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Register for cider and beverage trade mission to Canada

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SALEM, Ore. — The ciders, coolers, and other low-alcoholic fermented beverage category is experiencing a record sales increase in the Canadian market. Between 2020-2021, Canadians bought $1.8 billion worth of ciders and coolers, up over 40% from the previous fiscal year.

This event is a great opportunity for experienced exporters and new-to-market companies to explore the craft cider beverage market in Canada and to meet with buyers in person.

Eligible products:

Hard cider, hard kombucha, wine, spirits, other alcoholic alternatives to beer

Benefits of participation:

  • Meet in person with qualified buyers from Canada in Calgary and MontrĂ©al
  • Learn about the opportunities and demands of craft cider and other alcoholic beverages in the Canadian market
  • Evaluate how your product fits into the marketplace by engaging with retail and wholesale buyers and participating in retail tours and market tasting events
  • The Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA®) will cover airfare between Calgary and MontrĂ©al, 6 nights of lodging for 1 company representative, and some other costs

Tentative itinerary:

September 11: Travel to Calgary, Alberta
September 12: Briefings, field visits, Calgary retail tour, market tasting event
September 13: Sample tastings, one-on-one meetings
September 14: Follow-up meetings, travel to Montréal, Québec
September 15: Sample tastings, one-on-one meetings
September 16: Field visits, Montréal retail tour, market tasting event
September 17: Travel day

Participation fee: $260.00 per company

Registration deadline: July 22, 2022

Register Here

— ODA

Ukraine: FAO scales up efforts to save upcoming harvest

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KYIV — To address the impacts of the war in Ukraine on the global agricultural sector, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new $17 million project to help Ukrainian farmers save the upcoming harvest in July-August while ensuring export of critical agricultural goods to international markets.

Funded by Japan and implemented jointly with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the project aims to restore grain storage capacity and functionality of supply chains from harvest to export as well as maintain productive capacity of Ukrainian farmers to enable continued future productions.

“Ukraine’s farmers are feeding themselves, their communities and millions more people around the world. Ensuring they can continue production, safely store and access alternative markets to sell their produce is vital to secure food availability, protect livelihoods, strengthen food security within Ukraine and ensure other import-dependent countries have a steady and sufficient supply of grain at a manageable cost,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience.

Ukraine is one of the top-five global grain exporters, supplying more than 45 million tonnes of grain yearly to the global market. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, due to the blockage of Black Sea ports, the country still has 18 million tonnes of last year’s cereals and oilseeds harvest in stores waiting for export. Alternative rail and river routes cannot make up for the lost exports through maritime transportation and bottlenecks along new, potential supply chains that have yet to be resolved.

This season Ukraine is expecting to harvest up to 60 million tonnes of grain. But the lack of export does not allow for the opening of available storage space for the new harvest, since 30 percent of the available capacity of granaries still remain filled with last year’s harvest.

“Within the new Japan-funded project, FAO will address storage deficit by providing the polyethylene grain sleeves, grain loading and unloading machinery to the smallholders and a variety of modular storage containers to the medium-sized producers and associations. Support will be provided to the farmers from ten oblasts of Ukraine: in the east, centre, south and north of the country,” said Pierre Vauthier, Head of FAO Ukraine Country Office.

In addition, the project will provide technical support to the Government to operationalize alternative transport routes for grain export and foster the rapid expansion of technical capacity of the Izmail laboratory. The facility will enable farmers to meet international standards including veterinary and food safety testing and certification.

FAO’s ongoing support to Ukraine

FAO has been operating in Ukraine since 2003 and since 2015 focused its activities on emergency support and development projects.

Following the start of the war, the Organization has developed and updated its Rapid Response Plan, calling for $115.4 million in funding to provide support to almost 980 000 small farmers and medium-sized producers through December 2022.

