American Ag Today- 11/21/24

And welcome into a new episode of American ag today produced by the American ag radio network and powered by farm and ranch media. I'm your host Jesse Allen. Good to have you along with us. Coming up on our program today, we're going to go back to the NAFB convention here in just a few minutes and hear from BASF's Josh Putman about some of their new products in the lineup coming up here for 2025 and be odd. First, let's take a look at ag news. And since 2022, the US poultry industry

is in battling a particularly persistent strain of H5N1 or avian influenza, and more than 100 million birds have been affected over the last two and a half years. Barrett Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau, says turkeys and egg layers have been hit the hardest.

Avian influenza continues to be a problem. We've had 3.5 million birds affected this October. Egg layers in turkeys are still the greatest impact by this. What broiler flocks tend to benefit from being tucked away a little bit from the central and Pacific flyways. We've had 73 million egg layers affected by this overall. And this has resulted in some volatility in egg prices.

If we look at turkeys, we've had over 14 million turkeys affected by the virus. So production for turkeys is down about 6% from last year. In March of this year, a new sector of the agriculture industry began battling the virus, the dairy industry. Since that time, we've seen nearly 500 detections of avian influenza and dairy herds in

16 states, California is home to 263 of these cases, and this is one of just two states that have had detections in the last 30 days. It's important that consumers know that their milk supply is safe, pasteurization deactivates the virus, and it's been proven to be highly effective against avian influenza in this circumstance.

Once again, that's Barrett Nelson economist with the American Farm Bureau. You can find more information on H5N1 and the response available online at FB.org forward slash market Intel. In other news, West Central Ag Services has indicated it is ready to move forward with a proposed merger with CHS Incorporated. American Ag Network's Corinne LaRue has more in this report.

The Board of Directors of West Central Act Services has announced that a member vote on the proposed merger with CHS Incorporated will proceed. After thorough deliberation, the Board reaffirmed its support for CHS signing the cooperative's strong alignment with West Central's long-term goals and its ability to ensure a seamless and timely transition.

This decision comes after West Central received a revised bid from the Arthur companies on November 4, 2024. Although Arthur's proposal prompted a detailed evaluation of both offers, the board ultimately determined that the transaction with CHS, valued at an increased purchase price of $225 million, remains the superior option.

In a statement, the board said, quote, CHS brings certainty in immediate global market access for our member owners, along with continuity for our employees and executive team. We have a longstanding relationship with CHS, and this merger represents a pivotal opportunity for our cooperative's future, unquote.

Members will vote on the proposed transaction on November 26, 2024. A two-thirds majority of members present at the meeting is required for approval. Informational sessions with board members and representatives from CHS will be held on November 20 and the 21st to address any questions or concerns. The board emphasized the importance of member participation

Again, in a statement, they said, quote, as a cooperative, your voice is vital in shaping our future, unquote, urging members again to attend the meeting and cast their vote. If approved, the merger is expected to close in the coming weeks, solidifying a partnership that promises enhanced market opportunities and stability for West Central's member owners. I'm Karen LaRue. And right now, let's head back to last week's NAFB Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. I talked with BASF's Josh Putman.

First, I know a brand new product registration, Liberty Ultra herbicide. I know when we talked to Farm Progress Show, you guys had another great product with Sertane, but now Liberty Ultra is kind of the news here at Trade Talk. Tell us about it.

Yeah, so I'm really excited to be standing here today to talk about the next generation of Liberty, if you will, and that is Liberty Ultra Herbicide. So Liberty Ultra Herbicide, we received US EPA registration a month ago. So in October, and the states are now trickling in. So in fact, where we stand here today in Missouri, we received the state registration, several other states, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, they're all starting to trickle in.

So we're really excited to have that product. The one difference about this product is two things, the Liberty Lock formulation and the Gluell technology. With the Liberty Lock formulation,

That is offering more weed control, okay? Better weed control. Basically what it does is it helps lock and disperse the AI on the leaf surface, ultimately getting three times more herbicide into the plant, okay? With the Gluell technology, what we've been able to do is make

the product more active so within a gallon jug there's more active isomers in that jug and we can decrease the rate we decrease the rate by 25 percent which is still equally as active as the standard rate in Liberty 280 so those two concepts

The one thing to keep in mind about this new herbicide, Liberty Ultra Herbicide, is preserving the technology, right? So when we think about starting with a good residual program and following that up with an extremely good post program, products like Zidua Pro and Soybeans, and then following that up with a Liberty Outlook or a Liberty Zidua SC Herbicide Pass layering in those residuals is important for holding weeds back.

especially what we saw in 2024. And that's a great point. I was just going to say, you know, as we wrap up 2024, look ahead to next year. A lot of guys and gals are making those seed input decisions. They're making that plan now for next year with an emphasis on, okay, we're looking at commodity prices, where they're at and the cost of inputs, et cetera. So why is it important to look at a great herbicide like Liberty Ultra or any of the other great products out from BASF?

Yeah, so what we heard of 2024 was extremely positive feedback from the field. Soybean and corn yields were coming out of the field just at a fantastic level, actually some record highs from what I had heard. And so ultimately, when choosing products from BASF, what we offer is an overall start to finish to the program.

whether it's a seed treatment like a levo, a nirizma insecticide for corn rootworm control, then our residuals such as sertane, which we had really tremendous amount of success with this year, in our corn, and then our overall, just the whole herbicide portfolio, multiple modes of action, maintaining those yields, building the program to ultimately protect that corn or crops true genetic yield potential.

Josh, folks want to learn more about Liberty Ultra, Sertane, any of the other great products from BASF. How can they get more info? Yeah, so you can visit our website. Or one thing that I always recommend is getting ahold of your local business reps. That your local business reps or tech reps is the clear path to a clear answer.

Josh Putman with BASF. Thanks for joining us here at Trade Talk in Kansas City. Good to see you again. Yeah, thanks Jesse. With our out of time here on American Ag Today, I'm Jesse Allen. Thanks for listening. Have a great rest of your day.