Weekly Update for
March 21

On March 19-20, the National Wheat Improvement Committee (NWIC) was on Capitol Hill advocating for the wheat industry’s fiscal year 2025 appropriations priorities. NWIC represents the wheat research community, producers, and processors, and there were 22 representatives in Washington, DC, who met with nearly 40 offices in the Senate, House of Representatives, and US Department of Agriculture. The group advocated for increased funding for the Wheat Resiliency Initiative, which seeks to address critical challenges related to wheat stem sawfly, Hessian fly, bacterial leaf streak, and rust diseases. Additionally, the group continued advocating for full funding for the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab and Small Grains Genomic Initiative.

On March 13, the Capital Press published the following article on NAWG President Keeff Felty’s goals for a 2024 Farm Bill. “Everybody wants to get this farm bill done, but it's got to be an improvement, it's got to be better," said Keeff Felty, of Altus, Okla. "We don't want to do it just for the sake of saying we got it accomplished.” Felty emphasized that crop insurance is the cornerstone of the Farm Bill, and maintaining and improving this area is a top priority for NAWG. Regarding his time as President, Felty said that he is looking forward to working with the entire industry, and furthering wheat’s footprint, voice and activities in the U.S.

On March 20, NAWG CEO Chandler Goule hosted a round table titled “Wheat Growers’ Next Gen Opportunities: Innovation, Outlook for Growth, Consumer Trends” at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Fransisco, CA. The Summit hosted over 2,400 people from the agriculture, technology, and food industry, with speakers from the USDA, Bayer, Microsoft, FMC, Syngenta, Amazon, Google, CHS, and more.

On March 19, the 2024 Feeding the Economy Report was released, which was previewed at Agri-Pulse’s Ag and Food Policy Summit the day prior. NAWG and 31 other food and agriculture groups released the eighth annual Feeding the Economy report, a historic farm-to-fork economic impact study that helps to estimate the direct and indirect economic contributions of the food and agriculture industries on jobs, wages, economic output, and business taxes. “The research completed by Feeding the Economy is instrumental in the work commodity organizations do to advocate for growers. The $3.4 billion generated from the agricultural industry from food agriculture, manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing, accounts for 18.48% of the national economy output. These numbers show the importance of supporting farmers through Federal Crop Insurance programs, one of the many programs the National Association of Wheat Growers advocates for. NAWG is proud to support the work done by Feeding the Economy,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers.

The Minnesota Wheat Research & Promotion Council (MWRPC) and Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers (MAWG) are pleased to announce the hiring of Brian Sorenson as executive director of Minnesota Wheat. “We’re thrilled to have Brian join our team,” MWRPC Chair Tim Dufault said. “His background and passion for agriculture make him a perfect fit for the goals of Minnesota Wheat and Minnesota wheat producers. Sorenson was raised on a wheat, barley and sugar beet farm near Fisher, Minn., and joins Minnesota Wheat after working as a program manager with Northern Crops Institute since 2018. “I’m excited to work with Minnesota wheat farmers, working to help them remain profitable and sustainable,” said Sorenson, who earned a Master of Science degree in cereal chemistry from North Dakota State University. “It’s very important that our producers have access to improved wheat varieties and cutting-edge farming practices for wheat to be a profitable crop in their rotation, but also to provide the quality and value expected by millers and bakers around the world.” Sorenson begins his position on April 2 and will provide leadership, vision, focus and unity to the Minnesota wheat industry, collaborating and building consensus on direction for MWRPC and MAWG. “We’re excited to begin working with Brian,” MAWG President Kevin Leiser said. “He has a lot of great attributes. We’re going to have a really, really good thing going forward.”

On March 27 at 6:00 p.m. central time, Rural Minds will host a one-hour webinar about how to access and utilize materials from their organization. The Rural Mental Health Resilience Program provides a toolkit with free mental health information and resources to help rural residents improve mental health in their communities. This moderated webinar will include a brief demo of how to easily access the materials on the program’s webpage, as well as first-hand experience and best practice tips shared by people who have used the program. Register for free to attend.