As of 29 June, FAO has already supported over 75 000 people with emergency agricultural support including distribution of seed potatoes and vegetable seeds and multipurpose cash assistance. An additional 44 000 people will be supported in the coming weeks to produce vegetables, cereal crops, milk, meat and eggs to feed themselves.

This is the second time Japan has contributed to fund FAO’s Humanitarian Response Programme in Ukraine followed by its first contribution in April 2022, adding up to a total of $20 million.

To date, with the additional funds from Japan, FAO has raised $30.4 million. The financial support has been also provided by Australia, Belgium, the CERF Rapid Response, the European Union, France, the Louis Dreyfus Foundation, Ukraine Humanitarian Fund and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). With more contributions, FAO would be able to reach more people to bolster food production and improve the food security situation in the country.

Facts and figures: 

  • In 2021, 36 out of 55 countries with food crises depended on Ukraine and Russian exports for more than 10 percent of their total wheat imports, while some obtained almost the entirety of their wheat imports from Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
  • According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, export volumes for grains are normally at 6 million tonnes per month, whereas in 2022, only 322 000 tonnes in March, 970 000 tonnes in April, 1.2 million tonnes in May, and over 1 million tonnes in June have been exported.
  • According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, as of 1 January 2022, the total storage capacity in the country was 75 million tonnes. Considering areas directly affected by war, only 60.9 million tonnes of storage capacity are currently available.
  • As of 2 June, 14.2 million ha have been planted with spring crops – 19.4 percent less than last year, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
  • Some 25 percent of crop producers lack the plant protection products they require.
  • Household and commercial producers cannot access sufficient fuel for agricultural production and transportation. This lack of fuel availability may affect the July/August harvest of winter crops.
  • Agricultural input prices are spiking, with an average increase of 40–45 percent in the price of seed, plant protection agents, fertilizers and fuel. In the upcoming seasons, producers may determine that standing crops are not profitable to harvest.

–FAO

Market update, tips to side-dress manure, control flies

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JUNEAU, Wis. — This week’s episodes of The Dairy Signal from Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW) will offer timely updates for dairy producers to learn more about side-dressing corn with manure on Tuesday. A Wednesday dairy-producer panel will share fly-control strategies and the Thursday episode will feature the bi-weekly market and industry news update.

Here are more details:

Tuesday, July 5
Side-dressing corn with manure can help save costs on commercial fertilizer. Hear about how to effectively apply and manage this valuable resource.  Episode presenter will be:

  • Glen Arnold, Associate Professor, Field Specialist, Manure Nutrient Management at Ohio State University Extension

Wednesday, July 6
Fly control is a hot topic during summer months. Hear from dairy producers who will share how they manage fly populations in calf-raising areas. Episode presenters will be:

  • Christine Bender, Owner/Herd Manager, McFarlandale Dairy LLC, Watertown, Wis.
  • Sherry Arnold, Busse’s Barron Acres, Barron, Wis.

Thursday, July 7
As we move into the second half of 2022, hear about the market, export and industry news that will impact the dairy industry now and over the next several months. Episode presenter will be:

  • Dan Basse, President of AgResource Company

The Dairy Signal™ is a weekly series of free educational episodes offering insights and resources for fellow dairy farmers and other food system professionals throughout the value chain. Developed by dairy farmers and members of the Professional Dairy Producers® Board of Directors, the episodes air live from 12:00-1:00 PM CT each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Live sessions offer attendees the opportunity to engage in open Q&A with the speakers; recorded sessions are available later in the day. All Dairy Signal episodes are accessible at www.pdpw.org.

For more information, contact PDPW at 800-947-7379 or by emailing mail@pdpw.org. Join the conversation digitally by following @dairyPDPW and using #TheDairySignal on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.

— Professional Dairy Producers

Analysts expect record U.S. soy crop despite USDA’s drop in planted acres

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its June 30 Grain Stocks and Planted Acreage reports that put U.S. Soy acres at 88.3 million acres (35.7 million hectares) and showing record export demand for U.S. Soy during March through May.

