North America

From Best Buy Toy to Pro Spray Drone: A Father-Son Duo Takes Flight In Missouri Cattle Country

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 19:41:26 GMT

Iowa State University freshman Rhett Keaton and his father, Vance, are launching a drone spraying side hustle.

The father-son duo started out just having some fun several years ago, buzzing around the house with a $20 drone from Best Buy that “drove mom crazy”. But now, they are getting serious about turning entertainment to revenue.

Vance, who runs 5K Cattle Company out of Anderson, Mo., ran out and purchased a DJI Agras T20P spray drone this spring, and both Keatons secured the Part 107 Commercial Pilot Certificate needed to operate on a farm. Combined with the private pesticide applicator’s license 5K Cattle Co. already held, the guys can now apply restricted-use pesticides to their own pasture ground.

University of Missouri Extension experts recently weighed in on the promise of drone usage in farming, and more specifically, in cattle operations. Field specialist Caleb O’Neal likens the technologies’ versatility and practicality to that of a UTV.

“Back in the 1980s, it would have been rare to see a UTV being used on a farm,” he says. “Visiting farms today, I’m hard-pressed to find an operation larger than 20 acres that doesn’t have some type of UTV that they utilize on a regular basis.”

And while the Keaton’s are banking on custom application services with a spray drone as their next play in ag, you don’t have to spray crops or weeds to use drones for the benefit of your farm or ranch, according to O’Neal.

Use of drones in agriculture is increasing as row crop and livestock producers find new ways to improve efficiency and productivity.

(Photo courtesy of Caleb O’Neal.)

“Livestock producers can monitor fences and availability of water and can make sure animals are where they should be without even opening a gate,” O’Neal explains. “Drone technology lets cattlemen quickly check estrus indication patches for optimized breeding timing, monitor cows during calving season, look for hidden newborn calves and look out for potential predators.

Getting back to the Keatons, the next step is for Rhett, who is majoring in ag systems technology in Ames this fall, to secure his Missouri commercial pesticide applicators license.

Once that happens, the pair can start marketing drone spraying services to neighboring farms. Their plan is to start locally with pasture and grassland applications before seeking out work on row crop farms to the north once foliar fungicide season hits.

Related - The Scoop Podcast: What’s Next For Ag Drone Application?

Even though the T20P is one of the smaller spray drones offered by DJI, Keaton says it’s proven to be the perfect fit so far. He also rents a neighbor’s spray drone, paying a per-acre fee, when he needs more than one bird to cover more ground.

“We do a lot of flying in and out of trees and stuff like that,” Keaton says. “Having that smaller drone with less capacity and a more efficient battery, I get about double the battery life as [the bigger drones] do. But I also have about half the tank.”

The reservoir on the T20P holds about 5.5 to 6 gallons of tank mix, so Keaton will usually need to land and refill his tank after about five or six minutes of spraying. He averages 23 acres per hour when everything is set up for a quick land-refill-takeoff cycle.

Keaton says Corteva’s DuraCor herbicide, an aerial application-approved formulation containing two Group 4 AIs, is the main product he’s been spraying from the drone thus far. The product label calls for 2 to 3 gallons of active ingredients (mixed with carrier water) applied per acre with coarse droplets.

A fellow rancher kicks the tires on Vance and Rhett Kaiser’s spray drone trailer at a field day event. The Kaisers operate 5K Cattle Company out of Anderson, Mo., and have plans to launch a spray drone custom application business in the near future.

(Rhett Keaton )

Keaton and Vance also picked up a nicely appointed spray drone trailer off — of all places — Facebook Marketplace. The whole setup – drone, trailer, extra batteries, etc. – cost about $30,000 all-in, Keaton says.

“We found one that was cheaper to buy than it was to build our own, especially with the generator — that is probably the most expensive part of that trailer,” he explains. “It already had the generator, pumps, the mix tanks and a thousand-gallon freshwater tank, and everything was lined up.”

With the spray drone in the air and the nice, shiny trailer parked edge-of-field as Keaton makes his passes, cleaning up weed escapes in fields that he says are “pretty clean” already, neighboring farmers often take notice and stop by to ask if he and his dad can come by and spray some of their ground, too. Their plan is to find the sweet spot between a $12 to $20 per acre fee to charge for their drone spraying services.

Speaking of sweet spots, O’Neal feels that spot spraying, guided by aerial imagery or even first-hand producer knowledge of where weed problems are significant and need to be addressed, is a good target for drone service providers like the Keatons.

“A pasture with a rash of blackberry weeds in isolated areas has great potential for a prescription herbicide application where only the problematic areas receive treatment via a spray drone, as opposed to a broadcast application where the entirety of the field is treated whether it needs it or not,” he says.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity [for it] around us. There’s a lot of guys with hay fields, and they do a lot of burn down applications. That’s one thing we are planning on hitting on,” Keaton says. “I think some guys would be interested in that. Especially if we have a wet spring and guys can’t get in the field.”

Missouri Extension field specialist O’Neal agrees with that assertion.

“In my neck of the woods in southwestern Missouri, the topography can be quite unforgiving, with some areas too harsh to allow access by ground spray rig or even an ATV,” O’Neal says. “With an aerial piece of equipment like a utility drone, landowners can now get herbicide applications on these problematic areas and put them into useful forage production.”

With a pilot year of flying his family’s acres fastened securely under his belt, Keaton says the arrow looks to be pointing up on spray drone technology in agriculture.

