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

Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - April 2021

Developments

As Agriculture Future of America celebrates its 25th anniversary, Farm Journal Media has elevated its support of AFA to a new level. With the establishment of a long-term, exclusive partnership, Farm Journal and AFA will collaborate to enhance AFA’s outreach to students while supporting connections with the agricultural industry. The partnership will allow Farm Journal to further strengthen its network of young professionals. “Farm Journal has been a long-standing supporter of AFA, and we are thrilled to welcome them as a partner,” said Mark Stewart, AFA president and CEO. “The partnership, which tightly aligns with our mission, heightens both organizations’ dedication to building transformational leaders in food and agriculture.”  Farm Journal will provide media support for a campaign that highlights AFA alumni and provides greater visibility to the organization. The two organizations will work closely in multiple industry events, broadening the opportunities for student and industry intersections.

Canadian National Railway announced April 20, 2021 its plan to buy Kansas City Southern, the longtime local rail operator, for $33.7 billion. Canadian National's bid to buy Kansas City Southern for $325 per share would represent a 21% premium over rival rail company Canadian Pacific Railway's proposed acquisition announced in March. Kansas City Southern's board had agreed to sell to Canadian Pacific for $29 billion, which valued Kansas City Southern at $275 per share. The deal was announced pending regulatory approvals, which are now underway. 

Boehringer Ingelheim has transitioned to renewable energy to power its largest U.S. manufacturing site, in St. Joseph, Missouri, as part of a broader company commitment to environmental sustainability in the United States and around the world. Wind energy now provides all the electricity used at the site, where BI employs nearly 1,000 people who manufacture vaccines for horses, pigs, cattle and other animals. BI and its predecessor companies have manufactured animal health products in St. Joseph for more than a century. The company recently signed a 10-year contract with Evergy Inc., which serves about 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, to buy energy generated at a wind farm in Kansas for its site in St. Joseph. The change will reduce carbon emissions at the site by 76% as part of a larger company commitment to environmental sustainability nationwide.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard a challenge to the EPA’s E15 decision brought by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which argued EPA should not have allowed for the sale of E15 — a fuel mixed with roughly 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol — during the summer months. That decision was made in May 2019 following years of ethanol industry lobbying and negotiations with the Trump administration over biofuels policy.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers reports a positive first quarter for tractor sales. Tractor sales growth continued for the 11th straight month in March, closing out the quarter with nearly 55% growth in total tractor sales over 2020 figures. According to figures from AEM, year-over-year sales in March increased 84.1% in 2021. The biggest gains were in small, sub-40 horsepower tractors, which nearly doubled in sales (up 96.5%). Sales of 100 horsepower units were also higher, shooting up 63.5%. Sales of larger four-wheel-drive units were up a modest 2.5% to reverse the slight sales decrease observed in February. “The strength of ag tractor and combine sales this month, driven largely by small tractors, but showing strength across all size classes, reinforces the optimistic findings of a survey we shared earlier this year,” AEM’s Curt Blades said in a statement. “That survey found increased customer demand has manufacturers optimistic that sales will increase or remain stable, despite COVID-19 and workforce challenges in 2021.” Combine sales also observed quarterly and monthly growth; March sales were 6.7% higher in 2021, capping off a quarter that observed a 16.5% sales increase over 2020.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Office is teaming up with After the Harvest, a Kansas City, Missouri-based produce rescue nonprofit, and Community Organized Gleaners, a grassroots volunteer group of experienced farmers, to expand food recovery on Douglas County farms. The goal is to rescue nutritious fruits and vegetables from farm fields after the marketable harvest and distribute them to Douglas County agencies providing food and shelter assistance to community members.

To celebrate Buy Missouri Day, the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Missouri Grown program announced funding for 13 retail businesses that carry Missouri Grown products. The Missouri Grown Retail Promotion Matching Grant awards up to $1,000 per retail store for reimbursement of expenses associated with promoting Missouri Grown member products.

