The New War and the Impact on Agriculture – Israel is preparing for the next phase of the war with Hamas, which is expecting to include a major ground offensive. The Red River Farm Network asked Martinson Ag Risk Management President Randy Martinson about this conflict and the impact on agriculture. “The biggest one will be crude, but the other one will be wheat,” said Martinson. “This region that’s being impacted by this new war is a huge consumer of wheat and they import a lot of wheat into this region. If this keeps escalating, it’s going to be trouble to get product into the region.” If the war expands beyond the Israel/Palestine area, agriculture will see other issues. According to StoneX fertilizer expert Josh Linville, over 50 percent of global urea exports come from the Middle East/North African area.

Another Speaker Vote This Week – Congress is expected to make another attempt to elect a Speaker Tuesday. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan is the Republican nominee for the job, but may not have the 217 votes needed to take over the gavel. According to Agri-Pulse, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson spoke with Jordan about the farm bill and was given a commitment to follow the direction of the Republican Caucus on this legislation. Personally, Jordan has voted against the last three farm bills.

An Early Harvest at Crookston – Crookston, Minnesota farmer Kevin Capistran wrapped up his corn and soybean harvest already. Soybeans were off during the week of the Big Iron Farm Show on September 13. “That’s about as early as early as I’ve ever finished up soybeans, dryness pushed them along but it was still a good crop.” Concern for standability motivated an early corn harvest. Early October rains were a good thing for Capistran’s sugarbeet crop. “I’m not sure how well they would have stored as dry as they were.” Capistran says beets packed on another 50 percent since pre-pile in mid-September. “The worst question now is will we get to dig them all.”

Crop Performed Well With Limited a Amount of Water – Like most farmers, Dale Zahradka struggled to get enough moisture during this growing season on his Lankin, North Dakota farm. “We’re amazed at what we can grow on a limited amount of water.” Zahradka would consider his crops to be above average this year. “The canola has been the real success story again on our farm, the barley turned out well and the soybeans are going to be be average or a little above so we’re feeling pretty fortunate for the season that we had.”

SD Corn Comments – In this week’s edition of South Dakota Corn Comments, East River Electric Power Cooperative Chief Operations Officer Chris Studer talks about power line safety during harvest.

August Rains Cut Soybean Yields – A late August rain dropped three-to-six inches on the soybean crop in Mellette, South Dakota. “We had areas of drowned out beans and areas of low yield,” said Heather Beaner. “If guys missed the big August rain, they’re finding their best yields ever.” Beaner had yields in the 30-to-40 bushel per acre range, but neighbors who didn’t have drowned out fields found yields in the 60s and 70s. Mellette is 25 miles south of Aberdeen.

Rain Delay – Ed Hegland’s harvest was rained out after receiving over 2.5 inches of rain at his Appleton, Minnesota farm. “I had some fields that just didn’t catch rains all year that were in the 30 bushel an acre range, with other fields in the 50s and 60s.” Despite the high winds that came with this storm system, Hegland says he’s more worried about the mud and standing water disrupting harvest.

Despite Rain, Harvest is Ahead of Pace – Chester, South Dakota farmer Keith Alverson was also in the path of last week’s storm system, where he picked up just over two inches of rain. “Harvest has been clipping along pretty good. We usually start corn the second week of October, but now we’re about one-third of the way through corn and I finished up soybeans over a week ago.”

A ‘Weird’ Sugarbeet Harvest – Red River Farm Network Farm Broadcaster Randy Koenen spent part of the past week in west-central Minnesota lifting sugarbeets. Koenen was surprised by soil conditions. “It’s weird harvest conditions; the beets are coming out good, but considering how dry its been, the ground is really sticky underneath.” Koenen said soybeans are hit-and-miss in the Clara City area, but dry beans were very good.

