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April 17, 2025

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A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation.

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AAI IN ACTION

Grain Indemnity Fund Assessment to Cease on September 1, 2025

The Grain Indemnity Fund Board voted today to cease the assessment on grain sold to Iowa-licensed grain dealers as well as the participation fees for Iowa licensed grain dealers and warehouse operators as part of the Iowa Grain Depositors and Sellers Indemnity Fund (Grain Indemnity Fund) effective September 1, 2025. 


The assessment was reinstated on September 1, 2023, after the Fund fell below the statutory threshold of $3 million due to grain facility failures in 2021 and 2022. Under existing law, the assessment must remain in effect for at least a full year and must also remain active until the Board votes to suspend the collection of fees or the Fund reaches a balance of $8 million.


That second-year of collections started on September 1, 2024, and will continue through August 31, 2025. The balance of the Grain Indemnity Fund, as of April 16, is $10,173,347.80. This total exceeds the $8 million dollar threshold and does not include the final two quarters of collections, which will cover cash sales of grain made in March, April, and May, and June, July, and August. 


Read the IDALS press release

Spring Grain Grading Workshops -

Seats Filling Quickly

AAI Grain Grading Workshops

May 6-7, 2025

Location:

Ziegler CAT

1500 Ziegler Drive NW

Altoona, Iowa 50009


Member Registration - $130

Non-Member Registration - $155


Grain Grading Workshop sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Lunch is provided.

REGISTER ONLINE

The one-day hands-on workshops feature the latest information on grain quality. The Grain Grading workshops address and display many different grain samples focusing on corn and soybeans. Participants will learn about the grading and appeal process, the official U.S. grades, and how to obtain a representative sample. Attendees also will learn how to recognize major grain damage factors.


Workshop registrants are assigned on a first come, first-served basis and each workshop is limited to 30 seats per day. The same workshop is held on both days, so participants only need to attend one session. 


The AAI Grain Grading Workshops are under the direction of Federal Grain Inspection Service inspectors from the National Grain Center.

Thank You For Your Membership!

As a member of AAI, you support the industry that is Creating Opportunities In Ag. Thank you for your membership and your commitment to the success of agribusiness in Iowa.

 

The following companies have recently joined or renewed their membership for the 2025 Membership Year.


  • AgVend
  • Landus
  • NEW Cooperative Inc.


Not currently a member? Send us an email so we can follow up with your company and help you get connected to AAI.

Out And About

Iowa FFA Convention

Attended by: Heath DeYoung, AAI Membership Director


Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture Presented by Mark Stutsman

Attended by: Julie Kenney, AAI CEO


Member and Industry Visits

  • Vision Ag

Visit by: Julie Kenney, AAI CEO


  • Wyffels Hybrids

Visit by: Heath DeYoung, AAI Membership Director and Julie Kenney, AAI CEO


  • Iowa Ag Water Alliance
  • Agriculture's Clean Water Alliance

Visits by: Ben Gleason, INREC Exec. Director and Julie Kenney, AAI CEO


  • Grower's Edge

Visit by: Heath DeYoung, AAI Membership Director

ASSOCIATION CALENDAR

April 18

AAI Main Office Closed


May 6

AAI Spring Grain Grading Workshop

8:30 a.m. - Zeigler CAT, Altoona, Iowa


May 7

AAI Spring Grain Grading Workshop

8:30 a.m. - Zeigler CAT, Altoona, Iowa


July 10

AAI Golf Outing

11:00 a.m. Lunch | Noon Shotgun Start

Emerald Hills Golf Club - Okoboji


August 5

AAI Golf Outing

10:00 a.m. Shotgun Start

Beaver Creek Golf Club - Grimes


September 10

AAI Golf Outing

9:00 a.m. Shotgun Start

Amana Colonies Golf Club - Amana

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

No Cost Certification Training For Your Feed Production Staff

AAI members have an opportunity to increase the number of PCQI certified fee production staff at no cost to their business. The association has access grant money that will allow full reimbursement for the cost of Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) training for your staff.


The funds for reimbursement will only be available for those who complete the May 22 session of the PCQI training. This grant ends after this session and will not be available for future training sessions.


