SCHOLARSHIPS: From Jonathan Eisenthal via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Corn offers up to four college scholarships worth $5,000 apiece each year to promising students pursuing degrees and careers in agriculture. The organization requires students to be members of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) to be eligible for a scholarship, and they must be pursuing a full-time courseload at a college or trade school.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZP1zpC (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
FARM BILL: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The congressional wheels are in motion to extend the current farm bill into 2025. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley tells Brownfield. “I hate to tell you there’s no doubt it’s going to be included in the Continuing Resolution, but that’s what we think is definitely happening. And I don’t know whether I need a daily update on it because I think it’s a forgone conclusion.” But the Iowa Republican says he’s not sure if ad hoc disaster assistance will be made available to farmers suffering financial hardships.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3Bx2gdO
FUNDING: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing $6.3 billion in rural and Tribal communities across 44 states to expand access to a clean and reliable electric grid, provide safe drinking water and create good-paying jobs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ff9d1d
MORE: Details of projects funded including dozens here in Minnesota. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4ixGEik
BUTTERFLIES: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision Tuesday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to add the butterfly to the threatened species list by the end of next year following an extensive public comment period . . . the proposed listing would generally prohibit anyone from killing or transporting the butterfly. People and farmers could continue to remove milkweed, a key food source for monarch caterpillars, from their gardens, backyards and fields but would be prohibited from making changes to the land that make it permanently unusable for the species.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4izVtB1
GOODNEWS: MNGood – the good stories of Minnesota from non-profits, philanthropy and corporate giving. SIGNUP: https://fluence-media.co/MNGOODSignUP
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
2025: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Many crop farmers are considering changes with margins expected to be tight again in 2025. Southwest Minnesota crop and livestock producer Krist Wollum says he’d like to stay with his usual rotation. ‘But I am looking at possibly a little bit more corn on corn, so it’s very likely it could happen.’ He tells Brownfield cutting back on inputs can be risky.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ORCUKK
CORN SYRUP: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “The Archer Daniels Midland wet mill on the outskirts of Decatur, Ill., rises like an industrial behemoth from the frozen, harvested cornfields of Central Illinois. Steam billowed in the 20-degree cold last week, as workers turned raw corn into sweet, ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup. Three miles away, a Primient mill, which sprawls across 400 acres divided by North 22nd Street, was doing the same. To Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, this bedraggled city — set deep in Trump country — is the belly of the agribusiness beast, churning out products that he says poison America, rendering its children obese and its citizens chronically ill. To the workers here, those mills — the largest in the world — are their livelihoods.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3BAI36V
GUIDELINES: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is now available on DietaryGuidelines.gov. The report contains the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s (Committee) independent, evidence-based findings and advice to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Scientific Report, alongside public comments and federal agency input, will inform the two departments as they develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, which is expected to be published in late 2025.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3BrHj47
MORE: From Brooks Johnson via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Federal nutrition guidelines likely won’t warn Americans off ‘ultra-processed’ foods after a committee said there’s no clear definition and more study is needed — a win for Minnesota companies like General Mills and Post Consumer Brands, who argued ultra-processed guidelines would be overly broad and include potentially healthy food.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZOtTZi
TARIFFS: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A leader with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is taking a wait-and-see approach to tariff threats by the incoming administration. NCBA president-elect Buck Wehrbein says what Donald Trump said on the campaign trail is not necessarily what will happen when he takes office. ‘Because he is a negotiator, it’s in his blood. So he believes in tariffs.’ The Nebraska custom feedlot operator tells Brownfield tariffs can be effective.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3ZyTlAM
TRADE: From Brooks Johnson via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The ups and downs of the global ag trade are part of life for farmers and cooperatives like Inver Grove Heights-based CHS. The industry has been here before, and the pendulum always swings back eventually, executives said. But this down cycle comes amid particularly acute uncertainty. Tariffs, if they come to pass, could hurt U.S. farm exports as they did in 2018. Wars and weather continue to be constant threats. Shifting regulations, in the U.S. and abroad, are adding complexity. And still, there is no new farm bill.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g9aKHj
CHS: From Inver Grove Heights-based CHS via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Owners of CHS, the nation’s largest farmer-owned cooperative and global agribusiness, elected five board members to three-year terms during the cooperative’s 2024 annual meeting held Dec. 5-6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ipa7Lj
LOCAL FOOD: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a $1.13 billion investment to support local and regional food systems, building upon the Department’s previous investments in the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4itKMjf
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 in January. Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
TOMORROW: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “Learn more about our new grant to help commercial urban farmers make conservation improvements and our returning urban agriculture grant. Attend the joint online public information session at noon tomorrow, Thursday, December 12.” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4f8JIyx MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3ZOttCc
NEXT YEAR: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces the addition of two prominent speakers to the agenda for the 101st Agricultural Outlook Forum, ‘Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges, Today,’ scheduled for February 27-28, 2025. Jeff Schmid, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, will address the Forum with a plenary speech on the morning of February 27 . . . Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen will be the dinner speaker on the evening of February 27.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f8FarS
RULING: From John Molseed via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATM: “The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a Winona County District Court decision affirming the county’s denial to waive the county’s cap for feedlots for a Daley Farms expansion. Appellate Court Judge Randall J. Slieter wrote in the ruling published Monday that the county board’s second denial of a variance ‘was reasonable and was neither arbitrary nor capricious,’ which Daley Farms claimed in its appeal to the district court.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ORMI7O
POULTRY: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Disease threats are at the forefront as poultry producers try to keep flocks healthy. Minnesota turkey grower John Zimmerman tells Brownfield highly pathogenic avian influenza cases are surging as wild birds migrate south for the winter.” ZIMMERMAN: “We’ve had some indications that we’re going to have it back in Minnesota shortly. Also avian metapneumovirus, we’re still trying to get the government to release a modified live vaccine that’s available in Europe. And we want to have that tool so we can hopefully control this other infection that’s really doing some great damage to some of our flocks.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4fd1Ozd
GRANTS: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “Recognizing the risks posed by extreme weather, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is offering a grant opportunity to help eligible producers make their operations more resilient to drought, flooding, and severe weather events like storms, tornadoes, and straight-line winds. The Preparing for Extreme Weather Grant, also referred to as the Prepare Grant, offers grants of up to $10,000 for Minnesota livestock and specialty crop producers to buy and install supplies and equipment for weather event preparation. It requires a 50% match.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VvZJr3
GRANTS: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Commissioner Thom Petersen today announced the launch of the Green Fertilizer Grant Program. The announcement was made at the Green Ammonia Summit in Morris, MN. The Green Fertilizer Grant will support agricultural and rural electric cooperatives registered as 308A or 308B with the state of Minnesota so they can invest in green fertilizer manufacturing.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3BqOwBp
GRANTS: Via U.S. Forest Service, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced awards of nearly $335 million to strengthen financial incentives for private forest landowners to manage their forests sustainably and to permanently conserve private forests in partnership with states. The funding was made possible thanks to investments from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VtVMmH
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
TRIBAL SUMMIT: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced ways that the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering on Tribal requests to empower Tribal Nations, citizens, and organizations. Secretary Vilsack made the announcements at the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the foremost government-to-government gathering between the U.S. Government and the 574 federally recognized Tribal Nations.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fge7e2
FELLOWSHIPS: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) is accepting applications for the 2025 USDA E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program. These fellowships introduce faculty and staff from Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Hispanic-Serving School Districts to the vast array of USDA resources available to them.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gspvo9
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