Digging Sugarbeets at Hallock, MN – At Hallock, Minnesota, Kelly Erickson has been making good progress on his beets. “As long as we see dry dirt in front of us, we’re in good shape,” Erickson told RRFN. “The sugarbeets are really digging nice. We don’t want ample rain until everybody finishes sugarbeet harvest.”

Pulling a Very Nice Crop – Ada, Minnesota farmer Niel Rockstad faced a late-season drought. “July, August and all of September were extremely dry,” said Rockstad. “In my last sprayer pass across the field in late September, the beets had started to shed leaves and the leaves had begun to shrink. I was not very optimistic, yet the root performed and in spite of the dry weather, we’re pulling a very very nice crop.”

‘Sign Me Up Again’ – David Arends is working on sugarbeet harvest near Shelly, Minnesota. Temperatures have been favorable for lifting beets. Arends is surprised with his sugarbeet, wheat and corn yields. “Sign me up again,” said Arends. “If we can get this kind of crop with the amount of moisture we’ve had, it’s pretty special.”

UN Seeks Solution to Food Insecurity – The secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebeca Grynspan, met with Russian officials to discuss “unimpeded access” to global markets for grain and fertilizer. Russian exports of food and fertilizer do not face Western sanctions, but there are restrictions on payments, insurance and logistics. This meeting is part of the UN effort to deal with global food insecurity concerns.

Free Russian Grain Heading to Africa – Russia plans to provide free grain to African nations within the next month-and-a-half. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said Moscow would send up to 50,000 tons of grain to six African countries and the Russian agriculture minister now offered a timeline. This decision came after Russia dropped out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July.

Register for NCI Market Outlook Webinar – The Northern Crops Institute is hosting a market update webinar on Wednesday at 8 AM. This webinar will feature Matt Ammermann, Commodity Risk Manager/Vice President of Eastern Europe/Black Sea Region, StoneX Financial Inc. Ammermann will discuss the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. For more information about the webinar or to register, go online.

Zelensky Pleas for Maritime Support – During a visit to Romania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the need to protect grain exports. In his words, action should be done to prevent Russia from turning the Black Sea or the Danube River into ‘a maritime dead zone.’ Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative this past summer and stepped up its attacks on the port infrastructure in Ukraine.

One More Interest Rate Bump Before the End of ’23 – The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s September meeting showed conflicting ideas about future interest rate hikes. Two-thirds of the committee indicated one more increase would be needed before the end of the year. Since March of 2022, the Fed raised interest rates 11 times to a target range of 5.25-to-5.5 percent. That’s the highest level in more than 20 years.

Interest Rates and Strong U.S. Dollar Pressures Ag Economy – The combination of high interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar is having a significant impact on the farm economy. According to the new quarterly report from the CoBank Knowledge Exchange, the United States is also facing sizable export competition from Brazil and Russia. High barge freight rates are also pressuring basis levels on the Mississippi River. Fed cattle prices are up 30 percent over last year and consumer demand remains strong. CoBank cites California’s Proposition 12 as a major issue for pork production. Class III milk prices bottomed out much lower than the five-year average, but the forecast is improving for the fourth quarter.

Farm Income Down – U.S. net farm income is expected to decline this year. NDSU Extension Ag Finance Specialist Bryon Parman says it isn’t a surprise that farmers will be seeing less profit, considering the economy is coming off of a record year for commodity prices and input costs are still high. However, Parman doesn’t see any ready for significant concerns. “Net farm income is down 22.8 percent and net cash income down 26.5 percent, but they’re actually close to the average.”

Waiting for Final Harvest Price – Harvest season is progressing rapidly and some areas with variable crop conditions could be dealing with a different crop insurance situation than recent years. MinnStar Bank Farm Management Analyst Kent Thiesse says even if yields are above actual production history (APH), farmers should still pay attention to crop insurance. “This year our fall prices, at least where they’re projected right now, they’re quite a bit below spring prices.” Those with revenue protection may see payments even if yields are better than expected. “The harvest price isn’t finalized until the end of October, but as we get deeper into the month, the odds of seeing huge changes get less and less.” Listen to the full interview with Kent Thiesse here.

