is now the target.  If there is a silver lining in the delay, it is that these agencies now have a chance to include emergent technology and equipment upgrades developed since the initial NBAF design was approved.  

“As one may imagine, there have been many advances in laboratory and equipment since the facility design was completed in 2012,” said Pawlosky.

USDA and DHS S&T continue to assess and mitigate impacts to downstream milestones for the mission transition from Plum Island to NBAF.  “The revised schedule reflects the realignment of scope items to minimize COVID-19’s disruptions,” noted NBAF public affairs specialist Stephanie Jacques in a December 15, 2020 release, “There will be a delay in the overall mission transfer from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to NBAF.” 

Originally scheduled for August 2023, the USDA mission transfer is now projected for December 2023.  “While challenges remain,” Pawlosky said, “DHS S&T continues to project that the construction and commissioning of NBAF under the new revised schedule will be covered within the current $1.25 billion estimated cost.”

NBAF SPOTLIGHTS RELIABILITY 

NBAF’s mission centers on protecting the U.S. from specific foreign livestock animal diseases. But it is also responsible for controlling and eliminating risks associated with NBAF facility operations. To achieve that, NBAF has hired a bio-risk management team to ensure its biosafety level-3 and -4 laboratories comply with regulations and industry standards.

This team is dedicated to managing and minimizing those risks, Pawlosky explains. “The goal of that team is to prevent accidental and intentional misuse or release of infectious material, also called biohazards.”  She goes on to say USDA has hired a team of individuals who bring with them the skills and expertise needed to accomplish that goal. “NBAF scientists and bio-risk management will work closely together as a team to accomplish critical research in a safe and secure environment.”

Dr. Chad Austin, NBAF’s bio-risk program management training coordinator, has extensive experience working in high containment laboratories and bio-risk management programs. He is developing and will manage the NBAF bio-risk training program that will be required for everyone who will work in and around secure containment areas where the biohazards will be located. Dr. Austin is also focusing on a new NBAF initiative: To make it a High Reliability Organization (HRO). “These organizations have high risk potential but a strong safety culture and an emphasis on planning to prevent major system failures,” Pawlosky says. 

HROs focus on solving small process failures to prevent large ones. These unique organizations accomplish this by empowering everyone at the institution to look for and address possible safety concerns before they become a large issue. They actively look for areas where there could be failure and determine how best to mitigate. This “focus on failure” as Austin puts it, is designed so that large-scale failure can be prevented.

“We are still defining what an HRO will look like at NBAF,” notes Pawlosky, in a March 20, 2021, release, “but we already know that it is an important part of the safety culture we’re developing; this is one of the many reasons why it is important to use the time before NBAF becomes operational for planning. 

ANIMAL HEALTH PROTECTION NETWORK

Protecting animal health is high on the list of priorities at USDA, ensuring that Americans have a safe and secure food supply and economy. When NBAF is fully operational in 2023, it will provide new safety capabilities for this U.S. animal health network. NBAF will have laboratories that operate at the highest possible biosafety level, called BSL-4, which will allow scientists to study the most high-consequence animal diseases in large livestock. This is a first in the U.S.  Currently, U.S. scientists have to rely on other countries’ BSL-4 facilities for this type of science. 

As part of a network of longstanding and safe animal health labs across the country, NBAF will benefit from the experience of skilled colleagues working in state-of-the-art facilities. One of those is the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa, even larger than NBAF at 523 acres, which was built in 1961 and modernized between 2002-2009 for more than $463 million. That center’s highest containment level is a Biosafety Level 3-Ag. The “Ag” part means it is capable of housing livestock in the containment facility. It operates like NBAF since it houses programs for two USDA agencies — Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

 “Having these two agencies working together in Ames and here in Manhattan will help protect animal health through the research, diagnostics, training and vaccine development process,” Katie Pawlosky explains.

NBAF in Manhattan will also expand USDA’s collaborative research opportunities with education and private industry sectors. NBAF is situated in the Animal Health Corridor, a 300-mile hub stretching from Columbia, Missouri, to Manhattan, Kansas, with outposts in Iowa and Nebraska. The Corridor hosts the largest concentration of animal health companies in the world. 