“Hopefully we can expand and get maybe another trailer or a bigger drone, it just depends kind of on what’s calling for us,” he says. “I’ve got to see exactly how much work is out there in this business and from there just make it all work out. Our foot is just in the door [right now].”

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New 2026 Balers and Hay Tools Launched By Case IH, John Deere, New Holland, And Vermeer

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:01:14 GMT

Case IH’s new RB6 series variable chamber round baler offers durability and less maintenance with triple seal bearings throughout the machine. This ensures contaminants stay out while lubricants stay in to maintain optimal operation.

The RB566 model includes several enhancement options:

(Matthew J. Grassi)

New double roller windguard increases compression and control for OSF pickups, allowing for increased capacity and ground speed.
The new Bale Weigh capability allows operators to monitor and record individual bale weight on an ongoing basis via in-cab monitoring. This capability weighs the bale in chamber without pausing the machine.
Pro 700 Plus display or Pro 1200 display compatibility.
FieldOps machine and telematics data via mobile and web apps have the ability to monitor individual bale data such as drop location, weight and moisture content.

“Another thing we’ve done is, on our pickup, we’ve went to a double roller windguard on the 566. Our customers who are bailing a lot of corn stalks, they’re dealing with some big windrows,” says Brian Williams, livestock product specialist, CNH Industrial. “And what this does is it pushes those windrows down and smashes them out and allows them to feed into the baler more fluidly so they can go faster.”

The RB6 series is manufactured in the U.S. in New Holland, Penn. , and order writing is open now. Orders signed this fall will begin shipping in March 2026.

John Deere intros V452M Round Baler with stepped-up automation features

(John Deere)

John Deere says its new V452M round baler provides enhanced productivity and precision ag tech integration for hay and forage operations.

The V452M headlines a newly updated lineup of VR and CR round baler models, introducing a new naming convention and advanced features purpose-built for heavy crop and silage conditions, while the current 1 Series round balers will continue to serve customer baling needs.

Expanding the versatility of John Deere’s round baler lineup, the VM, VR and CR lineup updates include variable-chamber and variable-wrapping combination models.

Key features of the V452M include:

Advanced Bale Chamber Technology: Three starting rolls and two belt drive rolls ensure consistent bale rotation.
Larger Bale Chamber: 4-by-5½ feet chamber width to maximize bale weight.
High-Density Silage Capability: Produces silage bales up to 11.7 pounds per cubic foot.

The full updated Model Year 2026 Deere baler lineup introduces several features to boost productivity (capabilities vary by model):

Industry-Leading Gate Cycle Time: As fast as three seconds for more bales per hour.
Moisture Sensors and Bale Scales: Seamlessly connect to the free John Deere Operations Center for near real-time bale documentation and yield insights.
G5 or G5e Monitor for in-cab adjustments and data-driven decisions.
High-Capacity Feeding System: A 7.2-foot-wide five-bar pickup handles heavy windrows with ease.
Baler Automation With New Unplug Assist automatically stops the tractor when the target bale size is reached and manages the gate cycle. When needed, Unplug Assist automatically stops the tractor and disengages the PTO when a plug is detected.

The VM, VR and CR balers will begin shipping in November 2025. For more information, contact your local John Deere dealer

New Holland rolls out Roll-Belt 1 Series Balers

(New Holland)

New for model year 2026, New Holland is introducing three updated Roll-Belt 1 Series models designed to work smarter, bale faster and ensure producers stay connected.

New Holland says feeding performance gets a boost with its Roll-Belt 451, 461 and 561 models. A newly designed single roller windguard now comes standard on all OSF (OverShot Feeder) pickup models. And a larger 8.4" roller — 60% larger in diameter than its predecessor — helps better compress the crop mat and improve feeding into the chamber.

For those baling larger windrows, a new dual roller windguard is available as an upgrade option on the 561 model. The front and rear rollers pivot independently, providing adaptive control in variable crop and ground conditions. Operators can also lock both rollers together when compressing loose or fluffy windrows.

“Each of these three models has a distinct fit. Take, for example, the Roll-Belt 561. In corn stalks, it truly shines,” says Alex Berwager, livestock and dairy business manager, New Holland. “We’re seeing a 16% improvement in feeding capacity thanks to the dual roller windguard, jumping from 43 to 50 tons per hour. That means less plugging from the controlled crop flow and greater productivity to tackle more when your time is short.”

Vermeer launches fleet of new baler and hay tools for 2026

(Vermeer)

Vermeer’s new model year 2026 baler and hay tool launch is led by the all-new ZR-2200 self-propelled baler.

The launch fleet also includes:

604 S series balers
605S Rancher baler
ZR-2200 self-propelled baler with the Z604S bale chamber
3 new models of carted wheel rakes.

“We’ve taken feedback from dealers and hay producers to build equipment that’s intuitive, durable and designed to deliver results,” said Shane Rourke, managing director of forage, Vermeer.

604S Premium Baler

(Vermeer)

The new 604 S series balers come in three models: Rancher, Signature and Premium (shown above).

Vermeer says the machines are built to help producers get more 6’x4' (1.8-m by 1.2-m) bales put up in a day.

The 604S Rancher is a reliable, straightforward option for value-focused producers who want durable components and convenient operation.
The 604S Signature features enhanced driveline capacity and rugged components, ideal for high-volume operations.
The 604S Premium pulls out all the stops with smart automation, comfort-focused features and productivity tools that help operators work faster, smarter and with less effort.

All three models share common components — including the camless wide pickup with a hydraulic pickup lift, a mechanical netwrap system and the Atlas Pro control system with in-cab density adjustments.