YTD Combine Sales Rise – Year-to-date U.S. tractor sales are 8.2 percent behind last year. The 100 horsepower-plus two-wheel drive tractor sales are up nearly eight percent while the small utility tractor sales are down over 11 percent. Four-wheel drive tractor sales are up a whopping 43 percent. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ report indicates combine sales are up more than 25 percent.

S/D Report Released – In Thursday’s supply/demand report, USDA forecast corn production at 15.1 billion bushels with an average yield of 173 bushels per acre. Production is down ten percent from last year, but in line with trade expectations. The corn yield is a half-bushel below the average trade guess. USDA raised the average price a nickel to $4.95 per bushel. Soybean production is estimated at 4.1 billion bushels, down four percent from 2022 but in line with trade expectations. Soybean yields are expected to average 49.6 bushels per acre. That’s down from just over 50 bushels per acre in the September report.

Wheat Production Figure Increased Over Past Month – U.S. wheat production is estimated at 1.8 billion bushels, up from 1.7 billion in September. Wheat ending stocks are at 670 million bushels, up from 615 million last month. The all-wheat price is estimated at $7.30 per bushel, down from $7.50 a month ago. Wheat production was left unchanged in Russia, Ukraine and Argentina and lowered in Australia.

A Lot to Like in the WASDE Report – There was a lot of supportive news in the October supply/demand report, according to Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor, Total Farm Marketing. “I think the market had been pricing in so much negativity, we were oversold on charts and the news was viewed as a reason to exit short positions for some funds traders.” Production was lowered for corn and soybeans. Ending stocks were also down from a month ago. “It was a supportive report all the way around.” Listen to the full interview with Blohm here.

More Soybean Oil Going to the Biodiesel Market – Thursday’s USDA report indicated more soybean oil is going into biodiesel. USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer credits the interest in renewable diesel fuel. “It will be interesting to see how this industry evolves between renewable diesel production and more traditional fame production which is the smaller plants in the Midwest and we going to see additional competition between these folks?” queried Meyer. “In the short run, it was an upward revision in overall soybean use for biodiesel.”

Tri-State Production Estimates Released – In the state-by-state breakdown, Minnesota corn yields are forecast to average 179 bushels per acre, down 16 bushels per acre from last year. North Dakota’s corn yield is estimated at 136 bushels per acre, up five bushels. North Dakota’s corn acreage is up more than 40 percent from last year. The average corn yield in South Dakota is 147 bushels, per acre, up 15 bushels from 2022. Corn acreage is up 12 percent in South Dakota. For soybeans, Minnesota farmers are harvesting a 48 bushel per acre crop, down two bushels from a year ago. The average soybean yield is 33 bushels per acre in North Dakota and 43 bushels per acre in South Dakota.

A Big Swing in Specialty Crop Production Estimates – There were dramatic changes in some of the specialty crop numbers in Thursday’s USDA report. North Dakota is the leading sunflower producing state in the country and production dropped 20 percent from last year. Sunflower production declined 21 percent in South Dakota and Minnesota. If realized, the sunflower yields being forecast for Minnesota and North Dakota will be record large. Dry edible bean production dropped 22 percent from a year ago in North Dakota and down five percent in Minnesota. Canola production is forecast to be record high in North Dakota, up five percent from last year. Minnesota’s canola production is expected to be 17 percent higher.

Canola Minute – In this week’s Canola Minute, we talk about the merger of Northern Canola Growers Association’s annual Canola Expo with Crop Outlook and International Durum Forum.

WOTUS Stay Lifted – The U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota has lifted a stay on the Waters of the United States lawsuit. The 24 states that challenged the WOTUS rule are expected to file an amended complaint against the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers. The lawsuit was filed in July when the EPA issued a new final rule that removed the ‘significant nexus’ term from the WOTUS definition. The states have until mid-November to file an amended complaint.

