PLASTIC: From Jonathan Eisenthal via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Advanced materials firm Valerian Materials is creating a new molecule that will be used to make recyclable plastic derived from corn. The young company has taken a significant step towards commercialization, following a pilot plant scale production run funded by a grant from Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42BTI0B (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
TARIFFS: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “U.S. President Donald Trump held off Monday on his tariff threats against Mexico for one month of further negotiations after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 members of her country’s national guard to the border to address drug trafficking. Trump’s tariffs against Canada and China were still slated to go into effect Tuesday, but uncertainty remained about the durability of any deals and whether the tariffs were a harbinger of a broader trade war, as Trump has promised more import taxes to come.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WOJw0T
MORE: From Noah Fish via Agweek, VERBATIM: “Canada and Mexico are the United States' first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products, according to USDA's Economic Research Service, averaging $30.9 billion and $25.5 billion in 2017–21, respectively. At the 2023 Minnesota Ag & Food Summit , Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said the Minnesota-Canada agricultural trade is a strong and balanced partnership that both sides wanted to see grow.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aOEW8D
MORE: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Farmers Union president [Gary Wertish], speaking to WCCO's Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar, says not only will higher costs be passed on to consumers and farming partners, relationships with foreign companies will be damaged by the decision to implement tariffs by the Trump Administration.” QUOTE: "You know, the farmers have spent a lot of their own dollars helping them build that up," explains [Wertish]. "Well, what's gonna happen now? It just, it removes the trust factor and it removes the relationships that we've spent years building up." LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41af0kV
FARM BILL: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A central Minnesota farmer is frustrated Congress has not passed a new farm bill since 2018. Roy Schneider operates a diversified crop and livestock farm near Foley. ‘It is a little frustrating to see that we’re just not getting the job complete, I’m disappointed. But I’ve seen enough politics (to) understand that there’s a bit of a challenge with that.’ As a strip-till farmer, he tells Brownfield the farm bill provides critical resources that make it possible to try various conservation practices.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4aNbn7G
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3VZAwp9
THIS MONTH: From Jake Judd via KNSI-Radio, VERBATIM: “The center of the farming world will once again have eyes on St. Cloud for the 58th annual Central Minnesota Farm Show. Over 150 exhibitors will fill over 250 booths at the River’s Edge Convention Center on February 25th and 26th.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42HPoga
MEXICO: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing the resumption of cattle and bison imports from Mexico. Imports are scheduled to resume within the next several days. To protect U.S. livestock and other animals, APHIS halted shipments of Mexican cattle and bison in November 2024 after a positive detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in southern Mexico. After extensive discussions between representatives from the countries, APHIS and Mexico agreed to and implemented a comprehensive pre-clearance inspection and treatment protocol to ensure safe movement and mitigate the threat of NWS.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40AMlDW
WOLVES: From Larry Lee via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A Wisconsin Congressman is again trying to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List. Seventh District Republican Tom Tiffany tells Brownfield he introduced the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, which is almost identical to the Trust the Science Act from last session.” TIFFANY: “The reason it’s so important is we could get it in statute and it does not allow for judicial review, so some coastal judge who doesn’t know much about wildlife can’t stop wolf management in the states.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40Yo9g1
OPTIONS: Via farm management analyst Kent Thiesse, VERBATIM: “As has been often said with farming …… ‘every year is different’, and many times decisions for the current crop year are based on what happened in the previous year or two. That could be the scenario in some cases with considering the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) and Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) insurance coverage options for 2025. ECO insurance have been around for several years but has not been considered on a widespread basis due to the relatively high premium rates for ECO coverage; however, that scenario could change in 2025 due to much lower premium levels. SCO coverage may also be a viable option for corn in some instances, together with the PLC farm program choice, as part of an overall risk management package.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jKBAHI
PROFITABILITY: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A risk management specialist has some advice for crop farmers intent on remaining profitable. Josh Ulbricht with Compeer Financial says understanding the goals of the operation is a good starting point.” ULBRICHT: “A lot of that is going to come down to your financial reporting and how comprehensive is it. Are you doing consistent year-end balance sheets? Are we adjusting for things that we don’t typically consider like family living costs, budgets, or are we just kind of using a base assumption?” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3En35qS
(DISCLOSURE: Compeer is a sponsor of Fluence)
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep.-Elect Kari Rehauer
Rep.-Elect Wayne Johnson
Rep. Elect Julie Greene
Rep. Elect Keith Allen
Rep. Elect Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
DAIRY: Via AgriNews, VERBATIM: “Dairy producers may see differences in their milk checks from changes that are included in the Federal Milk Marketing Orders referendum.” QUOTE: “Keep in mind that the federal orders are a mechanism of calculating a portion of the producer pay price — it’s not the entire milk check,” said Leonard Polzin, dairy markets and policy outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Markets influence prices way more than federal orders will,” said Polzin during a webinar hosted by Hoard’s Dairyman. “While we would see price impacts, policy or market changes have the potential to far outweigh any differences in producer pay price than what we’re seeing now.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hEXlH7
MORE: From Larry Lee via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A farmer leader with Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative and Minnesota Milk says the newly approved updates to the federal milk marketing orders are just one step forward. Lucas Sjostrom tells Brownfield. ‘No big surprise to us, and we advocated to our farmers, who are the only farmers in the whole country who had the individual vote, we advocated for them to vote yes, so that’s the good news. The bad news is the stuff we didn’t get, we’re going to keep working on.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hHT320
BIRD FLU: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “Because laying hens are so susceptible to the H5N1 virus, which can wipe out entire flocks within days of the first infection, egg producers have been on the frontline in the fight against various bird flu strains for years now. But this moment feels different. Egg producers and the American Egg Board are begging for a new approach. Many infectious disease experts agree that the risks to human health of continuing current protocols is unsustainable, because of the strain of bird flu driving this outbreak.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QnANiR
PRECAUTIONS: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A biosecurity specialist is encouraging the poultry and livestock industries to properly sanitize transportation fleets. Keith Bailey with Hydro-Chem Systems says highly pathogenic avian influenza is difficult to manage because it can be transmitted multiple ways, including by vehicles. ‘The virus is being transferred by the feces of birds. It ends up drying or whatever, getting onto peoples’ tires and then relocated.’ He tells Brownfield HPAI transmission can be mitigated by washing vehicles coming on and off the farm.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4aGURpF
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
FOOD SCIENCE: Form Brooks Johnson via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “With so many major food companies headquartered in Minnesota, it’s no surprise the state has three times the concentration of food scientists and technologists as the national average.
That must make for some great dinner parties. ‘All of my friends in Minneapolis work in food in some way or another, and everyone is an amazing cook,’ said Cassee Cain, a senior R&D process engineer at Cargill. ‘The potlucks are incredible, because everybody understands the reactions that need to take place so the food tastes good.’ Yet outside those circles, there remains an aura of mystery around food science, especially as social media overflows with misinformation about food and health that can lead to hostility toward the industry.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gs0F7A
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