Thanking Farmers on this Labor Day – The Red River Farm Network sees Labor Day as an opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of the American farmer and everyone who serves the ag business. We saw that firsthand this past week as we crisscrossed North Dakota and northwest Minnesota for the annual RRFN Crop Tour presented by Pioneer. Mother Nature threw everything at our farmers this past growing season, but have persevered and are seeing a nice crop in the field. In most cases, however, more time is needed for these crops to reach maturity. Thanks to the men and women who helped RRFN report on crop conditions this past week. RRFN now turns our attention to the Big Iron Farm and Construction Show. The RRFN forums will be in a new location this year, near the center of the grounds. The RRFN forum schedule can be found online.

Another Farm Bill Extension Likely – Another farm bill extension is all but a certainty. At the Farm Progress Show, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson said it was time for the Senate to act. In Thompson’s words, the Senate has 90 pages of ideas but has not taken any real action. The legislation has passed the House Agriculture Committee but does not appear to have enough votes to pass the full House. The farm bill is operating under a one-year extension, which expires at the end of September.

Ag Trade Deficit Grows – USDA economists predict the U.S. agricultural trade deficit will reach $42.5 billion in fiscal year 2025. That compares to a projected trade gap of $31.5 billion this year. Exports are forecast at $169.5 billion, down $4 billion from 2024. Imports are expected to be up $8 billion to $212 billion. The lower value of corn, soybeans and cotton combined with lower volumes of beef exports are big parts of the trade deficit story.

FAPRI Projections Released – The University of Missouri Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute has released its latest baseline projections. For the 2025-2026 marketing year, FAPRI left the ending stocks a year from now nearly unchanged. Export demand is forecast to increase. For soybeans, FAPRI increased acres slightly and made minimal changes to the ending stocks. Wheat stocks are in line with this past year. FAPRI calls for a reduction in wheat acres and a drop in wheat production. FAPRI is forecasting the average market year corn price at $4.13 per bushel. The average farm price for soybeans is forecast at $9.65 per bushel. The all-wheat price is expected to average $5.79 per bushel.

Talking Conservation: Dr. Abbey Wick – Dr. Abbey Wick spent 11-plus years as an Extension soil specialist at North Dakota State University before joining Syngenta as its global soil health outreach program manager a year ago. In this podcast, Wick said the issue of soil health is becoming mainstream. “People are realizing that to do soil health you don’t have to adopt all five principles that are out there. You can just make steps in the right direction, if you’re considering that soil and protecting that resource while continuing to farm and support your business. I think that everybody a big sigh of relief that the expectation doesn’t have to be for this golden system that works for some farms and there is a variation that works for every farm.” Watch the interview or listen to the podcast. The Talking Conservation podcast is a collaboration between Farmers for Soil Health, the Conservation Technology Information Center, the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, and the Red River Farm Network.

Land Prices to Plateau – The amount of available farmland for sale this year might be slim. “There’s going to be few buyers in the marketplace,” said Troy Swee, area sales manager, Farmers National Company. “With commodity prices down, these farmers are going to be sitting on their hands at some of these auctions.” Swee expects land prices to plateau over the next year. “If you’re thinking about selling properties in the next one-to-three years, now might be the time to pull the trigger.”

Global Strife Influences Crude Values – Ukraine hit a major oil refinery in Moscow over the weekend. More than 150 drones targeted Russian infrastructure. Most of these drones were intercepted or shot down, but there was a direct hit on an oil refinery. Crude oil prices started to edge lower on Friday due to ongoing concerns about Chinese oil demand. China’s manufacturing activity slowed down for the four straight month.

Mixed Reaction to Canadian Rail Decision – The order for all Canadian railway employees to return to work has been met with a mixed response. Teamsters Canada Director of Public Affairs Christopher Manette sees a dangerous precedent for unionized workers. “The federal government has essentially sent the message to corporate Canada that  all they need to do is shut down their operations for a few hours and the federal government will swoop in to save them to break a union.” Meanwhile, Canadian Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Matthew Holmes praised the decision. “It’s always best to see something negotiated at the bargaining table, but binding arbitration is the next option.”