“The scientists working with these companies have expertise in the full spectrum of animal health issues and solutions,” notes Pawlosky. “NBAF scientists hope to partner with these scientists to make research successes more commercially available, which will expand the protection against a variety of animal diseases.”

NBAF will create partnerships and unity among all types of scientists. At NBAF, multi-disciplinary teams of scientists with expertise in virology, pathology, molecular biology, immunology and other specialties will come together to tackle problems that one viewpoint alone cannot solve.

While the NCAH scientists already partner with those at NBAF’s predecessor, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, it is NBAF’s expanded capabilities, collaborative opportunities and locality that will help  animal health experts achieve even greater strides in protecting the nation from animal diseases.

NBAF HIRING UPDATE

By Katie Pawlosky, NBAF Communications Director 

NBAF will employ approximately 400 people when the facility is fully operational. While positions will either be hired by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) or Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), employees from both agencies work collectively to operate as one NBAF. All vacancies are posted on www.USAJobs.gov and applications must be submitted through the website.

As of early May, more than 240 team members have been hired to support NBAF’s operations. Despite the pandemic, we continue to virtually interview and hire candidates. In fact, we have managed to onboard about 140 team members since we began teleworking in March of 2020! 

As a world-class scientific and research facility, a variety of positions are needed to support operations at NBAF. While scientists and lab techs might be the first positions that come to mind, we have a large and diverse workforce including administration, facilities management, security, IT, communications, and animal care. 

A majority of NBAF’s new scientist positions that will open in the coming months will start at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York. As research is relocated, those employees will transition to NBAF in Manhattan. In fact, that rapidly growing science team is already assisting with the NBAF science transition and stand-up.

We encourage anyone interested in a career supporting the mission of NBAF to follow our Twitter and LinkedIn accounts where we provide regular updates on job openings and much more.

Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - May 2021

Developments

Chambers USA, a ranking and research firm, recognized 43 Husch Blackwell attorneys in its recently released 2021 Guide. Chambers also ranked Husch Blackwell in 18 areas, including Banking & Finance, Cannabis Law, Corporate/Commercial, Corporate/M&A, Environment, Government Contracts, Healthcare, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Litigation: General Commercial, and Real Estate.

The second stage of the Kansas Livestock Association’s 2021 Young Stockmen's Academy was held May 10-12. The group of young producers spent three days touring various segments of the beef and dairy industries in Kansas. Merck Animal Health is the sponsor of the YSA program. Tour and briefing stops included Hildebrand Dairy near Junction City, Tiffany Cattle Company near Herington, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef packing plant in Arkansas City, During, Sproul Ranch near Sedan, McCabe Genetics near Elk City and Locke Cattle Company in El Dorado.

Farm Journal Media, Lenexa, Kansas, released findings from its research initiative Farmer Perspectives on Data, conducted with The Sustainability Consortium. Key insights from the survey of over 600 farmers in 42 states include these:

• There is a significant digital gap: 62% do not rely of farm management information systems (FMIS). 

• Trust issues are significant: 73% do not trust private companies with their data, and 58% do not trust the government.

• Satisfaction with FMIS data output is mediocre:  Less than half (47%) of FMIS users report being entirely satisfied.

Kansas City Southern board of directors terminated the $25 billion merger agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway to pursue Canadian National Railway’s $33.6 billion offer. KCS president and CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer said the KCS/CN combination will provide customers access to new single-line transportation services at the best value for their transportation dollar and increase competition among the Class 1 railroads. KCS paid CP a termination fee of $700 million, which will be reimbursed by the CN.

In a conversation last week with Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve System, and Gina Raimonda, secretary of the Department of Commerce, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran urged them to take action to stem rising costs of products, especially for lumber. Record-high lumber prices are putting the American dream of home ownership just out of reach for hundreds of thousands of potential home buyers, noted Sen. Moran. “I’ve also heard from Kansans who need to make home improvements but the high price of lumber has made it unaffordable. By eliminating tariffs on Canadian lumber, we can help relieve the burden on American families looking to build new homes and create new jobs in construction.”

