May 30, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Valley, This is aglife. My name is Bob Quinn.
With you for the next hour. We're talking about agricultural
production here in the valley and all across the country. Well, friends,
we start the morning off with a look at the
health of a forest. Rod Bain has our story.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
How might US Forest Service pathologist Martin Mackenzie be described?
This California based researcher is recognized as and acknowledges titles
like professional observer.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Anybody else standing here would probably look at this stand
and see the beautiful, ponderous and the wonderful incenseatre, but
I see a dead spire in the distance.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Trade doctor specialize again.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
The study of diseases that either kill trees or produce
wartz or gulls or cancers.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
And perhaps most descriptive.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm a stumpbuster because the fungus grows inside the cave
of the stump, so you've got to break open the
stump to find the fungus inside.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
All these names summarize Mackenzie's talents and trading over a
fifty five year career to identify dead add dying trees
in a five forest region in the Golden State and
recognize various threats to trees, such as plant disease and fugus.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
The two major diseases are ruats pinosis and blister ust or.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
In the case of a sugar pine tree in the
Statoslaw National Forest, the spores.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Landed on the needle, grew down the needle, grew into
the branch, grew into the main stem, and girdle the
main stem. No water will get past the girdle, and
everything above that will dye. All the cones that were
produced at the tips of the branches will die too,
so there will be no seeds produced. It will eventually
sterilize this tree, threatening the future of sugar pines.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
He is also observant when it comes to identifying various
invasive pests. Peeling away a dying stump, He notices bark beetles,
which are both beneficial in eating away dying or decayed trees,
add threatening in consuming wood on healthy trees, causing signific
get damage.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
This is mass attack. That's two hundred, four hundred and
six hundred, eight hundred one thoy twelve hundred eggs in
under eight inches. That's an incredibly large number of eggs
that hatch and grow out as little ones.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
The significants what identify tree disease and insect threats. Is
also noting where potential wildfire threats could occur.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
When these trees die and fall on the ground, they
become thousand dollar fuels and they'll burn for one thousand
dollars when they catch fire. But once you've got dense
vegetation in taller trees and low vegetation underneath, it can
crown file and that's what's the most dangerous. That's what
we lose the greatest number of trees.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
At How did Makidzie develop his powers of observation practice
taking what area of forest at a time at spending
time seeing and creating his mental picture of what a
normal forest looks like versus one that has sides of
unhealthy trees and vegetation. A broad Bade reporting for the
US Department of Agriculture in Washington, d C.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Farm US coming up. You're listening to Aglife Bob Quent
back with some farm news today, friends. When when farm
labor shortages are discussed, fruits and vegetables are often some
of the first commodities that come to mind. However, the
livestock sector is quick to point out they need workers
as well, and they don't have the benefit of the
H two A program. Julianne Potts, as President and CEO

(03:25):
of the Meat Institute, if.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
We could improve HQUA, and we've long argued that we
would like to be part of HQUA and meat and
poultry processing sector, that would help a lot in alleviating
across the harvest part of meat and poultry production. What
we could do to enhance our labor force.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Pott says, consumers only need to look back at COVID
as an example of what happens when meat processing facilities
are short of workers. She noted that during the pandemic,
productivity decreased by thirty to fifty percent. So much of
the conversation about addressing labor needs revolves around technology and automation.
Pots says, while many technologies in development have great potential

(04:07):
for the meat and poultry processing sector, technology is not
a silver bullet, but that.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
Takes capital, and as you know, the market for beef
and pork a little bit in chicken has not been
as strong as it was before and during the pandemic,
so I think you saw maybe a bit of a
slowdown on some of those investments. They will continue, but
it is not going to solve the problem comprehensively. We

(04:35):
need immigration reform. We need a steady, stable, legal workforce,
and no amount of automation is going to take that place.
People working in our plants will be repurposed. They won't
lose their jobs because of automation.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Pots added that as technology is incorporated into processing, there
will be plenty of places where human workers are needed well. Friends.
While beef demand strong, it's important to constantly look for
ways to improve production methods and the price you get
for your cattle. Cara Lead, director of producer Engagement for
Certified Angus Beef, talks about maximizing the profit potential and

(05:13):
your herd.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Everyone has the responsibility of looking at their own cow
herd and determining where are the areas that I have
room for improvement. When we look at profitability opportunities for
cattle producers, especially folks who are retaining ownership or maybe
doing some progressive feeder calf marketing, trying to leverage the
genetic value of those feeder cattle. Being more focused on

(05:35):
quality genetics is a good hedge of opportunity from a
pricing perspective.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
It's all about being able to quantify your herd genetics.

