A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation. | |
AAI Board Hears Updates On Winter Events, Future Committee Plans | |
With winter mostly over, and the impending spring sprint coming quickly, the AAI Board of Directors gathered at the home off in Des Moines for their April meeting. The board received updates about the association's progress at the middle of the fiscal year and had discussions of topics that will affect the industry in the next six months.
The board heard updates on the Agribusiness Showcase & Conference results from February. A significant increase in attendees coincided with the change in venue and an even more focused emphasis on high quality topics and speakers. The Showcase received an overwhelmingly positive response from attendees and exhibitors on the post show survey. Planning for the 2025 Showcase is underway with the date set for February 11-12, 2025.
Committees chairs reported on the current topics they are involved with or watching. A topic that is likely to affect many agribusinesses is carbon intensity scoring (CI). The US Department of Energy has yet to to release it's updated GREET model (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies), but this will likely be coming during the spring. AAI committees will continue to engage in the understanding of the effects of CI on the agribusiness industry as more information becomes known.
In late June, plans are being made for a joint meeting of the Grain, Agronomy, and Environment committees at the Iowa State University Kent Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex in Ames. Additional details for the meeting agenda are in development, but will include a tour of the facility.
The board also heard updates from Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council (INREC) Executive Director Ben Gleason. The 2023 crop year survey is nearly wrapped up and Gleason and the INREC liaisons would like to thank ag retail businesses for their cooperation in obtaining this critical progress measurement data. The 2023 analysis should be completed later this summer.
The next AAI Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for June.
Get Involved!
The direction and impact of the association is a direct result of committee activities. Committees provide input and direction for the Board of Directors actions. You or someone within your company can serve on a committee by emailing aai@agribiz.org, calling the AAI office, or filling out a form online at:
https://www.agribiz.org/benefits-of-membership/join-a-committee/
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Member and Industry Visits
- Five Star Coop - New Hampton
- Lynch Livestock Inc. - Waconia
- United Coop - Webster City
Visited by: Heath DeYoung, Membership & Business Development Director
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July 25
AAI Golf Outing - Okoboji
Emerald Hills Golf Club
August 15
AAI Golf Outing - Amana
Amana Colonies Golf Club
August 22 (Note Date Change)
AAI Golf Outing - Ames
Coldwater Golf Links
September 11
AAI Golf Outing - Moravia
AAI CHAIRMAN'S GOLF TOURNAMENT
The Preserve On Rathbun Lake
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Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Crop Scout School - May 16, 2024 | |
The Iowa State University Extension Crop Scout School prepares individuals with little or no previous crop scouting experience, providing a foundation of basic skills for crop scouting in the Midwest. Correctly identifying pests in the field is critical for selecting the correct tools to economically manage the issue.
Students will rotate through sessions and have the opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with specialists. Live corn and soybean plants and weed samples will be provided to give students the opportunity to look at living plants, rather than pictures, and practice with their field guides and other resources before they go to the field.
Cost is $150, and includes lunch, refreshments, and course materials including hard copies of the ISU Corn and Soybean Field Guide, Field Crop Insects Guide, Corn Disease Guide, and Soybean Disease Guide as well as a digital version of the ISU Weed ID Guide and other course materials.
For more information and to register, visit:
https://go.iastate.edu/CIODCP
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Both Texas and Michigan officials have confirmed the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry flocks. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced April 2 that a Cal-Maine Foods egg laying operation had received official notice of a positive test for H1N5. Due to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidance for poultry infections, Cal-Maine will be required to depopulate 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets at their Farwell, Texas, facility. This accounts for approximately 3.6% of the company's total flock as of March 2, 2024.
"This is absolutely devastating news for Cal-Maine and the entire Panhandle region, which has already suffered so much already," Commissioner Miller said “Given this latest development, all producers must practice heightened biosecurity measures. The rapid spread of this virus means we must act quickly."
The Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory also announced the detection of HPAI in a commercial poultry facility from Ionia County. Since the disease was first detected in Michigan in 2022, this is the fourth detection of HPAI in a commercial facility, and the first detection in Ionia County.