Western Equipment Dealers Association announced in late May its partnership with SiteDocs, whose safety management software helps companies streamline operations with digital forms ensuring compliance with real-time monitoring and advanced analytics. More information available here.  

Merck Animal Health has partnered with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) since 2013 to provide scholarship support to hundreds of veterinary students. This month the company announced that 54 veterinary students from around the world received scholarships through the Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Program. The selected second- and third-year students pursuing careers in companion animal or large animal medicine will each receive a $5,000 scholarship to support their educational endeavors. Ryan Swanson and Lulia Osipova of Kansas State University’s veterinary school are local beneficiaries of the scholarship program this year.

Boehringer Ingelheim celebrated its 50-year anniversary in the U.S. by committing $450,000 in employee-directed funds to strengthen communities and address unmet needs. The company’s approximately 8,500 employees have been encouraged to direct a one-time $50 donation from BI Cares to one of more than 40 eligible nonprofit causes in its Matching Gifts Program. “We are excited to invest in our communities to help people and animals in need,” said Jean-Michel Boers, president and CEO, Boehringer Ingelheim USA.  

USDA’s Kansas City-based NIFA invested $14.5 million in two key programs awarded through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. NIFA also awarded $8.6 million for 18 economics, markets, and trade projects and another $5.9 million to 12 environmental and natural resources projects. “These investments will help our nation better promote agricultural products and maximize export markets and opportunities,” said NIFA director Dr. Carrie Castille. “This research will help U.S. farmers provide a safe, nutritious, secure food supply, while enhancing rural prosperity and economic development.”

The Missouri Department of Agriculture has awarded $16.7 million in CARES Act funding to nearly 150 Missouri small and medium sized businesses. As a direct result of the reimbursement grant, more than 40 businesses were assisted in initiating or expanding their level of meat processing through a new grant of inspection or custom exempt inspection status. Chris Chinn, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, said, “Our local meat processors were the backbone of our food supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, our team doubled the amount of red meat under state inspection, so we know the demand is there. We are proud to say that this grant has helped bring 27 businesses into state inspection status, also doubling the number of state inspected facilities in Missouri.”

American Farm Bureau Foundation’s On The Farm STEM training event in Nashville, Tennessee, this August aims to further agriculture education in classrooms across the country. Teams made up of classroom teachers, administrators and specialists will engage with experts in both science education and the scientific community to design lessons and classroom materials that use agriculture to contextualize science. “The On the Farm STEM experience is an incredibly important component of our program to connect students to agriculture through STEM education,” said Daniel Meloy, executive director of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The professional development opportunity, co-created by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture and NextGenScience with funding from the Beef Checkoff Program, was designed to bring science to life for participants with the help of American beef cattle ranchers, researchers, geneticists, nutritionists and veterinarians. More information is available here.  

Events

On July 20-22, NAMA returns to Kansas City for its 2021 Agri-Marketing Conference. Registration is now open. On the agenda are discussions about how companies are moving forward in a post-COVID-19 world and how customer behaviors are shifting. More information, including registration, is available here.

Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Animal Facilities Inspection group will host a free informational webinar series on small animal facilities virtually on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout June. For more information contact Michelle Florence at Michelle.O.Florence@ks.gov; or 785-564-6605.

The 2021 World Pork Expo will take place at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. Professionals in the pork industry can expect three days of networking, education, and innovation from June 9-11. National Pork Producers Council will continue to monitor developments in COVID-19 guidelines (local, state, federal) for the World Pork Expo to ensure the health and safety of all participants. NPPC will provide guidance to exhibitors and attendees. Registration information and more are available online.

The Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture is coming back to Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri, this fall for its 49th celebration of agriculture.  Missouri Department of Agriculture has set the conference dates for November 18-19, 2021. Missouri farmers, ranchers, agribusiness leaders and aspiring agriculturalists are invited to enjoy the packed program that will include a commodity outlook, Missouri Agriculture Awards luncheon and nationally recognized speaker line-up. More information is available here.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture will host its sixth annual Kansas Governor's Summit on Agricultural Growth on August 26, 2021 in Manhattan, Kansas. The Summit hosts Kansas farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses and invites them to work together in a collaborative setting to discuss growing the agriculture industry in Kansas. The event kicks off with a social event on the evening of August 25. Details regarding the Summit are still being worked out, but more information is available here.