Speaker 5 (05:44):
In twenty twenty three alone, we saw that cattle that
met certified Angus beef qualifications earn nearly one hundred dollars
per head over the market average. And so if I'm
a commercial cow calf producer thinking about either retaining ownership
on my own calves or even again leveraging that value,
thank you to the next customer down the chain. From
a feed yard perspective, being able to quantify the quality

(06:04):
genetics that I have in Mike Colvern adds more profitability
to my potential.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Carol Lee certified Angus Beef with US.

Speaker 6 (06:12):
Well.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
After several years of rapidly rising farmland values, twenty twenty
four saw things begin to cool off. Randy Dickoot, farmland
sales expert with Agricultural Economics Insight, says, the cyclical up
and down nature of farmland prices is typical.

Speaker 6 (06:28):
That's correct, and that's very typical. Listening or businying with
brokers and agriculture people around the country and reading the data.
That's very typical. That slows down after it has a
surge in the amount of sales of farmland when the
prices are higher than it gets a little more uncertain
or people have already sold and they're just going to

(06:49):
hold tight now.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
He says, the prices started peaking in the I States
in the early twenty twenties. Other states stood out, both
positively and negatively.

Speaker 6 (06:59):
Well was one that stood out. It was, you know,
a little more consistent. Didn't quite see the swings, you know,
the amount of sales kind of would vary and some
of that. You know, Minnesota was a little different. I know,
Kansas looking at other data we didn't include in there
that had pretty active sale sales during you know, the

(07:20):
time period they had for late twenty three to early
twenty four.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Randy Dick Woot Agricultural Economic Insights. This morning, farm US.
You're listening to WAG Life.

Speaker 7 (07:31):
It's another a news update sweeping tariffs. Are they breaking
the wall?

Speaker 8 (07:38):
More after this, here's farmer and landowner John Prue.

Speaker 9 (07:43):
We purchased the land about three years ago and there
was an old farmstead on there with trees and we're
going to clear the lands we could farm through it.
We thought we knew where the pipe was, so we
didn't call to get it located. The work on our
property led to the damage of a light crude pipeline.
Fortunately no one was hurt, but it could have been.

Speaker 8 (07:58):
Much worse asumed the location or depth of underground lines.
Always call eight one to one or visit clickbefore youdig
dot com before you start work. A message from the
pipeline operators for egg safety campaign.

Speaker 7 (08:10):
Earlier this month from Switzerland US trade representative Jamison Greer,
I want to.

Speaker 10 (08:17):
Echo the Secretary's of Marx respect to the Swiss government.
They've been so welcoming and they've posted this and everything
has gone off flawlessly and we appreciate that. And again
to the Chinese negotiators. Vice Premier Leopo, Vice Minister Lee
Gangong and Vice Minister Leamen work very diligently and these
are very tough negotiators. A couple of them I know
from before and have had pass interactions with them. And

(08:40):
this was, as a secretary pointed out, a very constructed
two days. It's important to understand how quickly we were
able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the
differences were not so large as maybe thought. That being said,
there was a lot of groundwork that went into these
two days. I just remember why we're here in the
first place, at the United States as a mass at

(09:01):
one point two trillion dollars trade deficit. So the President
declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs. And we're confident
that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will
help us to resolve work towards resolving that national emergency.

Speaker 7 (09:14):
But a federal trade court on Wednesday blocked the administration
from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under the Emergency Powers law.
It's another Agnews update.

Speaker 11 (09:29):
If this were just any door, and this were just
any ignition connected to just any transmission in just any vehicle,
then perhaps it would be okay to buy it from
just anyone. But this is not just any car. It's
a certified prio own Mercedes Benz. Every detail has been
inspected and road tested by highly skilled Mercedes Benz technicians,

(09:50):
and it's all backed by an unlimited mileage warranty for
up to five years, which makes the decision of where
to buy one simple if you authorized Merceades Benz deal.

