As consumers rush to stock up on staples, orange juice has made its way to the top of the shopping list. How will the coronavirus crisis impact an industry that has been pummeled by hurricanes and citrus greening? Andrew Meadows, director of Citrus Mutual in Lakeland, Florida, shares his insights on how shifting consumer demands will impact the market now and in the future.

This episode is part of a special AgFuture series on the impact of COVID-19 on the food supply chain. Join us to hear how those on the frontlines of the global pandemic are working to overcome adversity and feed the world.

Hosted by Michelle Michael

As lead video producer at Alltech, Michelle travels the globe for the company’s award-winning Planet of Plenty™ documentary series. Michelle spent a decade as a video producer/reporter in Germany, reporting from military hotspots at the height of the war on terrorism. The National Press Photographer's Association (NPPA) has twice recognized Michelle as their solo video journalist of the year. 

Co-produced by Brandon Whitworth

As the senior media production specialist at Alltech, Brandon co-produces the company’s award-winning Planet of Plenty ™ documentary series. Brandon is a two-time Emmy Award winning television news photojournalist and three-time nominee. He has received several regional awards from the National Press Photographers Association for excellence in visual storytelling.

The following is an edited transcript of Michelle Michael's interview with Andrew Meadows. Click below to hear the full audio.

Michelle:       Hello! I'm Michelle Michael. In this special series of AgFuture, we're talking with those working along the food supply chain about the impact of COVID-19. My guest today is Andrew Meadows, director of Citrus Mutual, based out of Lakeland, Florida. Citrus Mutual is a nonprofit trade association that acts as an advocate for citrus growers, particularly when it comes to economic matters. Andrew, thank you so much for joining us today.

Andrew:         Thank you very much for having me.

Michelle:       Hope you and your family are safe right now in the midst of this pandemic. It's a scary time. We're all learning to navigate this new norm together, and it's the same throughout agriculture. I'm hearing that orange juice is suddenly a hot commodity. In fact, I've heard there's been a significant jump in sales as the demand for vitamin C goes up. Do you have numbers that confirm that?

Andrew:         Yes, we measure orange juice sales. Our industry here in Florida is (that) 95% of our product, our oranges, go into juice. The remaining 5% is the fresh table market. But we, as an industry, measure our sales in four-week increments. We work through Nielsen Incorporated, which is a well-known consumer data company. Actually, the last four-week period was March 14, and it showed an increase at retail of 10%. Although this situation is a crisis, and I hope everybody out there is staying safe and doing what the CDC recommends, it is heartening to us, as an industry and our growers, that people still see orange juice as a significant source of vitamin C, which, of course, can help boost and support a healthy immune system. We'll get numbers in mid-April for the next four-week period, and we expect those to be up as well. Anecdotally, we're hearing from our processors that sales are continuing to be up. Although the country is grappling with this crisis, the silver lining, I guess, for our growers is that people are looking to orange juice for vitamin C.

Michelle:       Of course, we have to say that there's no evidence that vitamin C is effective against coronavirus, but people certainly are looking to increase their vitamin intake. That's a very real thing. Can you describe what you're seeing in the public there? Do you see orange juice flying off of store shelves, just like you see toilet paper disappearing?

Andrew:         Well, I don't think we've gotten as much publicity as the toilet paper issue, or bottled water or bread, those sorts of staple items. But anecdotally, I always keep an eye on the frozen section when I go to the grocery store, and there have been some empty shelves where, normally, they front their inventory. So, I've seen it. The numbers back it up. Again, as you mentioned, there's not a direct effect on coronavirus itself, but certainly, vitamin C supports a healthy immune system, and that's what people are looking for now. Traditionally, our sales do spike during the cold and flu months, November to February. We heavy-up our advertising and marketing during that period, historically, but of course, with people falling sick now to this new disease, that's only supported more interest in orange juice and vitamin C.

Michelle:       Andrew, what about packing lines? Can the pack houses keep up with this sudden increase in demand? Or is the demand outpacing the current supply? And should consumers be worried that orange juice and oranges are going to disappear from store shelves?

Andrew:         I don't think it's to that point. We have seven major processing plants here in Florida. They are all working extremely hard, is what I'm being told. I don't think we're to the point where our supply chain can't meet the demand that's out there. But, certainly, they are working hard, and we're getting our late-season Valencias to the processing plants as fast as we can at this point.

Michelle:       What about moving products once they’re actually packaged? Are you finding that there are enough truck drivers out there to move the product and respond to this new increased workload?

Andrew:         Again, I haven't really pursued that. I haven't heard anything from our contacts and the meetings that I have that there has been any sort of distribution issues at this point. I don't think we're at that point, and (I don’t think) that much stress is being put on the supply chain. I haven't received or heard any information on that front.

Michelle:       Citrus is, of course, harvested by hand. Can you talk specifically about what precautions are in place to keep people safe during this pandemic?

Andrew:         Yeah, we're a critical industry. We've been deemed a critical industry from the federal government on down, and, of course, our state ag commissioner, Nikki Fried, has determined us to be a critical industry, as well as our governor, Ron DeSantis. We have people going to work. We were under strict food-safety guidelines prior to this virus and this pandemic hitting, so there are very stringent state and federal food-safety guidelines: hairnets, gloves, sanitation. Those sorts of things are already very much in place in our industry. Each individual packing house or processor are taking their precautions, whether it's social distancing, requiring washing of hands, even above and beyond what the regulations require. Some employers are using masks, employees wearing masks. We're used to the food safety and hygiene issues, being a food industry. I think those have actually been amped up in this environment. We're doing all we can to get a healthy, safe product out to consumers right now.

Michelle:       This pandemic has just been a terrible thing for everybody. At this time, it's hard to talk about opportunity, but right now, really, in the citrus world, this is a tremendous rebound. For at least a decade, citrus growers have battled citrus greening. That's a disease, of course, that's killing the world's orange trees, and growers really struggled financially over the last several years. What does this new uptick in sales mean to growers? Is it a rebound of sorts?

Andrew:         It's big. I mean, it's mixed emotions, of course. We aren't looking to capitalize on a crisis situation. But certainly, with the consumption numbers falling over the last, really, decade and a half, I can't tell you anything other than it is good news. We are encouraged that people still see orange juice as a healthy drink, that's clear, and a source of vitamin C. It's mixed emotions. It's big, yup. HLB, or citrus greening, has ravaged our groves. Our production has fallen from 240 million boxes 15 years ago to about 70 million boxes of oranges. Those are 90-pound sealed boxes. You can see the production. Now, not all of that is due to greening. We've experienced hurricanes, of course, real estate pressure, other diseases, but a big part of it is because of greening. The fact that we've shown, year over year, increases in this first four-week period is encouraging. But again, it's mixed emotions because it is on the back of this pandemic.

Michelle:       How do you see the future of citrus going forward? The next five years, for example: Will this habit of people going after vitamin C continue after this pandemic is over?

Andrew:         I think it will. I think it's let the cat out of the bag. I think our marketers will take advantage of it. I think that we're going to be here to stay on a consumption side, and we'll rally. We've got optimistic growers out there. Our acreage isn't the same, our production isn't the same, but the men and women who remain in the industry are in it for the long run. We don't have gentlemen farmers or hobbyists or people who aren't doing this as a full-time job. We've got the best and the brightest growers. They're well-schooled in economics and science and meteorology. It's really — you have to be a jack of all trades now to be a citrus grower.

                        We're cautiously optimistic. We think that we've learned — through nutritional programs, through new rootstocks, through different production techniques and encouraging root health and the proper irrigation pH in our irrigation water — that we can produce quality oranges and grapefruit and tangerines, even with this immense disease pressure from greening. So, we're cautiously optimistic. If you're not cautiously optimistic, you probably shouldn't be in agriculture, because it is a difficult profession.

Michelle:       Outside of the citrus industry, what are you seeing where you're located? How are other crop farmers faring during this crisis? Tomato growers, for example, watermelons — what are you seeing and hearing as you talk with so many others around your state?

