A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation. | |
Reisinger Appointed As AAI Interim CEO | |
The Agribusiness Association of Iowa is pleased to announce the hire of Mark Reisinger to be the interim CEO. The position was left open by the sudden death of Bill Northey last month.
Reisinger is no stranger to AAI, serving as CEO from 2008 to 2010. He will work on a part time basis which will give the board time to find a permanent CEO. According to AAI Board Chair Mark White, the AAI board will begin a search process this spring and hopes to have a new CEO in place by the middle of September.
Reisinger's email is mreisinger@agribiz.org.
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Denson Inducted Into Iowa Business Hall of Fame | |
The Iowa Business Hall of Fame, founded in 1975 by the Greater Des Moines Committee, honors the achievements of Iowans who have made outstanding contributions to the development and enhancement of Iowa's business climate. Rob Denson, DMACC President and AAI ex-officio board member, is one of three honorees for 2023. The inductees also include Roger Underwood, Chair of Pivot Bio Board of Directors.
Inductee bios can be found at the following link:
https://www.dsmpartnership.com/halloffame/inductee-list-year
The 2023 Iowa Business Hall of Fame inductees will be honored during the Greater Des Moines Committee’s Annual Induction Event on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at The Meadows Event and Conference Center.
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INREC Survey For 2023 Crop Season Underway - AAI Encourages Member Participation | |
The Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council (INREC) is finishing its seventh year of surveys for measuring progress for the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The survey is a collaboration with ag retailers and Iowa State University and utilizes a first-of-its-kind approach to using ag retailer records to track progress made by Iowa farmers with the adoption of in-field conservation practices such as cover crops, nutrient management, and reduced tillage.
Four INREC survey liaisons are traveling across the state to visit 150 randomly selected ag retail locations to conduct the survey. Ag retailer cooperation is critical to ensure a statistically significant number of surveys are completed. The survey visits are short - usually about 30 minutes - which should be manageable even with the busy schedules of ag retail staff and unseasonably warmer weather. Please return any phone calls from the INREC survey liaisons!
“INREC greatly appreciates the cooperation of ag retailers to spend time with our survey liaisons to conduct the survey and ensure statistical targets are met,” said Roger Zylstra, farmer and chair of the INREC board of directors.
Curious about results from past surveys? Visit the INREC website:
INREC Survey Results
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Register By March 18 For Upcoming Certified Crop Adviser Testing Window | |
The Certified Crop Adviser exam is offered three times per year, and it can be taken at any scheduled time in a two-week window. There is a registration period before each window to schedule the test.
The deadline for registration of the next testing period of 2024 is March 18. The exam can be scheduled to be taken any time between March 27 and April 8.
The registration can be completed on the national CCA website:
https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/exams
The Iowa CCA board recommends reviewing the updated performance objectives at: Iowa Performance Objectives PDF Download
If you or one of your agronomy employees have any questions about studying for or registering for the CCA testing, feel free to contact the Exam Committee Chair, Cody Ostendorf at cody.ostendorf@plantpioneer.com.
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Thank You For Your Membership! | |
As a member of AAI, you are the driving force of the organization Where Agribusiness Matters. Thank you for your membership and your commitment to the success of agribusiness in Iowa.
The following companies have recently joined or renewed their membership for the 2024 Membership Year.
- Nutrien Ag Solutions
- CF Industries
- Capstan Ag Systems, Inc.
Not currently a member? Click Here to send us an email so we can follow up with your company and help you get connected to AAI.
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Member & Industry Visits:
- Farm Service Coop
- Adair Feed and Grain
- HTS Ag
- 21st Century Coop
- Cogdill Farm Supply
Visited By: Heath DeYoung, Membership Director
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March 18
Showcase Committee Meeting
1:00 PM | Northey Building Board Room
April 4
AAI Board of Directors Meeting
10:00 AM | Northey Building Board Room
July 25
AAI Golf Outing - Okoboji
Emerald Hills Golf Club
August 15
AAI Golf Outing - Amana
Amana Colonies Golf Club
September Golf Outing On The Way - Stay Tuned!
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4-H Survey of Ag Industry Workforce Needs | |
For more than 100 years, 4-H has been helping youth to be prepared members of the workforce. To continue that effort, Iowa 4-H is excited to be a part of a multi-state, multi-year grant through USDA-NIFA to build awareness of the full range of career pathways in the food and agriculture sector. You can help by completing this anonymous, 10-minute survey on job recruitment practices, retention, and training needs in your industry.