Speaker 7 (09:58):
American Cattle News. A nineteen fifty six movie called Giant
told the story of cattle versus oil. What's it today?

Speaker 10 (10:07):
More after this, when you look at me, you might
see a person with Parkinson's disease.

Speaker 12 (10:12):
But if you look.

Speaker 13 (10:13):
Closer, you'll see a warrior mom, an endurance athlete.

Speaker 12 (10:18):
Someone with a lot of fights.

Speaker 14 (10:19):
Every nine minutes, someone is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
And every one of them can turn to the American
Parkinson Disease Association.

Speaker 13 (10:28):
Look closer, My spirit is fine shapeable.

Speaker 5 (10:31):
Visit ap DA parkinson dot org to learn more and
show your support today.

Speaker 7 (10:37):
Brian McLaughlin is an attorney and a rancher in Midland, Texas.
The Permian Basin.

Speaker 15 (10:44):
The Permian Basins large. I mean, that's just a geographic
carry out in West Texas, you know, I would say,
you know west off I thirty five, which almost bisects
the state from west of Austin, west of Ballast and
Fort Worth just south of the Panhandle, but from El
Pasoeast it's it covers a big area.

Speaker 16 (10:58):
And you're right.

Speaker 15 (10:58):
The ranching and ol and gas industry have gone hand
in hand for a long time. They're kind of one
in the saying. These were the big vacant lands of Texas.
And back in the early days of Texas, Texas was
a land rich state and gave away its lands to
railroads and if they would survey the lands, but then
they sold and became ranches. It was profitable to run
ranching and the cattles back in the Bacon cattle drives
back in the eighteen eighties, late later part of the

(11:20):
eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Then the fencing came
along and the ranches became more established than in the twenties.
The oil field hit in West Texas, out in Reagan County.
The Santa Rina number one in the University of Texas
owns a lot of lands in West Texas. That's parts
only two million acres. That's what forms the Permanent University Fund,
which supplies a lot of money for the University of

(11:41):
Texas and Texas A and M systems. Ranching and oil
and gas interergy have gone hand in hand for a
long time.

Speaker 7 (11:46):
Tonty an easy place to raise livestock.

Speaker 15 (11:49):
Well, we have had some very serious droughts the past decades.
You know the Twain Desert which begins in the Big
Ben out in southwest part of Texas. It's getting larger.
The desert is not getting smaller, but we've had some
tough times. Lack of rain fall past several years is
really devastating has where we've had some terrible fires. Our
place got wiped out in twenty eleven by devastating fire.
In this past year, we had some horrible fires up

(12:09):
in the pantannle and that takes a lot of land
out of production. And if there's no grass there to grow,
the cattle can't raise cattle on it, we can't put
them in the market. So we are at historic lows
in the cattle numbers, which has caused the increase in
the price.

Speaker 7 (12:23):
American Cattle News.

Speaker 12 (12:27):
This is Dairy Radio Now feed Form Friday.

Speaker 17 (12:31):
With doctor Mike Hutchins, Professor Emeritis from the University of Illinois. Hello, Mike,
Welcome to.

Speaker 18 (12:36):
Today's feed form, and we're going to talk about heat stress.
That's very timely topic because we're coming either that part
of the year right now where we're going to see
heat stress across the United States. Recently, doctor Laporte from
the University of Wisconsin had a nice seminar on heat stress.
He reports said we can expect about a two degree
celsius increase in temperature by twenty fifty and that's going
to infect us things as crop production, animal welfare, and

(12:58):
milk yield as well. And basically he focused on dry cows,
heifers and calves in his one and he says heat
stress affects the dry cow several ways. First of all,
once that cow calves in, she will produce about eight
pounds less mal because she was not cool when she
was in the dry period. Another event is that the
female calf she is carrying as a dry cow, she

(13:19):
will also produce less mal once she caves in two
years later. And amazingly to discover there's epigenetics, which means
the granddaughter, the daughter of the calf that's going to
be born from that dry cow, it's also affected as well.
And so what it does is heat stress will delay
the development of memory system fewer lobbylars, fewer cells, and

(13:40):
less secretary tissue here as well. And about seventy five
percent of the growth occurs in that last trimester in
the pregnancy as far as that goes, and then as
we see lots of development of organs and memory systems
development as well, if we have heat stress over sixty eight,
the gestation will be shorter, lower birth weights. The caves

(14:00):
don't absorb the IgGs as well, and they eat less
and therefore they reduce growth here as well. So these
heifers aren't quite as growthy and are delayed in entering
the milk herd. We know that these calves will have
that are under heat stress in the individual will have
less duct development and less branching of the cells as well.