“As the weather remains cool and wild birds continue their migration, conditions are ideal for the virus to thrive and spread. While these conditions persist, the need to take preventative measures will be high,” said Michigan State Veterinarian Dr. Nora Wineland, DVM, MS, DACVPM.
“Keeping HPAI out of Michigan’s domestic animals remains a team effort, and it must be a top priority for all.”
[...] Read Full Story
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A ballot initiative in Sonoma County, California, aims to restrict the size of livestock and poultry farms. The initiative has earned enough signatures to be included on the November ballot or be enacted as an ordinance, sparking debate between supporters and the local agricultural community.
The Coalition to End Factory Farming, a group consisting of roughly 30 anti-animal activists and environmentalists who want to ban CAFOs, is behind the initiative, which received 37,183 signatures of the 19,746 required signatures or 652 verified signatures from a sample size of 1,115 names. The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters is currently validating the signatures.
After verification, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will decide the initiative’s fate — they can either adopt the ordinance or present it to voters in November or during a special election. The board is currently within the allotted 30 days to make their decision.
The initiative would phase out medium-size livestock operations as well as concentrated agricultural feeding operations in the county.
Although numerous local nonprofits and animal rights groups support the initiative, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau points out that the Berkeley-based organization Direct Action Everywhere is the primary force behind the measure.
“We are not surprised that the ballot initiative qualified, given the lies and misinformation that was touted to collect signatures,” Dayna Ghirardelli, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, told The Press Democrat. “We’ve had several folks tell us that they signed a petition to save Sonoma County farmers, and we’ve had to explain that their signature supported just the opposite.”
[...] Read Full Story
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Source: Progressive Farmer
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Farmers and livestock producers in the market for a new semi-truck could face a different market in 2027 under new greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for heavy-duty vehicles finalized by the Biden administration on Friday, March 29.
EPA announced new, final national emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles model years 2027 through 2032. Officials stated the new rule would avoid 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions while reducing air pollution for 72 million people who live near heavy trucking routes as well.
The new rule includes delivery trucks, refuse haulers or dump trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttles, school buses and semi-trucks. They would have to meet lower pollutant criteria standards for 2027 through 2032.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the new rule is "the strongest national greenhouse gas standard for heavy-duty vehicles in history" and will end up saving trucking operators on fuel costs in the long run. While the trucking industry argues that EPA is trying to force the industry to develop electric delivery and semi-trucks, Regan insisted the rule is "technology neutral." He noted the proposed rule last year generated more than 170,000 public comments and really spoke to the need for a diverse set of options" for manufacturers to choose their own technology.
"Whether that's advanced internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles," Regan said on a call Thursday with reporters.
Still, a coalition of trucking industry interests, including the American Trucking Association, earlier this month released a report on "full electrification" of the U.S. commercial truck fleet citing it would require nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure investment alone. That includes roughly $620 billion in charging infrastructure. That doesn't include actual costs for new semi-trucks. The industry report cites a new diesel Class 8 truck costs roughly $180,000 while a comparable electric-battery truck costs more than $400,000.
[...] Read Full Story
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Climate change, and specifically rising temperatures, may cause food prices to increase by 3.2% per year, according to a new study by researchers in Germany.
As climate change continues to worsen, this price inflation will mean more and more people around the world don't have a varied and healthy diet, or simply don't have enough food.
The new analysis shows that global warming could cause food price inflation to increase by between 0.9 and 3.2 percentage points per year by 2035. The same warming will cause a smaller rise in overall inflation (between 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points), so a greater proportion of household income would need to be spent on buying food.
This effect will be felt worldwide, by high and low-income countries alike, but nowhere more so than in the global south. As with various other consequences of climate change, Africa will be worst affected despite contributing little to its causes.
Our own research on food security in Ghana, west Africa, gives a sense of what price inflation might mean in practice.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describes west Africa as a "hotspot" of climate change, with models predicting extreme rising temperatures and reduced rainfall. With more than half of the population being directly dependent on rain-fed agriculture, Ghana is particularly vulnerable to climate change.
[...] Read Full Story
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