Industry News | 10-24-2022

BASF Agricultural Solutions’ Blockchain Platform Enables Tracing of Sustainably Produced FiberMax® Cotton From Seed to Sew

BASF Agricultural Solutions’ Blockchain Platform Enables Tracing of Sustainably Produced FiberMax® Cotton From Seed to SewBASF Agricultural Solutions has initiated a “Seed 2 Sew” pilot project to establish a blockchain platform as a response to one of the most complex supply chains – cotton production. Fashion brands can now be guaranteed greater transparency and traceability when sourcing sustainable cotton. Classically, the traceability within the cotton value chain has been limited from ginning to end fabric. Farmers have often been left behind due to a mere lack of applications, infrastructure, and technology to record and certify their inputs. This leads to an information and trust gap in the textile industry. To close this gap, BASF Agricultural Solutions has partnered with five farms in their existing Certified Sustainability FiberMax® cotton program and other local players along the cotton value chain in Greece – the largest cotton producing country in Europe – to guarantee a professional and transparent system of supplying sustainable cotton to the fashion industry.
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Bayer, Ginkgo Bioworks Close Deal Creating Agricultural Biologicals

PowerhouseBayer has announced that the company has closed the previously announced transaction with Ginkgo Bioworks to begin a multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate research and development of biological products for agriculture. The transaction includes the divestment of Bayer’s West Sacramento Biologics Research & Development site, and its internal discovery and lead optimization platform. With the close of this transaction, the Biologics business which is part of Bayer’s Crop Science Division, will also be able to further engage the open innovation ecosystem and build upon its leading position as partner of choice for innovators and scientists around the world.
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Pork Producers are Uniquely Positioned to Leverage Solar Power

Pork producers are feeling squeezed by market forces and inflation. “The cost of diesel is up, the cost of feed is up, the cost of electricity is up,” said Phil Dorr, whose swine operation in Cherokee County, Iowa, is responsible for 6,000 hogs annually. According to Dorr, pork producers like him are uniquely positioned to remove at least one of those rising costs: electricity. “We had to get these electric bills down — we had to,” he said. For Dorr, the solution was renewable energy, specifically solar power. When Dorr started exploring ways to lower his operating expenses, he found that solar power provided benefits that uniquely complemented the scale and usage of a typical Iowa swine barn.
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Bobcat Launches New T86 Compact Track and S86 Skid-Steer Loaders

Bobcat has launched the new T86 compact track loader and S86 skid-steer loader in its R-series of compact loaders, with more usable engine and hydraulic horsepower than previous models. “We’re expanding our equipment lineup to support our customers’ most challenging jobs,” says Jorge De Hoyos, Bobcat senior product manager for loaders. “With these compact loaders delivering more usable engine and hydraulic horsepower than ever before, we are empowering customers to accomplish even more.”
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Cash Cattle Rally $3, COF Down 1 Percent

Cash cattle trade was called active with packers seeking to add inventory. Cattle sold in the North at $150 to $152 per cwt. live and $232 to $236 dressed, mostly $3 higher. Cattle trade in the South was called light to moderate with prices at $148 per cwt., also $3 higher. Wholesale beef prices moved $7.09 higher for the week, with Choice closing Friday at 253.71 per cwt. Select boxed beef closed Friday at $224.26 per cwt., $6.22 higher for the week. Retailers have anticipated seasonal slowdown in slaughter volumes and are competing to add inventory. Estimated weekly slaughter was 673,000 head, up 11,000 head from the same week last year. Year to date total was estimated at 27.37 million head, up 1.6% from last year.
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