(14:20):
We look at how much milk do we actually lose, Well,
the cow is going to lose about like I mentioned,
ten pounds of milk. The F one generation that is
the order that was under the heat stress, he's going
to lose about six pounds of milk, and the F
two which is the great granddaughter, is going to lose
about three pounds of milk. Were looking he also looked
at heifers and certainly we saw that they had slower

(14:43):
growth and had less body surface and therefore affects the
mammary glen itself as well and appears cooling in the
last sixty days, just like dry cows is important in
their studies. That indicative drop there of about eight pounds
of milk as well is calves. Calves are born from
cool dams. We were asking what about the calf and

(15:06):
the research limited as it is, it will indicate that
there is less growth occurring in these calves and experience
more health outcomes some of the diseases that the young
calves can get. However, their studies did not see any
major impact in the milk yield as fires that goes
for every one degree increase in thermal heat index increases

(15:28):
the breathing rate by a factor of two. So our
takeo messages on it that certainly heat stresses here. We
need to be modifying that. Be well aware that it
has a long term effect affecting animals for three generations.
If we don't cool these cows and dry colls off
here and does affect halfer growth and calf development as well. Thanks,
have a great day.

Speaker 19 (15:46):
Thanks Mike.

Speaker 17 (15:46):
That's doctor my Cutcheons, professor emeritus from the University of Illinois,
featured every Friday here on our feed form Friday on
Dairy Radio.

Speaker 20 (15:53):
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(16:17):
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Speaker 17 (16:23):
The Agriculture Secretary among those talking with federal, state, and
local entities and efforts to address mental health challenges in
the rural and farm sectors.

Speaker 21 (16:32):
The suicide right with our farmers is similar to our veterans,
and it's stunningly and heartbreakingly high.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Agriculture Secretary Brook Rawlins recently added Nebraska event discussing National
Mental Health Awareness Month. She said on conversations with Veteran
Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins on the matter, he and I.

Speaker 21 (16:52):
Have talked about this. You'll be seeing more on this,
and you'll be seeing us rolling things out we've already
put together with our incredible ad commissioners. Really, I'm working
to support the innovative ideas on some of the most
important issues facing our farmers and rianchers, and this is
certainly one of them.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
With the Secretary encouraging submission of rural mental health models
and resources from rural citizens and the farm sector. Broadbeade
Reporting for the US Department of Agriculture.

Speaker 14 (17:22):
An agronomis for a major farming operation overseeing thousands of
acres of pistachios, wrote his own job description when he
wanted to leave that farm with the American Pistachio Growers Association.
I'm Patrick Cavanaugh with a California tree nutt report, part
of the vast ag Information Network. We're talking about Joe Coello.

(17:44):
He's the director of Sustainability and member Outreach for APG.

Speaker 22 (17:50):
Look, I'm ready to move out of where I am,
where I was the director of agronomy for eleven years.
I can look at a lot of acreage farmed, a
lot of organic tons of haven't.

Speaker 14 (18:00):
Any contacted APG.

Speaker 22 (18:02):
Well, I'd like you to consider taking the need for
action around what's coming out of the sustainability committee and
also your lack of a grower outreach and marry those
two things together, and you should hire.

Speaker 23 (18:15):
Me to do it.

Speaker 22 (18:16):
I'd be the perfect one to do it. And long
story short is that let me write my own job
description and next thing you know was hired knows just
about a year ago. So as a result and marrying
those two things and knowing what I want as a
grower out of an association, I go visit with growers.
I assess their pain points, which especially the first thing

(18:38):
water that's and that's a kind of a tough one sometimes,
but I have ways to save water in terms of
like GSA, you know, maneuvering and nuances and things like that.

Speaker 24 (18:48):
It's been popping up in orchards and vineyards all over
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Speaker 23 (18:52):
Theori scholars, Oh, yeah, it's a fund aside from BASF,
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Speaker 24 (18:58):
How do you explain these healthy.

