Bayer Forecasts Lower Profit as Herbicide Prices Fall: Bayer AG sees lower profit this year as it contends with falling prices for agriculture products, including the controversial weedkiller Roundup. The German company forecast core earnings per share of as much as €7.40 in 2023, lower than the €7.94 ($8.42) last year and below analysts’ estimates. The crop science division, Bayer’s biggest growth motor last year, is set to slow as prices decline for glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup that it manufactures in Louisiana. Bayer benefited from surging glyphosate prices in the past couple of years after supply constraints at the Louisiana plant and competing producers in China. Crop science sales will probably rise 3% this year on a currency-adjusted basis, down from the 16% growth recorded in 2022, Bayer said. Bayer expects to pay €2 billion to €3 billion in settlement payments related to roundup litigation this year, it said Tuesday. That outlay could prevent the company from reducing its debt burden, Sebastian Bray, an analyst at Berenberg, said by email. More details at Bloomberg.
US Gives Farmers Shorter Window to Spray Dicamba: The US Environmental Protection Agency has shortened the window for farmers in major soybean-producing states to use dicamba, a weedkiller criticized for drifting away from where it is sprayed. The restrictions make it harder for farmers to use dicamba, sold by agrichemical companies like Bayer AG and Syngenta, after some growers have already bought seeds and crop chemicals for spring planting. The deadline for farmers to spray dicamba in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana will be June 12, instead of June 20 last year. The EPA approved a June 20 deadline for South Dakota, instead of June 30 last year. The changes are intended to reduce risks, the EPA said. Some scientists consider an earlier deadline to be safer because high temperatures can increase the risk for dicamba to drift from where it is sprayed. The EPA in December 2021 said it was assessing whether dicamba could be sprayed safely on soybean and cotton plants engineered to resist it, without the procedure posing "unreasonable risks" to other crops. On Thursday, the agency said it is still "evaluating all of its options for addressing future dicamba-related incidents."
Groups Sue California Over Pesticide-Treated Seed: Crop seeds treated with pesticides would be regulated as pesticides in California if a new lawsuit filed by environmental groups is successful. The EPA does not regulate pesticide-treated seed as pesticides, which is the same practice followed by the state of California. Environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council asked a superior court in Alameda County, California, for a permanent injunction against the state on its treated-seeds policy. The groups have asked the court to declare the state's treated-seed policy invalid as an "underground regulation" because the lawsuit alleges California is not complying with the Administrative Procedure Act. The NRDC is joined in the lawsuit by Californians for Pesticide Reform, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Pesticide Action Network North America. In their lawsuit, the environmental groups said they believe there's evidence the pesticides on treated seeds do more than protect those seeds, namely that much of the pesticides are allegedly left in the soil "where they can persist for years and accumulate in successive planting seasons while also making their way into nearby waterways," the lawsuit said.
Brazil Supreme Court Rules Bayer Must Return $252 Million in GMO Soy Royalties: Germany's Bayer has been ordered by Brazil's Supreme Court to return to Brazilian soybean farmers the royalties they were charged for a GMO soybean seed, the Mato Grosso farmer lobby Aprosoja-MT said in a statement on Friday. The Feb. 13 ruling by Supreme Court Justice Nunes Marques relates to a GMO technology commercially known as Intacta RR2 Pro, created by Monsanto, which was later acquired by Germany's Bayer. The ruling is the latest chapter of a protracted battle opposing the crop science firm and Brazilian farmers, who have launched multiple legal challenges against the firm. In 2017, Mato Grosso farmers sued Monsanto over that same genetically modified seed, seeking to cancel its patent protections by claiming it did not bring any technological innovation. Two years later soy producer associations in 10 Brazilian states joined that lawsuit.
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COMMODITY CLASSIC
MARCH 9-11, 2023
ORLANDO, FL
ASTA LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
JUNE 10-14, 2023
SACREMENTO, CA
ASDA SUMMER CONVENTION
JULY 13-14, 2023
ROGERS, AR
35TH IPSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
JANUARY 15-18, 2024
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
ASDA WINTER CONVENTION
JANUARY 18-19, 2024
HOT SPRINGS, AR
| Send us your events to be added to the IPSA Calendar! | |
2023/2024 IPSA Scholarships Open |
IPSA Scholarships are open for Members and their contacts for 30 days! We challenge all members to send out to students in their family, work and customers. Scholarship applications will go public on March 15, 2023.
Please apply at this IPSA Scholarship Link
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Jeff Renk, Renk Seed, joined in on Syngenta's Leadership at its Best.
Macie O'Shaughnessy with Syngenta states, "We had a terrific week last week at Leadership At Its Best. The industry has some very strong, collaborative, and inspiring leaders on our side and on your teams!"
We agree! LAIB is great experience for those in the industry and we are proud that Jeff represented IPSA!
| IPSA Sponsors National Ag Day | | |
Join our co-founders Shely Aronov and Rod Kumimoto, along with the InnerPlant team, at our inaugural conference, “Croptastic on Stage: Building a New System for Agriculture,” June 22, 2023, at The Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, IA.
Tickets for the all-day, catered event are $250 ($100 for spouses joining the event) - but InnerCircle members enjoy free attendance with the promo code, “InnerCircle.”