“As global supplies of soy are tight, the world is watching U.S. Soy production,” said Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). “Now is the time to look carefully and critically at the global environment, what your customers expect and what you expect.

“Russia’s war on Ukraine, the aftermath of COVID, spiking inflation, and supply chain disruptions all remind us of our shared responsibility to work together. U.S. Soy farmers are maximizing production of nutritious, sustainable U.S. Soy so that our customers and their customers’ families around the world can reliably and readily access nutritious, safe, and affordable food every day.”

Mac Marshall, who joined Sutter on screen for the U.S. Soy Stocks and Planted Acreage Report webinar, noted that traders were looking for a reduction from the March plantings report, but not of this magnitude.

While many states saw increases in planted soybean acres, North Dakota saw the biggest change with the March figure revised down by 1.1 million acres (0.4 million hectares), bringing it to 5.9 million acres (2.4 million hectares). Wet conditions in North Dakota have made it very difficult to get acres planted, explained Marty Ruikka, President of The ProExporter Network.

Even though USDA slashed soybean acres from 91 million acres (36.8 million hectares) in its March report to 88.3 million acres (35.7 million hectares), it’s still the highest soybean area planted since 2018, said Marshall, who serves as Vice President of Market Intelligence for USSEC and the United Soybean Board.

“If we assume a trend yield of 51.5 bushels per acre (3.46 MT per hectare), the reduction in planted area implies a drop in production of about 130 million bushels (3.5 MMT),” he said. “However, the crop size would still be a record at 4.5 billion bushels (122.5 MMT).”

For the complete story, check out the article and be sure to watch the webinar on-demand.

 

–U.S. Soybean Export Council

Crossing the pond to expand U.S. agricultural exports

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WASHINGTON — Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jewel Bronaugh led a USDA trade mission to the United Kingdom June 22-24, joined by leaders from U.S. businesses, farm organizations, and state government agencies who worked together to open doors, strengthen relationships, and expand export opportunities for American food and agricultural products.

“One of the primary goals was to ensure that we can get high-quality, safe, and affordable U.S. food and farm products to the UK,” Bronaugh said.

Towards that end, she and the delegation focused on:

  • Seeking to reduce tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers to ensure that U.S. exporters have equitable access to the UK market;
  • Encouraging the UK in the use of science-based and data-driven decision making in shaping agriculture and food policy;
  • Helping U.S. exporters better understand the complexities of the UK market and helping them connect directly with interested British buyers; and
  • Improving the image of U.S. food and farming in the UK by emphasizing U.S. agriculture’s commitment to sustainability, food safety, and animal welfare.

“It was really nice to see that we are making progress in terms of our engagement with the UK. We are seeing them move towards making more science-based and risk-based decisions in terms of ag policy. We are seeing progress in terms of willingness to talk about some of the differences in our food and ag sectors. And there is interest in moving towards expanded free trade between our two countries,” Bronaugh said.

Following his meeting with Bronaugh, George Eustice, UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, announced in the House of Commons that the UK will join the U.S.-led Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition.

“I’m excited about the opportunities that we have, and we will continue to work with our Foreign Agricultural Service staff there to support U.S. states and businesses and work with UK buyers and policymakers.”

Consumer-oriented foods and beverages are the most important sector for U.S. agricultural exports to the U.K, accounting for more than $1 billion of the $2.7 billion of exported U.S. agricultural and related products to the U.K in 2021.

–USDA

Wisconsin food prices align with higher national averages

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MADISON, Wis. — According to the latest informal Wisconsin­ Farm Bureau Marketbasket survey, the total cost of 12 food items used to host a summer cookout for 10 totaled $69.74. The same survey conducted on the national level by American Farm Bureau totaled $69.68.