Milk Loss Program Deadline Extended – USDA is extending the application deadline for its Milk Loss Program to October 30. This program compensates farmers who were forced to dump milk due to weather-related events, such as power outages and impassable roads. Today would have been the original deadline for enrollment.

Dairy Numbers Defy Cull Cow Prices – Despite high beef prices, dairy herds seem to be maintaining numbers. AgDairy broker Robin Schmahl says this is unexpected. “We’re not seeing the strong interest in culling even though we had been looking at record beef prices.” At this point, there’s more interest in producing milk for cash flow purposes “You get rid of that cow, you have the money there, but that’s it. You take her out of the herd.”

Demand is Strong for New Crop Calves – The number of grass cattle coming into area auction barns dipped in recent weeks with harvest taking precedence. However, Herreid Livestock Auction owner Kent Fjeldheim said they’re still seeing some large numbers coming through the barn. “Demand is very strong and I just don’t see the market getting much weaker at this point.”

Hoffman Welcomes All-Breeds Cattle Tour – Hoffman Angus Farm was the first stop on the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association All-Breeds Cattle Tour. “We try to have cows that kind of take care of themselves,” said co-owner Logan Hoffman. “A lot of our customers sell their calves at weaning time and some of them background their calves all the way to finish so we try to keep genetics that are well-rounded.” Hoffman Angus Farm is located at Wheatland, in southeastern North Dakota and has a bull sale in February and a female sale in November.

Easy-Keeping Cows – Oland Red Angus st Sheldon, North Dakota was a stop on the All-Breeds Cattle Tour. “We really focus on having maternal cows; that easy-keeping, easy flesh and deep body type of cattle,” said Klay Oland. “Running a large commercial cow-calf operation, backgrounding yearlings and finish cattle, we’ve got a background in the whole industry and we darn sure wouldn’t keep a commercial cow if she’s open or if she doesn’t work for the operation and we run our registered herd very much the same way.” Oland Red Angus has its annual bull sale in May.

Middle of the Road – Wendel Livestock was one of the afternoon stops on the All-Breeds Cattle Tour. Wendel Livestock Owner/Operator Mike Wendel says when it comes to cattle, you need an even mix of all traits. “My philosophy is you can’t chase too much of one trait. You have to be middle of the road.” Wendel Livestock is located near LaMoure, North Dakota and offers Angus bulls and heifers during their annual sale.

Diversity Keeps a Family Farm Strong – Quant Farms partner Gabe Quant is a fifth-generation farmer near Oakes, North Dakota. The farm was one of the stops on NDSA’s All Breeds Cattle Tour. Quant says the main operation has grown significantly in the last few years from their main herd of Simmental cattle to include two hog finishing barns. “Our thought process is to keep growing the family operation. You need to bring in different forms of income to keep profitable.” Quant Farms has an annual sale on the third Saturday in February where they’ll be offering heifers and bulls.

MN Beef Update – Minnesota Beef Director of Industry Relations Jon Dilworth talks about the organization’s promotional programs in this week’s Minnesota Beef Update.

Weaning Pointers – According to NDSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist Zach Carlson, some producers started weaning when pasture resources ran short this fall. “In north-central and northeast region, we’ve seen places where the rain has shortened the grazing season.” Carlson recommends finding weaning methods to reduce calf stress. “Reducing stress by creep feeding on pasture and to the bunk or by fence-line weaning helps.

Calf Risk Protection in Pilot Program – USDA announced the Weaned Calf Risk Protection as a new insurance option for livestock producers in select states as a pilot program. “We saw a gap with some of the other livestock programs that didn’t address the cow/calf industry,” said Marcia Bunger, administrator, Risk Management Agency. The pilot program insures against yield losses caused by drought, excessive moisture, hail, wind, frost, disease, and other natural causes. South Dakota is one of the states participating in the pilot program.