Click link below to participate in the survey:
Iowa Food, Agriculture, & Related Businesses Workforce Needs Survey
Please complete this survey by March 31. The employer survey is important and will help us better understand the agricultural workforce needs. Information gathered from the survey will enhance 4-H Youth Development initiatives to promote agricultural careers, and help 4-H programs better prepare youth to be successful in the agricultural industry. For questions or to stay informed about the study results, contact Cayla Taylor at cayla@iastate.edu.
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Many farmers and ranchers are breathing a sigh of relief after the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to remove language from a proposal that would have required them to report greenhouse gas emissions.
For two years, the SEC has been working on regulations mandating public companies better report their greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal was divided into multiple scopes.
Scope 1 requires public companies to report their direct emissions. Scope 2 puts similar requirements on electricity and energy generators.
Ag producers were particularly alarmed by Scope 3, which would have placed additional requirements on producers further down the supply chain. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Council Mary-Beth Hart says the proposal was a mess.
“You’re talking about any supply chain greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to the business of a publicly traded entity,” she said. “We’re not just talking about emissions domestically. If you have foreign inputs, you’re talking about a mandate that would have spread to other countries.”
According to the most recent EPA data, cattle methane emissions account for approximately 2% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, nearly all producers would have been forced to adhere to the rules since producers don’t necessarily know the final destination for their products. There was also concern within the agriculture industry that implementing a farm-level traceability system would stigmatize products that were not traceable.
[...] Read Full Story
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Using plasma - the stuff of outer space - University of Alberta researchers have found an effective way to decontaminate grain tainted by mold and also boost seed germination. Their study is published in the Journal of Food Engineering.
By treating wheat and barley grains with atmospheric cold plasma - a relatively low-temperature version of the typically superheated matter - they were able to lower the levels of harmful toxins caused by fungi that grow in warm, humid conditions and commonly infect grain.
The discovery "can provide the food processing and livestock feed industries with more effective, efficient ways to process grains that are safe for consumption," says Ehsan Feizollahi, who led the research to earn a Ph.D. in food science and technology from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.
Known as mycotoxins, the harmful secondary metabolites infect more than 25% of globally produced grains each year, including barley, wheat and oat grains in Western Canada, resulting in lower-quality crops and financial losses to farmers. They also pose threats to human and livestock health, including cancer, lung disease, brain and kidney damage, or even death.
Because mycotoxins resist high temperatures, removing them from grains is challenging, Feizollahi says.
"There is no effective method currently available for reducing mycotoxins on grain," he notes, adding that common food processing practices such as roasting, baking and frying may only partially remove mycotoxins.
"We needed to find better methods of decontamination."
[...] Read Full Story
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Source: USDA Economic Research Service
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Both rural (nonmetro) and urban (metro) populations grew because of increased migration over the last few years; however, the sources of the increased migration are different. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, rural areas experienced an increase in population because more people moved from urban to rural areas than in the opposite direction, a reversal of domestic migration trends from the previous decade.
Domestic migration occurs when people move among areas within the United States. Net domestic migration in rural areas jumped from near zero in 2019-20 to more than 0.35 percent in the last two years. Fear of exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19) in urban areas and the subsequent increase in remote work contributed to this dramatic shift in migration patterns.
Conversely, urban areas increased their population through migration from other countries. International migration to urban areas reached a peak of 0.34 percent in 2021-22. The growth in migration rates for both urban and rural areas are somewhat offset by elevated death rates (which are falling from pandemic highs) and lower birth rates.
[...] Read Full Story
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Legislation being promoted for giving states more flexibility to waive truck weight limits in an emergency would also give state authorities broad new power to raise weight limits for all kinds of freight, according to a lobby group that opposes overweight trucks.
The legislation, the Modernizing Operations for Vehicles in Emergencies (MOVE) Act, introduced last month by U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., is a way to “remove unnecessary roadblocks and red tape” to avert supply chain disruptions such as what occurred during and after the pandemic, according to the bill’s sponsors, both of whom represent agribusiness shippers.
“During times of emergency and the pandemic, struggling communities in my district were hit hardest by roadblocks to our supply chain,” said Costa, whose district includes parts of California’s San Joaquin Valley. “This bipartisan legislation will remove barriers that prevent us from delivering vital relief when communities need it most.”
The MOVE Act expands the circumstances under which the federal government could allow a state to waive federal weight limits along interstate highways for loads “that can easily be dismantled or divided” to include not only natural emergencies involving weather, disease, and wildfires, and other causes but also if supply chains are “substantially impaired in the state, either in terms of slow overall movement, freight traffic congestion, or otherwise,” according to language in the bill.
[...] Read Full Story
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