Union Challenges Government’s Rail Decision – The union representing rail workers has filed a court challenge against the country’s industrial labor board, which forced more than 9,000 Teamsters members back to work. The Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroads and labor unions were unable to come to terms on a contract. After a short work stoppage, the Canadian government ordered the employees to return to work. A representative of the Teamsters union said this decision sets a dangerous precedent if it is not challenged.

Wonderful Corn, Phenomenal Beans – Mike Hagens, who owns Quantum Ag North at Steele, North Dakota, said the soybeans have had a great year. “The beans look phenomenal. We’ve gotten lucky with the rains this year.” Hagens expects a good corn crop if it can get to full maturity. “We’re looking at the end of September, the first part of October before this cornfield fully matures.” During the interview, young Hudson Hagens, 8, showed off a couple ears of corn. “We’ve got two cobs here, freshly picked. I think it looks pretty nice.” Watch the whole interview here.

‘Good Old-Fashioned Sunshine’ – Heat is what is needed to finish the crop in the region. McClusky-based Pioneer seed dealer Paul Hagen with Mid State Ag says growing degree units are quite a bit behind. “We could use some good old-fashioned sunshine.” The RRFN Crop Tour was in a soybean plot south of Mercer. Hagen stressed the importance and value in using effective seed treatments in order to help keep disease out of the fields. Watch the whole interview with Hagen here.

Moisture Needed Again at Garrison, ND – Like much of the region, North Shore Ag owner Jason Foss said the Garrison, North Dakota area started the season with a very wet spring. “We started with moisture which in the last four or five years we haven’t been used to that,” said Foss. “After that shut off, I’d like to talk to the person who runs the spigot because we could use some moisture; we have some late-season crops that could use another shot.” The canola harvest is underway. “The yields are better than average, however, they thought they would be better with the way started off.” The crop tour stop was in a field of Pioneer 520L canola. “It is the latest that we’ve brought to market. Every year, Pioneer has been advancing to get the best pod-shatter resistance product.” The interview can be found on RRFN’s YouTube channel. 

The Race is On – The crop across the Northern Plains needs some heat to finish. “I’ve been tracking this most of the summer and we’ve been anywhere from 100-to-200 and a little more in some spots behind what would be considered normal,” explains Larry Lunder, field agronomist, Pioneer. “This happens more often than people remember, but we came off of last year where we had good heat, nice warm nights and never struggled to bring anything to maturity. Hopefully, if September treats us right; we’ll get everything to physiological maturity and do just fine.” Moisture has typically been short in western North Dakota, but Lunder said Mother Nature blessed the region this year with good rains. Watch the video interview.

Crops are Lagging – From April through August, Rocklake, North Dakota has received more than 18 inches of rain. Brock Mitchell, who leads Lakeview Seed, said it has been an interesting season. “We came out of an extremely dry winter, plus last fall was dry and last summer was dry,” said Mitchell. “The faucet turned on in mid-April and with the exception of July, it never shut off.” More fungicides were used on canola due to the moisture. “There is some disease but that goes along with the aborted pods.” The corn needs heat to finish the season. Sunflowers are still in bloom around Rocklake. Watch the whole interview with Mitchell here.

There Are Reasons for Optimism – At Bremen, North Dakota, Pioneer rep Donny Allmaras likes the prospects for the corn in his area. “The average frost date is somewhere around the 27th of September but a lot of times we make it into October and we all know that October can be super warm, September can be super warm. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic because the crop itself looks fantastic. We’re just a little short on growing degree units.” Seed-buying decisions are often influenced by the most recent growing season. “It does seem like we have tunnel vision and just look back to the last year, but there’s a lot of infrastructure that has gone up in this area and continues to go up. A lot of guys are set up with some really nice grain-drying facilities and they’re prepared for this kind of thing.” The full interview with Allmaras can be found on the Red River Farm Network YouTube channel.

Rains Provided a Boost for Sunflowers – The Red River Farm Network Crop Tour made a stop near Pekin, North Dakota. Carl Jensen says the August rains that hurt small grains helped out the row crops. “I don’t think we’re quite as far behind as some people are talking about,” said Jensen. “We’re starting to see dent on early corn; there might be more moisture to contend with this fall, but as far as making it to maturity I think we’re going to be ok.” During the tour, Jensen highlighted the local sunflower crop. “Like the old timers used to say, you needed rain on your barley swaths to get sunflowers crop. Well, we had plenty of rain on the barley crop so flowers are looking really good. We’re starting to see a few more acres of them in the countryside. The flowers are helping some of that heavier, wetter, sour ground become more productive again.” The Red River Farm Network Crop Tour presented by Pioneer  interview with Jensen can be found online. 