“While we are seeing the price of food increase both nationally and here at home, at just under $7 per person, this year’s summer cookout is cheaper than the average fast-food meal,” said WFBF’s Director of Media Relations and Outreach Cassie Sonnentag.

Wisconsin’s $69.74 survey price is just $0.06 higher than AFBF’s survey of similar food items. The total cost of the cookout is up 17% nationally or about $10 from last year as a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions, inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Inflation is impacting agriculture

Increased prices in the grocery store are not a windfall for farmers. Just like those they are growing food for, farmers are feeling price-point pain, as well.

“Farmers are price takers, not price makers,” Sonnentag said. “With the cost of fuel on the rise and fertilizer prices tripled in the past year, the higher prices farmers are being paid do not even begin to cover their increase in farm expenses.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s revised Food Dollar Series, farmers currently receive 8% of every food marketing dollar. The farmer’s share of the retail food dollar is as low as 2% to 4% in highlight processed foods such as bread and cereal and can be 35% or higher for some fresh products.

USDA is also forecasting a sharp increase in food price inflation for the year. The Economic Research Service now believes supermarket prices will be up 8.5% to 9.5% this year. Most notably, USDA expects double-digit increases this year in poultry, eggs, dairy, fats and oils and bakery items.

The war in Ukraine also poses a strain for farmers and consumers alike. The country’s contributions to the global food supply have been cut off, fertilizer exports from Russia and Belarus are constrained, and other countries have pulled back exports to protect domestic supplies.

“For nearly 40 years, we have seen steady growth for our global food security,” Sonnentag said. “The combined disruptions we are seeing within the supply chain, inflation and the war in Ukraine have a cascading effect when it comes to the price of food.”

The year-to-year direction of the Marketbasket survey tracks with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home and general inflation across the economy. Both the index and the Marketbasket show increases of more than 10% compared to year-ago levels.

Getting the most out of cookout items

While the price of a summer cookout has increased in the past year, shoppers can take steps to ensure they are getting the most out of the food items they are purchasing. Approximately one-third of human food produced in the word is lost or wasted, so using items effectively and creatively is one way to stretch your food dollar.

“You can reduce food waste at home by sticking to your grocery list, correctly storing and creatively repurposing leftovers,” Sonnentag said. “Farmers and consumers alike can utilize every resource to maintain their bottom line and help the environment.”

Understanding food expiration dates is one way to get the most out of cookout items. Best-by and sell-by dates are provided by the processor for best quality and are often still safe to eat past the printed date.

Additionally, consider composting food waste items such as fruit and vegetable scraps with yard waste. According to a recent report from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, using or composting the amount of food sent to landfills in 2020 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the amount of taking 600,000 cars off the road for a year.

“By proactively thinking about our food waste at home, we can all get the most out of our food while minimizing our environmental impact,” Sonnentag said.

The July Cookout Survey is part of Farm Bureau’s Marketbasket series, which also includes an annual Thanksgiving dinner cost survey.

Members of Wisconsin Farm Bureau collected price samples of 12 food items in 27 communities across Wisconsin in June.

Made up of 61 county Farm Bureaus, Wisconsin Farm Bureau is the state’s largest farm organization, representing farms of every size, commodity and management style.

The Marketbasket Survey is an informal measure of prices at grocery stores in Wisconsin. The prices reported reflect variations in communities and retailers. The prices reported are not validated by any outside source. Prices were collected for this survey in the communities of Appleton, Ashland, Belleville, Beloit, Burlington, Chilton, DePere, Dodgeville, Eau Claire, Elroy, Madison, Manawa, Marshfield, Medford, Mequon, New Glarus, Platteville, Plover, Prairie du Chien, Saukville, Sparta, Union Grove, Verona, Watertown, West Bend and West Salem.

— Wisconsin Farm Bureau

Poultry storage and processing companies expand

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MACON, Ga. — Atlanta-based Agile Cold Storage and Hartwell-based Lake Foods recently announced plans to expand poultry operations.