People

After 38 years with Bayer and the Monsanto Company, Brett Begemann has announced he will retire as chief operating officer for crop science. Begemann was the featured speaker at the Council’s April 2021 meeting. Rodrigo Santos will succeed Begemann, effective June 8. Mauricio Rodrigues, currently head of finance for crop science, Latin America, will replace Santos as the new head of crop science's commercial operations for Latin America. Source: Agri-Pulse Communications.

Sarah Henry has joined the staff Kansas’ U.S. Congressman Tracey Mann.  She will be the new district agriculture representative. Henry previously worked at the National Corn Growers Association as the manager of public policy and regulatory affairs.

Cameron Bradshaw has joined Cargill as a policy associate. Bradshaw previously served as a field representative for U.S. Senator Roger Marshall’s, campaign. 

Samantha Davis joined Bayer Crop Science as the Industry Affairs Lead for Oilseeds and Selective Herbicides, Davis joins Bayer from the Missouri Corn Growers Association where she led their Public Policy Division. Previously, she worked for the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Source: Agri-Pulse Communications.

Scott Stump takes over the helm as head of the National FFA Organization and Foundation. Earlier in his career Stump served on the National FFA staff. Most recently he was an assistant secretary of career, technical and adult education for the Department of Education. “I know from personal experience as a student and as a parent the positive difference FFA makes in the lives of students across this nation,” he said. “I look forward to working with FFA’s talented national staff, committed board members, state and local leaders and supporters to advance and expand our collective impact.” 

Annie Deckey, a student at Claremont McKenna College with a background and interest in agribusiness and farm policy, is the newest member of the Agri-Pulse team. Deckey, a native of Yuma, Ariz., will focus on ag and food policy issues in Washington and across the country. “Annie brings a wealth of curiosity and talent to our team,” said Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse founder and president. “Her experience and knowledge of western agriculture issues and passion for learning more about all the things we cover will be a valuable resource as she produces stories that will be important to our readers.”  Source: Agri-Pulse Communications.

Veteran Iowa farm broadcaster Von Ketelsen was presented the Honorary Iowa FFA Degree at the 2021 Iowa FFA Leadership Conference in Des Moines earlier this month. Ketelsen has been a fixture in Iowa farm radio, having served as a farm broadcaster at such Iowa farm radio stations as KOEL, WMT, KWMT, and currently at Carroll Broadcasting in Carroll, Iowa. Ketelsen produces a radio program called “FFA Today.” The weekly feature spotlights current FFA students as well as prominent FFA alumni. Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting.

Sustainability is Key to Consumer Food Choice

Half of American consumers say taste and price is what drives their choice of food purchases.  But another factor is making a strong pitch for their business. While sustainable marketed products represent only 16.1% of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) market, they enjoyed 54.7% of CPG market growth from 2015 to 2019.  

In her presentation at the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City’s May meeting, Philippa Cross, lead sustainability strategist at consumer research firm Barkley, said 61% of consumers equate sustainability with being ‘environmentally friendly.’ She also noted 43% of consumers equate sustainable food with being healthy food. Besides taste, Cross added, 66% of consumers increasingly expect the food they purchase to have a social impact in terms of its cultivation, processing and packaging. For 42% of them, quality, safety and trust in food production overall is important. “Brand recognition,” said Cross, “is less important.”

Barbara O’Brien, president of Dairy Management, Inc., and president & CEO of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, pointed out the dairy industry has been a leader in assessing what sustainability entails in food animal agriculture. With sustainability growing in importance,” she said, “building trust is important.” O’Brien highlighted several attitudes consumers worldwide held regarding the food industry’s responsibility toward sustainability:

• 70% of consumers would like to see food companies’ sustainable practices be more visible to the public.

• 81% said it is extremely important that companies implement programs to help the environment.

• 85% expect companies to invest in sustainability.

• 88% want brands to help them (consumers) be more environmentally friendly and ethical in their daily lives.  