Improved Pod Shatter Canola – On the second day of the RRFN Crop Tour, Pioneer Field Agronomist Kristie Sundeen said this is a surprisingly good year, citing the additional moisture this season. “As long as we can get the GDU’s to get to the tail end and finish everything, I think we’re going to be okay.” Sundeen also talked about her excitement for the new Pioneer canola varieties. “We’ve had a significant improvement with our P520L when it comes to pod shatter so excited for guys to see that.” Sundeen also reminded farmers that this is the time to plan for next year. Watch the whole interview with Sundeen here.

Pioneer Agronomy Update – Pioneer Field Agronomist Larry Lunder is featured in the latest Pioneer Agronomy Update. The obvious question is if corn will make it to the finish line. “The cooler temperatures in the 2024 growing season have put row crop development behind,” said Lunder. “Once you have early dent, you’ll need approximately 400 GDDs to maturity. Once you approach half-milkline, it’s 200 GDDs and 100 degrees to maturity once you’re at three-quarter milkline.” Click here to listen to the report.

A Gut Punch – There was a significant amount of replanting after a massive hailstorm in early June in the Ypsilanti/Montpelier area of southern North Dakota. Levi Taylor, who operates Crop Innovations LLC, says it was a serious setback. “It was a gut punch. It was doom and gloom for a little bit but as soon as the fields dried out it alleviated a lot of guys’ concerns just knowing we got back in the field in somewhat of a timely manner to still hopefully get a respectable crop out of the replant.” The biggest crop issue is the amount of drownout “and what that’s going to mean for our final field averages.” The interview from RRFN’s Crop Tour presented by Pioneer can be found online. 

A Very Good Crop Coming – The crops in the Tower City, North Dakota area look excellent. “We’ve had a lot of rain and that contributed to some planting delays and tougher conditions but also some of the rain has been very timely throughout the summer,” said Justin Johnson, Innovative Ag Solutions. “We have a very good crop coming, we just need to get it to the finish line.” Innovative Ag Solutions was a stop on the third day of the RRFN Crop Tour presented by Pioneer. Watch the video interview. 

Unusually Wet – Rush River Seed and Chemical Sales Agronomist Terry Bruns is based at Amenia, North Dakota. “We had a bit of a break after a lot of moisture and a little chillier conditions earlier in the year for about three weeks, but south of I-94 got a little more moisture than we did to the north here. There’s a little bit more prevent plant on the corn acres to the south.” Bruns said it was unusually wet. “In the Casselton area going back to February 1, we got about 17.5 inches of rain; that’s about 120 percent of average rainfall. We’re now just needing the GDUs, but that’s out of our control.” The YouTube interview can be found at this link.

A Wet Season for SE ND – The third day of the Red River Farm Network presented by Pioneer covered an area from Jamestown to Casselton. Field Agronomist Eric Lagge said most of the corn in that area is in early dent. “That’s roughly 60 days until you’re harvesting and about 30 days until we hit physiological maturity. That’s all depending on the weather. On the soybean side of things, we’re in that R5 stage. We have seen a lot of differences in the crop staging just depending on the planting date.” Surplus moisture has been an issue in southeastern North Dakota and there is a considerable amount of prevented plant acres.

A Familiar Pattern – The Thursday portion of the Red River Farm Network Crop Tour was wet. Luke Forsness, who operates Black River Ag at Dorothy, Minnesota, said that has been a familiar pattern this year. “It seems like we couldn’t get a three or four-day stretch all spring where it wasn’t raining.” After a window opened to plant the crop, everything emerged well. “There’s some drowned-out areas that were a little tough and some nitrogen loss in some of the corn where that nitrogen and fertilizer got pushed down with all the moisture, but so far crops are looking good.” Watch the video.

