A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation. | |
IDALS Outlines Legislative Priorities | |
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig highlighted his budget priorities for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship this week during a presentation to members of the Iowa House Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee. The Subcommittee helps to craft the budget that funds the operations and many of the programs under the purview of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Secretary Naig’s testimony to the subcommittee reflected several of his top priorities, including the following:
Accelerating Water Quality and Conservation
Iowa has broken records for conservation and water quality practice adoption each of the past two years, and our goal is to continue setting new records every year. As we continue to accelerate this important water quality work and implement the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, Secretary Naig is asking for dedicated financial support for these impactful programs.
Protecting Iowa’s Valuable Livestock Industry
Iowa’s livestock industry is critical to the strength of Iowa’s economy, especially in rural Iowa. Preventing, preparing for and responding to devastating foreign animal disease remains a key focus for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Building Choose Iowa, Our State’s Signature Brand
Choose Iowa is the state’s signature brand for Iowa grown, Iowa raised and Iowa made food and ag products. The program builds markets for Iowa farmers while giving consumers more local food and beverage choices. As we add marketing and promotion capacity, the program will become a favorite among Iowans as well as those who visit our state.
Promoting Market Access and Consumer Savings via Renewable Fuels
Consumers benefit from greater access to higher blends of lower-cost biofuels. Secretary Naig is asking for continued support for the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program, which provides cost-share funding to assist fuel retailers with installing the necessary infrastructure to dispense higher blends of Iowa ethanol and biodiesel.
As part of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa legislative priorities, the association will support the department's funding request.
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The Agribusiness Career Day is next week. More than 250 students have registered to attend. Want to have your company represented at Career Day? Register as a sponsor:
Career Day Registration
Questions? Contact Sally Thompson for details - sally@agribiz.org or 515.868.0323.
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A SHOWCASE CELEBRATION!
(actually, more than one)
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Davis Equipment 60th Anniversary
Iowa CCAs 30th Anniversary
Iowa Commercial Applicator of the Year
Environmental Leader Awards
...and much more!
See the full line up here:
2024 Showcase Schedule
Hundreds of ag professionals are already registered:
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Register now and get ready for the 2024 Showcase -
Where Agribusiness Meets.
| There's still time to register - hurry before the Feb 8 deadline. | |
AAI Grain Grading Workshops | |
Grain Grading Workshops
Feb 21 & 22 - 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Registration Fees:
AAI Member - $130
Non-Member - $155
Location:
Ziegler CAT
1500 Ziegler Drive NW
Altoona, Iowa 50009
This one-day hands-on workshop will feature the latest information on grain quality. The Grain Grading workshop will address and display many different grain samples but will emphasize corn and soybeans. Presentations on the grading and appeal process will be given. Participants will learn what the official U.S. grades are and how to obtain a representative sample. Attendees will also learn how to recognize major grain damage factors.
Workshop registrants will be assigned on a first come, first-served basis. The same workshop is held on both days, so participants only need to attend one session.
The workshop is under the direction of Federal Grain Inspection Service inspectors from the National Grain Center.
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Thank You For Your Membership! | |
As a member of AAI, you are the driving force of the organization Where Agribusiness Matters. Thank you for your membership and your commitment to the success of agribusiness in Iowa.
The following companies have recently renewed their membership for the 2024 Membership Year.
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- The Nature Conservancy
- AGI
- CoBank
| Not currently a member? Click Here to send us an email so we can follow up with your company and help you get connected to AAI. | |
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Animal Ag Think Tank Meeting
Attended by: Bill Northey, CEO
Pivot Bio Open House
Attended by: Heath DeYoung, Membership & Business Development Director | Bill Northey, CEO
Iowa Auctioneers Association Convention
Attended by: Heath DeYoung, Membership & Business Development Director |
Joan O'Brien, CFO | Bill Northey, CEO
Innovation After Hours
Attended by: Bill Northey, CEO
ISU George Washington Carver Day of Recognition
Attended by: Bill Northey, CEO
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Iowa State University - Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator Course to Be Offered in February | |
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Iowa Central Community College are offering a four-day workshop that will prepare attendees to become certified as Commercial Pesticide Applicators.
This course will focus on materials needed to take the Iowa Core Manual Exam and Categories 1A (Ag Weed Control), 1B (Ag Insect Control) and 1C (Ag Disease Control). In addition, this material will cover local context and real-life application of insect, weed and disease management. Course information will be presented by ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists.
The course will take place from Feb. 19-22 at the Iowa Central Community College East Campus located at 2031 Quail Ave., Fort Dodge, from 8 a.m. to noon each day.