FCS Financial recently selected 34 recipients for their Scholarship Program who will each receive a $1,500 scholarship to assist with the cost of higher education. Since 2004, more than $720,000 has been distributed through the FCS Financial Scholarship Program. The program is designed to encourage and support higher education for children and grandchildren of FCS Financial members.

Farm Journal Foundation announced its support for the America Grows Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill introduced April 27 that would significantly increase U.S. public investment in agricultural research and development. The bill, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), would increase funding for agricultural research by 5% annually on an inflation-adjusted basis at four agencies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the next 10 years. The America Grows Act would increase funding for four agencies at the USDA: Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Compass Minerals observed International Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28,  with a moment of silence across all sites at 9 a.m. CDT. The annual day of remembrance recognizes workers killed, disabled, injured or made ill by their work. “We encourage our employees to pause, reflect and remember on this day,” said Allen Dupree, senior vice president, environment, health, safety and sustainability. “Safety is essential and our company continuously works to maintain focus on our Top Risks and ensure the well-being of all employees.”

Tyson Fresh Meats has joined U.S. CattleTrace, making it the first beef processor to become a member of the animal disease traceability program. Shane Miller, the company’s chief operating officer, said Tyson is hopeful their involvement will help advance industry efforts to implement the program across the country.  CattleTrace was launched as a pilot project in 2018 as part of a collaborative partnership between KLA, the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas State University, USDA and individual producer stakeholders. The name of the organization was changed to U.S. CattleTrace in January 2020, with the involvement of additional cattlemen’s organizations in Florida, Kentucky and Texas.

People 

Mikayla Bodey has joined the Senate Ag Committee as professional staff to the majority. Bodey will handle the rural development and energy portfolio. She previously worked for Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., as her senior legislative assistant covering the portfolio for the House Ag Committee and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. She also oversaw the congresswoman’s work as co-chair of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus. Before working for Craig, Bodey worked for former Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., as a legislative correspondent with a focus on agriculture and environment issues.

Former Farm Production and Conservation Undersecretary for USDA during the Trump Administration Bill Northey has returned to Iowa to start a consulting business, WHNorthey, focusing on agriculture, conservation, and sustainability issues. 

TechAccel LLC has hired Mike Dean as controller. Dean has worked in accounting and finance for more than 20 years, most recently with the USDA and a pharmaceutical contract research organization. He holds a BS degree in business administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. TechAccel invests in and advances innovations to produce healthier plants, animals and foods, while protecting and rejuvenating the environment. 

TechAccel also brought Joe Langle on board as vice president of its Program Management Office. Langle previously was Program Management Manager at the Kansas City National Security Campus, a U.S. Department of Energy facility managed by Honeywell Federal Management and Technologies LLC. Langle has an MS in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas San Antonio, and a BA in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri Columbia. 

Events

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 will soon be available online for those who plan to attend the 2021 World Pork Expo, June 9-11.

The Missouri Agribusiness Association is holding its MO-AG Summer Meeting July 8-9 at the Lake of the Ozarks. They will have speakers on topics ranging from carbon, federal and state ag policy, river issues, pesticide, and more. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, Senator Mike Bernskoetter, and the Missouri Department of Agriculture will speak on important topics pertaining to agribusiness. More 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 is available at www.agriculture.mo.gov.

Exciting Time to be in Agriculture

Brett Begemann, featured speaker at the Council’s April meeting, recalled it wasn’t until the late 1990s that people ‘really’ started to talk about food. Before that, food production, processing, packaging and transportation were just banal topics that didn’t command headlines. Now, Begemann, who is COO for Bayer’s Crop Science division in St. Louis, claims food is a headliner. At least three times a week, newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and business-oriented cable and television news programs run stories about agriculture and food. 