On June 13, Agile Cold Storage announced the start of construction on their third cold storage warehouse in Macon. Phase I of the 275,000 square feet multi-temp facility is targeted to open in Summer 2023, and over the next three years, Agile plans to invest more than $150 million in the construction of its new facility to support the domestic and export markets.

Agile’s facility will use automation where possible to make the work environment safer and more efficient for its team members.

The facility will include frozen and deep-freeze temperature zones to ensure products are blast frozen and maintained at the highest levels of quality in accordance with industry specifications and government regulations.

On June 16, Lake Foods announced a joint venture with Carolina Fresh Foods, to build a new, $10 million poultry further processing plant in Florence, S.C.

Lake Foods, based in north Georgia, focuses on poultry processing. Headquartered in Florence, SC, Carolina Fresh Foods is a food distributor that specializes in meat products.

Carolina Precision Foods LLC debones, portions, marinates, custom further processes, and mechanically separates poultry. The company will partner with regional poultry processors in custom further processing of poultry products.

The Florence facility is slated to become operational in August.

–Georgia Farm Bureau

Global food supply-chain issues call for solutions

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DAVIS, Calif. — Global supply issues related to the pandemic and war in Ukraine have highlighted yet another global vulnerability — food availability.

While international trade allows countries to buffer against domestic food shortfalls and gain access to larger markets, what happens when supplies run short, or the global supply chain slows or even breaks down like it did during the pandemic?

A new University of California, Davis, study sheds light on how trade, and centrality in the global wheat trade network, affect food security. The study shows that many countries depend on trade to fulfill their food needs. Further, the global wheat trade is concentrated in a handful of countries whereby disruption in only a few countries would have global impacts, researchers suggest.

The study, “Connected and Extracted: Understanding how centrality in the global wheat supply chain affects global hunger using a network approach,” was published in June in the journal PLOS ONE. The study’s authors include Subhashni Raj, assistant professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii-Manoa, who was a UC Davis postdoctoral scholar when the study was written; Catherine Brinkley, associate professor, Department of Human Ecology, UC Davis; and John Ulimwengu, senior research fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute.

The current shortage of baby formula and concern over global grain supplies are now at the forefront of global trade concerns.

“Food grains — wheat, maize and rice — account for over 50% of human caloric consumption and underpin global food security. With conflict between Russia and the breadbasket of Ukraine, global fear about food shortages is sounding alarms,”  said Brinkley, co-author of the study.

“War in Ukraine, for example, combined with supply chain issues, have contributed to price increases in cereal grains and food prices globally, but especially in the Global South where countries rely on cereal imports,” Raj added. This area encompasses Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, and the developing countries in Asia, including the Middle East.

Having more land doesn’t mean more food

Furthermore, researchers found that having more agricultural land does not necessarily translate to higher levels of national nourishment.

“One might expect that having lots of farmland would help buffer against hunger,” Brinkley said. “Yet, agriculturally rich areas of the world are often literal battlegrounds for control over resources.”

The food resources are often plugged into the vast globalized food chain with little to no positive impact on communities where the chain started, researchers said, undercutting the food security of their own people to leverage the country’s advantage in the international food economy.

Countries in the Global North with low production capacities control a significant share of that supply chain given their purchasing power and location adjacent to important wheat trade hubs. “Historical patterns of wealth accumulation through colonization and the slave trade are also visible when you look at the global wheat trade. Many European countries with limited agricultural lands find themselves highly central to the global wheat supply chain, reflecting trade agreements and trade patterns that emanated from their colonial past,” Raj said.

Researchers used international wheat trade data to reconstruct the global trade network and identify the most influential countries. They found that countries most central to the global grain trade account for more than half of all wheat exports globally by volume: Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, Russia, the United States and Canada.

This makes the global wheat value chain vulnerable, as a shock to one of these countries is likely to propagate across the globe.