AGs Challenge Massachusetts’ Q3 – Attorney’s General from 13 states have filed a brief in opposition to Massachusetts’s Question 3. Similar to California’s Proposition 12, Q3 bans the sale of pork sold in a state that does not meet the state’s specific housing standards. The AGs contend Q3 violates the constitution with a state regulating interstate commerce. A group of Midwestern pork producers filed a lawsuit in July that also challenged the constitutionality of the Massachusetts law.

Ag Groups Seek to Intervene on CAFO Case – The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Pork Producers Council, the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and United Egg Producers want to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental and animal rights groups over the regulation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. These activist groups want EPA to require Clean Water Act permitting for all CAFOs. The agricultural coalition is telling the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the new regulatory requirements would be a considerable burden for animal agriculture.

Avian Influenza Risk Remains – Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been confirmed in our three states this past week. The outbreaks in South Dakota and Minnesota were commercial turkey flocks and the North Dakota case was a backyard chicken flock. In all three cases, the birds have been depopulated.

River Levels Plummet, Concerns Rise – Mississippi River water levels at Memphis reached a record low of minus 11.5 feet this past week. The low water levels have disrupted barge traffic on the river. When the drought dropped river levels last year, the lowest elevation was a minus 10.8 feet.

Shipping Restrictions Continue at Panama Canal – Due to low water levels, new restrictions are in place for shipments moving through the Panama Canal. As of November 1, a maximum of 30 booking slots are available each day. Both north and southbound shipments are multiple days behind schedule and the smaller vessels are averaging delays of nearly two weeks. Restrictions are expected to continue into 2024.

U.S. Benefits From Multimodal Transportation System – Low water levels of the Mississippi River are limiting grain movement. Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Director Mike Steenhoek said the United States has a diverse supply chain. “We continue to benefit from having a variety of opportunities to move product from the Midwest to our export markets whether that’s rail to the Pacific Northwest, shipping off the Mississippi, Atlantic Coast, Great Lakes, Texas Gulf and rail into places like Mexico. It really reinforces the fact that having this kind of resiliency and redundancy helps serve U.S. agriculture and the broader economy.”

What’s Hot, What’s Not in the Markets – In this week’s edition of What’s Hot, What’s Not in the Markets, Martinson Ag Risk Management President Randy Martinson offered an unconventional focus with orange juice trading at all-time highs overnight. “Crude oil has also made a good run because of the war going on.” Soybean production concerns also propped up that market.

Co-ops Build Economic Power – Co-ops are everywhere! They provide nearly every good and service imaginable and they are a great choice for buying local and keeping jobs in the community. Nearly a million of U.S. farmers belong to a cooperative. October Co-op Month has been recognized nationally since 1964. RRFN’s celebration of October Co-op Month is sponsored by North Dakota Farmers Union and Associated Milk Producers, Inc. and its Dinner Bell Creamery.

AM Radio is Essential for Rural America – A coalition of agriculture groups have sent a joint letter to House and Senate leadership, voicing support for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. This bill would require all cars and trucks to have access to AM radio. The letter said farmers and ranchers depend on the information provided by free, over-the-air radio and its ability to provide public safety information during an emergency. Nine ag groups signed this letter, including the North Dakota Farmers Union, National Farmers Union and the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota.

Consumers Say Animal Diet is Important to Decision-Making Process – A new survey commissioned by the United Soybean Board found 77 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase meat if it is raised and fed by U.S. farmers. If the animal is born, bred and raised in the U.S., that number increases to 88 percent. The survey found 70 percent of the respondents feel the animal’s diet is extremely or very important to them when purchasing meat. That’s up from 51 percent in 2019. The soybean checkoff indicates nearly all consumers are paying attention to food labels.