“It’s an exciting time to be in ag.” That’s because 25 years ago talk about the environment and things like sustainability got serious. And there is no industry that has done more to promote, develop and advance the concept of sustainability than agricultural, Begemann said. He attributes ag’s emergence as a leader in sustainability to the array of digital tools that are driving innovation today.  But he put Council members and the ag industry in general on notice to keep talking and touting the business. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

Serving as host of the virtual meeting was Chris Daubert, dean of the University of Missouri‘s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.  He described CAFNR’s vision and mission as “imagining a healthy world.” CAFNR’s “food for life philosophy cultivates this world through visionary and transformative solutions for the environment, food systems, economies and communities.” Dean Daubert noted that CAFNR is changing core components that impacts what people eat, where they live and how they will face the future.

CAFNR has numerous existing research, teaching and extension programs that are nationally and internationally recognized. To highlight the recognized strength of existing and future programs, CAFNR has established criteria for Programs of Distinction, a select collection of programs that exemplify CAFNR’s drive to distinction.

Dr. Rob Kallenbach, University of Missouri’s associate dean of the Agriculture & Environment Extension indicated the goal of the Extension is to double the economic impact of agriculture in Missouri by 2030 “while sustaining our natural resources.” The strategic plan calls for such action as turning advances in animal genetics into better stock and couple that with an effective business model to capture retail value. 

Latest News & Updates in KC Agriculture - March 2021

Developments

In the aftermath of recent winter storms, Dairy Farmers of America is donating $50,000 through its DFA Cares Foundation to Southwest food banks and Feeding Texas to help with relief and recovery efforts. “As farmers, we work hard each and every day to help make food for our local communities,” says Larry Hancock, a dairy farmer from Muleshoe, Texas, and a member of DFA’s Board of Directors. Last spring DFA launched its DFA Cares Farmers Feeding Families Fund, which was created to help raise money and deliver dairy products to community food banks across the country. To date, the Farmers Feeding Families Fund has raised more than $675,000 in donations from DFA farmer-owners, employees and industry partners and has supported rural and community food banks and pantries throughout the Southwest. 

Kansas City drivers will have more fuel choices at the pump after the Environmental Protection Agency approved the year-round sale of E15 fuel in the Kansas City metro area. EPA removed a regulation that previously banned the sale of E15 in the region. The Kansas Corn Growers Association and Missouri Corn Growers Association staff worked closely with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and EPA to allow year-round E15 sales.

 National Beef is investing $100 million to increase capacity at its Iowa Premium beef processing plant in Tama, Iowa.  Daily capacity at the plant is expected to double to 2,500 head, requiring the addition of a second shift. National Beef acquired the facility in 2019. The project is expected to be complete in late 2022, and the company expects to create hundreds of jobs in the Tama area.

USDA’s NIFA recently awarded over $8.5 million in funding for 29 research and Extension grants that will advance solutions to critically important problems in U.S. agriculture. “These NIFA investments in user-inspired projects bring together researchers, Extension experts, and practitioners to find solutions that can be rapidly adopted by the agricultural community,” said NIFA Director Carrie Castille.

Canadian Pacific Railroad has agreed to purchase Kansas City Southern in a deal worth about $25 billion after discounting $3.8 billion of KCS debt that Canadian Pacific will take on. It would combine two of the industry's fastest-growing rail operators. The companies said the deal would help them become more competitive. That could become increasingly important as the USMCA goes into effect. The combined company would operate 20,000 miles of rail employing nearly 20,000 people and generating annual sales of about $8.7 billion.

Cargill is investing in its U.S. soy processing operations, with modernization and expansion projects planned across its network of crush facilities in seven states. Once completed, the company estimates the $475 million in investments will improve operational efficiencies while increasing capacity to better meet growing demand for U.S. soy products. Improvements will include faster unloading of oilseeds and loading of products, increased capacity to provide additional market opportunities, and better overall logistics, safety and ease of doing business, the company said. All facilities will continue to operate while construction and expansion projects are underway. 

The University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine received an $11 million gift to fund a new imaging center. Officials say this is the largest gift in the college’s history, and it will be used to advance comparative and translational medicine research at the university.  