“That is the curse of operating within a food system where components, big or small, are all connected,” Brinkley said.

To correct the unbalanced structure of the trade network, researchers called in their study for more emphasis on regional and localized food systems, because well-functioning local food systems more effectively counter shortfalls and perturbations in the larger globalized food system.

–UC Davis
via EurekAlert!

Almond Alliance supports growers whipsawed by supply chains, water

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SACRAMENTO — Almonds may be California’s second-largest crop, bringing in $5.62 billion in sales in 2020, but almond growers feel whipsawed by two factors over which they have no control: water and supply chains.

That’s where the Almond Alliance comes in. A trade association devoted primarily to advocacy in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the group formed in 1980 as the Almond Huller and Processors Association, but more recently changed its name and focus, said Aubrey Bettencourt, the organization’s new president and CEO – and a third-generation farmer.

“Our mission is to be the advocacy voice for the almond community in California and protect everything we need to create a thriving almond industry,” Bettencourt said. “The Almond Board does an amazing job as the research and development and market development arm for the industry. The Almond Alliance focuses on the advocacy and policy needed to allow us to continue to grow almonds.”

“The decisions made by policy makers at the state and federal level have a profound impact on California agriculture, which is why groups like the Almond Alliance are so important,” President and CEO of American AgCredit Curt Hudnutt said. “Our charitable contributions support advocacy organizations that allow the farmer’s voice to be heard when decisions are being made.”

This year, California’s Farm Credit institutions – American AgCredit, CoBank, Colusa-Glenn Farm Credit, Farm Credit West, and Fresno Madera Farm Credit – will contribute more than $280,000 to nonprofit organizations advocating for agriculture.

And there are plenty of issues affecting the almond industry.

The most recent crisis involves the worldwide supply chain breakdown. Bettencourt explained that shipping companies in China and other hubs are paying top dollar to get ships and their containers back as soon as possible to load up again after they discharge cargo in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“It used to take a container ship 15 days to get to L.A. Now it takes 50, and the same container that was worth $30 empty now is worth $30,000, so they’re not going to Oakland to pick up ag products. Or, if they do, they’ll give us four hours to put products on the ship instead of four days,” she said.

As most almonds are exported, Bettencourt worries that California growers could suffer irreparable harm if the supply chain issues aren’t fixed. The Almond Alliance is working closely with state and federal trade officials to take action to help protect California’s market share.

“The feds can use the influence of the federal government to explore their legal and emergency authorities. For example, the authority to enforce or incentivize foreign carriers to keep their booking schedules and delivery contracts and to take and deliver sold U.S. products in a timely manner, according to contracted agreements and schedules,” she said.

The second critical issue the Almond Alliance focuses on is water. California has experienced drought conditions for all but one year since 2011, and farmers are preparing for the worst in 2022. The lack of water is forcing many almond growers to cut down trees in their prime to allow limited water allocations to be used on the remainder of their orchards. At the same time, almond growers face criticism for the amount of water the trees need.

Farm water experts say almond growers get an undeserved rap for their water usage as most tree crops need about the same amount of water. And Bettencourt points out that growers have reduced the amount of water per pound of almonds by one-third over the past 20 years and are working to reduce the amount used today by another 20 percent by the middle of the decade.

While drought is a reality, Bettencourt argues that much of the problem facing agriculture is due to abrupt changes in how the system is managed, along with a lack of investment in the water infrastructure. No new storage facilities have been built in the past 50 years, and virtually all the $2.7 billion in bond funds approved by voters in 2014 for additional water storage remain unspent.

She said growers need certainty to plan operations.

“Instead of managing the system as part of the solution, it’s been thrown into uncertainty as a result of administrative discretion. Water should be used for environmental purposes while still providing water supplies for all users,” she said.

“The Almond Alliance will put pressure wherever possible at the state and federal level to get back to that certainty. Everyone needs to know the rules and follow them so we can have a viable agricultural community and safe and reliable water for all people.”