ZR-4S self-propelled baler.

(Vermeer)

Since the launch of the ZR5-1200 self-propelled baler in 2017, producers have consistently asked for a 4' (1.2-m) model that delivers the same level of automation, comfort and productivity.

Vermeer says it is answering that request with the new ZR-2200 self-propelled baler with the Z604S bale chamber (ZR-4S). The ZR-4S (pictured above) features zero-turn maneuverability, integrated automation and a premium cab packed with operator-focused features.

From auto tie and eject to real-time bale data and TempSense bearing temperature monitoring, the ZR-4S self-propelled baler is built to keep operators productive, informed and comfortable.

VRC Carted wheel rake

(Vermeer)

Three new carted wheel rakes — the VRC820, VRC1022 and VRC1224 — offer robust construction, updated hydraulics, and simple adjustments to help producers get the most out of every pass.

With raking widths ranging from 20' (6 m) to 24' (7.3 m), these rakes are designed for longevity and ease of use for operators of all sizes.

Full availability on these new hay tools is expected in Spring 2026.

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Farmers, Truckers and Gear Heads Rejoice: EPA Rolls Out Streamlined Diesel Engine Fluid Guidelines

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 15:52:52 GMT

EPA is rolling out new guidance for manufacturers of farm equipment and other heavy-duty vehicles, removing regulatory red tape requiring diesel-powered farm equipment to reduce engine torque dramatically when a problem arises with the machine’s Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) system.

You can read EPA’s statement on the announcement here.

The new rule making goes into effect immediately for all new diesel engines on model year 2027 machines. It should also be noted the new guidance from EPA is voluntary for all non road equipment. Ultimately, each manufacturer will have the right to choose whether it implements the new inducement strategy or maintains the status quo with its own machines.

To fix the problem for farm machinery already in the field, EPA’s new guidance, developed in collaboration with farm equipment manufacturers, will work to ensure necessary software changes can be made on the existing fleet.

(EPA)

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin says now all non-road equipment, like farm tractors, combines and sprayers, must be configured so there is no impact on engine power for up to 36 hours when a DEF system malfunction occurs. Once 36 engine hours have passed, a 25% reduction in engine torque will go into effect until the machine is serviced. If the farm equipment is not fixed within 100 engine hours, then a 50% reduction in torque is activated until the machine can be serviced.

Additionally, farm equipment can be restarted with full engine power three times for up to 30 minutes after inducement, according to the EPA release.

“This is the first crack in the ice toward saying we don’t need these expensive systems on our farm equipment,” says Ben Reinsche, owner, Blue Diamond Farming Company in Jesup, Iowa. “We don’t need to immediately shut off an engine or be restricted for 36 hours if you have DEF unavailable or a malfunction.

“This is a positive step and maybe a formative step toward saying that having these emission standards on farm or off-road equipment is not critically necessary,” adds Reinsche. “There are so many other things farmers can do that are planet positive, like using conservation and sustainability practices, rather than having an after treatment system on our diesel engines.”

Small Business Administration (SBA) leader Kelly Loeffler says the new rule will save 1.8 million family farms across America a staggering $727 million per year while offering “vital financial and operational certainty.”

“This announcement today is such a big deal, especially on behalf of our farmers and ranchers,” says USDA secretary Brook Rollins. “At a time when our ag sector is really hurting, our farmers have had to endure a 30% cost increase in inputs, and a $30 billion Biden-era trade deficit, these everyday regulations being lifted makes such a difference.”

The new guidance greatly reduces a machine setting known as DEF derating and allows operators more time to secure DEF, refuel and make repairs. The new guidance also reportedly retains the environmental benefits of Tier 4 engine and DEF regulations for farm equipment and trucks.

“Today we are taking another important step forward by undoing these diesel fluid guidelines that have hurt our farmers and small rural businesses,” says U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). “Not only will these new guidelines save family-run farms hundreds of millions of dollars per year, but it is also just common sense, folks. No farmer should have their tractor come to a halt in the middle of a field due to Green New Deal-style regulations from Washington.”

How Did We Get Here?

EPA ushered in DEF requirements for large farm equipment when it enacted broader Tier 4 emissions standards in 2004.

Tier 4 Interim rules, which required DEF for farm machines 750 horsepower and up, then went into effect in 2008.

In 2015, EPA’s final Tier 4 regulations were put in place, meaning all new non-road diesel engines — regardless of horsepower rating — had to comply with new emissions standards.

Curious where your farm equipment is made? Check out Farm Journal’s “Who Makes What Where” feature to learn more.

Why Do Many Farmers Hate Using Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)?

American farmers say they detest using DEF due to the challenges and additional fuel cost it tacks onto their operations.

Here are some reasons farmers aren’t big fans of DEF:

Higher Costs and More Maintenance: DEF adds on extra materials costs for machinery-based field work. Farmers must purchase large amounts of fluid, and the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) framework that processes DEF is prone to malfunctions and expensive to repair. Often a simple-but-unexpected repair can pop up out of nowhere and end up costing farmers thousands of dollars and leave equipment inoperable.
Field Work Interruptions: If a tractor runs out of DEF or if the system breaks down, under the now-defunct previous guidelines engine power was greatly reduced, which is known by many farmers as “going into limp mode.” For farmers who rely on their equipment to operate consistently and reliably during planting and harvesting, any issue quickly becomes a major headache.
Storage Issues: DEF has a limited shelf life and is sensitive to temperature ups and downs. A quick Google search says DEF freezes at around 12°F and can degrade if stored in temperatures above 86°F. And who wants to look at a giant pallet of DEF cartons stacked in their machinery barn? Nobody, that’s who.
Contamination/Quality Control: DEF fluid must be pure and free of contaminants. Accidentally using the wrong type or getting foreign substances in the tank during refilling can wreak havoc throughout the system, leading to repairs and downtime.
Engine Performance Concerns: There are farmers who believe newer emissions systems, including those that use DEF, reduce the machine’s total power output and lower fuel efficiency.