Andrew:         Yeah, everybody is challenged. They are also out there and experiencing support because of the health benefits of fresh winter vegetables. Our winter harvest for those commodities is pretty much over. That comes and winds down in March and the end of March. As far as the direct effect, we're winding down those harvests of those crops. But again, there are trade issues out there. We want to be protected. Our winter fruit and vegetables want to be protected in any new trade deals with Mexico. They're a huge competitor. That's weighing heavy on the minds. The U.S. Trade Representative recently canceled some public hearings that were going to take place in the next week where we were going to, as an agriculture industry — not just citrus — weigh in and make sure that there are protections over dumping and unfair trade practices and that sort of thing. So, we'll be looking to have that rescheduled when the curve gets flattened on this pandemic.

                        Issues like trade are still (going to be) weighing heavily when this all gets cleared up. As they always do, we'll get back to business, but it's, again, a way of life, and it’s agriculture, and there are always issues. Thank goodness organizations like Florida Citrus Mutual and the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Florida Farm Bureau are out there advocating for growth.

Michelle:       It's a challenging time, learning to navigate this strange new world that we live in. But in such a time, do you feel that the general public is perceiving agriculture in a new way, a better way — perhaps (feeling) even more grateful to growers, to farmers around the world?

Andrew:         I absolutely do. I think that people are more and more concerned with where their food is grown. They understand and are becoming more educated that it doesn't originate in the grocery store. I think, especially here in Florida, where there's high population growth, that green space is coveted, and agriculture is seen as green space, wildlife habitat, water recharge. I think people have come around in the last 10 years to 15 years and appreciate agriculture that much more and understand the good work that farmers do.

Michelle:       Andrew Meadows from Citrus Mutual in Florida, thank you so much for joining us today.

Andrew:         Great. Thank you very much for your time.

Michelle:       For additional resources on COVID-19, visit Alltech.com.

Click here for additional COVID-19 resources.

The 2020 Alltech Global Feed Survey estimates that international feed tonnage decreased by 1.07% to 1.126 billion metric tons of feed produced last year, due largely to African swine fever (ASF) and the decline of pig feed in the Asia-Pacific region. The top nine feed-producing countries are the U.S., China, Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, Spain, Japan and Germany. Together, these countries produce 58% of the world’s feed production and contain 57% of the world’s feed mills, and they can be viewed as an indicator of overall trends in agriculture.

Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, shared the survey results via public livestream from Alltech’s global headquarters in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

“2019 presented extreme challenges to the feed industry, with one of the most significant being African swine fever. The regional and global implications are reflected by the Alltech Global Feed Survey and the decline in global feed production, said Lyons. “While pig feed production is down in affected countries, we are noting increased production both in other species as producers work to supplement the protein demand, and in non-affected countries as exports ramp up. The damage caused by ASF will have long-term implications, and we expect that the top protein sources will continue to shift as our industry adapts to the shortage.”

The global data, collected from 145 countries and nearly 30,000 feed mills, indicates feed production by species as: broilers 28%; pigs 24%; layers 14%; dairy 12%; beef 10%; other species 6%; aquaculture 4%; and pets 2%. Predominant growth came from the layer, broiler, aqua and pet feed sectors. 

Regional results from the 2020 Alltech Global Feed Survey

• North America: The U.S. is the largest feed-producing country globally with an estimated 214 million metric tons (MMT), with beef (61.09 MMT), broilers (48.525 MMT) and pigs (44.86 MMT) as the leading species. North America saw steady growth of 1.6% over last year. Canada produced 21.6 MMT with pigs (8.23 MMT), broilers (3.25 MMT) and dairy (4.2 MMT) leading species feed production.

• Latin America: As a region, Latin America saw 2.2% growth to 167.9 MMT. Brazil remained the leader in feed production for the region and third overall globally, with the primary species for feed production being broilers (32.1 MMT) and pigs (17.0 MMT). Brazil, Mexico and Argentina continue to produce the majority of feed in Latin America with 76% of regional feed production.

• Europe: Europe remained relatively stagnant with a slight increase of 0.2% over last year. The top three feed-producing countries in Europe are Russia (40.5 MMT), Spain (34.8 MMT) and Germany (25.0 MMT), with pig feed production leading the way in all three countries. The ruminant sector was hit the hardest as both dairy and beef numbers are estimated to be down by 4% and 3%, respectively. This was offset primarily by strong growth in the aqua (7%) and layer (3%) industries.

• Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific region saw feed production decrease by 5.5% in 2019, primarily due to African swine fever and large declines in pig feed production. China’s feed production declined by almost 20 MMT of feed overall to 167.9 MMT and fell from the top feed-producing country globally to second, behind the U.S. India and Japan remained in the top nine feed-producing countries, with similar production compared to 2018 with 39.0 MMT and 25.3 MMT, respectively, while Vietnam declined by 7%.

• Africa: Africa continued strong growth with a 7.5% increase in overall feed production, with all the primary species seeing positive growth. The top five feed-producing countries in the region account for 75% of Africa’s feed production, and they are South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Algeria. The region’s primary species include broiler, layer and dairy, and combined, they account for nearly half of feed production estimates in the region.

Notable species results from the 2020 Alltech Global Feed Survey

• Pig feed production was greatly impacted by African swine fever, with an 11% decrease. The primary producing region for pig feed remains Asia-Pacific, but it also experienced the largest decline of 26%, with China (-35%), Cambodia (-22%), Vietnam (-21%) and Thailand (-16%) experiencing large decreases. Europe, North America and Latin America remained relatively stable compared to last year, within a percentage point’s worth of gain or loss. While Africa is a small region from a tonnage standpoint for pig feed, it showed a large increase of 29%.  

• In the poultry sector, Asia-Pacific is the leader in both broiler (115.2 MMT) and layer (73.1 MMT) feed. In Latin America, total broiler production amounted to 60.8 MMT, with Brazil leading the region with 32.1 MMT followed by Mexico with 10.5 MMT, while Mexico’s layer feed production increased by 11% to 7.05 MMT and surpassed Brazil. Russia leads Europe with 10.86 MMT of the total region’s 56.3 MMT of broiler feed and 5.3 MMT of the region’s total of 33.5 MMT of layer feed. In North America, the U.S. accounts for 94% of the broiler feed with 48.5 MMT, while layer feed in Canada increased by 460,000 metric tons. 

• Europe leads global dairy feed production with 34% followed by North America (21.8%), Asia-Pacific (17.6%) and Latin America (15.3%). The top dairy feed- producing countries are Turkey (6.5 MMT), Germany (5.2 MMT), Russia (4.2 MMT), the U.K. (3.8 MMT), France (3.4 MMT), the Netherlands (3.3. MMT) and Spain (3.2 MMT).

• North America continues to lead global beef feed production with 62.3 MMT, followed by Europe (21.9 MMT) and Latin America (13.9 MMT). For the 2020 Alltech Global Feed Survey, the beef feed production estimation was recalculated to improve its accuracy. The new estimate takes into account the average days on feed and intake as a percentage of body weight in the feedlot. Last year’s estimation was also recalculated to reflect this formula change for a proper year-on-year comparison.

• Overall, aquaculture feeds showed growth of 4% over last year. Per ton, Asia-Pacific grew the most with an additional 1.5 MMT. The primary contributors were China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Europe’s decrease is in large part due to decreased feed production in Russia, which is primarily due to an increase in imports.

• The pet food sector saw growth of 4% with the largest tonnage increases in Asia-Pacific (10%), Europe (3%) and Latin America (6%). By country, increases were seen in China, Indonesia, Portugal, Hungary, Ecuador and Argentina. 

During the live presentation, Dr. Lyons was joined by a panel of industry experts, including Jack Bobo, CEO, Futurity, USA; Matthew Smith, vice president, Alltech, U.K.; Bianca Martins, general manager, Alltech, Mexico; and Brian Lawless, North America species manager, Alltech, USA. The group discussed the trends behind the data and the implications for the global market. Topics ranged from consumer demands to the adoption of new technology.

To access insights from the 2020 Alltech Global Feed Survey, including a recording of the panel discussion, an interactive map and presentation slides, visit alltechfeedsurvey.com.

