January 11, 2025

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – Agri Investor covers three key trends in impact investing. Read about it, here.

Spotlight 2 – Food Business News continues the discussion on how the boom in GLP-1 drugs will auger food industry disruption. Check out the story, here.

Spotlight 3 – The Western Producer says that peer groups may be the key pathway for farmers improving their soil health. Check it out, here.

Industry Updates

Researchers at Michigan State University discovered a groundbreaking way to re-engineer plants to withstand extreme heat, offering a glimmer of hope for agriculture in the face of a warming planet. In the Plant Biotechnology Journal study, the reengineering process involved altering a key plant enzyme called glycerate 3-kinase, or GLYK. This enzyme plays a crucial role in photorespiration, a process plants rely on to recycle waste products from photosynthesis. Under moderate weather conditions, photorespiration helps plants grow. But when temperatures rise, the enzyme struggles to keep up, weakening the plant. The Walker lab at Michigan State University is tackling this issue by making plants better equipped to survive in high temperatures. To do so, researchers studied enzymes that can tolerate high heat in photosynthetic organisms like Cyanidioschyzon merolae, a type of algae that thrives in acidic volcanic hot springs. Looking at the algae's enzymes, researchers identified unique structural features, or "loops," that allow these enzymes to work under extreme temperatures. From there, the team used advanced tools like artificial intelligence and molecular dynamics simulations to transfer the loops into the GLYK enzyme. [link]

An executive order signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom instructs state agencies to recommend potential actions to limit the harms associated with ultra-processed foods and food ingredients that pose health risks to consumers. One specific action mentioned in the executive order is the placement of warning labels on products identified as ultra processed and sold in the state. In addition to requesting recommendations to limit the harms associated with ultra-processed foods, the executive order said the state will continue investigating the adverse health impact of synthetic food dyes; recommend actions to reduce the purchase of soda, candy, other ultra-processed foods and/or foods with synthetic food dyes or other additives; and identify how California may adopt higher school meal standards. The California Department of Public Health is expected to provide its recommendations by April 1 while the California Department of Education has until Oct. 1 to make its recommendations for higher school meal standards. [link]

Regenera Ventures has secured $9.3 million in funding to expand regenerative agriculture practices in Mexico. It aims to raise $25 million to work with a dozen agriculture companies while supporting 18,000 farmers with financing and technical assistance. Regenera inked commitments of $5.3 million from the InterAmerican Development Bank, through its IDB Lab program, and the Green Climate Fund. The US International Development Finance Corp. committed $4 million to the fund. Regenera Ventures makes equity investments in regenerative land projects using “trust-based finance” – investment terms that it co-creates with its investees. The goal is to help farmers shift to regenerative practices that will restore biodiversity and improve the health of their land, while also building new income streams, including new farm products and carbon credits. [link]

An innovative program to enable supply chains to reward farmers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is now open to British farmers. Developed by Soil Association Exchange, the new Exchange Market will operate as an insetting fund without any sales of carbon credits. Instead, it will pool funds from a range of companies with shared supply chains to pay farmers to reduce emissions. Support to develop the scheme has been given by Lloyds who have helped to convene key retailers and landowners including the Co-Op, Lidl, Tesco and the Church Commissioners for England to contribute to the fund. The fund has been co-developed with technical experts Finance Earth. Farmers participating in the scheme can earn £60 per ton of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) reduced annually, with half of payments provided upfront to help fund their transitions. [link]

Farmers and ranchers wanting to gain training in regenerative whole-farm planning, business management, grazing systems, and ecosystem services will have the opportunity to attend a Holistic Management intensive course Feb 4-9 at Sharon Springs, Kansas. Attendees may apply for a $1,000 scholarship through event partner Kiss the Ground, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that supports regenerative agriculture. The course will provide the full Holistic Management accreditation curriculum in affiliation with the Savory Institute, Boulder. Offered by The Provenance Co., a regenerative ranch management company, the course will be taught by working land and livestock managers who lead the company’s pilot project at Wallace, Kansas. The project is trialing a real-world financial model for transition from dryland crops back to grassland, in the heart of declining aquifer country. [link]

Farmers are feeling the pinch of fertilizer prices, especially with high phosphorus costs. AGVISE Soil scientist John Breker says farmers are asking how much they can cut back on their phosphorus use without hurting yields. Breker advises testing soils and then focusing cuts on fields with high phosphorus levels while maintaining applications on low-testing fields. [link]