U.S. beef and pork exports began this year below the large volumes posted a year ago, according to January data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Beef exports totaled 105,047 metric tons in January, down 2% from a year ago, while value fell 3% to $653 million. The decline was due mainly to lower beef variety meat shipments. January beef exports were strong to South Korea and continued to gain momentum in China, while exports to the Middle East also rebounded. Pork exports in January totaled 248,656 metric tons, down 9% from a year ago but still slightly above USMEF’s projections. Pork export value was down 13% to $642.8 million. While pork exports to China and Hong Kong declined as expected, exports to Japan increased in January, and demand was strong in Central America, the Philippines and the Caribbean.

St. Joseph, Missouri-based American Angus Association surpassed 20 million registrations on March 17, 2021. A registration certificate is more than a piece of paper, says the Angus organization. The registration paper creates demand and extra value in cattle that are powered by the qualities that the Angus breed brings to the table. Registration numbers signify the data behind the animal, tracing its lineage and potential to change the direction of cowherds. 

Americans are buying more beef, pork, poultry, and lamb than ever as increased time at home during the pandemic sent meat grocery sales soaring by 20% from 2019 to 2020, reports the North American Meat institute. The recently released national analysis shows that three out of every four Americans agree meat belongs in healthy, balanced diets (up by nearly 20% since 2020), and 94% say they buy meat because it provides high-quality protein. Nearly all American households (98.4%) purchased meat in 2020, and 43% of Americans now buy more meat than before the pandemic – primarily because they are preparing more meals at home.

Agriculture is a diverse industry usually located in remote parts of the country. The risks and occupational exposures associated with farming and ranching are often not familiar to healthcare workers serving rural communities. Nurses are the frontline of rural community healthcare which is why FCS Financial is teaming up with four other Farm Credit associations to offer 20 scholarships to nurses from Missouri or Arkansas to complete the Agrisafe Nurse Scholar program. The program consists of 20 hours of virtual, on-demand learning utilizing lectures, interactive question and answer sessions and group discussions. More information is available here.

March Madness reaches its finale this weekend when the NCAA Basketball Championship’s Final Four event tips off. There have been a number of game changing rules over the years for this collegiate sport, like the 3-point shot, the 30-second shot clock and the jump stop (once called  ‘steps’ or ‘travelling’ by refs).  But many fans and hoop historians claim the slam dump changed the game forever. Credit for this electrifying act of athletic prowess, however, doesn’t solely belong to the talented players performing it. Acclaim should go to a lifelong Illinois farmer and a John Deere cultivator. 

Truth be told, early on, players, coaches, athletic directors and gym maintenance supervisors weren’t so keen on the slam. Too many broken wrists, shattered backboards, costly replacements and delayed/postponed games threw a wet blanket on the flying circus. So entered Arthur Ehrat, farmer and manager of the former Farmers Elevator Company in 1975, looking for a solution. He tinkered with some 30 different springs – including automobile valve springs – that could snap the rim back into place during a dunk. None were strong enough. Except a John Deere spring that had the right shape and measurements. Ehrat designed his prototype after it and named it The Rebounder, which he patented in 1982. His breakaway rim, now integral to just about every backboard in the world, also resides in the Basketball Hall of Fame and The Smithsonian.

Stagnant public funding for agricultural research is threatening the future vitality of U.S. food systems – posing risks to farmer productivity and profitability, the steady supply of affordable food for consumers, and ultimately global food security, according to a new report. The report, jointly commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation and authored by the IHS Markit Agribusiness Consulting Group, highlights the vital importance of public funding for agricultural research and development (R&D). New innovations are crucial so that farmers can increase their productivity and meet rising global demand for food, even as climate change intensifies. The world population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, and food production will need to increase by 60%-70% to meet rising demand. While private-sector funding for agricultural R&D has been increasing, U.S. public spending has been flat for the past decade. The full report is available from AFBF.

People

Former Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts has joined Capitol Counsel as a new partner. Roberts served four terms in the Senate and eight terms in the House of Representatives. At the time of his retirement, he chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee and also served on the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He is the only person to serve as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee, working on a total of eight farm bills.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., has hired Haydin Brady as his new district communications coordinator. Brady most recently served as community affairs liaison in Cleaver’s Kansas City office.