TRF Crop Advances Toward Maturity – At Thief River Falls, Kent Rivard with K-Star Ag Services said soybean aphids have been a problem this season. maturity. “A lot of the beans have hit R6 so for aphids, we’re in the clear there,” said Rivard. “Some of the later-seeded ones, we’re in that R4-to-R4.5 (stage of maturity) so we still need some time, but hopefully another three or four weeks without a frost and we’re going to be to a point where the crop is mature.” The scenario is the same for corn. “The corn is starting to dent or is fully dented so all things considered, from the planting and the summer we had, we’re actually sitting okay.” Watch the interview.

A Variabile Crop – In the Roseau, Minnesota area, South 89 Seed and Services owner Amy Brateng said the variability in the crop is evident. “We had like a two-month planting season, but it isn’t out of the norm here.” Despite all the rain, Brateng said there was some good growing conditions for a lot of the summer. The extra moisture did create the perfect environment for phytophthora root rot in the soybeans. “Our seed treatments have probably reduced a lot of this talk in the past, but when you get conditions that are just perfect for disease, you’re going to have it.” Brateng expects a pretty decent crop at harvest time. Watch the whole interview with Brateng here.

Right Product, Right Acre – At the end of the crop tour Thursday, Pioneer Territory Manager Jerod Hanson said it is important for farmers to consider local conditions when making seed decisions. “What works down in Dorothy, Minnesota, where we started the day, compared to what works in Roseau where we’re ending the day, can be two totally different climates and environments and we have to make sure we get the right product for the customer.” Click here for the video.

Excellent Progress – Like others in the region, farmers in the Fosston, Minnesota area saw the spring planting season drag out. “We got started in May and we got well into June before we got finished up with planting.” Matt Larson operates the Larson Seed and Agronomy Pioneer dealership. The corn is denting and there are hybrids at the 50 percent milk line. “The beans look really well; it has been surprising with as late as they went in for us; they’re standing well and podding well.” Larson is putting up a new facility. It will have a seed warehouse, fully-automated treater, seed bins, cold storage and office. The new site is expected to be fully operational this fall. Watch the video interview.

‘It Was Tough, But We Got Through It’ – The Red River Farm Network Crop Tour presented by Pioneer visited a plot near Hawley, Minnesota. Corey O’Leary of Precision Seed and Services of Lake Park said the planting season stretched out for a long time. “It was the most challenging season I’ve been through,” said O’Leary. “We got into the field around April 20th and had a good start to corn planting. The rain rolled in and we sat for three or four weeks.” There was some replanting needed, but it was limited because the ground drains well. The weather worries continued. “We’re going to need this growing season to keep going for a while to finish this crop off.” Watch the video.

Need a Long September. – There is a new Pioneer seed representative on board in the southern Red River Valley. Airborne Seed and Agronomy is based in Halstad, Minnesota. Den Hilbe told a familiar story. “It looked like it was going to be a pretty decent year in the early spring and everybody knows what happened by early May when it started raining. Everything drug out and there was June planting, too.” David Staples, who is also with Airborne Custom Spraying, said some fields had to see the planter for a second time. “There was this most beautiful seedbed that I ever planted into and you go and get 12 inches of rain on it and it just fell a part. We actually replanted some of the low spots, but that’s just what you had to do this year.” Soybeans are in the R6 stage. Soybean aphids were a significant issue. Click here for a link to the YouTube interview.

Sinner Recaps Friday Portion of the Tour – The Red River Farm Network Crop Tour started the day on Friday in the Fosston area. The corn seen that morning was the closest to maturity. “It was like 50 percent milk and before this, the furthest I’ve seen the corn maturity was partial denting.” said Kevin Sinner, field agronomist, Pioneer. Sinner said the southern Red River Valley has had some of the biggest challenges this season. “We had the bullseye on us this year, especially in the southern end of the Red River Valley; a lot of PP in some cases and a lot of replants.” Watch the video.

Thunderstorm Further Delays Wheat Harvest – Wednesday’s thunderstorm was like salt in a wound. “It was the biggest lightning and thunderstorm for a long time, 45 minutes of continuous lightning and about an inch-and-a-half of rain in Harvey,” said Bill Ongstad. “We got about .60 about ten miles away but it’s very inconvenient. The wheat is ready and the crop never gets quite dry and there’s falling numbers which means the kernel is starting to sprout.” Ongstad says there isn’t much to do but wait for drier weather.