Speaker 23 (19:00):
Well, longer lasting residual Plus it's built for current regulatory
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So a fungicide that is out of this world. I
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Speaker 19 (19:17):
For the last forty years, the AG Information Network has
been the source of news for farmers and ranchers. Yet
we have never seen such an assault on farming and
our food supply as we do today, from fuel to fertilizer.
Farmers are facing unprecedented economic challenges. This is why agriculture
news that farmers receive comes from the AG Information Network,

(19:37):
reaching coast to coast, deep roots and farming in decades
of reporting, the AG Information Network trusted and transparent journalism
for generations.

Speaker 14 (19:46):
With the AG Information Network, I'm Patrick Cavanaugh, I'm Dwayanne Merley,
and Visa's focus on AG out West.

Speaker 25 (19:55):
This weekend, there is going to be a short lived,
but rather intense heat weight. It is going to push
temperatures well above one hundred degrees throughout California Central Valley
and the Desert Southwest.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
And while more common this time of the yerea the
Desert Southwest, USDA borologist Brad Rippy says the heat waves
intensity and coverage in the Golden State Central Valley is
unique for late May and early June. Beyond those areas.

Speaker 25 (20:21):
That hot weather is going to extend pretty much throughout
the Western United States. We'll see a lot of the
lower elevation sites outside of the Central Valley in California
getting well into the nineties, and even the mountains will
be a lot of cases in the seventies or eighties.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
By early next week, Western high temperatures are expected to
be cooler as moisture from a weakening Eastern Pacific tropical
system moves into the desert southwest, prompting the heat event
to move further to the east. Over the course of
next week.

Speaker 25 (20:49):
Temperatures are certainly going to make a flip as we
move into next week. We've got the upcoming western heat wave,
but it's going to be short lived, and in fact,
there's a lot of stuff going on right now in
the Eastern Pacific and across western North America. So just
to put a little bit of a spin on how
this is going to play out, we actually have a
disturbance that's approaching the California coast. We have what is

(21:11):
expected to become our first Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone at
the season off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Some of
that moisture from that early tropical system tropical cyclone is
expected to be drawn northward. This is not the mine
soon arriving in the Southwest, but it is some moisture
that is going to be lifting to the north from
that potential tropical cyclone, and it could bring some showers

(21:34):
into the drought stricken Southwest late in the weekend and
early next week that should break the western heat wave,
and it could provide some much needed moisture in the west.
The warmth will shift eastward and it looks like finally
a break from the cool conditions that have plagued much
of the central and Eastern United States in recent days.
That should be fantastic with all the moisture that we've

(21:56):
had in those areas, and then warmer weather things are
really going to pop. We should see rapid emergence and
development of springstone crops like corn and soybeans, and then
that should open up some more opportunities for fieldwork, getting
some of that late planting done, and it should also
help with rangeland and pasture growth as well as winter
wheat development. So I think warmer weather in the central
and eastern US will be a good thing. It's not

(22:17):
going to be hot, just warm eighties to low nineties
for the most part, and a lot of our crop
production areas of the plains in midwest, so I think
the changes there will be good positive overall for agriculture.
Taking a look at the National Weather Service eight to
fourteen day outlook, this covers the time period from June
fourth through the tenth. The cool weather that we'll be
moving into the West early next week. Looks like it

(22:38):
may stick around for a while. We are looking at
most areas of the West experiencing near or below normal temperatures,
and that warmth generally dominating the central and eastern United States.
With that pattern change and a little bit of a
dip in the jet stream in the West, that kind
of opens up the Gulf and the Atlantic to some
moisture coming in. We are expecting near or above normal
precipitation virtually nation wide. Really, the only exception we see

(23:02):
in this is some drier than normal conditions along the
northern Atlantic coast.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Rod Bain, reporting for the US Department of Agriculture in Washington,
d C.

Speaker 26 (23:12):
You're listening to focus on ag The Farm Workforce Modernization
Act has made a return appearance in Congress. Bob Larson
has more well.

Speaker 27 (23:22):
Last week, US Representative Dan new House was part of
a bipartisan group that reintroduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act
to reform the H two AVISA program. The Sunnyside Republican says,
given our current labor challenges in agriculture, it just makes sense.

Speaker 28 (23:38):
It's not rocket science what we're trying to do. Basically,
we want people to be able to come into our
country legally work at farms in this case, in this
legislation where we absolutely need them, and then when the
work is done and they want to go back home,
they can do that legally as well, without fear of
not being able to come back.