The Alltech Global Feed Survey assesses compound feed production and prices through information collected by Alltech’s global sales team and in partnership with local feed associations in the last quarter of 2019. It is an estimate serving as a resource for policymakers, decision-makers and industry stakeholders.

Modern farmers have countless resources at their disposal that those who came before could only have dreamt of. If we compare agriculture today with what was the norm 10 — or even five — years ago, the contrast is staggering. Over the last few years, farmers have reaped the benefits of numerous technological advances, and some of the most useful of them have come in the form of agricultural apps on smartphones.

The array of apps that could be useful for farmers is already vast and continues to grow. Armed with an Android, iPhone or even an iPad, they can scroll through the available apps to find a program that fits their every need, from buying new machinery to analyzing soil types.

But it is not only ag apps that are making farmers’ lives easier. Help can come from some unlikely places, and programs that were not designed specifically for agricultural use can be utilized in innovative ways.

With this in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at some of the useful apps currently on the market. Some are obvious choices for any farmer, while others may have previously been overlooked. Whether you are already ag-tech-savvy or are only just learning how the device in your pocket could change your farm management, this list will give you a sense of what is out there and how it can be used to your advantage.

Feed-management apps

Long neglected in terms of innovation and investment, feed management technology is finally making strides in the ag-tech industry. Until recently, it was still common for farmers to manage their feeding by using a pen and paper. Now, however, there are plenty of resources available on the App Store to make this process more efficient and cost-saving.

1. FeedSmart

Taking into account key variables, such as maintenance requirements, animal growth, lactation and more, this free calculator can provide farmers with instant information on their livestock's nutritional needs, feed values and feed allocation.

2. InTouch Forage Budgeting 

The management of forage stocks has also become a topical issue on farms in recent years, especially with changing weather patterns. Fortunately, smartphone technology can also play a role in long-term planning.

This app calculates the total forage available to the farmer in both fresh weight and dry matter from clamped forage and additional baled forage. The user inputs the forage required to feed livestock during the winter housed period, and the app then determines if the farmer has enough resources at his or her disposal.

Developed in association with the team at Alltech E-CO2 and available on all mobile devices, this app becomes particularly handy moving into the winter, when the demand for forage is at its greatest. Farmers need to be proactive in measuring conserved forage quantities in order to avoid any potential shortfalls.

Note-taking apps

Whether they want to admit it or not, some farmers are careless note-takers. For a profession in which constant checks and record-keeping are essential, many farmers leave too much to chance. This task can be made easier and quicker with modern technology. On a base level, it is standard practice for all smartphones to come with some form of notepad app included. You can even set reminders that will alert you about certain items and tasks at a pre-arranged time.

3. Evernote 

This multi-platform app allows you to access your notes and photographs from your smartphone, desktop and tablet, syncing everything to make sure you are always up to date. It also allows you to share content with other users, which comes in handy when disseminating information among your team.

4. Google Docs

The only drawback to Evernote is that many of its sharing and collaborative features are only available through a paid subscription. Google Docs, a free alternative with similar capabilities, could be a suitable replacement.

Field-measurement apps

5. GPS Fields Area Measure

Ask any farmer how much land they have, and they will be able to give you an answer straightaway. Being able to do so is an essential aspect of the profession and is an ability that many wear as a badge of honor. However, this off-the-top-of-the-head figure is only ever a ballpark number, probably rounded up to the nearest acre.

GPS Fields Area Measure is the perfect tool for determining distances and field perimeters and areas, fast! Using satellite imaging, this app provides you with an accurate measurement of your piece of land, saving you time and money. For added convenience, it can also be used offline, and saved measurements can be shared between users.

Weather apps

By its nature, farming is an outdoor enterprise. The success of a harvest, down to the budgeting of forage, depends heavily on the weather. While it can never be fully predicted, many tools and devices have been developed over the years to make dealing with the weather a bit easier. Modern technology now provides the most comprehensive methods of navigating the whims of Mother Nature. There is a plethora of weather apps on the market, all of which can provide highly accurate forecasts.

6. Strawberry Advisory System monitors the weather so as to help keep strawberry crops free from fruit rot.

7. Hurricane is the American Red Cross' hurricane-monitoring app.

8. Weather Underground

Along with providing accurate weather information throughout the world, this free app can also be accessed in a vast range of languages. Collecting up-to-the-minute data from more than 270,000 global weather stations, it also lets users contribute by reporting on weather conditions in their own regions.

Buying and selling apps

These days, it has never been easier to go on a shopping spree. A short time spent browsing online can quickly leave you with myriad new possessions and an alarmingly low bank balance. The agriculture industry is not immune to this — and now, farmers are able to get in on the fun, too!

9. TractorHouse

If you are in the market to buy or sell new or used machinery and farm equipment, this global app gives users access to thousands of sale listings. Its user-friendly interface allows you to easily search for equipment and parts, which can be bought directly or at auction.

10. Cattle Market Mobile

Your smartphone can even give you the edge when bidding on livestock. Traditionally, farmers would enter a market blind, not knowing anything about the animals being offered. Now, apps are emerging that allow farmers to do research and even make bids beforehand.

This handy tool collects data on current auction prices across the U.S. Using this information as a guide, farmers can see exactly how much they should be paying for steers, bulls, heifers and more.

11. MartBids

While only available in Ireland, this app is changing the way producers make decisions about livestock. This app works in conjunction with livestock marts throughout the country to provide users with vital information before they make their decisions. Whereas before, a farmer at an auction often had to rely on gut feeling when bidding, this mobile app negates any guesswork, helping you find the perfect animal for your needs.

12. FarmHedge

For an all-around app that connects farmers with multiple sectors of the agriculture industry, this real-time agribusiness app puts users directly in touch with suppliers of feed, fertilizers, parts and more. It allows producers to create personal and secure working relationships while also saving them time and money.

Farm smarter, not harder, with these helpful apps for farmers. We hope these useful tools will help you better manage what you have worked so hard for.

As climate change becomes a larger issue, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and finding ways to sequester carbon in farm and food production is more important than ever. Robynne Anderson discusses her experience providing businesses with sustainable solutions as president of Emerging Ag, the international consulting firm for agriculture.

The following is an edited transcript of David Butler’s interview with Robynne Anderson. Click below to hear the full audio.

David:                Hi, Robynne. How are you today?

Robynne:          Great to see you, David.

David:                Thanks! Tell us a little bit about Emerging Ag and what you do.

Robynne:          Well, it's a company that’s spread out around the globe. There are 22 of us on the team, and we work on agricultural policy, really, at a global level. So, whether that means working with agricultural trade associations or individual companies or farmer groups or agricultural scientists, we try and make sure the voice of agriculture gets heard in the context of the United Nations and other venues where people are talking about how you set agricultural policy.

David:                Okay. That sounds pretty exciting, and you must be doing a pretty good job, because I know that you are in the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Robynne:          Oh, thank you. Yes, it was a great honor. Yes, my life is very exciting for a girl who grew up in a small town in Dugald, Manitoba, on a farm. I did not expect to get to see so much of the world, and I find that agriculture is just a great unifying part of a lens with which to see the world because, when you get out on to farms, whether it's in Africa or Asia or any other part of the world, there is something about farming that might be done differently. They might be growing different crops, but there's something about the reality of being from a farm that's kind of the same. It's practical. The weather is still a big factor. It's hard work, and those communities are very welcoming.

David:                Yeah. You mentioned that weather is a big factor, and of course, that's always been true for farming. There are all sorts of uncertainties around the weather and lots of different variables, which make it very challenging, and it seems like, more and more, that's an even bigger problem, with extreme weather events around the globe. What are you seeing that's a serious challenge for farmers?

Robynne:          Well, weather has undoubtedly, as you said, always been one of the toughest parts of farming, and it always seems that the rain never comes when you need it or comes too much. That's been the case in our farm a bit lately, but everybody feels this change from the norm. There used to be patterns; it was always variable, but now, even the sense of the way the seasons work, it really does seem to be changing quite a bit.