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture at Virginia Tech enrolled over 1,300 farms representing more than 202,000 acres in the first year of a landmark project that incentivizes agricultural producers in four states to adopt climate-smart practices. The project, led by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and funded by a historic $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a three-year national pilot program that aims to enroll 4,500 producers representing over 470,000 acres of farmland in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Virginia. At least 40 percent of the program’s participants – or more than 1,800 – will be historically underserved producers. Producers on farms of all sizes and commodities receive $100 an acre or animal unit to implement sustainable practices that can boost crop yields, build climate resilience, and protect soil, water, and air quality. [link]

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), and the ARS’s Partnership for Data Innovations (PDI) have launched a new web-based application to facilitate digital soil mapping and optimize soil sampling. Effective soil management relies on understanding the various factors that drive soil productivity, including pH levels, nutrient variability and organic soil carbon. Soil sampling has emerged as a valuable tool in advancing precision farming, particularly in today's changing climate and the growing need to monitor carbon footprint in agriculture. The Soil Sample Planning Organizer Tool (SSPOT) is a user-friendly tool with integrated algorithms to help users determine the optimal placement of samples needed to comprehensively understand soil activity in various soil types over time. The integrated algorithms simplify the process for non-experts and ultimately saves land managers, producers, and soil researchers both time and money. [link]

Neste and Bayer have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at developing a winter canola ecosystem in the U.S, including identifying partners and developing the value chain together, and scaling winter canola production as a raw material for renewable products. Winter canola, used as a rotational crop in combination with regenerative agriculture practices, can improve soil health and sequester carbon, contributing to more sustainable farming. The resulting lower carbon intensity raw material can then be used to produce renewable fuels like sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle compared to fossil fuels. [link]

A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers. Biting wind and big drifts from almost a whole year’s average snowfall in a single storm are hitting farmers in some parts of Kansas, creating concerns for ranchers that manage grazing herds. Chip Redmond, a meteorologist at Kansas State University, has developed an animal comfort tool which includes an index of heat and cold that a farmer can use — along with their knowledge of their animals’ age, coat, overall health and so forth — to watch for situations when they may need to get animals out of dangerous areas. The storm missed some states further north like Iowa and Minnesota that are generally more accustomed to snow. Without snow cover, the ground is more likely to freeze and thaw in a way that could benefit soils. Two years of drought followed by torrential rains last spring created tire ruts and compaction from farm machinery in some places. Without as much snow, the freeze-thaw cycle could loosen up the soil and farmers may get the added bonus of some pests dying off before the spring. [link]

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced 27 grants totaling $14.7 million to support the implementation of voluntary conservation practices on farms and ranches across 21 states from the Midwest to western grasslands. The grants will leverage approximately $7 million in matching contributions from grantees, generating a total impact of $21.7 million. This marks the largest grant slate from the Conservation Partners Program, fueled by continued, historic investments from program partners. The Conservation Partners Program is a partnership between NFWF and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, The J.M. Smucker Co., and additional support from a collaboration among General Mills, Walmart and Sam’s Club. Grant recipients will hire or support field professionals to directly collaborate with agricultural producers to implement economically sound management practices and increase delivery of Farm Bill conservation programs. Projects will also facilitate peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing centered on regenerative agriculture systems. [link]

According to a 2024 survey from McKinsey, Brazilian farmers expect extreme weather events to be their biggest threat going forward, relative to rising input costs that were a chief concern two years ago. The result is greater caution, with two-thirds of Brazilian producers expecting profits to remain stable or decrease in 2024, according to the survey. To navigate the challenges they face, Brazilian farmers are focusing on what can be controlled within farm gates: increasing productivity. Indeed, 60 percent of farmers surveyed say they see productivity as the key to a more profitable future. [link]

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited, has inaugurated a cutting-edge tree nursery at the Kakajan Tea Estate in Jorhat, Assam, India. The nursery will support local and national climate change mitigation goals by increasing plant production to sequester carbon, while utilizing the latest agroforestry tools to enhance the resilience of Assam’s farming systems. Kakajan Tea Estate, owned by Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited, a part of the Tata Group, is India's second-largest tea producer. Set to become a central hub in the state for the large-scale propagation of indigenous tree species, the nursery has the capacity to produce one million healthy plants annually, significantly contributing to the state’s carbon sink. [link]

Flowers Foods announced that it will acquire Simple Mills for $795 million in cash. The addition of Simple Mills expands Flowers' exposure to better-for-you and attractive snacking segments and enhances the company's growth and margin prospects. Founded in 2012 by Katlin Smith, Simple Mills is a market-leading natural brand offering premium better-for-you crackers, cookies, snack bars, and baking mixes. Simple Mills products are available nationwide across more than 30,000 natural and conventional stores. Simple Mills is estimated to have generated 2024 net sales of $240 million, representing 14% growth compared to the prior year. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

In mid-December, the University of Minnesota Extension partnered with the Great Lakes Cover Crop Project to build a regional dataset of cover crop performance across Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. See more, here.