March 19 marked the 51st National Agriculture Day, and in recognition, the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released the following statement. “Every person who wakes up in the morning and doesn’t have to grow or harvest their own food gets to do that thanks to the small percentage of our population who work the land day in and day out. But farmers and farmworkers don’t just feed us. Their resilience, dedication, and hard work ensure we have a secure, reliable, and accessible food supply. They help keep businesses alive in small towns, provide school children with access to healthy food grown in their own communities, help protect our planet through conservation practices, and so much more.” The Secretary highlighted how the USDA works to support those who work in agriculture and create opportunities for those who want to serve in agricultural roles.

The Department of Energy released an update to the Billion Ton Report, that outlines how America can sustainably produce more than one billion tons of biomass per year and meet the Administration’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge. Some of the highlights specific to agriculture are: · Currently available but unused biomass resources can add around 350 million tons of additional biomass per year above current uses and double the US bioeconomy. · Biomass resources, like energy crops, in a future mature market can provide more than 400 million tons of biomass per year above current uses. · The report assesses the potential for biomass from agriculture and production shifts to accommodate the production of new energy crops, including the production of energy crops on 26 million acres of cropland and 50 million acres of pastureland and 177 million tons per year of agricultural residues (wheat straw and corn stover) in the reference scenario at $70 per dry ton. The report also includes additional sources from forestry, microalgae and other waste and byproducts.

The California Air and Resource Board (CARB) is requesting new regulations within the state on locomotive and locomotive engines. The new regulations would mandate zero-emission locomotives and engines by 2030 in California, which is concerning for the transportation industry as there are no current models or tested prototypes that would meet this requirement. The regulations on locomotives would also ban any train that is 23 years or older from operating within the state. Under section 209 of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of reviewing requests from states that differ from the rest of the nation. The EPA held a hearing on March 20 on the issue and will continue to take comments through April 22.

On March 20, the House Agriculture Committee held a joint hearing regarding the danger of China’s to agriculture in the U.S. The American Soybean Association’s President, Josh Gackle, testified to the committee, along with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Kip Tom, and the Chair and Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Additionally, both Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA-15) and Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA-13) emphasized the critical balance of protecting both agricultural exports to China and protecting national security.

NASA Acres and Ag Data Transfer (ADT) are asking for farmer feedback on the following topics, to better understand farmer concerns over sharing ag satellite data and better support agricultural producers. · What are the most valuable topics to farmers that NASA Acres and satellite data could support; · What and by whom ag data are collected; · Who determines how ag data are shared and secured; and, · The trust level with various agencies, institutions, and companies in sharing their ag data. Consider participating in this anonymous survey to support precision agriculture efforts in the U.S!

Thanks to U.S. Wheat Associates, the National Wheat Yield Contest analyzes all winning wheat for quality. Top-Quality awards are given in each class of wheat, which are evaluated by a panel of expert judges. There were 10 winners of the Top-Quality Award in the 2023 contest who each received a $250 gift card. Thank you, to U.S. Wheat and all our partners, for helping to promote high yield and high-quality wheat. For the list of Top-Quality Winners go to: http://www.wheatcontest.org For more information on the U.S. Wheat Associates efforts to pursue high-quality wheat, see the following article:

See the front page and page 15 of the Spring 2024 Oklahoma Wheat Brief to see NAWG President Keeff Felty and National Wheat Foundation Project Manager Anne Osborne participating in the flour milling short course at Kansas State University’s International Grains Program (IGP) Institute in December. This annual course covers the principles of flour milling, milling differences between the six classes of wheat, milling equipment, and the relationship between wheat quality and flour performance. The 18 participants also participated in a baking lab, again testing the differences between the classes of wheat. “There’s an intricate process to get every last piece of flour extracted to get a decent margin,” said Felty. “The flour miller’s margin is thin, like the farmer’s. The things we do on the farm impact the mill’s bottom line and its’ important for us to know this when working on marketing efforts for wheat products into the domestic and international markets.”

Seed rot and seedling blight wreaking havoc on your wheat fields? FMC has introduced a new seed treatment product dedicated to protecting roots from early-season diseases: Avodigen® biofungicide/bionematicide. Learn how Avodigen biofungicide/bionematicide can take early season root protection to the next level on your wheat operation.