Tuition for the class is $749 and includes the Core, 1A, 1B and 1C manuals. To register, contact Iowa Central Community College at 515-574-1293 or noncredit@iowacentral.edu.
View full information: Article Website
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Off-farm grain storage capacity in the United States reached 11.822 billion bushels as of Dec. 1, 2022, up slightly from 11.817 billion bushels year-over-year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the US Department of Agriculture.
The largest increases were in the states of Missouri, North Carolina and South Dakota, which each added 5 million bushels of capacity. Illinois (1.65 billion bushels), Iowa (1.52 billion), Kansas (1.2 billion), Nebraska (990 million) and Minnesota (820 million) were the top five states in 2022. Together, they account for 52% of US off-farm storage.
Off-farm grain storage capacity includes all elevators, warehouses, terminals, merchant mills, other storage, and oilseed crushers that store whole grains, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, mustard seed, safflower, sunflower, rapeseed, Austrian winter peas, dry edible peas, lentils, and chickpeas/garbanzo beans.
Capacity data exclude facilities used to store only rice or peanuts, oilseed crushers processing only cottonseed or peanuts, tobacco warehouses, seed warehouses, and storage facilities that handle only dry edible beans, other than chickpeas/garbanzo beans.
[...] Read Full Story
More: Top 10 US states off-farm grain storage
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A bipartisan bill recommended by Iowa legislators hopes to tighten reporting requirements for foreign landholders in the state.
Senate Study Bill 3113, proposed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds this week, would require more detailed and robust information to be disclosed by foreign investors. Increased tracking of ownership would also grant the Iowa Attorney General’s Office greater subpoena authority to investigate violations of state laws on foreign ownership.
“I think this is a great piece of legislation that’s going to advance our understanding of who our neighbors are,” said Republican state Sen. Dan Zumbach, who supports the bill. “And I think all of us need to know who they are, when currently that might be a little in question.”
Reynolds and supportive state lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Dawn Driscoll and Democratic Sen. Todd Taylor, argue that Iowa’s existing robust laws on foreign land ownership would be further strengthened by her proposed bill, even though most of the newly disclosed information would be shielded from public access.
Under the bill, the Iowa secretary of state would be mandated to file an annual report on foreign farmland ownership, accessible to state lawmakers but not to the public, a provision that Zumbach expresses no concern about.
[...] Read Full Story
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Scientists at King's College London have developed an innovative solution for recycling single-use bioplastics commonly used in disposable items such as coffee cups and food containers.
The novel method of chemical recycling, published in Cell Reports Physical Science, uses enzymes typically found in biological laundry detergents to "depolymerize"—or break down—landfill-bound bioplastics. Rapidly converting the items into soluble fragments within just 24 hours, the process achieves full degradation of the bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA). The approach is 84 times faster than the 12-week-long industrial composting process used for recycling bioplastic materials.
This discovery offers a widespread recycling solution for single-use PLA plastics, as the team of chemists at King's found that in a further 24 hours at a temperature of 90°C, the bioplastics break down into their chemical building blocks. Once converted into monomers—single molecules—the materials can be turned into equally high-quality plastic for multiple reuse.
Current rates of plastic production outstrip our ability to dispose of it sustainably. According to Environmental Action, it is estimated that in 2023 alone more than 68 million tons of plastic globally ended up in natural environments due to the imbalance between the huge volumes of plastics produced and our current capacity to manage and recycle plastic at the end of its life. A recent OECD report predicted that the amount of plastic waste produced worldwide is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth recycled.
[...] Read Full Story
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The division of Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. that’s under investigation for its accounting practices is responsible for less than 10% of the crop giant’s revenue. Yet it has had an outsized influence on recent executive bonuses, records show.
ADM’s board in 2020 and 2021 staked a considerable share of senior executives’ stock award payouts to the profitability growth of its nutrition unit. The company blew past the goals for the first round of awards, helping the executives collect shares worth more than $70 million. Payouts for the second round of awards were set to be determined early this year.
ADM disclosed this past week that it had suspended its chief financial officer and opened a probe of the nutrition unit. The news triggered a selloff in the company’s shares that wiped out almost a quarter of its market value.
The company declined to comment.
ADM’s senior executives, like many peers at large public companies, receive a big part of their compensation in the form of stock awards. Roughly half of these awards, which are granted annually, vest after three years largely depending on how the company performs on a few specific key metrics. The other half vests after three years as long as the person remains on the job.
[...] Read Full Story
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