Richard Fordyce has joined Osborn Barr Paramore as business growth director. Fordyce previously served as the administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency. At OBP, he will focus on strategic business development and will represent the agency in roles with various local, regional and national agriculture industry organizations.

Corn farmers and industry representatives joined the Missouri Corn board of directors virtually for the Missouri Corn Growers Association annual meeting. Members also took the opportunity to honor grower-leaders and retiring CEO Gary Marshall for their work on behalf of corn farmers. Award recipients included: President’s Award, Mark Scott, Wentzville; Honorary Lifetime Award, Mike Moreland, Harrisonville, Greg Schneider, Warrenton; Years of Service Award, Kyle Kirby, Liberal, Greg Schneider, Gary Marshall, Jefferson City.

The National Pork Producers Council joined the National Pork Board to honor Missouri Pork Producers Association executive vice president Don Nikodim with the Paulson-Whitmore State Executive Award at the National Pork Industry Forum. The award, named after former Minnesota and Wisconsin Executive Directors Don Paulson and Rex Whitmore, recognizes the outstanding leadership and commitment of state pork organization executives.

Cargill is adding two new members to its executive team to help implement strategic growth initiatives. Jon Nash will take over as the leader of global protein and salt enterprise. Pilar Cruz will be Cargill’s chief sustainability officer, responsible for the company’s sustainability, corporate responsibility and global communications functions. The company also announced changes for several other members of its executive team. All of these changes and additions go into effect April 1.

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has hired Audra Weeks as his new press secretary. She most recently was the deputy press secretary on the Trump Campaign as well as in the press shop of former Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Kansas Department of Agriculture has announced results of elections to lead the state’s five grain commodity commissions. The Kansas Corn Commission is now led by Brian Baalman, district one; Dennis McNinch, district two; and Steve Rome, district three. The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission is now led by Jon Berning, district two, and Brant Peterson, district three. No candidates ran for districts one, two, or three for the Kansas Soybean Commission, which will now appoint this combined position. The Kansas Wheat Commission is now led by Brian Linin, district one; Ronald Suppes, district two; and Gary Millershaski, district three. Source: Agri-Pulse Communications.

Missouri Department of Agriculture announced 30 high school sophomores were selected to participate in the 2021 Missouri Agribusiness Academy. Students selected will spend several days in June in the Mid-Missouri region exploring careers in agriculture, building leadership skills and learning more about farming, ranching and food production. “Giving back to agriculture is important and we’re thrilled to contribute to the future of agriculture through MAbA,” said Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn. “I’m so proud of each of these students and the accomplishments they’ve already achieved as leaders. We hope that MAbA helps each of them add value to those skills and ultimately find their future in an agriculture career.” Since 1988, the Missouri Agribusiness Academy has awarded more than 990 academy memberships through a competitive application and interview process for high school sophomores interested in pursuing agriculture-related college degrees and careers.

Agriculture Future of America recently selected 22 college students to serve as organizational Ambassadors. The Ambassadors represent AFA on their respective campuses and will serve through March 31, 2022. Ambassadors kick-off their term in March 2021 with training and team building exercises. In the initial training, Ambassadors will gain further insight on their role including goals specific to their campus involvement with AFA, their function in partner relationships, coaching on sharing AFA with various audiences and resources available throughout their term. “AFA was founded to serve students and there’s no better way to do so than by empowering the Ambassadors as advocates for the organization and wider agriculture industry,” says Mark Stewart, AFA president and CEO. “The Ambassadors work in tandem with AFA to bring premier leader and career development experiences to highly motivated young professionals studying agriculture and related fields.”

Events

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 will soon be available online for those who plan to attend.

Kansas Department of Agriculture will host a free informational webinar focused on updates to the H–2A guest worker program including CDL requirements for custom harvesting and farm employees. The webinar will take place virtually on April 7, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. The focus will be on USDA’s H–2A program for temporary agricultural employment of foreign workers via the Farm Worker Modernization Act. Register here.