As head of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, it’s O’Brien’s responsibility to ensure the dairy community attains these objectives:

• Aligning on pre-competitive priorities.

• Advance an industry-wide social responsibility platform.

• Speak with a unified voice about the good work farmers and the dairy industry are doing to improve sustainability.

USDA’s Bill Hohenstein, director of the Office of Energy & Environmental Policy and Office of the Chief Economist, offered an overview of the USDA’s goals, priorities and initiatives to foster sustainability. The scope of his remarks covered USDA’s efforts to promote efficiency and a clean energy economy with sustainable policy initiatives that would exceed current environmental statutory and regulatory requirements. Hohenstein described USDA’s vision as providing economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive, and promote agriculture production that better nourishes Americans while feeding others worldwide. Preserving the Nation's natural resources through conservation, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands is all part of the plan, as well.

Digging Deeper...

As you’d expect, there have been bumps in the road as USDA moved its Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City. Throughout 2020 there were rumblings in the media and from government watchdogs that the move wasn’t moving fast enough and staff positions weren’t  being filled very quickly. But a year into the actual relocation and almost two years since its announcement, the pavement is getting smoother.  

By Dennis McLaughlin, McLaughlin Writers, LLC.

ERS and NIFA’s KC Headquarter Operations Hitting Their Strides

Disruption to long-established routines, procedures, locations is sure to create potholes. That’s what happened in 2019 when then-USDA Secretary Sonny Purdue announced the Kansas City metropolitan area would be the new headquarters for ERS and NIFA. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees turned their backs on the secretary as he was speaking. Scientists from the both groups argued the relocation was political. Others called it a ‘war on science.’

Comments from acting White House chief of staff Mike Mulvaney, weren’t exactly promoting collegiality.  The Associated Press reported around the time of the relocation announcement that Mulvaney said the plan to relocate several hundred jobs from Washington to the Kansas City area is "a wonderful way to streamline government." Forecasts from a federal employee organization indicated four out of five ERS employees might decline being reassigned to Kansas City. 

There are always going to be growing pains with a transition of this magnitude. The unforeseen pandemic did not help the situation. Scott Brown, Ph.D., Associate Extension Professor at the University of Missouri’s Division of Applied Social Sciences and College of Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources, has a more optimistic perspective on the move. “It’s amazing how well [ERS and NIFA] have done in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. 

Although ERS and NIFA are not fully staffed, they are making progress. As of February 23, NIFA and ERS had filled a little more than 60% of the positions slated to be in Kansas City, according to a USDA release. NIFA had 202 employees on board and ERS 152.  Recruiting is actively underway, and prospects for populating the positions are more than favorable. 

One USDA employee, who was not affected by the relocation and would not be moving to Kansas City put some of the angst among staffers into perspective. It’s not political or anything like that, he said, adding that he would consider the move if he had to. He was from the Midwest and was well aware of the advantages and quality of life.  But his wife worked for another federal agency, was from the eastern seaboard and was up for an important promotion. And so he wouldn’t likely be leaving the Beltway.

Moving On 

Debate over the moves overall is presently old news. For one thing, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver told internet news service MissouriNet.Com (February 4, 2021) that the Biden Administration will not move the relocated ERS and NIFA headquarters in Kansas City back to Washington. In his remarks to MissouriNet, he said, “I represent that area. I am the senior Democrat in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas,” he said, “And I can tell you that there is no way that those agricultural offices will be moved; that’s just not going to happen.” Rep. Cleaver acknowledged that some top employees would not make the move. But the Kansas City offices are “not going anywhere.”  It would be too expensive, he stressed.

Speaking to the North American Agriculture Journalists group in the capital, April 26, 2021, USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack said ERS and NIFA would not be returning to Washington, D.C. But Agri-Pulse reported he did say to the NAAJ there is “an aggressive effort underway to refill” open positions with staffing in both Kansas City and Washington.

Highlighting Success

An official in USDA’s office that provides day-to-day coordination and operational support for USDA employees and political and presidential appointees told the Agricultural Business Council that the department is moving away from relocation issues. “We’d like to focus on the great work that the agencies [ERS and NIFA} are actually doing.”  And, despite the shock of a relocation and the health and economic disruption brought on by COVID-19, it appears ERS and NIFA are doing all right.