Speaker 27 (23:57):
And the system currently in place, new House says just
isn't doing enough.

Speaker 28 (24:01):
Other countries have figured this out. We have to some extent,
but it's a umberson difficult process for people to use,
and it's expensive, and it doesn't cover all of agriculture.
So we're trying to make some needed changes to the program.

Speaker 27 (24:16):
Fortunately, new How says, the word has been getting out
to lawmakers.

Speaker 28 (24:20):
Farmers in other states are expressing their concerns and their
urgency to their members of Congress. So people are hearing
about the high cost of agricultural labor, that wages keep
going up and up and the availability of workers keeps
going the other direction.

Speaker 27 (24:35):
New House says, this legislation is necessary and he's committed
to working with his colleagues to enact long term, durable
reforms to our agg guest worker programs.

Speaker 26 (24:44):
I am Dwayne Merley.

Speaker 29 (24:47):
It's time for California today. On the ag Information Network.
I am Haley's ship. Almonds here in the state of
California are entering into the whole split crop stage on
the grower Anxiety list. That means Q up, naval orange
worm and whole rot. Greg selna product manager with Helena
Agger enterprises the.

Speaker 6 (25:07):
Naval orange worm.

Speaker 30 (25:08):
Once that hall opens, has an enterway into the nut itself.

Speaker 29 (25:13):
Greg told me that this is when troubadour a worm
specific control and utilize PK, a full year nutrient system
that boosts plant performance, enter the chat.

Speaker 30 (25:24):
We utilize PK will increase photosynthesis and chloro fill production
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the GA one for two, which is is the go
more active ingredient in the utilize, has a stress reducing
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Speaker 29 (25:45):
It, and we can all use a little less stress now.
The latest numbers from the USDA's National Egg Statistics Service
are predicting that the twenty twenty five almond harvest is
going to be three percent larger than what the state
saw in twenty twenty four. If you want to chat
more about relevant product, you can find a Helena rep
near you at Helena agrit dot com.

Speaker 19 (26:05):
For over forty years The AGG Information Network has been
providing news and information for the most important industry in
the world, agriculture. The Egg Information Network gives you worldwide
updates from local producers to regional organizations, from major crops
like wheat and corn, to animal agriculture to specially crops
like apples, almonds, and cherries. We report on stories that

(26:27):
mean the most to you online at aginfo dot net.
The Egg Information Network trusted and transparent journalism lasting for
the next generation.

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Speaker 29 (27:04):
This is California AGG Today on the AG Information Network.
I am Hailey Ship. For more agnews, check us out
online at aginfo dot net.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Bob Quent back with some farm US Today friends. When
when farm labor shortages are discussed, fruits and vegetables are
often some of the first commodities that come to mind. However,
the livestock sector is quick to point out they need
workers as well, and they don't have the benefit of
the H two A program. Julianne Potts, as president and
CEO of the Meat Institute.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
If we could improve HQUA, and we've long argued that
we would like to be part of HQUA and meat
and poultry processing sector, that would help a lot in
alleviating across the harvest part of meat and poultry production.
What we could do to enhance our labor.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
Force, pot says consumers only need to look back at
COVID as an example of what happens when meat processing
facilities are short of workers. She noted that the pandemic
productivity decreased by thirty to fifty percent. So much of
the conversation about addressing labor needs revolves around technology and automation.
Pots says, while many technologies in development have great potential

(28:12):
for the meat and poultry processing sector, technology is not
a silver bullet, but that.

Speaker 4 (28:17):
Takes capital, and as you know, the market for beef
and pork a little bit in chicken has not been
as strong as it was before and during the pandemic,
so I think you saw maybe a bit of a
slowdown on some of those investments. They will continue, but
it is not going to solve the problem comprehensively. We

(28:39):
need immigration reform, We need a steady, stable, legal workforce,
and no amount of automation is going to take that place.
People working in our plants will be repurposed. They won't
lose their jobs because of automation.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Pots added that as technology is incorporated into processing, there
will be plenty of places where human work are needed.
Up next to on Aglife, Exploring the soybean trade triangle
on how President Trump's trade war might impact the flow
of the oil seed from the US, Brazil and some
other countries, Todd Gleeson has our story.