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Right To Repair Granted? John Deere Launches Digital Self-Repair Tool for $195 Per Tractor

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:51:28 GMT

In what appears to be a direct response to anti-competition claims raised in the ongoing FCC v. John Deere Right to Repair lawsuit , the equipment manufacturer has released an updated digital service tool to enable equipment owners to maintain, diagnose, repair and protect farm equipment.

The new Operations Center PRO Service tool is available now in John Deere’s Operation Center app to equipment owners in the U.S. and Canada.

John Deere says it will charge farmers an annual license starting at $195 per machine for the tool. The company is charging independent service professionals $5,995.00 per year, which includes up to 10 local downloads.

The increased functionality of the new service tool replaces John Deere’s previous digital service iteration, known as Customer Service ADVISOR. John Deere representatives confirm ADVISOR will be phased out over the next year.

What farmers need to know

John Deere says the new Operations Center PRO Service “delivers digital repair content filtered by year and model number and provides users with additional relevant machine information to help troubleshoot, diagnose and repair Deere equipment. It’s designed to be intuitive and deliver support in real time.”

Here are the new service and repair capabilities within the tool:

Machine health insights and diagnostic trouble codes
PIN-specific machine content, including manuals
Software reprogramming for John Deere controllers
Diagnostic Readings
Diagnostic Recordings
Interactive diagnostic tests
Calibrations

Quick Analysis

If you’ve been following the FCC v. John Deere Right to Repair lawsuit, you may recall FCC’s legal team asking the equipment manufacturer to release a full digital repair and diagnosis tool for farmers and independent service technicians as part of its filed request for injunctive relief.

Related: What Does Right to Repair Really Mean?

Right to Repair advocates and antitrust attorney James Kovac, along with the FCC’s legal team, at the time were critical of the Customer Service ADVISOR, calling it an incomplete diagnostic tool. Kovacs himself says “independent repair pros and the farmers have access to (the tool), but (it) doesn’t give them the full suite of options to repair all the needs of their farming equipment.”

What John Deere is saying about the new tool

“Our development of these tools reaffirms John Deere’s support of customer self-repair,” says Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support with John Deere. “We view continuously enhancing self-repair as consistent with our mission to ensure John Deere customers have the best machine ownership experience possible.”

What about independent repair technicians?

(John Deere )

In addition to equipment owners, a local service provider can also use Operations Center PRO Service, John Deere says. With a John Deere equipment owner’s permission, independent technicians can gain access to diagnostic and repair information to support the equipment owner’s needs.

(JohnDeere.com screenshot)

On the John Deere online store, it currently lists a Operations Center PRO Service annual license for a “Service Business” as costing $5,995.00 . The license provides for 10 local downloads of the PRO Service application, the listing says.

“Our message to our customers is clear,” Caldwell continues. “Whether you want the support of your professionally trained and trusted John Deere dealer, to work with another local service provider or to fix your machine yourself, we’ve created additional capabilities for you to choose the option that best fits your needs.”

How does it work?

Equipment owners must access Operations Center PRO Service through the John Deere Operations Center. Once connected to the platform, owners will add their equipment into their account using the machine’s serial number. Use of an electronic data link might be required for more advanced features within Operations Center PRO Service, including software reprogramming. Certain interactive tests, calibrations and reprogramming limitations will exist at initial release.

John Deere says it will deliver additional capabilities in future updates. See JohnDeere.com/PROService for further details.

How can I find out more?

Operations Center PRO Service is available today. For more information on how to access all of the digital support tools offered by John Deere, visit Deere.com/RunItYourWay or see your local John Deere dealer.

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No, John Deere is Not Freezing Production or Stepping Away From its U.S. Factories

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:48:45 GMT

An online report last week claimed John Deere is shutting down ALL manufacturing in response to the ongoing tariff situation in the U.S.

But we looked into it, and we’re here to tell you: don’t take the bait — or, as the kids say, feed the trolls — because it’s simply not true.

An article authored by Kieran Schalkwyk and titled “John Deere Freezes U.S. Manufacturing in Unprecedented Shutdown” appeared on MSN.com and was aggregated by Google News feeds last week, claiming the manufacturer is “making a radical move that some might think is ‘un-American.’”

John Deere shared the following LinkedIn post Friday afternoon. You can also visit Deere.com for more information on the company’s U.S. manufacturing presence.

The MSN.com post has since been taken down and brings up an error page:

MSN.com screenshot

(MSN.com)

It’s somewhat bewildering timing for this particular misinformation ploy.

John Deere recently put out a blog post outlining its commitment to U.S. manufacturing. The statement says John Deere will invest $20 billion into its U.S. footprint over the next decade, which includes major expansion projects in Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Today, the company has 60 manufacturing facilities in more than 16 U.S. states and employs over 30,000 American workers.

What is true is over the past 18 months, the company has been forced to lay off some employees , and it strategically slowed manufacturing at some production facilities in Iowa in response to depressed farmer demand for new tractors and combines.

Of course, John Deere is not alone navigating a treacherous global farm economy. Machinery rivals AGCO and CNH also made the tough choice to layoff factory workers over the past 12 months. CNH even completely shutdown its overseas machinery imports during the first few days of the tariff policy rollout, although that pause was only temporary.