                             I was in Kenya for much of the month of March, and their rain season would normally have started about mid-March. I left at the end of the month, and it still had not started. The rains have started to come now, but weeks behind schedule. Really, you get that sense — and for us on our farm in Canada, you see more and more flooding pressure, year on year on year. It's no longer just once every 40 or 50 years that you're feeling that the Red River is going to swallow you up. It's a changing world, and I think this is what is giving extra credence to a discussion that scientists started many years ago, saying something is afoot. We are having too big an impact on our environment.

David:                Yeah, and that certainly seems to be true. Because extreme weather and climate change are becoming a bigger and bigger issue, it's very important to look at what we can do to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions in every industry, not just agriculture, and you spent some time looking at that. So, what do you see that's promising? What are some opportunities we have to do that?

Robynne:          Well, here at Alltech, there was an awesome panel, and I was really lucky to be on it with a set of others who were working on all very different aspects of that. Part of what I was talking about specifically is that anything that we do in our businesses, we need to measure. We would never go into a sales program and not know what our target was and what our sales figure was and what our cost of delivering that product would be. We wouldn't be in business otherwise.

                             The same applies, really, if we want to take climate change seriously. That means looking at how we are measuring inside our individual businesses. One of the gentlemen on the panel was talking about actually pricing in carbon into their business planning and in terms of their internal budgeting, but what I was talking about also is the need for the sector as a whole to be engaged in measurement. I use a particular example of the Global Dairy Platform, which has helped to set up the Dairy Sustainability Framework. Now, about 30% of the milk sector, total volume of milk, is actually reporting in through this framework, so that's a really big jump forward, and it's not just about climate change.

                             Climate change is incredibly important, but if we're only looking at it from an agricultural perspective on greenhouse gas emissions, I think we're missing the range of things that we need to be involved in, and that includes looking at water and are we drawing down too much or are we polluting it on the way out. These are very concrete, measurable things, and by reporting in together, we can begin to understand what's happening and actually have a conversation about what needs to be done.

                             One thing that we saw that really surprised a lot of people is that the assumption is that greenhouse gas emissions are highest from dairy production in the developed world — an idea that large, intensive farms would be naturally more polluting — but, in fact, the efficiency of those productions shows that OECD countries have been consistently dropping their greenhouse gas emission rates, and they're really quite low. They're not down to zero, but they're really quite low, whereas in developing countries, where animals may go a dry season without being able to be fully productive, all of the emissions-related intensities are actually much higher, because they don’t have that production efficiency.

                             That's really important to understand, but I think it's also very true that, if you consider the emission discussion, it's great that dairy is down 11% in the past ten years in terms of how much carbon we're releasing for every liter of milk we produce, but if you consider that the world still continues to need a total reduction in carbon, you have to be looking, in agriculture, to make use of agriculture's great asset, because agriculture can also do carbon sinks. That is what we do, right? We grow stuff. We put carbon into the soil. We take carbon out of the air for those plants. The opportunity really does exist for all of us to be looking at a net-zero emission intensity, or below, because if we do the right things on our farms, we can get to that level so that we can grow the amount of milk we're producing that's needed in the world but do it in a way that isn't actually helping to destroy the world through releasing too much greenhouse gas.

David:                Yeah. That opportunity that agriculture has is very exciting. Can you talk a little bit about some of the practices that can help sequester carbon?

Robynne:          Absolutely. If you're thinking about a farm as having a land footprint, what kind of things are you growing on that land? Farmers can do concrete things, like plant more trees. A lot of farms actually already have trees around their houses to help protect them from weather, ironically, so what are you doing to put long-term crops? If you're looking at the livestock sector, pasture is a great carbon sink — you managing that pasture well and protecting it. Also, if you think about the dairy sector, for instance, anaerobic digestion, manure management and sequestering that into a facility where you are actually producing renewable energy is an incredibly powerful part of reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of your farm.

                             Farms actually have a lot of lands, so whether your dairy barns have solar energy panels on the top of them; you're using, perhaps, manure management; maybe you're taking local food waste products and putting them in with your manure manager to further that energy production; you can look at a wind turbine on your farm — but farms really can get energy, neutral or renewable energy, sourced. Even some farms are now moving to actually put onto the grid renewable energy, which gives it a double whammy, and that's how you can get to that negative footprint level. There's just such an incredible opportunity of managing well, of using conservation tillage, of really thinking about how you are engineering that system.

                             The great thing is, at the promised end of that is actually the potential to earn some money from that energy you're putting back into the grid, especially if you're working in collaboration with others. There's an opportunity for it not only to be the right thing to do, but to be a really good business decision.

David:                Yeah. When you're talking about earning money, you're talking about selling carbon credits to other businesses?

Robynne:          That is an opportunity, but I am thinking, actually, about putting electricity back onto a grid. You get paid for the electricity you generate, so that's a clearer path to a business.

David:                Okay. I suppose electricity and energy use in general is kind of a small percentage of the carbon footprint from the farm, but a farm has the potential to generate much more electricity than that and offset nearby homes or businesses and balance the equation, right?

Robynne:          Exactly. Whether you're making a compressed natural gas or a conventional electricity product, that is exactly the opportunity that farms have this resource available to them, because they have a land footprint. Now, you need to work collaboratively with your local electricity grid to be part of the renewable sources there. Some farms are working quite well together to achieve that. You see some of the cooperatives, for instance, in the dairy sector working together to get their members having a bulk-buy onto the grid, because getting access onto that grid is the challenge, but energy is actually quite a high input cost in a lot of farms. So, even if you got your electricity cost down in your own operation, that would be a big benefit, and then, to produce a surplus that you could actually use as a revenue stream is just one example of how you can really get to zero, because everybody says that's impossible, but farms really have this unique opportunity — and especially how they manage their carbon sinks on their farms, as well.

David:                It would be fantastic if many more farms were at zero greenhouse gas emissions, because there's so much negative publicity about the amount of greenhouse gasses that are produced on farms. You mentioned a little earlier that it's very important to look at data. You had an example yesterday that shows it's important to look at the data in multiple ways, when you were talking about the carbon output of New Zealand, Ireland, and the different ways you can look at that.

Robynne:          It is a strangely quirky thing that, when you look at a chart about greenhouse gas outputs, New Zealand and Ireland pop higher than countries like China and some other places that you would expect would have much higher greenhouse gas emission implications.

David:                And you're saying from the dairy sector specifically, right?

Robynne:          That is the calculation — is because both of them are very effective dairy producers — that this is counting very high in what the proportion of their greenhouse gas emissions are. Does that mean that two countries that have a very moderate climate, perfectly adapted to dairying, that have beautiful grasslands, that are easily maintained through natural rainfall, aren't the best place to produce milk? Really, what's counting against them is they are such a good producer that they are exporting milk and serving the rest of the world, but because that production happens in their country, they carry 100% of those emissions, but if you went off and set up a dairy — and I'm going to pick an arbitrary country here — in Amman or in the middle of a desert somewhere, it is not going to be, probably, a more greenhouse gas-efficient or more environmentally sustainable solution because it's happening in that other country, because you're going to have to irrigate that land. You're not going to have the same natural cycles. You might, potentially, have to provide cooling to those dairy cows to be productive, because they're not used to that kind of heat.

                             The result will be, actually, potentially, a bad outcome if we don’t find ways to recognize where we produce things efficiently. The current discussions about climate change actually really hone in on a country's responsibility for what they're producing, and that makes a certain amount of sense, but when you're talking about global trade — especially in food — it's really important that we also find a way to make the right decisions globally, that we're not turning over lands that are inappropriate for some things and making them into lands that are, therefore, being used. Because, as a Canadian farmer, I don’t think we're going to be growing mangoes in Canada. We will have gone a long way down the climate change path if, suddenly, banana trees and tropical plants or mangoes are growing in the middle of Canada. We grow some other things really, really effectively, and I think you can see that paradigm potentially going in the wrong direction.

                             If I might just add one more thing to that, it's really important to consider that, as we're having more extreme weather, that trade becomes even more important. You just don’t know what's going to hit where, who's going to have a drought and who's going to have a cyclone and who's going to have a flood.