Speaker 16 (29:12):
If you look back to twenty seventeen, before the first
round of the trade war, Brazil emerged with more exports.
Brazil has increased as soybean exports by forty five percent
from two and a half billion bushels to three point
six billion bushels. Meanwhile, the United States has kept its
soybean exports at about two billion bushels. In other words,
much of the growth in global soybean demand in recent

(29:34):
years has been supplied by the South American nation. University
of Illinois Joanna Clussi has taken a look at round
two of this trade war in a new five minute
farm dock video that you may find on YouTube. She says,
this time it's bigger.

Speaker 31 (29:49):
American soybeans now faced double the tariffs in the Chinese
market compared to the levels during Trump's first term. In
this time, other major trades partners, like a European owner,
are also affected. In fact, all of the top ten
markets for US soybeans have been hit with tariffs. This

(30:10):
is no longer just a trade war between China and US.
It has escalated into a global trade war.

Speaker 16 (30:18):
According to the American Soybean Association, US soybean farmers could
lose about six billion dollars in annual export income. Meanwhile,
Brazil is expecting a new record for soybean exports, driven
by a record harvest over six billion bushels and stronger
Chinese demand. Soybean exports from there could reach three point

(30:38):
nine billion bushels this year. In addition, says Clusy in
the five minute farm dock segment, Brazil has improved its logistics,
cutting transportation costs and narrowing the gap with US infrastructure.
This is in part because Chinese companies are investing in
Brazilian ports, roads, and railways combined. She notes, the trade war,

(30:59):
the stronger US dollar, and China's development of Brazil's export
infrastructure push the price of soybeans at Brazilian ports to
their highest level at this time of year since the
start of the Russia Ukraine conflict. April first, a day
after President Trump's tariff announcement, the premium being paid at
Brazilian ports was a dollar over the Chicago benchmark Soabean price. Brazil,

(31:22):
says the Joviac Economist, is benefiting from the trade war,
but it won't be the only nation to find traction
in the export market.

Speaker 31 (31:29):
While Brazil is the larger supplier capable of replacing US
soybeans in the Chinese market, other countries could benefit as well,
including Argentina and Paraguay, the world thirth and fourth larger
soibeing exporters. The current environment favors higher exports from Argentina

(31:49):
due to lower export tax introduced in January and a
more stable microeconomy.

Speaker 16 (31:55):
Outlook estimates suggests the current South American soybean harvest could
set up a new record, surpassing eight and a half
billion bushels, or about fifty five percent of total global
soybean production. So as the global trade war escalates, it's
free shaping the soybean market in real time again Thanks Calusi.
She plans to continue to monitor these changes and bring

(32:17):
more insights to the Farm Dock website presence at Farmdock
Daily dot Illinois dot EEDU. I'm University of Illinois Extensions,
Todd Gleason farm US.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
This morning, you're listening to WAG Life, but.

Speaker 27 (32:32):
The AGG Information Network. This is your agribusiness update. The
consumer Price Index data for April shows a welcome moderation
in overall inflation, cooling to its slowest annual rate since
twenty twenty one. Despite that, many families continue to feel
the pinch at the grocery store and dining out. In April,
consumer prices rose point two percent from the previous month,

(32:52):
slowing the annual inflation rate of two point four percent
to two point three The data was surprising, as many
expected trade disputes and terror to push prices higher. A
new survey commissioned by Crop Life America reveals a strong
trust in American farmers and public recognition of the benefits
pesticides provide in making food more affordable and accessible. The

(33:12):
poll shows two thirds of Americans approve of the job
farmers are doing. An overwhelming majority agree that when farmers
use tools like pesticides to control weeds, crop disease, and pests,
it leads to greater food choices and lower costs for families.
An Egg Secretary Brook Rawlins and Interior Secretary Doug Bergram
signed a joint memo on wildfire Preparedness, ensuring the departments

(33:34):
will work closely during fire season. USDA will work with
President's Cabinet and trusted state, local, and tribal partners to
ensure the nation's firefighting system remains coordinated and focused on
fighting wildfires quickly and effectively. Rawlin says they will work
in lock step alongside our federal partners to effectively combat wildfires.

Speaker 24 (33:53):
It's been popping up in orchards and vineyards all over
any origin.