In February, we updated our popular “Who Makes What Where” feature showing where major farm equipment is manufactured around the world.

Our analysis of John Deere’s global factory network shows that of the 60 John Deere machines relevant to U.S. farmers, 50 of them (83%) are manufactured here in North America. Of all the major farm equipment manufacturers we polled, John Deere has the largest U.S.-based manufacturing footprint other than Canadian-based Buhler Industries, which is 100% North America based.

So, it feels safe to say we can put this rumor to bed once and for all: No, John Deere is not shutting down its factories. Myth Busted. Shutdown the rumor mill.

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Mark Carney’s Liberal Win: What It Means for Canadian Agriculture and U.S. Relations

Fri, 02 May 2025 18:13:31 GMT

America’s neighbor to the north has elected a new leader. The result is not a huge surprise to farmers across Canada, but it’s fair to say Liberal Party leader and new Prime Minister Mark Carney likely wasn’t many farmers’ first choice, either.

“I would say farmers are frustrated with the track record of what the (Liberal) Party’s done for agriculture over the last 12 years, and they are probably pretty concerned if they’ll see any change over the next four years,” says Saskatchewan farmer Kristjan Hebert when asked how his farming brethren felt about the result.

Shaun Haney, founder of RealAgriculture and host of RealAg Radio , thinks the aggressive rhetoric from President Donald Trump around the U.S. possibly annexing Canada as the 51st state had an impact. The Conservatives had a large lead in many polls leading up to the election, but there was a seismic shift as Election Day approached.

“The Conservatives couldn’t get out of the trough of many Canadians making the assumption they were just going to roll over to President Trump, which I don’t think was true but definitely was the branding they were labeled with, and now Mark Carney’s first election is over and he’s going to be the prime minister,” he says.

(iStock/Lori Hays)

If there is a silver lining for conservative-leaning Canadian farmers, Haney views Carney as better equipped to manage the high-wire tightrope walk that is dealing with Trump. The U.S. President did back away from the 51st state rhetoric post-election, and the two men share similar backgrounds in global finance. There appears to be a degree of respect between the two.

“I think (Carney) has the opportunity to get some respect (from Trump) in the sense that he’s worked in those circles, but he has been very pro on the climate file, which he backed off during the election. He’s going to want to park that if he’s going to stay out of some of the ire of President Trump,” Haney adds.

Haney talked about the Canadian Election results on AgriTalk today. You can listen to the “Free for all Friday” discussion here:

From the farmer point of view, Hebert says there are actually a few Trump policies that he and many Canadian farmers support; he just wants more respect from the U.S. leader.

“I think most (Canadian farmers) would argue he has enough things to right on his own ship before he needs to worry about everybody else’s,” he says.

One ag market that may become a political football is the dairy industry. There is a lot of shared interests between the two countries in that realm, and Canada has slapped a protectionist 200% tariff on U.S. dairy exports for years, as Dairy Herd Management editor Karen Bohnert wrote in an analysis piece in March.

“Dairy’s going to be really fascinating,” Haney says. “One of the outcomes of the election is the Liberals are going to need support from some of the other parties. That’s going to come from the New Democratic Party or it’s going to come from The Bloc Quebecois, which is based in Quebec. And where is the Canadian Dairy lobby the strongest? Well, it’s in Quebec. So, it’s going to be really fascinating to see where they go on dairy negotiations.”

Another industry with close cross-border ties is the farm equipment manufacturing world. The tariff situation has hit that market with brute force. Many farmers are delaying purchases of new tractors, combines and sprayers until the situation clears up. Manufacturers have responded by laying off factory workers and slowing production of new machines.

An example of the cross-border journey of one piece of agriculture equipment from raw material to delivery on the farm.

(AEM)

RELATED - From the Factory to Your Fields: Where Farm Equipment Is Made

“Six or seven years ago, spending was full bore and it was a good time (in the industry),” Hebert says. “Right now, operations are really looking for efficiencies, and that includes asset turnover, capital utilization and the efficiency of production models. You’re going to see producers really focus on using every dollar to maximize efficiency because the margins just aren’t wide enough right now.”

Haney hopes both countries can come to the table and realize a united North America is stronger than one divided.

“This is a critical trading relationship and economic partnership between two countries that neighbor each other; there are bigger fish to fry,” he says. “China, Brazil and India — those are the countries where we need to be working together and focusing on a partnership, rather than battling each other.”

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Ancient DNA Reveals an Early African Origin of Cattle in the Americas

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 17:19:40 GMT

Cattle may seem like uniquely American animals, steeped in the lore of cowboys, cattle drives and sprawling ranches. But cattle didn’t exist on the American continents prior to the arrival of the Spanish, who brought livestock with them from Europe by way of the Canary Islands.

In a new study, researchers analyzed ancient DNA from Spanish settlements in the Caribbean and Mexico. Their results indicate cattle were also imported from Africa early in the process of colonization, more than 100 years before their arrival was officially documented.

Records kept by Portuguese and Spanish colonists reference breeds from the Andalusian region of Spain but make no mention of transporting cattle from Africa. Some historians have interpreted this omission to mean that the first wave of colonists relied entirely on a small stock of European cattle initially shipped to the Caribbean Islands.