                             One of the things that the FAO produced recently was to talk about just how important global trade is going to be in food. It's always been important, but it becomes our backup system to food security, and so, it is really important that we think about how to manage this in a way that the trade is actually encouraged and that the best, most ecologically sound producers are being encouraged to use it.

David:                Yeah. I'm sure it's incredibly difficult to write global agreements or treaties on things like greenhouse gas emissions, and there's certainly a potential for some inadvertent mistakes. When you're looking at greenhouse gas emissions on an industry per-capita for a small country that excels in that industry, the number looks horrible, but if you look at it per liter or gallon of milk, it's a completely different picture, right? So how do we tell that message and make sure that those decisions are being made in a sensible way that makes good policy for everybody?

Robynne:          Well, it is really challenging. I've had the opportunity to go to some of the UN climate change meetings or very large meetings. There's a lot on the agenda. It's a really complicated process. One thing they deserve a lot of credit for is that the climate change negotiations have really heard from NGOs and businesses and scientists alike, so it's a space where having a serious conversation is possible. As we've moved to getting serious about national emissions, the inequities of this position become more clear, and it is possible to then say, “Okay, now we understand that. In a way, we didn’t understand it before,” and the agricultural sector has to be doing those numbers, has to be doing those measurements, so you can explain that the efficiency level on this is very high.

                             There are some dairy farms in America that are getting to zero, so it's not impossible; it is actually really happening. You want to make sure that the discussions to advance our goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions don’t create perverse subsidies for the wrong sorts of actions. For instance, strangely, if you were to till under all that pasture and grassland in New Zealand or Ireland, you might argue that once they went back to pastureland, they would get a carbon credit for creating a carbon sink, but they would've done something that actually caused more release of carbon so that they could get the credits for doing it. So, we really want to find ways to talk about agricultural production that have the practical voice of farmers there and don’t lead countries to make decisions to hit numbers that actually lead to the wrong outcomes.

                             It is a complex piece of work to navigate that, but we didn’t get to climate change without doing a lot of complex things, so it's going to take a fair amount of concerted effort to find a path forward.

David:                Yeah, good point. There's certainly a lot of accounting and measurement that we need to do to make sure that we're mitigating climate change, but it's very important to get that right. If we think we're doing everything we need to and we're not making the right decisions, we're in a lot of trouble.

Robynne:          We've just discussed the weather lately. I think we're in some trouble, and now, it is really about the path to get out, but you don’t want to make the path to get out worse. Like anyone finding their way out of a forest, we'll probably make a few wrong turns, but we want to at least be headed towards the edge of the forest, not going deeper in the other way.

David:                Are there things going on right now in the industry to try to help reduce emissions for low- and middle-income countries that have, traditionally, low productivity?

Robynne:          Some, but not remotely enough. It is a strange thing that agriculture receives very little of the global development budget. Only about 5% a year of all of the money that's going into development assistance goes into agriculture, even though 80% of the people living in multidimensional poverty — which means that they live below $1.25 a day — they don’t have access to schools. They don’t have access to hospitals. They live in rural areas, so they're farmers.

                             Eighty percent of the world's most needy are in a rural context, and yet, only 5% of development money going to agriculture is already wrongheaded, and then, on top of that, if you consider that, of that 5%, only 4% goes to livestock. We're talking about minute amounts of the development budgets going to important factors where they're needed, and many communities in these areas actually have a very strong livestock tradition.

                             So, it's really important that more gets done, but there are some things happening. There's the International Livestock Research Institute, which is based in Kenya but operates quite globally in the developing country context. I have the good fortune to work with them on a number of things, but there are some really innovative things that they've been part of the leadership on. One of them is Indexed Livestock Insurance. If you're in a situation where there's a drought, there's extreme weather, rather than doing what we've traditionally done — which is to say, "Here's livestock insurance. We're going to wait until that animal dies," so your herd is wiped out and an entire community that might be based on that herd has had their lifestyle devastated; they're perhaps nomadic, they're in a situation that they have completely destabilized the population — instead of taking a look at overall weather trends, seeing that clearly there is a drought. The Indexed Livestock Insurance actually is meant to buy feed for those animals so that they are in a position to make sure that those animals don’t die. So, rather than waiting until a terrible outcome and suggesting that you can just buy back your loved one — if you were to use a hospital analogy right, you don’t treat them at all while they're starving to death, but afterwards, you give a big payout for their death — you should do the opposite. You should get that assistance in.

                             It's a really simple, concrete thing that, if you're in agriculture, of course you should send in feed, but we've really struggled to get that kind of practical agricultural lens onto a lot of the interventions.

David:                That's a really good analogy. It needs to be more like health insurance and less like car insurance, right?

Robynne:          Yes.

David:                All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Robynne. It was great talking to you.

Robynne:          Pleasure.

Robynne Anderson spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. Sign up to hear other presentations from ONE19. 

Despite the conditions we may currently see when we look outside, spring is here! As temperatures begin to rise and snow begins to melt, we need to keep watch for changes in our stored forages. As many will remember, the corn silage harvest last fall brought with it plenty of challenges. Most dairies have not yet experienced any of the issues that are expected to arise in their silage piles thanks to those harvest challenges — but spring will change that. As temperatures increase, wild yeast will begin to awaken in silages, leading to a decrease in forage stability, as well as the potential for issues with the total mixed ration (TMR) fed to livestock.

Last fall, high yeast levels were found in the fresh corn silage samples collected for the Alltech Harvest Analysis – North America (HANA). I have not seen many stability issues for silages yet, but they will manifest. As the warmer weather awakens the wild yeast, we will start to notice activity in our silages that was not present during the long, cold winter. When wild yeast is active in silage piles, it begins to feed on the energy from the corn silage, decreasing the energy available to livestock. Wild yeast can create many issues for a dairy, from decreasing forage stability to causing rumen upset at feeding. Additionally, the silage will begin to warm, leading to an increased pH and spoilage on the silage face, top and sides of the pile or bunker. This is especially true when Mucor and Penicillium molds are present.

If these changes go unnoticed in the forage storage unit and the silage is fed, symptoms will begin to appear in the barn. Common symptoms of active wild yeast being fed in silage include inconsistent and loose manure, decreased dry matter intake (DMI), a downturn in the farm’s butterfat test and, of course, reduced milk production.

Wild yeast has a negative impact on rumen function and cow performance. When this happens, I am often asked, “What can we do about this?”

Common symptoms of active wild yeast in dairy:

• Loose, inconsistent manure
• Decreased butterfat
• Decreased milk production
• Decreased dry matter intake

TEST THE FEED

First, evaluate and address the issues and concerns at the silage face. Whether your corn silage is stored in a silo, a bag, a bunker or a drive-over pile doesn’t matter; if the environmental conditions allow for it, wild yeast and spoilage can occur in any storage unit. If you think wild yeast is present, my first suggestion is to test the feed through a local lab, as this will give you clear answers about the levels and the specific types of contamination you are facing.

MANAGE YOUR STORAGE UNIT PROPERLY

The next step is to evaluate the silage face, looking specifically for any visible signs of heating or spoilage. This can be done by the producer and nutritionist, but an Alltech on-farm representative can also help identify any potentially concerning signs by using a thermal imaging camera. If any heating or spoilage is detected, an improvement in face management will be necessary. This can be accomplished by increasing removal rates from the face and keeping the face smooth and clean by using a facer. I have personally seen many producers not using their facer daily in the winter months due to the extreme cold, and while this is understandable, when the weather warms and becomes more spring-like, using a facer will be critical to minimizing the effects of wild yeast and spoilage.

DISCARD SPOILED FEED

Next, do not be afraid to discard suspicious forage and spoiled feed. I understand that producers do not want to be wasteful by throwing away feed every day, but if poor-quality forage is fed to our livestock, their performance will be negatively impacted.