Dates And Items to Note

There are two portions to the class: 

  • Part 1 of the class is online and must be completed by May 15. Participants must provide a Part 1 completion certificate by the May 16 registration deadline.
  • Part 2 of the class is May 22, 2025 from 8 AM to 5 PM in Ames, Iowa at the Iowa State University Kent Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex
  • Participants fee for online portion is $200. Participant fee for in person portion is $400 per participant. Breaks and lunch are on site and included in the fee. The full $600 (both fees) will be reimbursed for AAI member companies after completion of the class.


Additional Details

Reimbursement is limited to 33 participants. AAI members can click below and enter code "AAI25" when completing the registration:

ISU Animal Food PCQI Training Registration

 

Reimbursement is available only to member companies which have renewed dues for the 2025 membership year. Iowa State University will provide AAI with a list of qualifying participants once the course is complete.

 

Contact Ben Drescher at 515.509.0940 or bdresche@iastate.edu for class information and details. Contact Heath DeYoung, AAI Membership Director, for questions about reimbursement at 515.868.0311 or hdeyoung@agribiz.org.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NEWS

DMACC president receives lifetime achievement award

Source: Business Record

DMACC President Rob Denson was named the recipient of the Rain Fisher Rural Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award during the Rural Iowa Summit in Ames on April 10. Under Denson’s leadership, DMACC expanded academic and technical programs into rural communities, established multiple rural centers and formed national partnerships to support workforce development, a news release said.


 “Rob Denson has been a tireless champion for rural Iowa, ensuring that students in small towns have access to the same high-quality education and opportunities as those in urban areas,” Bruce Nuzum of the Iowa Area Development Group, who presented Denson with the award, said in a prepared statement.


[...] Read Full Story

Roundup at a Crossroads: Bayer Lays Out Short-Term Window for Finding a Way Forward with Glyphosate

Source: Farm Journal

soybeans person

Seven years ago, two events set forth a domino effect culminating in Bayer leaders having a potential “tough decision” of whether or not the company will continue to manufacture its legacy herbicide glyphosate product, Roundup.


In August of 2018, a California jury awarded a man $289 million in damages after he claimed using Roundup caused his cancer. Just a month earlier in July 2018, Bayer acquired Monsanto for $63 billion.


Fast forward to today, and to-date Bayer has paid more than $10 billion to plaintiffs in litigation claiming Roundup as the cause of their cancer.


And per CEO Bill Anderson in a Wall Street Journal interview this week, the company will have a decision in months — not years — about whether it will remain the only domestic producer of glyphosate in the U.S.


Bayer mines elemental phosphorus in Soda Springs, Idaho, formulates glyphosate production in Muscatine, Iowa, and finishes the formulation and production in Luling, La.


[...] Read Full Story

Livestock producers concerned about diseases, uncertain about level of threat

Source: Feedstuffs

Livestock diseases have received substantial attention and global media coverage in recent years. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has dominated the news as it has led to loss of millions of poultry, increased egg prices and viral spillovers to other livestock such as dairy cattle and has been found to infect humans. However, there are many other diseases that impact Iowa’s livestock sector, the top U.S. producer of red meat and eggs, including porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and bovine respiratory syncytial virus (bovine RSV), that cause billions of dollars in annual losses to farmers and increased consumer prices.


“Farmers are on the front lines of managing livestock disease threats, and their capacity to identify and treat diseases before they become major outbreaks is critical,” said Hanna Bates, a research administrator at Iowa State University’s Nanovaccine Institute and lead author of the study. “This research from the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll is helping us to better understand farmers' degree of concern about different diseases and their capacity to manage them.”


[...] Read Full Story

US considers adjusting port fee plan for Chinese vessels after pushback, sources say

Source: Reuters

President Donald Trump's administration is considering softening its proposed fee on China-linked ships visiting U.S. ports after a flood of negative feedback from industries that said the idea could be economically devastating, according to six sources.



Among the changes under consideration are delayed implementation and new fee structures designed to reduce the overall cost to visiting Chinese vessels, according to the six sources with knowledge of the matter.


The sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the government department involved in the drafting the proposal, did not respond to requests for comment.


Not all of the agency's proposed multimillion-dollar fees for Chinese-built ships to dock at U.S. ports will be implemented and may not be cumulative, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday.


[...] Read Full Story

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