Corn Matters – National Corn Growers Association Vice President of Market Development Jim Bauman talks about a new proposed rule regarding ethanol blends. Hear more in the latest Corn Matters, brought to you by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

Improved Forecasting for Upper Missouri River Basin – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investing $26 million in a pilot project to improve drought and flood forecasting in the Upper Missouri River Basin. This is designed to improve the monitoring process in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska.

South Dakotans Fight for Private Property Rights – South Dakotans First has launched its grassroots coalition to protect landowner property rights. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke said the push for carbon pipelines highlighted the gaps in eminent domain laws. “It all came about because of the CO2 pipelines that used eminent domain for their own private gain.” Sombke believes if carbon is determined to be a commodity it will shape how the coalition approaches the issue in the next legislative session.The coalition is currently comprised of South Dakota Farmers Union and Dakota Rural Action, among others.

Streamlined Permitting Need to Compete for Business – One of the biggest challenges facing the State of Minnesota in attracting business is its permitting process. Minnesota Chamber Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Byers said the permitting bottleneck impacts many sectors, including agriculture and food processing. “We continue to hear from companies and site selectors who advise companies on investments that Minnesota’s permitting process was extraordinarily long,” said Byers. “We support high environmental standards and we are not debating standards at all. We are just seeing if we could make recommendations to streamline the process.” The Minnesota Chamber Foundation is funding a competitive comparison with ten other states. That would include Minnesota’s four neighboring states and others with a similar political makeup. Byers said more certainty is needed for the permitting process. “If you’re building a facility or expanding a facility,  a year long delay or two-year delay increases construction costs. Again, we think we can meet some of these timelines and deadlines in a more efficient manner.” The latest economic analysis, which includes an evaluation of Minnesota’s permitting process, will be available by the end of the year.

Epitome Energy Expected to Begin Construction in the Spring – Epitome Energy hopes to have its financing in place by the end of the year for its proposed soybean crush plant in Grand Forks. In a meeting with the Grand Forks City Council, Epitome CEO Dennis Egan said activity is happening within a matter of weeks. “We’ve got a large institution coming in and doing a site visit in a couple of weeks and it’s kind of the last box to check in terms of them doing their due diligence on the entire debt package.” Ninety percent of the engineering work is complete and the plan is to begin construction in the spring. Markets have also been secured. “One of the big things when you talk about de-risking projects like this is who is going to take your soybean meal and who’s going to take your oil and we now are happy to say that we’ve got uptake agreements for 100 percent of all of our soybean meal and 100 percent of our oil.” The $420 million facility will process up to 42 million bushels of soybeans per year. If the project is finalized, Epitome Energy will be North Dakota’s third soybean crush plant.

Bioproducts Lab Opens at SDSU – POET, South Dakota State University and South Dakota Mines have opened the new POET Bioproducts Center at Brookings. This facility will focus on the next generation of bioproducts. This site will be operated by a public-private partnership called Dakota BioWorx. POET is donating $5 million to the SDSU Foundation for the construction of the facility.

Hydrogen Hub Praised – The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that Heartland Hydrogen Hub has been selected for up to $925 million in grant funding. “North Dakota is already an ag and energy powerhouse and with the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, we’ll play off those strengths with a variety of clean energy projects and jobs,” said Governor Doug Burgum. “With the Energy and Environmental Research Center at University of North Dakota and our partners in the public and private sectors, we’re excited to build on our reputation as a state that feeds and fuels the world with environmental stewardship while delivering a laser focus on innovation.”  This news comes a year after Burgum and the governors of Minnesota, Montana, and Wisconsin signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a regional clean hydrogen hub to help meet the nation’s clean energy, transportation, and agricultural needs. Senator John Hoeven’s office released a statement saying that this grant includes funds that will tie in the ADM crush plant at Spiritwood, North Dakota.