Wheat Quality Takes a Hit – Matthew Krueger, a partner in K & D Krueger Farms and Sons at East Grand Forks, finished his wheat harvest a week ago. “The yields were coming in tremendously great and then after recent rains, which benefitted all the other crops, to be honest, the quality of spring wheat took a real hit,” said Krueger. “I’ve heard rumors out east, closer to Red Lake Falls, guys having a lot of vomitoxin. It’s almost to the point now where my crop insurance agent told me he’s having guys trying to burn fields in the coming week.”

Wet, Humid Conditions Hinder Harvest Progress – Neumiller Harvesting has been hard at work throughout North Dakota in recent weeks. Roger Neumiller has been busy harvesting durum and canola near New England, North Dakota. “The canola varies quite a bit; we’ve done some 1,400 (pounds per acre) and we’ve done some double that.” The durum has averaged between 50-to-70 bushels per acre.” Harvesting has been a challenge. “It’s been high humidity so it is late in the day before we can go, but the last couple of days have been pretty nice.”

Canola Harvest Starts – The canola harvest has begun in southwestern North Dakota and north of Bismarck. “I think we should have above-average yields,” said Pat Murphy, who farms at Carpio, North Dakota. “The lowest I’ve heard so far is 2,400 pounds and the highest I’ve heard is like 2,900 pounds per acre.” Murphy is optimistic about his canola crop and expects good yields when his harvest begins.

Canola Harvest Preparations Underway – Langdon Research Extension Center Cropping Systems Specialist Anitha Chirumamilla says the canola is looking good and is ready for harvest. “It is pretty close, yes. I saw only a couple of fields that have been swathed but maybe in a week, I’m sure they’ll start the (desiccation) burndown.”

Pea and Lentil Harvest is Complete – Dillon DeBock of DeBock Harvesting, Powers Lake, North Dakota, has finished the lentil and pea harvest in the area. “We’re waiting for the rest of the crops to get ready but the crops are turning pretty fast now. I know some neighbors are getting started on some durum.” DeBock says the peas and lentils looked great. “Test weights are looking good, like 64 pounds for peas. Lentils did good, too.”

StatsCan Releases August Report – StatsCan forecasts Canada’s wheat production at 34.4 million metric tons, up four percent from a year ago. Spring wheat production is down a fraction of one percent, but durum production is up significantly. The August crop production report forecast canola output at 19.5 million metric tons, up 1.6 percent year-over-year. Corn production is down slightly, but soybean production is up 2.4 percent.

Northern Corn Rootworm Concerns – According to the NDSU Crop and Pest Report, reports of northern corn rootworm in field corn and stalk lodging are being seen in southeastern North Dakota. Western corn rootworm happens in North Dakota, but northern corn rootworm is the dominant species in the state. To address this pest, NDSU Extension recommends extending crop rotations to at least a three-year cycle for high-risk fields. Options also include the use of an insecticide seed treatment and the control of volunteer corn in other crops.

A Perfect Recipe for White Mold – According to Peterson Farm Seed Lead agronomist Rick Swenson, white mold has been the big talking point lately. “It’s the perfect recipe of weather right now for white mold and it’s what you really want to try to avoid in August. You hate to see somebody go from 60-bushel beans down to five bushels in those problem areas.” PFS hosted a sneak-peek for media ahead of its field days, September 10 and 11 in Prosper, North Dakota. More information can be found at petersonfarmsseed.com

Prime Time for White Mold – With a wet growing season, the conditions were ripe for white mold in dry bean and soybean production. During the NDSU Dry Bean Tour at the Carrington Research Center, NDSU Extension Research Plant Pathologist Michael Wunsch said the crops that entered full bloom before the three-week period of hot weather in July had the more significant white mold problems. Timing for fungicide applications is a focus. “We’ve learned a lot about application timing and droplet size,” said Wunsch. “On the droplet size, we still need to finalize exactly what canopy characteristics drive your decision-making for which droplet size to use.”

Dry Bean Scene – In this week’s Dry Bean Scene, Northarvest Bean Growers Association President Eric Jorgenson talks about crop conditions and the impact of the weather. Listen to the report. 

A ‘Double Penalty’ for Biofuels – Growth Energy has submitted public comments to the California Air Resources Board regarding California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The biofuels trade group said CARB’s sustainability certification requirement is “an unfair and double penalty for corn starch bioethanol.”