“Early studies concluded a few hundred animals were brought over in the early 16th century, which were then bred locally on Hispaniola. From there, the initial population was inferred to have spread across the Americas,” said lead author Nicolas Delsol, a postdoctoral associate at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

During his second expedition in 1493, Columbus brought the first cattle to the Caribbean, where they were used as farm animals and a source of food. These new transplants did so well that feral livestock became a nuisance on the Island of Hispaniola. The Spanish distributed cattle widely through the Caribbean, and by 1525, foreign livestock were being farmed in parts of Central and South America. The Portuguese meanwhile moved related breeds from mainland Europe and the Cape Verde Islands to modern-day Brazil.

But researchers have reason to suspect the version of events gleaned from historical records was incomplete. In 1518, Emperor Charles V passed an edict making it legal to transport enslaved people directly from their homelands to the Americas, a practice which commenced less than three years later. In the ensuing decades, enslaved Africans would play a vital — and often unrecognized — role in the development of cattle ranching.

“The earliest ranchers in Mexico were nearly all of African ancestry,” Delsol said. “We know that people like the Fulani in West Africa formed herder societies in which they lived in what could be described as a symbiosis with cattle. Both these lines of evidence made us think there was a strong possibility that the Spanish brought cattle from the same region as the people they enslaved.”

Previous genetic studies seem to support this idea. DNA from modern American cattle bears the signature of their European ancestry, but it also reveals a history of hybridization with breeds from Africa and Asia. Without archaeological data, however, it’s not possible to pinpoint exactly when these events took place.

The first records of African cattle in the Americas date back to the 1800s, when humped zebu from Senegal and n’dama cattle from Gambia were moved to areas with similar environments across the Atlantic. Beginning at roughly the same time and continuing into the 1900s, cattle domesticated in southeast Asia for thousands of years were also imported from India. Hybridization among these cattle led to common breeds that are still around today, such as the Senepol from the Virgin Islands and the American Brahman common in the tropics.

Do these records represent the first instance of cattle imported from regions other than Europe, or are they merely the continuation of a longstanding practice that had, until then, gone undocumented?

The only way to know for sure, Delsol said, would be to sequence ancient DNA from cows and bulls preserved during the colonial era. Researchers in only one other study had attempted to do, using 16th century bones from Jamaica, but their results were inconclusive.

Delsol gathered 21 bones from several archaeological sites. Seven were excavated in Puerto Real, a former ranching town in Hispaniola established in 1503 and abandoned decades later due to rampant piracy in the region. The remaining specimens correspond to 17th and 18th century sites in Central Mexico, including settlements and convents in a long arc from Mexico City to the Yucatán Peninsula.

After extracting DNA from bone material, he compared their genetic sequences with those of modern breeds around the world. As expected, most of the sequences shared a strong relationship with cattle from Europe, which was especially true for specimens from Puerto Real. Six of the bones from Mexico also had sequences common in African cattle but, crucially, also found in breeds present in southern Europe.

“To make things difficult, there are cattle in Spain similar to those in Africa due to centuries-long exchanges across the Strait of Gibraltar,” Delsol said.

But a tooth found in Mexico City stood out from the rest. Buried in the tooth’s mitochondria was a short sequence virtually unknown from anywhere other than Africa. The cow it came from likely lived in the late 1600s, pushing back the introduction of African cattle by more than a century.

When looked at over time, the bones also reveal a pattern of increasing genetic diversity. The oldest bones from Puerto Real and Xochimilco (a settlement south of Mexico City) all originated from European stock, whereas those from later sites in Mexico seem to have descended from animals more common in the Iberian Peninsula and Africa.

Taken together, the results suggest Spanish settlers began importing cattle directly from West Africa as far back as the early 1600s.

“Cattle ranching profoundly shaped the landscape and social systems across the American continents,” Delsol said. “We’ve known about the diverse genetic ancestry of American cattle for a long time, and now we have a more complete chronology for their introduction.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Funding was provided in part by the National Science Foundation (grant no. 1930628).

Brian Stucky with the Agricultural Research Service, Jessica Oswald with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Charles Cobb, Kitty Emery and Robert Guralnick of the Florida Museum of Natural History are also authors of the study.

NCBA, State Affiliates Urge Approval of USMCA

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:49:48 GMT

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) sent a letter signed by 39 of its state affiliates to U.S. Senate and House leaders urging them to support the swift ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is NCBA’s latest salvo in the battle to build support for USMCA ratification, coming less than two weeks after the group launched a new media campaign to push the accord.

“American cattle producers need to maintain our unrestricted, duty-free access to markets in Canada and Mexico, and that’s exactly what USMCA would guarantee us,” said NCBA President Jennifer Houston. “Jeopardizing that access by having Congress not take action on USMCA is simply not an option for us.”

In addition to calling on Congress to quickly ratify USMCA, the letter also encouraged the Capitol Hill leaders to oppose efforts to re-instate failed policies of the past, such as mandatory country-of-origin labeling, or MCOOL.

“MCOOL was U.S. law for six years until it was repealed by Congress in 2015 to avoid $1 billion of retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico that were sanctioned by the World Trade Organization (WTO),” the letter says. “The truth is MCOOL cost the U.S. beef industry hundreds of millions of dollars to implement, and the vast majority of consumers never paid attention to it. Our industry has suffered enough with this bad idea and we do not need to relive the sins of the past.”

Click here to read the full letter, and click here to view NCBA’s “Faces of USMCA” media campaign, which launched in June.

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NAFTA Talks Bogged Down as U.S. Partners Resist Hardline Demands

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:49:05 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- Canada and Mexico are holding firm in their resistance to addressing America’s most contentious proposed changes to Nafta in the latest talks, with the parties making some slow progress on areas of greater consensus.