Farming for the Future – Hear about carbon credit contracts in this week’s Farming for the Future, brought to you by Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

No Decision Yet for Europe’s Reauthorization of Glyphosate – European Union countries were unable to agree this past week on a ten-year reauthorization of glyphosate. The 27 EU member nations will take another vote in early November and if there is no consensus, the decision will be made by the European Commission.

Peterson Farms Seed Gears Up – Peterson Farms Seed Lead Agronomist Rick Swenson talks about the new line-up of products for the upcoming growing season.

Another Packing Plant to Close – Smithfield Foods plans to close its pork processing plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Production will be shifted to the much larger facility in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Smithfield and other meat packers are struggling with high costs for meat, feed and labor.

South American Genetics Firm Expands – GDM has signed an agreement to acquire a leading South American wheat breeding company called Biotrigo. The deal still needs regulatory approval. GDM is an Argentine-based company with its U.S. headquarters in Champaign, Illinois. Mustang Seeds is GDM brand in ten Midwestern states.

AEF Nominated for Global Award – The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation has been nominated for the DLG Agrifuture Concept Award at this year’s Agritechnica Show in Hanover, Germany. AEF North America spokesperson Leader Ryan Milligan said this nomination recognizes the company’s s Agricultural Interoperability Network (AgIN). “We created this ISOBUS guideline that allows the tractors and implements from different manufacturers to talk.” As cloud technology became available, companies chose different formats that were not compatible with each other. “The AgIN Network is going to iron out all of those issues and create a safe and secure way for these clouds from different manufacturers to share data.” This will increase efficiency for farmers using cloud data. Click here to listen to the full interview with Ryan Milligan.

AURI Update – Join the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute at a short-course webinar focusing on byproduct value. Hear more in the latest AURI Update.

Hometown Pride Grant Goes to West Central Ag Boosters – Cenex and Farmers Cooperative Oil of Elbow Lake and Wendell have awarded the West Central Ag Boosters with a $25,000 Hometown Pride grant. This program supports ag education in Minnesota’s Grant County. The Growing Grant County program is adding a new meat processing trailer and increasing classroom space for the local ag programs.

Dry Bean Scene – Rural Leadership North Dakota Program Director and Extension Specialist Katie Tyler joins us to talk about the 10^th class enrollment on this week’s Dry Bean Scene. The Dry Bean Scene is sponsored by the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, Johnstown Bean Company, Sharpen Fungicide from BASF, SRS Commodities and Heads Up Plant Protectants.

Fraud Case Advances – A Windom, Minnesota farmer pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court for allegedly selling millions of dollars of non-GMO corn and soybeans as organic. Sentencing will be held October 26 for James Wolf and Adam Olson. A preliminary decision has ordered Wolf to forfeit nearly $20 million in property. That includes $7 million in cash, six tracts of land, farm equipment and vehicles.

A New Role for Bronaugh – Former Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh is the new president for the 1890 Universities Foundation. This foundation supports the core missions of the 19 land-grant universities established in 1890 to support agriculture and technical education. Bronaugh resigned from her USDA post in January. Previously, she was the Virginia agriculture commissioner and Dean of the Virginia State University College of Agriculture.

North Dakotan Joins ABA Board – North Dakota Bankers Association President and CEO Rick Clayburgh has been appointed to the American Bankers Association board of directors. Clayburgh is the vice chair of the ABA State Bankers Association Alliance.

ND Families Recognized by CAB – Bruner Angus Ranch of Drake and Wendel Livestock at LaMoure have received the Certified Angus Beef Progressive Partner Award. The two families launched Dakota Angus and sell their product directly to consumers from the ranch.

NAMA Presents Awards of Excellence – During the National Agri-Marketing Association Fall Conference, the 2023 Professional Development Awards of Excellence were presented. Jennifer Saylor of J.L. Farmakis received the award in the area of sales. Kenna Rathai of broadhead is the public relations award recipient and Laura Svec of Corteva is the marketing communications honoree.