Agriculture News
Bayer to acquire Monsanto in a $66 billion deal
Watt Ag Net | Posted on September 15, 2016Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto, at $128 per share, is the largest cash bid on record. Bayer and Monsanto have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Bayer will acquire Monsanto for USD$128 per share in an all-cash transaction ($66 billion). Based on Monsanto's closing share price on May 9, the day before Bayer's first written proposal to Monsanto, the offer represents a premium of 44 percent to that price.The combined agriculture business will have its global seeds and traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, its global crop protection and overall crop science headquarters in Monheim, Germany, and its digital farming activities in San Francisco.
Drought 2016 limited yields in some counties, but not everywhere
Farm and Dairy | Posted on September 15, 2016Most crops got off to a decent start this year in Ohio and Pennsylvania. But the success of the crop from mid-season onward all depended on who got the rain — and who did not. For most of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and especially upstate New York, rain was a spotty thing that came in time for some counties, while going around others, leaving behind an unusual and unfortunate path of drought across the three states. On the upside, heavy rains came by mid- to late August. But for many crops, especially corn, the damage had already been done. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the official government source of measuring of drought, at least 20 Ohio counties and 10 Pennsylvania counties were still affected by moderate drought as of Sept. 8, and 54 percent of Ohio was considered abnormally dry, with 62 percent of Pennsylvania still abnormally dry.
Corn farmers will lose money on virtually every cob
Pantagraph | Posted on September 15, 2016Pale green and 8 feet tall, tightly packed corn stalks reach to the horizon throughout the Midwest in what is likely to be the biggest harvest the U.S. has ever seen.Aside from a sense of pride in breaking the previous record by nearly a billion bushels, farmers won't benefit. They'll lose money on virtually every cob.It'll be the third consecutive year in which most corn farmers will spend more than they'll earn. The growing has been too good and the resulting glut of corn depressed prices to a decade-low. It's a similar story for soybeans, the second most common Midwest crop.As a result, farmers are cutting costs, dipping into savings or going further into debt. Federal crop insurance and payments that help protect farmers when prices fall too low offer some protection, yet many farmers and their spouses supplement income with off-the-farm jobs. The drop in farm profits raises questions about agriculture's boom-and-bust cycles and why people adhere to what at times is seemingly not a sustainable business model."I am 67 years old and when we examined my Social Security records recently, I had a 12-year stretch when I didn't pay myself one single dime," said Wayne Humphreys, who grows corn and soybeans and raises hogs in southwest Iowa. "We lived on my wife's salary. Everything else went to the farm."
Canada backs study to reduce antibiotic use in poultry
Watt Ag Net | Posted on September 15, 2016The Canadian government has awarded CA$690,000 (US$523,436) to poultry industry group Éleveurs de volailles du Québec (EVQ) to study the possible reduction of the use of antibioticsfor preventative purposes in the Quebec poultry industry. Under the project, the Poultry Research Chair at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will assess various alternative strategies and their effects on flock performance. The latest research into antimicrobial resistance builds on a previous project funded by the Canadian government, and will seek solutions that could be applied across the entire poultry industry.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread to pigs by workers
Watt Ag Net | Posted on September 15, 2016Research has found that pig farm workers likely spread methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to swine in Norway. Scientists observed signs of the human-to-pig infection while working on a campaign to stamp out MRSA in Norway. The researchers asserted that disease-prevention programs like Norway’s could reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, especially in countries with little or no import of live pigs, since farm workers could introduce the disease to pig herds.