FEED A LIVE YEAST

Lastly, feeding a quality live yeast like YEA-SACC® can help livestock overcome the adverse effects of wild yeast. Yea-Sacc bolsters the rumen by modulating the pH, scavenging oxygen, eliminating stress brought on by the wild yeast strains and enhancing overall rumen function. These benefits keep livestock performance on track and allow the animal to utilize the forages efficiently.

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The devastating flooding in the Midwest has led not only to human loss but has also destroyed infrastructure, homes and farm buildings — not to mention the additional financial loss due to flooded grain facilities. The images of ruptured grain bins and flooded grain show only a portion of the destruction caused by this disastrous event.

Grain that has been subjected to flood damage is considered contaminated for food and feed use. Grain that was stored in the same facility but did not come in contact with floodwaters can be utilized as normal, but precautions should be taken. Grain from the upper portion of the bin must be removed from the side or the top; due to potential contamination, it cannot be removed through the bottom of the bin. Make sure the electricity is disconnected, as there will be a greater risk of potential shorts and damaged electric motors. Once removed, grain can be handled in various ways, including flat storing and bins.

Flat-stored corn should be closely monitored for temperature and moisture, as moist grain can sometimes flare up in “hot spots” and warm temperatures. When the temperature inside the grain pile reaches 150° F, the grain begins to compost, so it should be mixed or stirred. If the temperature reaches 170° F, the grain may begin to smolder and has the potential to catch fire. Monitor pile temperatures with deep probes or by driving pointed pipes into the pile, followed by lowering in a thermometer. Since this grain could be subjected to rainfall, it is important to continue monitoring it until the grain can be moved or covered.

Grain that is moved to bins will also need to be monitored. Aim for the recommended grain moisture level of 14 percent moisture for storage. Some producers utilize standard natural air bin drying systems with perforated floors and high-capacity fans. Supplemental heat can also help speed up drying time, but take caution not to raise the air temperature more than 10°–15°F.

Along with moisture, grain must also be monitored for mold and mycotoxins. Molds may or may not be visible and, as such, the grain should be analyzed. Mold can produce mycotoxins that impair animal performance and health while also reducing the grain’s nutritional value by lowering its energy level. Propionic acid can help control and maintain mold levels in stored grains, but application rates will vary based on the grain’s moisture level and the percent of propionic acid used in the product.

If it has not been contaminated by floodwaters, grain from flood-damaged facilities can be salvaged and properly removed, monitored for health and moisture in a new storage facility, and analyzed for mold and mycotoxins.

The recent flooding speaks to a larger concern for grain producers in the Midwest, where some areas experienced the wettest 12 months (April 2018 to April 2019) in 127 years. Overall, corn planting in the United States is 6 percent behind the five-year average — but some Midwestern states are even further behind than that. Of the top 18 corn-producing states, five had not begun planting by April 21. Topsoil moisture is at a 29 percent surplus for the entire U.S., with subsoil at a 26 percent surplus. A wet, delayed spring planting can put crops in jeopardy of pollinating and maturing in a more challenging environment. These trials could also subject the plant to mold and mycotoxin infestation.

Visit knowmycotoxins.com for more information on mycotoxin risks and solutions, such as the Alltech 37+® mycotoxin analysis test.

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The building blocks of plant health and yield don’t start at the ground level; they actually begin underground, in the very material that ends up becoming soil. All healthy soils have three essential components: optimal nutrient availability; good biodiversity; and a balanced structure, with higher levels of organic content.

Plentiful and available nutrients

Healthy soils have a plentiful supply of minerals and other essential nutrients, as well as a balanced pH, making them readily available for uptake by the plant and offsetting mineral depletion by returning minerals to the soil though fertilization and decomposition. Factors like temperature and pH can greatly vary and reduce nutrient availability. In highly acidic soils, for example, phosphorus and calcium availability is poor, while nutrients like iron and copper are less available in soils with high alkaline levels. 

Maintaining biodiversity and building a strong biome

High-performing soils have a vibrant population of insects, worms and microbes. A strong microbiome is a miniature environment that harbors little to no pathogens and, instead, is rich in beneficial organisms that promote root and plant growth. Certain crop practices — such as heavy tilling, depending on soil needs — can have a harmful effect on soil biodiversity, resulting in the loss of these organisms and their myriad benefits and potentially allowing pathogens to get a foothold. 

Balanced soil profile

Balanced, silty soils with high organic content combine good aeration with excellent nutrient and water retention, requiring fewer costly inputs. Sandy soils may be well-aerated but can find it more difficult to retain water or nutrients. Clay soils, on the other hand, may be able to store more water and nutrients but are poorly aerated. Generally, a low organic content means that the soil is, overall, less fertile.

Healthy soils are beneficial to growers and lead to more efficiently grown crops. During the growing season, plants are susceptible to disease pressure and encounter various environmental stressors, such as heat, frost and drought — all of which could reduce plant potential and yield. Healthy soils, however, can minimize the effects of these stresses and mitigate potential stress-induced losses. These well-balanced soils are rich in organic matter and can provide much of the nutrition the plant needs, limiting inputs and their associated costs while increasing sustainability and profitability for the grower. 

Healthy soils are more environmentally sustainable, and they also represent a valuable revenue-generating asset — not only for current growers, but also for their successors. 

If your soil isn’t meeting this criteria for optimization, learn more about improving your soil health at www.alltech.com/crop-science.

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Alltech now collects data from 144 countries and nearly 30,000 feed mills to compile its annual Alltech Global Feed Survey. This data collection is a major undertaking, made possible only through Alltech’s global reach.

However, the real work (and fun!) begins when all the data is received, and we have the opportunity to dig deep for insights and trends. We seek to answer the following questions:

Which countries are growing the fastest? Which species saw declines in production? Are any major players slowing down? What are the surprises?

The data presents seemingly endless opportunities for comparison, and we’ve decided to share 18 of the facts we’ve found most interesting from our 2018 data. Perhaps this will serve as “food” for your next dinner conversation!

1. The top eight countries produce 55% of the world’s feed production.
2. Vietnam saw an increase of nearly 1 million metric tons of aquaculture feed, contributing to the estimated 6% growth of the Asia-Pacific region’s aquaculture feed production in 2018.
3. Morocco saw the largest growth of any country in Africa thanks to the addition of two new feed mills as well as an extension to an existing feed mill late last year.
4. Although not typically known for its pig production, India took a big leap in pig feed production in 2018. Why? The industry is trending toward more organized farming in areas like Kerala and Punjab, with new feed millers contributing to this growth.
5. Where’s the beef? Feed production for beef was stagnant this year. Not only that, but the third-largest producing region, Asia-Pacific, dropped enough to let Latin America step up and take the bronze.
6. Southeast Asia’s feed production represents over 20% of the Asia-Pacific region’s feed production. Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand carry most of the weight and contribute to 93% of Southeast Asia’s feed production.
7. Showing 7% growth last year and 13% this year, India is clearly growing its feed production at a rapid clip, not just in one, but in all species! From aquafeed to goat grains, India’s feed production increased across all 13 categories we assess.
8. The European Union (EU) countries contribute to more than 50% of all major species feed production in Europe (with the exception of aquafeed).
9. Norway is Europe’s largest producer of aquafeed, contributing 45% of the region’s total aquafeed production.
10. Layer feed grew by 4% globally, indicating a growing need and continued interest in this efficient protein source.
11. After years battling African swine fever, Estonia is back in the game, showing a more than three-fold increase in pig feed production over last year.
12. Eighty percent of European turkey feed production occurs in the EU.
13. Higher costs of corn and soy reduced Brazil’s broiler feed production by 2%, eating away at the entire region’s total and making Latin America the only region to see a decrease in broiler feed production in 2018.
14. Dairy showed growth in all regions, indicating the ongoing affinity for this protein source.
15. Africa’s feed production grew the most of any region at 5%. Expected to have one of the fastest-growing populations, how will this region farm in the future? Will it embrace conventional farming or leapfrog other methods and embrace Agriculture 4.0?
16. Turkey feed saw a big leap in Spain with an additional 300,000 tons of feed estimated in 2018.
17. Pet feed reassessed: It turns out Europe is not the primary producer as originally thought! North America leads by about 200,000 tons of feed, making it a close race. With a renewed focus on value rather than volume in the pet food sector, who will lead in 2019 and beyond?
18. Insect protein is working its way into aquaculture feed production. It’s possible Alltech will include this new alternative feed source in future surveys!
19. The North American regions continues its steady course of 2% growth; the biggest contributors to this increase were beef and broiler each at 3%.