The U.S. is frustrated with what it perceives to be the reluctance of Canada and Mexico to present counter-proposals to U.S. positions on key issues such as regional content requirements and dispute settlement, said a person close to the negotiations. American officials are especially discouraged by Canada for publicly stating that the U.S. proposals are unacceptable, without presenting alternatives at the negotiating table, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The fifth round of talks, which began in Mexico City on Nov. 15 and wrap up on Tuesday, is the first held without the top trade chiefs from the three countries. That’s allowed the respective teams to work on the challenge of updating the more mundane facets of the nearly 2,000-page North American Free Trade Agreement, which started in 1994 and is undergoing a major overhaul.

Progress was slow over the weekend. While hundreds of hours of talks are unfolding on issues ranging from car manufacturing to telecommunications, negotiators have punted decisions on the most divisive issues to future rounds. The three countries have extended the deadline for the talks to March, when they could be complicated by elections in Mexico and U.S. midterms.

Mexico and Canada are holding out hope the U.S. will bow to domestic pressure from lawmakers and industry groups to soften its demands -- and Canada is warning there won’t be a deal if it doesn’t.

Since talks left off in October, U.S. companies and business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have mounted a campaign to mobilize Congress and convince the White House to back down from proposals they see as damaging to corporate interests. The Chamber on Friday warned that an American pullout would hit hardest some of the swing states that President Donald Trump took on his road to power.

Key Demands

The fate of the talks may hinge on that lobbying effort and whether the U.S. relaxes key demands. With Washington lawmakers focused on tax reform, that’s a question expected to linger into 2018. Two Canadian government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said this weekend there’s no chance of any deal without the U.S. significantly altering its most contentious proposals.

That message was echoed by a prominent Canadian union leader. “As long as the U.S. has those proposals on the table, nothing is going anywhere” on less controversial issues, Jerry Dias, head of Canada’s largest private-sector union, said Sunday in Mexico City. “These negotiations are going nowhere fast.”

The fifth round of talks has produced no substantial breakthrough so far and has largely avoided the most divisive U.S. proposals on dairy, automotive content, dispute panels, government procurement, and a sunset clause.

Weekend Talks

Talks over the weekend focused on a wide range of subjects, and officials said they made progress in less-contentious areas. Negotiators are scheduled to spend much of their time on auto rules of origin, which govern how much of a vehicle must be produced in North America to trade without tariffs, though discussions on that have centered on mundane details such as paperwork requirements.

“It’s very important to have advances, not just on the most controversial topics, to be able to continue with a pace of advance and so that the cost of leaving for the U.S. keeps rising,” Moises Kalach, the head of trade for Mexican national business chamber CCE, said on Friday in comments aired on El Financiero Bloomberg TV.

Sensing danger, the auto industry has stepped up its lobbying to preserve Nafta. A coalition of industry associations called Driving American Jobs traveled to Mexico City to make its case.

Auto Rules

That’s because the White House has proposed major changes to Nafta’s auto requirements, introducing a stipulation that 50 percent of parts or vehicles be U.S.-made, and increasing the minimum amount of regional content needed to 85 percent from 62.5 percent.

Tightening the rules of origin would make auto manufacturing in the region less competitive, said John Bozzella, president and chief executive officer of Global Automakers, a lobbying group that represents the U.S. operations of foreign automakers and suppliers.

More than 70 House Republicans and Democrats in a recent letter threw their support behind the auto industry’s opposition to changes sought by the Trump administration.

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said last week that Mexican negotiators planned to ask the U.S. for a more detailed explanation of the autos proposal and the reasons for it, but didn’t yet plan to present a counteroffer. A person familiar with discussions said Mexico views the U.S. position as completely unworkable.

Canada will respond to the U.S. auto proposal this round by detailing why it thinks implementing the plans would harm the sector, but won’t formally propose a counteroffer, one Canadian official said.

Dias, the Canadian union leader, has regularly predicted talks to save the Nafta accord will fail, and did so again on Sunday in remarks to reporters. “The Canadian team is not going to move at all as long as the United States continues to hold some ridiculous proposals,” Dias said. “The problem you’ve got now is you can’t even get any sort of consensus on the small stuff, because as long as there’s a perception that Nafta is falling apart, nobody is in a position to really make any moves.”

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

Trump's Top NAFTA Negotiator Dines With Mexico's in Buenos Aires

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:48:53 GMT

As negotiators work this week in Washington to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, the most important meeting may be one that took place thousands of miles away.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer dined with Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo in Argentina, Guajardo told Bloomberg News on the sidelines of World Trade Organization meetings in Buenos Aires. The tete-a-tete didn’t include Canadian participation, he said. Canada is being represented in the WTO talks by Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne rather than Foreign Relations Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is leading the nation’s Nafta negotiating team.

Guajardo said that the dinner was more social in nature and did not represent a negotiating round, but that it laid the groundwork for a more formal encounter in Montreal next month at the sixth round of NAFTA talks. While negotiators say they’ve made positive advances on more mundane issues such as food safety and technical obstacles to trade, they have yet to reach agreement on issues that could make or break a deal, such as U.S. demands for national content in cars that qualify for duty-free treatment and for NAFTA to end after five years unless the nations agree to renew it.

Element of Time

“I went through the areas that we are advancing that are very close to conclusion,” Guajardo said in the interview Wednesday. “We still have several items that are of high complexity and that we have to start discussing different ways to land our differences.”

An e-mail to the media office of the U.S. Trade Representative wasn’t immediately returned.