The storm Atlas sparks insurance policy reviews for livestock losses
Rapid City Journal | Posted on September 15, 2016Nearly three years after Winter Storm Atlas blanketed western South Dakota and two months after the state Supreme Court ruled that a Quinn couple was entitled to compensation from their insurance company for nearly 100 yearling heifers that died in the blizzard, dozens of ranchers are reportedly revisiting their insurance policies to determine if they, too, are eligible for claims previously denied.The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned an earlier decision by a lower court that ruled against Richard and Larayna Papousek, who run a crop and livestock ranch 61 miles east of Rapid City. A veterinarian who had examined some of the couple’s dead cattle attributed the cause of death to drowning. Nonetheless, the circuit court had ruled in favor of De Smet Farm Mutual Insurance Co. of South Dakota, finding that the Papouseks’ policy, which specifically covered drowning, didn’t cover their loss because none of the 93 heifers was found in water.But in reversing the lower court, justices noted: “Papouseks point out, however, that reasonable people understand that the hallmark of drowning is not the presence of water outside the body; rather, it is death caused by water or fluid within the body.”That unanimous ruling by the state’s high court has sparked a wave of scrutiny from area ranchers whose claims were initially denied coverage, according to Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, which represents about 1,000 ranchers in the state.
Agriculture ‘Bundle Mania’ Draws Skepticism in Some Quarters
Bloomberg | Posted on September 15, 2016The rationale behind Bayer AG’s $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co., and other huge deals in the same industry, is that farmers are better served by a company offering optimized packages of seeds, crop chemicals and technology services. But not everyone is convinced. Bayer is one of the largest producers of pesticides and Monsanto is the world’s biggest seed supplier. DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. also plan to merge, in the process carving out a new crop-science unit that follows the same logic. A third mega-deal in the business is China National Chemical Corp.’s pending acquisition of Swiss pesticide and seed maker Syngenta AG. Yet there’s no real-life example of a successful, "integrated" supplier that has increased profits by simply combining more product lines, said Jason Miner, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.
Idaho DEQ proposes unusual plan to address field burning changes
Capital Press | Posted on September 13, 2016An unusual legislative approach will be used to implement changes to Idaho’s crop residue burning program. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality officials say the changes are necessary to avoid a large reduction in the number of allowable field burning days in Idaho. The federal standard for ozone was tightened in October, which means the number of burn days in Idaho for farmers who use that tool to control diseases and pests and increase stand health would be reduced by a third to half under Idaho’s current crop residue burning program. To avoid that, DEQ has proposed loosening Idaho’s ozone standard to offset the tightening of the federal standard. That change must be included in Idaho’s state implementation plan — the state’s plan to comply with the Clean Air Act — which must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, it could take until 2018 for the EPA to approve Idaho’s SIP change. That leaves farmers in jeopardy of having their burn days drastically reduced in 2017.
Study: Consumers prefer gene-disrupting pesticides over GMOs
Capital Press | Posted on September 13, 2016Consumers prefer gene-disrupting “RNAi” biopesticides over genetically engineered crops, but they don’t much like either technology, according to a recent study. Researchers from the University of Arkansas conducted the study by asking consumers about their “willingness to pay” for conventional rice sprayed with insecticides, rice that’s genetically modified to withstand pests and rice treated with an RNAi biopesticide. The biotech rice and RNAi biopesticide described to consumers aren’t commercially available, so those possibilities were hypothetical. In the U.S., survey participants were willing to pay $7.62 more for a five-pound bag of conventional rice over RNAi-sprayed rice and $12.56 more for conventional rice than genetically engineered rice. Researchers explained to survey participants that both options were unlikely to be unhealthy for humans, while conventional pesticides have varying levels of toxicity. Nonetheless, the respondents preferred conventional rice. It’s part of a pattern of people being afraid of scientific progress, he said. “The negative story gets more press, the negative story is more emotional,” Hunter said. “The horror story is the story you tell around the campfire.”
Four states offer ideas for ag economy
News Press Now | Posted on September 13, 2016Recent talks on the health of the area’s agricultural economy have spurred recommendations that will be forwarded to federal officials. A wrap-up session was held in St. Joseph and brought together agricultural leaders from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Organizers said a St. Joseph session presented an opportunity for collaboration, allowing each state to report feedback from producers and financial experts. They said the findings will be useful in setting outreach and policy priorities.