Due to worldwide demand, the USDA reports that 7,600 almond growers – mostly small family businesses – actively farm 1.6 million acres in California, and Bettencourt said the future is bright, so long as growers have a functioning supply chain and adequate water supplies.

“From a production standpoint, we are at the beginning of our prime,” she said. “Looking at acreage and production, California almonds are just at the beginning of where we could be, and the potential is exciting.”

As part of its charitable mission, Farm Credit provides donations to organizations focused on different commodity types, including almonds, said Mark Littlefield, President and CEO of Farm Credit West.

“Because of its importance to California agriculture, Farm Credit supports the Almond Alliance, the Almond Board and other organizations each year,” Littlefield said. “We work hard each year to direct support to nonprofits that really do a great job in their efforts to support farming and ranching.”

About Farm Credit:

American AgCredit, CoBank, Colusa Glenn Farm Credit, Farm Credit West, Fresno Madera Farm Credit, and Yosemite Farm Credit are cooperatively owned lending institutions providing agriculture and rural communities with a dependable source of credit. For more than 100 years, the Farm Credit System has specialized in financing farmers, ranchers, farmer-owned cooperatives, rural utilities and agribusinesses. Farm Credit offers a broad range of loan products and financial services, including long-term real estate loans, operating lines of credit, equipment and facility loans, cash management and appraisal and leasing services…everything a “growing” business needs. For more information, visit www.farmcreditalliance.com

About the Almond Alliance:

The Almond Alliance of California (AAC) is a trusted non-profit organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of the California almond community. California almonds generate more than $21 billion in economic revenue and directly contribute more than $11 billion to the state’s total economy. California’s top agricultural export, almonds create approximately 104,000 jobs statewide, over 97,000 in the Central Valley, which suffers from chronic unemployment. The AAC is dedicated to educating state legislators, policy makers and regulatory officials about the California almond community. As a membership-based organization, our members include almond processors, hullers/shellers, growers and allied businesses. Through workshops, newsletters, conferences, social media and personal meetings, AAC works to raise awareness, knowledge and provide a better understanding about the scope, size, value and sustainability of the California almond community. For more information on the Almond Alliance, visit https://almondalliance.org/ or check out the Almond Alliance on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

–Farm Credit
Almond Alliance

Feeding insects to cattle could make meat and milk production more sustainable

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SAN MARCOS, Texas — The world’s population is growing, and so is the challenge of feeding everyone. Current projections indicate that by 2050, global food demand could increase by 59%-98% above current levels. In particular, there will be increased demand for high-quality protein foods, such as meat and dairy products.

Livestock producers in the U.S. and other exporting countries are looking for ways to increase their output while also being sensitive to the environmental impacts of agricultural production. One important leverage point is finding ingredients for animal feed that can substitute for grains, freeing more farmland to grow crops for human consumption.

Cattle are natural upcyclers: Their specialized digestive systems allow them to convert low-quality sources of nutrients that humans cannot digest, such as grass and hay, into high-quality protein foods like meat and milk that meet human nutritional requirements. But when the protein content of grass and hay becomes too low, typically in winter, producers feed their animals an additional protein source – often soybean meal. This strategy helps cattle grow, but it also drives up the cost of meat and leaves less farmland to grow crops for human consumption.

Growing grains also has environmental impacts: For example, large-scale soybean production is a driver of deforestation in the Amazon. For all of these reasons, our laboratory is working to identify alternative, novel protein sources for cattle.

Black soldier fly larvae

An insect farming industry is emerging rapidly across the globe. Producers are growing insects for animal feed because of their nutritional profile and ability to grow quickly. Data also suggests that feeding insects to livestock has a smaller environmental footprint than conventional feed crops such as soybean meal.