These quick facts are just a few of the insights we can derive from the Alltech Global Feed Survey. To discover more from the 2019 Alltech Global Feed Survey, including the results booklet, an interactive global map with information from each country and a presentation of the results, visit alltechfeedsurvey.com. 

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The agricultural sector in Portugal was, until recently, still highly traditional, with few technological advances implemented. This has changed over the last few years, however, with the adoption of and investment in new technologies across a variety of areas, including irrigation, soil mobilization, pest and disease control and fertilization.

One of the most significant changes dealt with the types of crops being grown by these Portuguese farmers, who began to look beyond Portugal and focus on cultivating products that could be more competitive on a European scale, including fruits and vegetables. Their farming practices have also been progressively updated to make sure that they fit in with European regulations. A greater emphasis has been placed on sustainable practices with decreased residues to ensure that the crops are marketable in areas beyond Portugal.

These updated farming practices have led to an increase in productivity and competitiveness, as well as a more efficient use of resources. Over the past 20 years, 3.2 million acres — almost a third of the agricultural area under cultivation in Portugal — had been neglected, but now, there is a greater productivity of the cultivated area and a new entrepreneurial spirit driven by a new generation of farmers.   

A generation of farmers that was raised on a family farm is also becoming more prevalent, and with this influx of fresh eyes also comes the implementation of crop diversification. A farm where, previously, only corn was cultivated, for instance, may now also grow tomatoes, sunflowers, carrots and other crops.    

Rejuvenating the agricultural fabric of Portugal was imperative, since more than half of farmers in the country are older than 65. With the embrace of new technologies to meet market demands, Portuguese agriculture today is more innovative, professional, productive and customer-oriented. 

In 2015, Portugal ranked 41^st for exports in the global agri-food industry. The main products the country exported included olive oils, tomatoes and wines. Portugal’s agricultural exports go to 153 countries, with Spain, Brazil, France, Italy and Angola as its biggest external markets. Fresh fruit accounted for 40 percent of the value of those exports, with special emphasis on small fruits, oranges and Rocha pears, which were the best performers in 2016. 

However, the country is also heavily dependent on cereals and oilseeds, whose import volume accounted for 42.4 percent of the total agricultural imports during 2006–2010. While Portugal is not yet seen as competitive in dryland cereal farming, the national production of irrigated grain — particularly maize — has been on the rise.

The sector must continue to strengthen its exports and its presence in foreign markets, affirming the quality that sets its produce apart. Portuguese agricultural products are attractive to countries and customers looking for products from southern Europe, thanks to the mild and differentiated climate that the Atlantic Ocean provides. Portugal has a reputation for food safety and is recognized as a region whose products feature appealing colors, flavors and aromas.   

To learn more about international agronomic practices and how you can implement updated technology in your operation, visit www.alltech.com/cropscience and sign up for our Top Crop newsletter today. 

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The frenzy for all things blockchain is exemplified by the Long Island iced tea company whose stock increased six times overnight when it simply changed its name to include the word “blockchain.” Even the Chinese stock market is seeing a boom in anything blockchain-related. While much has been written about blockchain, a succinct description is still elusive. Essentially, blockchain is simply an online documentation system that records the transaction at each point in the supply chain through an encrypted block using a distributed ledger (DLT). The system ensures both confidentiality and traceability for each trading partner involved in the supply chain.

Image obtained from CB Insights

So, why is blockchain creating such excitement in agriculture? The agriculture sector typically has very tight margins, and success is derived from parlaying market knowledge and strategic sourcing for better access and better prices than your competitors. Secrecy and squeezing prices are key success factors. Inevitably, some participants try to manipulate the market or engage in unacceptable business practices. Without genuine transparency in the food chain, feed or input recalls are ineffective, yet they are critical to ensuring the health of those at the very end of the chain: the people who eat the food agriculture produces. In other words, everyone.

Blockchain and agriculture: A new tool for an old system

Knowing what you are buying has been problematic for as long as people have been trading along the food supply chain (the earliest examples of writing are agricultural transaction records from Sumeria, from approximately 3000 BC). As the food supply chain is global, a network with real traceability is essential in order for people to be able to trust what they are buying. Enter blockchain. Blockchain is an effective way to balance the need for confidentiality with the need for transparency. A blockchain-based supply chain should result in food that is safe and traceable while reducing waste and creating economic benefits for all of the stakeholders in the food supply chain. Of particular benefit to the agricultural sector are lower costs and added value (Rabobank).

Lower costs are achieved through greater efficiency, lower transaction costs and better access to information. Because the information provided through the blockchain is reliable, documents and certificates can be trusted and many back-office processes can be automated. As the need for manual or repeated verification decreases, lead times can be shorter and turnaround faster. The security of the system means that payments can be executed quickly and safely, eliminating the need for third-party payment processing. Moreover, the visibility of the blockchain improves pricing transparency, particularly for smaller agribusinesses and farmers in regions that have not previously had access to global pricing.

Logistically, blockchain can speed up the movement of food through the supply chain network (critical for perishable goods) and also allows fast, targeted removal of products that are not fit for consumption. Both ways, food waste is reduced. Faster analysis and interpretation of consumer desires (such is the goal of INS Ecosystem) can further reduce errors and waste, and the greater transparency of the chain allows for better forecasting. Accuracy is improved by reducing the places where human error can enter the system.

This is not to say that blockchain technology is entirely immune to error. The information contained within the network, while incorruptible once documented, could be entered incorrectly or fraudulently. What blockchain offers is a means to identify the error or fraudulent entry. Furthermore, the blockchain should contain all members of the supply chain. If a piece is missing, its transparency and traceability are lacking; the ideal blockchain starts at seed or feed and follows all the way to consumer purchase.

Potential for added value comes from better access to information about pricing, markets and products. Analysis of up-to-date, reliable data will help identify new opportunities regionally or globally and enable adaptation of supply chains to better fit consumer needs. With greater transparency and more reliable data, better and more targeted financing options can be developed. And, with the cooperation of governments, greater regulatory harmonization can improve efficiencies throughout the agriculture sector.

Many of these current and potential benefits of blockchain can be seen in a single example: the spinach crisis of 2006. On Sept. 14, 2006, based on complaints from 19 states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat bagged fresh spinach. It took two weeks for the region that the spinach came from to be identified, and it was not until Oct. 12, with five people dead and 200 sickened, that the specific source of contamination was identified. In the meantime, all fresh spinach and fresh spinach products were cleared from shops across the U.S., with an overall cost of more than $175 million. Contrast that with a recent blockchain-based supply chain trial between Walmart and IBM in which a food was traced back through each party involved all the way back to its origins in seconds (2.2, to be exact). At any point in the chain, all other possible cross-contaminations could be identified. The location of any contaminated food could be traced and pulled from shelves or dealt with immediately, protecting consumers, reducing waste and protecting the producers along the way from unnecessary losses.

China has also recognized the advantages of blockchain for food safety and through the Food Safety Alliance for China is supporting a joint undertaking between Tsinghua University, Walmart and a consortium of large food companies (Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick & Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever and IBM) to create a food tracking system using blockchain.

Blockchain in practice

While blockchain is still a relatively new concept, early adopters can already be found throughout agriculture, including the poultry, dairy, beef, aqua and crop sectors. The most common applications are simply confirmation of the source of a product (as with Honeysuckle Thanksgiving turkeys, where you can enter a code on the company’s website and immediately know what farm the bird originated from), but blockchain is also being used to ensure availability of production data, prevent food fraud, provide payment security, ensure regulatory compliance and provide safe access to markets for small and remote farmers.