Croptatic on Stage builds on the popular podcast with an in-person experience that brings together farmers, industry executives, and innovative experts for an intimate, roundtable-driven exchange of ideas about building a new system for agriculture.
Featured Speakers Include:
Than Hartsock, Director, Corn & Soybean Production Systems, John Deere
Carl Peterson, President, Peterson Farms Seed
Todd Martin, CEO, IPSA
Ben Chostner, Vice President, Blue River
Matt Colgan, Camera Architect, Blue River
Jacqueline Heard, CEO & Founder, Enko
Dan Northrup, Principal, Science & Technology, Galvanize Climate Solutions
Information about the agenda and registration is available here.
Hope to see you there!
| John Vaske to Join FBN® as Chief Executive Officer |
SAN CARLOS, Calif., February 16, 2023 -- Farmers Business Network (FBN®), the global AgTech platform and farmer-to-farmer network, today announced the appointment of John Vaske to the role of Chief Executive Officer. FBN Co-Founder and current CEO Amol Deshpande will step down as CEO effective February 28 to pursue other interests.
Vaske steps into the role having served on FBN’s Board of Directors since 2017. Raised on a farm in Iowa, Vaske brings more than three decades of expertise in agriculture and technology, and most recently has served as the Head, Americas and Head, Agribusiness for Temasek, one of the world’s most active global agri-food investors. In his new role with FBN, Vaske will lead the company’s next chapter with a focus on long-term, sustainable profitable growth by empowering family farms around the world.
“FBN was founded with the mission to improve the profitability of family farms and assist the great small business entrepreneurs in rural America. While much has changed since founding, the mission has not. I am proud of what our team has accomplished and the impact we have had, building to a scale that hardly anyone expected when we started," said Amol Deshpande, Co-Founder and current CEO of FBN. “John has been on the board of FBN for five years and has a family farming background. This mission alignment makes me excited about his future as CEO of FBN and the prospects for our continued growth.”
“Having grown up on a farm in Iowa, I know firsthand the challenges of the work farmers do and recognize deeply the impact it has on the broader economy. Amol and the team founded FBN to empower farmers and enhance their livelihoods," said Vaske. “FBN has grown from a digital analytics network to a full commercial platform, spanning over 55,000 farmer members, supporting farmers with nearly all aspects of their operations. Our growth has been remarkable so far, but FBN is just getting started serving farmers. I’m excited to partner with the team to scale a technology-powered, farmer-centric commercial system for agriculture.”
FBN Board Chair Kathleen Ligocki added: "Amol and the FBN team have done the unimaginable since founding FBN nine years ago. FBN has become a global platform disrupting one of the most complex, difficult and entrenched industries in the world, with one of the world’s most important customers, family farms. Humanity’s future literally depends on our farmers, and Amol and the team had the vision and tenacity to challenge the system to create a more financially and environmentally sustainable farm system. I believe that John, as a proven expert in agriculture and technology companies, is exactly the right person to lead the company, as it continues to transform the agricultural system in the coming years.”
Today's announcement comes on the heels of several announcements: in recent months the company has released Bridge Loans for farmland and surpassed $1 billion in producer financing, launched its livestock partnership with Boveta Nutrition™, its strategic collaboration with Greeneye Technology Precision Spraying System, and held its most successful Farmer2Farmer event ever in Omaha, Nebraska.
| High Stakes in Mexico Plan to Ban US GMO Corn | The stakes are high for farmers on both sides of the border to solve the trade issue of whether U.S. genetically modified yellow corn will continue to be exported to Mexico. While Mexican government officials believe their country can work toward being more self-sufficient in replacing U.S. yellow corn with its own locally grown corn, the ag community is less confident and warns of the impact of losing access to U.S. feed. Mexico, in the current marketing year, was the top buyer of U.S. corn, with more than 5.5 million metric tons (mmt) shipped and outstanding sales of another 6.5 mmt. Mexico purchased 16.4 mmt for the market year that ended Sept. 1. This year Mexico expects to import 18 mmt. The big question being asked in the ag sector and by farmers is where the corn will be produced if the 18 mmt is banned from the U.S.: Mexico is currently not self-sufficient in growing yellow corn and, in fact, corn producers have been switching corn production to agave production, a crop used to make tequila. Questions have also been raised about whether food prices could rise because of the decree. | China to Plant More Soy, Speed Up Commercialization of GMOs | China will increase its efforts to boost output of soybeans and edible oils, state media reported on Monday, citing a key rural policy document, as it continues to push for greater self-sufficiency in its key food supplies. The world's top soybean buyer is trying to lower its heavy reliance on imports of the oilseed as the pandemic, growing trade tensions and increasing climate disasters raise concerns about feeding its 1.4 billion people. In its annual rural policy blueprint, known as the "No. 1 document", the State Council, China's cabinet, reiterated a recently stated goal to boost grain production capacity by 50 million metric tons (MMT), from current production of more than 650 MMT. It will seek to raise corn yields, further support wheat farmers and "vigorously" promote rapeseed production, as well as lesser known oilseed crops such as camelia, state news agency Xinhua reported. It will also speed up the commercialization of biotech corn and soybeans, according to the document. No time frame was provided for the launch of GMO corn and soybeans, but many in the market expect a launch this year. | |