Among thousands of edible insect species, one that’s attracting attention is the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). In their larval form, black soldier flies are 45% protein and 35% fat. They can be fed efficiently on wastes from many industries, such as pre-consumer food waste. The larvae can be raised on a large scale in factory-sized facilities and are shelf-stable after they are dried.

Most adults in the U.S. aren’t ready to put black soldier fly larvae on their plates but are much more willing to consume meat from livestock that are fed black soldier fly larvae. This has sparked research into using black soldier fly larvae as livestock feed.

Texas State University graduate student Kayra Tasci holds dried black soldier fly larvae. (Photo: Merritt Drewery, CC BY-ND)

Already approved for other livestock

Extensive research has shown that black soldier fly larvae can be fed to chickens, pigs and fish as a replacement for conventional protein feeds such as soybean meal and fish meal. The American Association of Feed Control Officials, whose members regulate the sale and distribution of animal feeds in the U.S., has approved the larvae as feed for poultry, pigs and certain fish.

So far, however, there has been scant research on feeding black soldier fly larvae to cattle. This is important for several reasons. First, more than 14 million cattle and calves are fed grain or feed in the U.S. Second, cattle’s specialized digestive system may allow them to utilize black soldier fly larvae as feed more efficiently than other livestock.

Promising results in cattle

Early in 2022, our laboratory published results from the first trial of feeding black soldier fly larvae to cattle. We used cattle that had been surgically fitted with small, porthole-like devices called cannulas, which allowed us to study and analyze the animals’ rumens – the portion of their stomach that is primarily responsible for converting fiber feeds, such as grass and hay, into energy that they can use.

Cannulation is widely used to study digestion in cattle, sheep and goats, including the amount of methane they burp, which contributes to climate change. The procedure is carried out by veterinary professionals following strict protocols to protect the animals’ well-being.

A steer fitted with a cannula that allows scientists to study digestion in its rumen. (Photo: Merritt Drewery, CC BY-ND)

In our study, the cattle consumed a base diet of hay plus a protein supplement based on either black soldier fly larvae or conventional cattle industry protein feeds. We know that feeding cows a protein supplement along with grass or hay increases the amount of grass and hay they consume, so we hoped the insect-based supplement would have the same effect.

That was exactly what we observed: The insect-based protein supplement increased animals’ hay intake and digestion similarly to the conventional protein supplement. This indicates that black soldier fly larvae have potential as an alternative protein supplement for cattle.

Costs and byproducts

We have since conducted three additional trials evaluating black soldier fly larvae in cattle, including two funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We are especially interested in feeding cattle larvae that have had their fat removed. Data suggest that the fat can be converted to biodiesel, yielding two sustainable products from black soldier flies.

We are also studying how consuming the larvae will affect methane-producing microbes that live in cattle’s stomachs. If our current research on this question, which is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2023, indicates that consuming black soldier fly larvae can reduce the amount of methane cows produce, we hope it will motivate regulators to approve the larvae as cattle feed.

Texas State University student Brady Williams tests the pH of fluid from the rumens of cattle fed black soldier fly larvae. (Photo: Merritt Drewery, CC BY-ND)

Economics also matter. How much will beef and dairy cattle producers pay for insect-based feed, and can the insects be raised at that price point? To begin answering these questions, we conducted an economic analysis of black soldier fly larvae for the U.S. cattle industry, also published early in 2022.

We found that the larvae would be priced slightly higher than current protein sources normally fed to cattle, including soybean meal. This higher price reflects the superior nutritional profile of black soldier fly larvae. However, it is not yet known if the insect farming industry can grow black soldier fly larvae at this price point, or if cattle producers would pay it.

The global market for edible insects is growing quickly, and advocates contend that using insects as ingredients can make human and animal food more sustainable. In my view, the cattle feeding industry is an ideal market, and I hope to see further research that engages both insect and cattle producers.

–Merritt Drewery
Assistant Professor of Animal Science
Texas State University
The Conversation