Speaker 23 (33:57):
Theories caolars, Oh yeah, you a fungicide from BASF, A
category leader and disease control.

Speaker 24 (34:03):
How do you explain these healthy crops well.

Speaker 23 (34:06):
Longer lasting residual. Plus it's built for current regulatory standards
and prepare for what's to come, which improves crop marketing flexibility.

Speaker 24 (34:13):
So a fungicide that is out of this world. I
knew it, Sevy a fungicide from BASF for is it
always reading liberations.

Speaker 19 (34:23):
The best place to reach a farmer with a farming
solution message is when they're well farming. It's easy to
find them during the day as most farmers are behind
the wheel of the pickup truck or farm equipment with
the radio on listening to this station for the ag
Information Network of the West News. So reach real farmers
right here, right now as they listen to what's important

(34:44):
to their farm operation. Give us a call and we'll
connect you with our local farming community. They trust us,
so they'll trust you.

Speaker 12 (34:52):
From the Egg Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with today's
agribusiness update.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Bob Quent back to wrap up AGLIE for today. Friends.
Well friends, we've heard the term precision upgrades talked about.
Chad Smith takes a look.

Speaker 13 (35:06):
Kyle Barry, manager of Precision Upgrades Marketing for John Deere,
talks about precision upgrades and why it's time that farmers
look into them.

Speaker 32 (35:15):
When we talk about precision upgrades, it's really about taking
customer's existing machines and upgrading them to the latest and
gradest technology offerings that Deer has put out in the marketplace.
So think about a planter, a spray, or a combine
that maybe is a few years old. Deer has come
out with new technology that's available from the factory on
new machines, but we're retrofitting that same technology onto existing machines.

(35:35):
So it's giving customers the ability to move up what
we call the technology pyramid.

Speaker 13 (35:40):
Barry says they have a suite of available planter upgrades
from John Deere.

Speaker 32 (35:44):
A couple of them that we're really excited about, especially
going into our new model you're here in June. Is
the meter upgrade. So traditionally John Deere has sold upgrades
for planters in the version of an entire row unit,
so you would take the old row units off your
planner and put an entire.

Speaker 7 (35:59):
New ROW unit on. But new from out of your.

Speaker 32 (36:01):
Twenty six, we have the ability to replace the existing
meter in your planter with a new either ME five E,
MAXIMERGE five E or Exact emerged meter. You compare it
with individual row hydraulic downforce if you want, or active pneumatic.
He really takes that basic planter and moves it up
the technology pyramid to electric drive, giving you all the
benefits of individual row shut off if you move up

(36:21):
to exact emerging and you get the ability to plant
it up to ten miles an hour.

Speaker 13 (36:24):
Deciting on an upgrade depends on what problem a customer
is trying to solve.

Speaker 32 (36:29):
You can really piece an upgrade kit together for your
planner to help solve the problems that you have. And
maybe that's pneumatic row cleaners, maybe it's the meter upgrade
that we just talked about. Maybe your row units are
were out and it makes sense to replace the entire
row unit in the form of an ultimate planter upgrade.
We also have frame weight distribution available, so if you're
worried about the pentro compaction from the CCS tanks, we

(36:51):
have an upgrade kit available to help with that. So
it really boils down to what problems they are trying
to solve and how the technology that Deer offers can
meet them more or they are and they can move
up that technology pyramid I talked about without buying a
brand new planter, they can keep the planter they have
put some upgrades on it depending on what they want,
and be ready for the planting season for twenty six.

Speaker 13 (37:11):
Deer has resources available for farmers to start considering a
planter upgrade. Now one great resources.

Speaker 32 (37:18):
They're local John Deere dealer. They're a wealth of information
when it comes to all things John Deere, but also
precision upgrades. You could also visit us online at Deer
dot com slash upgrade. And when you think specifically for planters,
we have a compatibility tool out there where you can
put this serial number of the planter that you own
and it'll tell you all of the upgrades that are
available for that specific model. So if you're not sure

(37:39):
what you can even upgrade your planter two, that tool
is a great resource, and so I would encourage customers
to go to either of those two places.

Speaker 13 (37:46):
Again, that's Kyle Berry with John Deere Chad Smith reporting
with that.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
Friends a out of time for today, thanks for joining us.
Back Monday morning with another edition of Bad Life