NATIONAL AG NEWS SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION
Groups Come Together to Work on Supply Chain Issues
The International Dairy Foods Association, the Port of Los Angeles, and CMA CGM, a French shipping and logistics company, have formed the Dairy Exports Working Group. It will work to identify and address supply chain issues hampering U.S. dairy product exports. The announcement was made at the Dairy Forum, which is the annual IDFA conference. The groups will focus their efforts on West Coast ports, which is where most U.S. dairy products leave the country. The Hagstrom Report says they’ll also look at ways to streamline shipping from the nation’s midsection to the West Coast. “U.S. dairy exports reached a near-record $6.4 billion in 2020 and continued at a strong pace in 2021 because of high demand,” says Michael Dykes, IDEFA President. “That total could be much higher with more reliability and predictability in the supply chain.” The CMA CGM Group promised to offer more empty containers to U.S. exporters to help speed up shipping efforts.
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Ag Groups Ready to Help with Developing New Farm Bill
Officials in Washington, D.C., are gearing up to debate reauthorizing the next farm bill in 2023. One group of grower-leaders intends to be a valuable resource for both corn growers and policymakers. The Risk Management and Transportation Action Team is a group that oversees much of the National Corn Growers Association’s public policy work on transportation, the farm safety net, and federal taxes. That group intends to play an active role in preparing NCGA for the 2023 Farm Bill. “We will be spending time evaluating the current farm bill commodity and crop insurance programs, supporting strong risk-management tools, and looking for areas of improvement,” says team chair Bill Leigh. “The work to protect key tax provisions never stops in Washington.” The current estate and gift tax exemptions will automatically lower in several years unless addressed by Congress. The Action Team will continue working to protect important tax provisions while the farm bill debate takes place in Washington.
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Weekly Corn and Soybean Export Inspections Drop
Corn and soybean inspections for overseas delivery dropped during the week ending on January 20. Wheat assessments went in the other direction. USDA says corn inspections totaled 1.12 million metric tons, down from 1.24 a week earlier. That’s also lower than the 1.4 million assessed for delivery during the same week in 2021. Soybeans examined for export totaled 1.3 million metric tons. That’s down from 1.73 million tons inspected a week earlier and the 2.1 million tons assessed during the same week in 2021. Wheat inspections last week came in at just shy of 401,000 metric tons, up from 384,300 tons during the previous week but well below the 571,700 tons examined during the same week in 2021. Since the beginning of the marketing year in September, soybean inspections are at 34.8 million metric tons, well below the 45.6 million tons assessed during the same week in 2021. Wheat assessments since June 1 are 13.2 million metric tons.
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Analyst says the U.S. Can Expect More Soybean Sales in 2022
Smaller than expected South American soybean crops likely mean more soybean export business for the U.S. in 2022. Reuters says Oil World, an oilseeds analyst, says major soybean export business will likely get pushed toward the U.S. in June and will continue from there. Oil World estimates that the combined soybean harvests in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will fall to approximately 186.3 million tons. That total is 7.4 million tons below the prior season and the lowest numbers in four years. Uncertainty about the final crop size in South America may mean their farmers will be more hesitant to sell into the market, keeping more beans in stock as a hedge against inflation. “U.S. farmers will benefit as buyers in importing countries will likely shift their purchases to American soybeans from June or July onward,” says Oil World. “The biggest increase is likely to happen from September through December of 2022.”
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Cornell, ARS Combine to Offer National Hemp Webinar Series
The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service is teaming up with Cornell University to launch a webinar series on hemp research. The goal is to broaden the scope of training, education, and connectivity within the U.S. hemp community. “Hemp is rapidly becoming a critical multi-use and economically significant crop, so this hemp series is designed to provide hemp-specific education, training, and networking opportunities to historically underserved communities,” says Zach Stansell, ARS Geneticist, and acting hemp curator. “Training and educating new scientists from many different backgrounds is critical to achieving the most cutting-edge solutions to an array of issues producers face,” says Cornell Crop Specialist Daniela Vergara. “Those issues include everything from climate change to economic viability.” Research experts in academia, laboratories, production facilities, and private industry will give the online lectures. The first webinar will cover outdoor cultivation on January 26. For more information, including topics and webinar schedules, go to ars.usda.gov.
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Coalition to Study Decontamination in the Event of an ASF Outbreak
The Swine Health Information Center started a coalition to study ideal methods for cleaning and disinfecting feed mills following a potential African Swine Fever Outbreak. Other organizations include the Institute for Feed Education and Research, the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, and the United Soybean Board. “SHIC continues to look into all the ways diseases can get into and spread throughout the country,” says Executive Director Paul Sundberg. “It’s not just to identify pathways but to do something about them with this kind of research.” He also says that once the ASF virus gets into a feed mill, it will stay there for a long time, meaning the work is essential to address the risk to the U.S. swineherd. The project will examine the optimal methods for disinfecting feed mills, paying close attention to feed manufacturing equipment that’s not designed for disinfection. “Again, this work is essential to protecting the swineherd,” he adds.
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