Production information

There are now several companies offering blockchain-based supply chains for agribusiness, but OriginTrail was the pioneer. Starting in 2013 with a beta test for the beef sector, it has since added dairy, poultry and vegetable supply chains. Another example in poultry is producer Perutnina Ptuj, which provides customers with complete information on the origins of the meat they purchase through a smartphone app. Even vegetables can be traced back to their origins: Slovenia-based Natureta uses a blockchain platform to give customers access to food procurement information and can instantly show in which garden food they are currently cooking with was grown.

Another blockchain platform is Provenance, a U.K.-based company that is currently working with more than 200 food businesses, tracking food (including produce) from point of origin all the way to the supermarket, documenting each step in the process and allowing food companies to prove their product claims and guarantees. It has partnered with Arkansas-based Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative to allow customers to track their food, including information on meat quality and origin, how the animal was raised and any other companies involved in the process through the use of QR codes. Provenance has also reached into the aquaculture industry to run a pilot program designed to track the production of yellowfin and skipjack tuna in the Southeast Asian fishing industry. Through text messages, fishermen have been helping nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) track the process from initial registration of the caught fish and data verification all the way to the consumer, ensuring fish have been sourced in a socially and environmentally sound manner.

Other food or agribusiness blockchain supply chain platforms include:

• Carrefour: Announced intentions to launch Europe’s first food blockchain. A QR code scan will tell consumers where the bird was reared, the name of the farmer, what feed the bird consumed, quality labels and where the bird was slaughtered. The initial focus will be on its line of free-range Auvergne chickens, but the plan is to expand the technology to at least eight other products before year end 2018.
• JD.com: Beef industry platform in China that can trace beef purchased in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to its original production location in Inner Mongolia.
• FoodLogiQ: Starting as a Canadian beef platform, FoodLogiQ is now a full farm-to-fork system, with an emphasis on supplier management, food safety compliance, quality incident management, recall management and whole chain traceability.
• Ripe.io : Started by former financiers, Ripe uses algorithms to calculate sustainability scores, as well as scores for spoilage and safety levels. 
• Bext360: A Ugandan Great Lakes Coffee exporter and a Denver-based coffee roaster, Coda Coffee, are creating a “bean to brew” blockchain. A similar platform by Moyee Coffee tracks their beans from Ethiopia to Amsterdam program will trace the coffee from Moyee Coffee in Ethiopia to Amsterdam, tracking payments to the farmers along the way. Starbucks is also investigating the technology to promote ethical sourcing and connect customers to bean growers.
• DNVGL: Its application, known as My Story, verifies Italian wine growers’ supply chains, from seed to bottle.
• OriginTrail: In combination with TagItSmart sensors, OriginTrail has a pilot project designed to maintain data integrity in the beverage industry. Wine producer Plantaže will be able to track more than 15,000 bottles of wine.
• ZhongAn Technology (a subsidiary of an insurance company): Its blockchain system for the free-range chicken sector in China intends to alleviate both poverty among chicken farmers and consumer food safety concerns. Individual chickens are tagged, and information about each individual chicken’s growth, location, food and even movement is uploaded and available for consumers to trace. Currently, the program collects data from over 200 chicken farms with plans to expand to 2,500 farms by 2020.
• Coca-Cola and the U.S. State Department are initiating a project using blockchain to combat the forced labor market by creating a secure registry for workers.

Anti-counterfeiting/adulteration

The ability to track the provenance of products is a key benefit in many ag sectors. For example, large commercial dairy companies have a challenge tracking the provenance of their milk as they often source from multiple milk producers. Slovenian dairy brand Zelene Doline is tracking its products and connecting the more than 1,000 Slovenian dairy farms that provide milk to the company. The traceability system allows consumers to log onto the company’s website, enter the product’s European Article Number barcode and “best before” date to gain information on the product’s origins.

Russia’s dairy industry is also incorporating blockchain to combat counterfeit dairy products. According to researchers, Russia produces 40 percent less milk than the amount sold, and there is speculation that vegetable fats or palm oils are being used to dilute the milk for consumer sale, compromising its authenticity. Blockchain provides an objective mechanism to ensure that what is sold as milk is actually milk. Similarly, Ambrosus, a Swiss firm, uses sensors and blockchain technology to provide real-time food supply chain audits, particularly with its cheese and chocolate, to ensure its high-quality products sold in China are not counterfeit. Food fraud is a particular focus of Ireland’s arc-net blockchain platform, which uses unique universal identification codes (UUIDs) through digital DNA to offer a cloud-based platform and traceability to the food and animal feed industries.

Transaction and payment security

BeefLedger out of Australia has created a secure payment platform using blockchain and cryptocurrency wallets. Its focus is on the rapidly growing Asian middle class, for whom Australian beef is in high demand. Customers are provided with provenance data on meat purchases, including origin and characteristics, while the producers gain access to customer data and feedback. Other examples include:

• AgriDigital, an Australian blockchain system designed to manage grain trading transactions, finance and connections.
• Bart.Digital, a Brazilian-based company working with small farmers to provide secure financial documentation.
• AgrolifeCoin (funded by Agrolife, investors and agribusiness supporters), which provides technical assistance to financial institutions, particularly in developing countries, to enable them to better fund their local agriculture sector. Its global payment network provides peer-to-peer instant transactional opportunities for members of the agricultural community at near-zero cost through its cryptocurrency program
• Avenews-GT, a global trading company designed to connect buyers and sellers to create transparency, trust and financial security in supply chains.

Regulatory compliance

Due to its remote nature, the seafood and aquaculture industry has unique monitoring challenges. Mistreatment of workers, mislabeling of fish and destructive fishing methods are increasingly unacceptable to consumers. A collaboration between Earth Twine (which focuses on regulatory compliance in the seafood industry) and Stratis (a blockchain technology company) has led to The Earth Twine-Stratis Platform, a seafood tracking solution platform to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

In parallel, ConsenSys has teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund and TraSeable (a communications technology implementation company) to end human rights abuses in the Pacific Islands’ fishing industry. Working with the tuna fishing and processing company Sea Quest Fiji, the goal is that every can of tuna will have a QR code for consumers to verify that the tuna was sourced in an ethical and sustainable manner.

Access to markets

Access to buyers at fair prices with security of payment are some of the challenges that face small farmers in developing markets, yet their success is one of the keys to feeding the 9 billion people who will be living on earth in 2050. AgriLedger works with NGOs to bring a blockchain platform through the Agunity app. The platform enables farmers to receive fairer pricing and have a better connection to markets as well as access to insurance, banking or other financial services. It also allows buyers from other markets to buy from small producers with confidence.

FarmShare is designed to connect small farmers with local buyers and is similar to a CSA (community-supported agriculture) model, in which people are able to collect fresh food directly from the farmer, completely cutting out the grocery store. 

ABC: Agriculture + blockchain = consumer (food)

Blockchain is a very powerful tool for everyone in the food production system, from the producers of animal and plant nutrition and supplements through to the end consumer. Research has indicated that the food traceability market will be worth $14 billion by next year and the food-related blockchain companies are growing quickly. It brings visibility, as information is shared and replicated simultaneously, increasing trust, accountability and transparency. It will alter how the agriculture industry functions within itself, as well as with customers, and will support us in feeding 9 billion people.

There are, of course, challenges. As with any innovative technology, there are implementation costs, and standards are still evolving. Some overarching authority is necessary to ensure that trust in the system is warranted. Managing the change process will take work. And, as with any supply chain process, the best results come when all of the participants are involved. If we work together to overcome these challenges, we will be able to realize the full benefits of blockchain for food safety and traceability, and the potential it has to improve the transparency and reliability of the food chain, to improve market access and reduce food waste.

For a simple demonstration of blockchain technology, watch this short video from the BBC. While focused on the bitcoin concept, it is clear how any data intended to be stored confidentially can be safeguarded in a decentralized ledger system.

New technologies, including blockchain, are the focus at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. Speakers include former General Electric Vice Chair and change agent Beth Comstock, professor Robert Wolcott from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and CRISPR expert Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou. Nearly 4,000 attendees from more than 70 countries and an all-star list of 70 speakers will discuss the technologies, innovations and science transforming our businesses and lives.