Enviros Challenge European GHG Mandate – Activist groups are suing the European Commission seeking more stringent greenhouse gas emission rules. Climate Action Network and the Global Legal Action Network claim the greenhouse gas emission limits on agriculture and other business segments do not go far enough and should be illegal. The court has given the case priority status and it could be heard within the next year.

A Key Development for Summit Pipeline – The Iowa Utilities Commission has issued a construction permit for the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. Before construction can begin the commission requires project approval from North Dakota and South Dakota regulators.

MN Corn Matters – Minnesota Corn Growers Association board member Ellen Oelfke joins this week’s Minnesota Corn Matters to talk about the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Soil Health Grant Program. Listen to the report.

Expanding Biofuels Infrastructure – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Biofuels Infrastructure Grant Program will award $3.3 million to service stations to expand the availability of higher biofuel blends. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said this investment helps lower emissions, save money for the driver and supports farmers and the renewable ag sector.

RRFN in New Location at Big Iron – In one week, the Red River Farm Network will be getting ready to open the doors at our new Big Iron Farm and Construction Show location. The RRFN Building is near the center of the grounds. You’ll find RRFN straight ahead when you go through the main gate on the east side of the grounds. RRFN has a full slate of forums. Our guests will include World Weather Incorporated meteorologist Drew Lerner, Minnesota Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen, North Dakota Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring and Greg ‘Machinery Pete’ Peterson. The market outlook forums will be held daily at 1:30 PM. Industry-leading market analysts will be on the stage. The full schedule is available at this link. 

Label Guidelines Updated – USDA has updated its guidelines dealing with animal production or environment-related claims on meat and poultry labeling. The Agriculture Department said this action represents the work that has been done to protect consumers from false and misleading labels.

Progress Seen for Dairy Vaccine – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made a stop at the Farm Progress Show in Iowa. “Since I’m at the Farm Progress Show, we obviously want to make sure that we announce progress.” Vilsack outlined the work underway to develop H5N1 vaccines for dairy cattle. “We have a number of companies that have been working on vaccines and one company has now presented sufficient information to the USDA to allow me to authorize what I did this week, the first field trial of a vaccine for cattle H5N1 for safety purposes.” The field trials are the next step in vaccine development.

Class III Milk Moves Higher – The price for dairy cattle and Class III milk are holding strong. Ever Ag Marketing analyst Jenny Wackershauser said tight cattle supplies are a large factor. “It actually ties a lot back to the beef herd.” With more dairy cows being bred to beef, the dairy heifer replacements are extremely tight, hence the tight dairy market. Demand is also increasing with more processing becoming available. “We’re moving into a very balanced to tight milk market that we have not seen going back to probably 2018.”

Processing Capacity Needed in ND – The North Dakota Livestock Alliance facilitated the formation of the North Dakota Dairy Working Group due to milk processing plant closures. The biggest problem for dairy producers is where to take their milk. “We run into the issue of having too many cows and not enough cows at the same time,” said Amber Wood, executive director, North Dakota Livestock Alliance. Wood said the dairy farmers in western North Dakota are forced to haul their milk to Fargo or Perham, Minnesota. “We’ve been looking at multiple different avenues for milk processing out in the Bismarck-Mandan area. Hopefully, we can find some sort of solution.”

Solar Project Supports Energy and Milk Production – The West Central Research and Outreach Center at Morris, Minnesota, has solar panels installed above a pasture ground. “The system belongs to our sister campus, University of Minnesota-Morris and it’s a good collaboration because they can generate power for their campus and then we get shade for our pasture and this is a new area of research,” said Mike Reese, director of operations, WCROC. A dedication ceremony will be held Friday at the Agrivoltaic Field behind the city water treatment facility.

AURI Update – The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute Agriculture Innovation Center is funded through USDA’s Rural Business Cooperative Service and provides technical and business development assistance to value-added agriculture producers. Learn more in this edition of the AURI Update. 

A Successful Field Day – Central Lakes College Dean of Agriculture Keith Olander, who is also AgCentric’s executive director, was happy to showcase the Staples facility during its annual Ag and Energy Field Day. “We talked about edible beans, we talked about the irrigation that’s big in our area and how we can help producers move forward either learning new technology or learning about what’s coming in the variety trials.”