ERS has continued to churn out required reports on issues such as farm income, notes Scott Swinton, a Michigan State economist who is past president of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. But, he adds, “I know that I am seeing fewer new reports. The items that I have found useful for class have all been based on prior ERS research projects — with the important exception of research into COVID-19 effects on ag prices.”

At NIFA, Tom Bewick, a program leader and acting vice president of NIFA Local 3403 for the American Federation of Government Employees, says the organization’s leadership “has done a really good job in terms of prioritizing hiring.”

Bewick points out that all senior supervisory officer positions in grants and financial management have been filled, which has made it possible for NIFA to meet year-end obligations. “We’re on track to obligate all of our funds before [the Federal Fiscal Year end] September 30 — that’s a tremendous accomplishment.” In all, he said approximately $1.293 billion of $1.3 billion has been obligated to grantees. NIFA annually distributes more than $1 billion for research projects at land-grant universities and other organizations. 

But don’t just take it from Bewick. Michael Oltrogge, president of Nebraska Indian Community College, which relies on NIFA funds for its operations, says Native American institutions have been faring well with the move financially.

“The funding has been coming down the pike a bit late,” he points, “but not sufficiently late to make a fuss.” The relocation or at least a portion of the strategic planning in conjunction with the move, Oltrogge adds, has also brought about more of a focus on changing the systems of grant tracking and management. “Those changes should be beneficial as the current systems are a bit archaic from the little use I’ve had with them.

A Busy Spring

In the month of April alone, through the 22nd, NIFA awarded 166 grants valued roughly at over $80 million. NIFA investments in user-inspired projects at local, regional, and national levels bring together researchers, Extension experts, and practitioners to find solutions that can be rapidly adopted by the agricultural community, says NIFA director Carrie Castille. “Work supported by federal investment enables partnerships and close coordination across the entire food and agriculture spectrum on efforts to yield practices that meet pressing needs.”

NIFA invests in agricultural research, education, and extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In FY2020, NIFA’s total investment was $1.95 billion.

Ace In The Hole

Despite yeoman performances and achievements by uprooted ERS and NIFA staffers notwithstanding, there is tensions. “You can cut the stress with a knife,” said Bewick. He is referring to added workloads NIFA veteran staffers and new hires have assumed because all positions have yet to be filled – not to mention the anxiety relocated employees may be feeling as they assimilate into new surroundings and routines.

Again, talking to ag industry writers and reporters (April 26, 2021), Sec. Vilsack noted burnout is a problem for ERS and NIFA employees involved in the relocation.  “We intend to get our workforce back up to the place where they can do the work that people expect them to do.”

But relief appears to be on the horizon, if not already on the way.  Recruiting efforts have been ramped up, and the prospects for populating the positions are more than favorable. Six premiere 1862 land grant institutions – Kansas State, University of Missouri, Oklahoma State, University of Nebraska, Iowa State, and University of Arkansas – are within 300 miles of the Kansas City metropolitan area. That represents a gusher of ag talent, says Dr. Brown, as new ag grads, graduate students and ag professors seeking a career apply for jobs with NIFA and ERS.

That pool of talent is getting deeper, as a report released December 9, 2020 by NIFA showed (Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment, United States, 2020-2025). The implication is that as the nation places greater emphasis on agricultural sciences and business to face the challenges of developing complex global food systems for a growing global population, employment opportunities present themselves.

U.S. college graduates can expect approximately 59,400 job opportunities annually between 2020 and 2025, the report indicates. This reflects a 2.6 percent growth from the previous five years. Employer demand will exceed the supply of available graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher in agriculture-related fields. The further implication is akin to the old movie line, “If you build it they will come.”  Meaning as agriculture emerges as an exciting industrial field, universities will expand their ag education programs and students will eagerly enroll. 

In the meantime, however, ERS and NIFA are seeing an uptick in interest from qualified new ag school grads, graduate students and ag professors seeking new careers in ag business or government.  More importantly, the two agencies are actively interviewing with qualified candidates to fill remaining open positions