With saddened hearts, AAI would like to inform you of the passing of Winton Etchen on Wednesday, May 2.  He was 94.  Etchen served as the Executive Vice President of the Iowa Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) from 1964-1988.  Visitation will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, May 7, 2018, at First Christian Church, 2500 University Avenue, Des Moines, with a funeral service at 2 p.m.  Burial will follow the service at Resthaven Cemetery, 801 19th Street, West Des Moines, with a reception immediately following.

The following information was provided by the Etchen family:

Winton was born November 9, 1923, on his parent's farm outside Goodell, IA, to Louise (Greiman) and Albert Etchen, the second child of seven. He graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Engineering. Winton was the Iowa State Horticulturalist from 1960-67.  In 1964 he became the Executive Vice President of Iowa Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) and served there for 24 years. Please read full article and obit on our news feed.

About the Winton Etchen Scholarship

The IFCA established the Winton Etchen Scholarship and awarded the first two recipients in 1990. The scholarship annually provides an ISU awardee with a $1,000 initial scholarship award and he or she is eligible for $250 in each of the following three years.

The primary goal of the program is to encourage Iowa youth to prepare for a career in agriculture. This scholarship program is designed to provide college financial assistance to a resident of Iowa or a dependent of an AAI member who chooses to study agriculture.

 

Please direct memorial contributions to the  Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI) Foundation. 

AAI Foundation for the Winton Etchen Scholarship

Mail to: 900 Des Moines Street, Des Moines, IA 50309

Later this month, oral arguments in the Proposition 65 glyphosate federal lawsuit are scheduled to be heard.

The lawsuit, formally filed as National Association of Wheat Growers et al v. Zeise et al, includes a coalition of agricultural entities who have signed on in the legal fight against the state of California to overturn the flawed requirement forcing companies to falsely label glyphosate as a carcinogen. Despite findings from nearly every regulatory agency worldwide showing the herbicide to be safe, glyphosate was designated as a cancer-causing agent under California's Proposition 65. The Agribusiness Association of Iowa signed on as a plaintiff last fall.

Currently, there is an injunction in place preventing the requirement for glyphosate products to carry California's Proposition 65 "known to the state of California to cause cancer" language.

Additional information about the lawsuit can be found at: https://www.fixprop65.com

A detailed rundown on the March update of the 199A tax provision was one of a number of topics this week at the joint meeting of the Grain Committee and the Feed & Livestock Committee.

Kristine Tidgren, from the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, provided background on the December tax bill and a comprehensive walkthrough of the 199A provision fix which passed as part of an appropriations bill this past March. The new language introduces a number of rules, thresholds, and calculations which will produce a wide range of variables, and therefore tax outcomes.

The committees also are exploring how the law aligns in situations where grain is liquidated as part of a bank debt default. Legal council provided insight into the current law and AAI will be pursuing further information to guide future actions.

In other items from the agenda, updates were provided from Iowa State University representatives Dean Joe Colletti and Professors Charles Hurburgh and Dirk Maier, about the Feed Mill project. Representatives from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) Jim Kennedy, Grain Warehouse Bureau Chief, and Randy Watts, Commercial Feed & Fertilizer Bureau Chief, also provided updates on current activities.

A subcommittee was formed to pursue creation of an Advanced Feed Operations course, much like the Advanced Grain Operations course that was offered this past January.

You can provide your voice as part of a committee. Visit our website and use our handy form to join a committee - https://www.agribiz.org/benefits-of-membership/join-a-committee/ . You can also contact the home office to be added to a committee list.

The annual 4R Summit, hosted by The Fertilizer Institute, will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11-12 to share effective nutrient stewardship tenets and practices. 

Schedule and registration are now available online: 

https://www.tfi.org/conferences/4r-summit#welcome

Last week Chuck Gipp submitted his letter of resignation as the Iowa DNR Director and officially retired on Tuesday, May 1. A celebratory dinner will be held for Gipp on Saturday, May 5.  Gipp began serving as deputy director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in August 2011.  Gipp resides in Decorah with his wife, Ranae. They have two children and one grandson.

"I want to thank Chuck Gipp for his faithful service to Iowans, and specifically his service to Iowa agriculturalists for the last 25 years," said AAI CEO Joel Brinkmeyer.

"We  value the relationship that he has had with the Agribusiness Association of Iowa. He has had a very professional approach of getting all parties around the table and reaching solutions that benefited all parties involved.  The Iowa DNR, under Chuck's leadership, assisted our agribusiness industry in reaching appropriate air quality standards with common sense solutions. He successfully allowed positive growth in Iowa production agriculture with reasonable and methodical approaches to improvements in the animal industry and the agribusinesses that serve it. Chuck will be missed as Director of Iowa DNR, but I know that he leaves the DNR stronger and better positioned for the future than he found it."

"Chuck Gipp has a passion for service and a commitment to the environment," said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. "From his time operating a dairy farm, through his service in the Legislature, in his leadership at Division of Soil Conservation and then at the Iowa DNR, Chuck has made a positive difference in our state. I want to thank him for his long tenure of outstanding service and wish him and Ranae the best in retirement."  

"During his time as director, Chuck used his passion for Iowa's natural resources as his guide in leading the department," Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg said. "He served our state well for many years, and I know this retirement is well-deserved.

Our golf tournaments are a great way to network and grow your connections in the agribusiness community.  We host four golf tournaments in the state of Iowa: two in July, one in August, and one in September. Registration opens May 1 for all tournaments. Visit us online to learn more!

The Trump administration has invited a group of U.S. senators to the White House early next week to discuss biofuels policy, the latest in a series of such meetings aimed at helping refiners cope with the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

by: Brownfield Ag News

Bayer will sell more of its Crop Science businesses to BASF for 2 billion dollars to satisfy competition concerns over the company's acquisition of Monsanto.

The German company says it will sell its global vegetable seeds businesses, seed treatments, and the research platform for wheat hybrids and glyphosate-based herbicides. Bayer will also sell its digital farming platform. That's in addition to selling BASF some of Bayer's herbicide and field crop seeds businesses for $7 billion if the Monsanto merger is approved. Read More

Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Week is an opportunity to recognize the important conservation work that has been placed on the Iowa landscape and bring attention to the ongoing work by farmers, landowners and urban residents to protect the state's soil and water resources. Download flyer here.

Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Week this year is being coordinated with national Stewardship Week, which is sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts.  This year's Stewardship Week theme is "We All Need Trees" and is designed to focus the nation's attention on the stewardship and importance of our natural resources.