New Technology for Early Disease Detection – There’s a new way to track plant stress. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s very real. Genetically modifying plants, combined with satellite imaging, is allowing for early disease detection in plants. “We engineer plants that signal optically when they’re under stress,” said Sean Yokomizo, vice president, Innerplant. “We put another piece of code in there that says when you’re responding genetically to an infection from fungus or an insect attack, also make this fluorescent protein and that fluorescent protein is visible from as far away as space.” During a Peterson Farms Seed event, Yokomizo said a signal occurs within 24 hours of infection. “That is four-to-six weeks before a trained individual would be able to see those symptoms in the field.”

Peterson Farms Seed Tackles New Project – Ahead of its field days September 10-11 at Prosper, North Dakota, Peterson Farms Seed hosted a ‘Sneak-Peek Media Tour’ this past week. PFS owner Carl Peterson highlighted the company’s investment in research and innovation. Details were also offered about a major construction project happening in Pingree, North Dakota. “We’ve been involved in identity-preserved crops for quite a while,” said Peterson. “The industry is geared toward huge volumes of non-differentiated products such as crush plants, ethanol plants, and export trains. That creates a niche for somebody who wants something a little different like a high-oil soybean or high-fiber wheat. We know we’re very connected to the genetic people, we have good contacts with industry people and we can fill the middle.” The Pingree site will be a trans-loading facility to serve the IP market.

Paying the Farmer’s Share – This past Saturday, South Dakota State Fair visitors were able to buy lunch for just 48 cents. The South Dakota Farmers Union sponsored the Farmer’s Share Lunch as a way to educate consumers about the financial challenges facing farmers and ranchers. The Farmer’s Share Lunch has been a State Fair staple since 2007.

USDA Offers Debt Consolidation Tool – USDA has launched a debt consolidation tool. This online tool helps farmers evaluate potential savings with a debt consolidation loan from the Farm Service Agency. FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said options to structure debt helps farmers build equity and financial resilience. This tool can be found online.

Undersecretary Visits Northstar Lime – USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Dr. Basil Gooden and other local government officials visited Northstar Lime in Crookston, Minnesota Wednesday. Northstar Lime was awarded $4.4 million for the advancement of a sustainable lime fertilizer project. President Bryan Boll was excited to show off what the company has been doing. “We came up with a plan to pelletize or granulate spent lime from the beet plant. It works out pretty well actually.” The lime has many different nutrients in it and is used as a fertilizer. Northstar Lime has done a test run and Boll is hoping the plant will be fully operational in a few weeks.

Homegrown Giving – The ACH Seeds Homegrown Giving Award is in its third year. The award provides grants of $10,000 to six regional ag-related groups to fund projects directly benefitting their communities. ACH Seed Crystal Brand Sales Lead Andy Finkral says they’re receiving more and more submissions each year. “This year we had over 20 submissions in just one of our six regions. They’re all very deserving and great projects but we can only pick one per region.” One of those winners is the Renville County, Minnesota FFA chapter, which plans to upgrade its machine shop with the money. FFA advisor Jason Stewig says some of the equipment the kids are using is long overdue for replacement, “We’re going to update some of our equipment that is a bit outdated. Some of my welding equipment is from around 1950 and while it works well, it will be nice to have newer equipment.” Renville FFA also plans to use the money to help increase opportunities for their students to give back to their community through field trips that will highlight ag-related careers.

Fielding Questions – In the latest edition of Fielding Questions, the guest is Nick Dryer, a senior insurance specialist with AgCountry Farm Credit Services. Dryer discusses area-based insurance options, including ECO, SCO, Margin Protection, and Pasture, Rangeland, Forage coverage. The Fielding Questions podcast is a collaboration between AgCountry Farm Credit Services and the Red River Farm Network. Listen to the podcast.

Seed Treatment Advancements – Corteva Agriscience is introducing upgrades to its soybean seed treatment offerings. The Lumianate fungicide seed treatment provides control of Pythium and works against more strains of soilborne diseases than previous LumiGEN seed treatment. Phalanx insecticide seed treatment will replace the Gaucho seed treatment. The improved LumiGEN seed treatment package will be available next spring.