“The longer you are sitting at the negotiating table, the more constructive you feel about the possibility of arriving to a solution,” Guajardo added.

Negotiators in Washington this week are avoiding the most contentious issues of the NAFTA talks and focusing on areas where agreement can be reached without escalating the conversation to the ministerial level, according to a person familiar with the talks, who asked not to be identified discussing a process that is taking place behind closed doors.

Representatives from the U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to 75 percent of the text for digital commerce, telecommunications, good regulatory practices and anti-corruption areas, the person said, but the final 5 percent or 10 percent of text on a topic can sometimes still require significant work to arrive at an agreement because it represents the most difficult aspect.

Nafta negotiators started meeting in August after U.S. President Donald Trump, who blames NAFTA for hundreds of thousands of lost manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and a more than $60 billion trade deficit with Mexico, promised to either overhaul the deal or withdraw. Guajardo has said Mexico is open to helping the U.S. achieve its goal of re-balancing trade, as long as it’s through an expansion of exports and not limitations on trade.

In The Cattle Markets: Future of North America's Beef Industry

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:47:05 GMT

By: Glynn T. Tonsor, Kansas State University

I had the pleasure last week to provide a joint talk with Dr. Ted Schroder at the 2016 Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting & Symposium [1] . Our presentation sketched a broad vision of how the integrated U.S. and Canadian beef industry may look in 20 years [2] . To set the stage for our assessment, we outlined comparative advantages in comparing major global beef producers.

The key comparative advantages currently enjoyed by North America’s integrated industry include a strong trust and premium being placed on their grain-finished beef. The presence of sound and effective infrastructure spanning from physical assets like transportation networks and sophisticate processing facilities to intellectual expertise on issues including genetics and meat quality, along with legal property rights supporting investment are additional global strengths.

Comparative disadvantages are equally important to assess and appreciate in assessing any entity or industry’s future. The North American beef industry is not the lowest price producer globally reflecting differences in production costs not only relative to pork, chicken, and other proteins but also compared to competing beef systems around the world that are not as heavily focused on grain-finished production. While these production cost differentials may well adjust, they seem unlikely to shrink substantially. This reinforces the need to appreciate the fragmented nature of many inner-industry discussions and the associated partially effective coordination and signaling that occurs both vertically and horizontally throughout the North American beef industry. One only has to examine debates around animal identification and traceability, proposed international trade deals, and generic advertising to appreciate this point and the associated challenges with pursuing immense economic opportunities with expected growing global beef demand over the next 20 years.

As noted in past articles specific to individual operations, identifying and effectively acting upon one’s comparative advantage is key for successful progression of any industry. The core goal of this article is to have each reader pause and think critically about two things: 1) how the North American beef industry can best be positioned for success over the next 20 years and 2) how individual actions of stakeholders throughout the industry can help (or inhibit) realization of this success. It is much more enjoyable, and arguably economically rewarding over the longer-term, to work together and “build a larger pie to share” than to focus on getting the “largest slice of today’s pie.”

The Markets

Cattle prices last week generally declined from prior week levels. The 5-area live fed cattle price for the week was down at $120.62/cwt while Nebraska yearlings traded lower at $144.92/cwt. Corn prices were steady for the week trading at $3.96 in Omaha.

[1] A copy of the presentation is available at: http://www.agmanager.info/about/contributors/Presentations/Tonsor/presentations.asp

[2] Given time constraints we did not outline points specific to Mexico but those similarly warrant appreciation given ongoing adjustments in their beef industry and the historic connection of both beef and cattle trade with the U.S.

Marfrig Restructures, Names New CEO

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:23:59 GMT

Marfrig Global Foods, the Brazilian company which became the world’s second largest beef processor in April after acquiring 51% of National Beef Processing for $969 million, has named Eduardo Miron as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Miron, who had been Marfrig’s chief financial officer since 2016, replaces Martin Secco as CEO.

Miron had served as the CEO of Keystone Foods in the U.S., which Marfrig sold last month to Tyson Foods for $2.5 billion. Keystone is the largest supplier of chicken nuggets to McDonald’s, and had 2017 sales of $2.8 billion, with operations in the United States, Korea, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

Marfrig also announced its business will operate under a new structure organized in two divisions: South America, gathering operations of 31 units in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile; and North America, including National Beef and a beef patty factory in North Baltimore, Ohio.

“We want the two divisions to have independent goals and management, and that we can measure success in each one of them,” said Miron in a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

Miron said Marfrig does not plan expansion in the short term, and the company will prioritize leverage reduction and sustainable growth after acquiring Natural Beef and selling Keystone to focus on the beef processing business.

Miguel Gularte, a veterinarian who has been working in the beef industry for 37 years, will lead Marfrig’s South American business. The North America division will continue to be led by National Beef’s CEO Tim Klein.

Before joining Marfrig, Miron worked for ten years at Grupo Safra and for more than two decades at U.S.-based Cargill, where he held leadership positions in Brazil and the United States. Miron, 55, holds a degree in accounting, a graduate degree in finance and an MBA from Business School São Paulo/University of Toronto.

In a statement, Marfrig said it will redouble its efforts to create value supported by financial sustainability, by the integration of and capture of synergies at National Beef and, in South America, by a management strategy centered on operational excellence, on adding value to its products and brands and on revamping its structure.

“We will strive to create value in all dimensions of the business,” said Miron. “We want to be recognized as a sustainable company for our financial management, for the returns we offer shareholders and investors and for our relations with cattle producers, employees, clients and consumers.”

North America

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Element of Time

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