Syngenta Releases 2Q Financials – The Syngenta Group finished the second quarter with sales of $7.2 billion, down 14 percent from a year ago. Sales were influenced by significant industrywide channel destocking for crop protection. Adverse weather conditions were also an issue in several markets. Despite those challenges, sales of biologicals grew. North American seed sales were helped by the growth of branded and licensed soybeans while holding corn market share despite a downturn in corn acres.

2Q Results Out for Titan Machinery – For the second quarter, Titan Machinery suffered a net loss of $4.3 million. That’s compared to net income of 31.3 million one year ago. A downturn in farm income is behind the soft demand for farm equipment. Titan Machinery officials said a more aggressive strategy is in place to address sales and inventory control. Titan Machinery is based in West Fargo.

A Record Year for ND Mill – The North Dakota Mill finished the fiscal year with record profits of $20.7 million, an increase of nearly 21 percent over earnings of $17.2 million in fiscal year 2023. The state’s investment in two new milling units resulted in a record shipment volume of 17.5 million hundredweights. The state-owned North Dakota Mill transferred 52.5 percent of profits to the state’s general fund and to the agricultural product utilization fund. The remaining profits are used for mill operations.

Smithfield IPO on the Horizon – Smithfield Foods plans to spin off its European business, but it will remain part of Smithfield’s parent company, WH Group. The decision is being made to go public with the U.S. pork business.

Nutrien Opens New Fertilizer Terminal in MN – Nutrien has announced the grand opening of its greenfield fertilizer terminal in Randolph, Minnesota. The 40,000-square-foot warehouse is located just 13 miles south of Minneapolis. The Randolph terminal is designed to enhance efficient delivery to regional customers. The terminal will offer approximately 20,000 metric tons of dry fertilizer storage across potash, nitrogen and phosphate products, supported by capacity for approximately 65 rail cars on-site.

SD Corn Comments – In this edition of South Dakota Corn Comments, Reno Brueggeman has a special Labor Day message. Listen to the report. 

40 Years Representing Pioneer – Ken Hove is moving into his 40th year as a Pioneer seed representative. Ken’s former associate, Matt Larson, is taking over the agency at Fosston, Minnesota. In a role reversal, Ken will be the sales associate this upcoming year. “I’ve had 17 different DSMs,” Hove said with a smile. “What that tells you is that apparently I’m not trainable.” Reflecting on four decades in the seed business, Hove said the introduction of Roundup was the biggest change for the industry. “It’s been fun.” During the Pioneer sales launch last month, two other individuals were recognized for 40 years of selling Pioneer Seed; Dennis McCoy of Larimore, North Dakota and Wayne Nelson of Buxton, North Dakota. Watch the interview.

Senior Leadership Changes for Tyson Foods – Tyson Foods has suspended John R. Tyson from his role as the company’s chief financial officer. Tyson, who is the son of the company’s chairman, will remain with the company on a health-related leave. The suspension happened after Tyson’s DWI arrest. Curt Calaway, a senior finance executive, was initially appointed interim CFO and is now in this position permanently.

Honors for Hellevang – Ken Hellevang, who has retired as the NDSU Extension agricultural engineer, has received the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Hellenvang is being recognized for his leadership in grain and potato storage, energy efficiency and restoring flooded buildings.

Nash Onboards with Curious Plot – Erin Nash has joined Curious Plot as its senior copy editor. Previously, Nash was the marketing and communications manager for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.

Recognition for Greenway, Hansmeier, Rommereim and Geppart – South Dakota State University has announced this year’s Eminent Leaders in Agriculture, Family and Community Award. Brad Greenway of Mitchell served in leadership roles with the National Pork Board and U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Floyd Hansmeier is part of a seed and purebred cattle business at Bristol. Steve Rommereim of Alcester is a past president of the National Pork Board and Ag United for South Dakota. Kimball rancher Pam Geppert is the voice of the Dakota Farm Talk radio program. The recognition banquet for the award winners will be September 20 in Brookings.

Longtime Dairy Booster Honored by MMPA – The Minnesota Milk Producers Association has awarded its Bruce Cottington Friend of Dairy Award to ag industry consultant and Minnesota State Fair Moo Booth Superintendent Doris Mold. Mold has coordinated the Moo Booth educational experience for 40 years.